A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic

A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars rounded up.

The Great British Baking Show set in a world with dwarves, elves, and orcs as well as humans! As a human, Arleta Starstone has a distinct disadvantage in the world of baking: no magic. Her natural talents, stubborn nature, amazing herb garden, and a whole lot of hard work have turned her into a world-class baker nonetheless, but anti-human prejudice is a steep hurdle to overcome. Arleta's honorary dads (the orc couple next door) are her biggest fans and secretly enter her into a big-deal bake-off, and when a handsome elf arrives to escort her to the competition, she battles her fears and insecurities to take her place among the realm's elite bakers--the first human to do so.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, setting secondary, with story and language also strong. I can't recall any violence, swearing, or sex scenes, but I read it a few months ago and may have just forgotten something minor. Warning: it'll make you hungry!

Many thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for providing the free eBook copy I devoured.

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A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Frances Wynn, now the “elder” Countess of Harleigh after her husband’s untimely death, has been controlled by others her whole life, so she seizes the opportunity afforded her by widowhood and moves to London on her own as soon as her year of mourning has ended, with just her young daughter and a few servants to accompany her. Her freedom is immediately curtailed by the news that her brother-in-law has placed a freeze on her bank account in his attempt to get control of her money “for the family,” because Frances was an American heiress who married an earl in need of funds, and that need did not vanish with his death. Luckily, the news came just after she received a sizable bank draft from her mother, who sent her younger sister and aunt to visit her for the Season. The money is enough to allow her to maintain her household while fighting the new earl in court. But Frances soon has other concerns, as there is a thief on the loose in Town, an anonymous letter sent to the police has accused her of murdering her husband, and one of her sister’s new suitors might not be what he seems.

Fun and fast-paced mystery set almost a generation before the start of Downton Abbey, so Countess Harleigh would have been a contemporary of Lady Grantham back when Lady Mary was a little girl.

I loved this mystery with its hint of romance to come and enough complications that I only solved half of it before the end.

For readers’ advisors: story doorway is primary, setting secondary. Only a couple of mild swear words. No sexual content, though sex is referenced in that the main character’s husband dies in the bed of another woman at the start of the book. Violence is mostly off-screen and not described in detail at all, though Frances does have a couple of attempts on her life by the end, including being threatened with a gun.

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The Bad Guys (#1)

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mr. Wolf is tired of being thought of as a Bad Guy just because he's a wolf, so he rounds up some other folks (Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha) who have faced the same prejudice, cajoling and convincing them to join his new Good Guys Club to seek out opportunities to do Good Deeds and change their reputations. They aren't at all certain this plan will work or whether they even want it to, but Wolf sweeps them along through sheer force of personality and enthusiasm. The team starts with rescuing a cat in a tree and moves on to liberating a dog pound.

My kids screeched with laughter as we read this fast-paced graphic novel, and I was quite glad I'd bought the full set. The series is a strong incentive for them to get ready for bed on time for a change so as to maximize bedtime story time.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, language (humorous banter) is secondary. Target audience is elementary school children. Piranha gets swallowed temporarily, and both Piranha and Snake get smacked against the side of a building a few times, but no realistic violence.

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Princess Pulverizer: Grilled Cheese and Dragons

Grilled Cheese and Dragons by Nancy E. Krulik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A spoiled brat princess hates her teacher and her Royal School of Ladylike Manners. She wants to go to Knight School instead because that looks way more fun. Her father tells her she can go to Knight School on the condition that she will first go out into the world and do eight good deeds, bringing back proof of each. This proves harder than she imagined, since honor, kindness, and sacrifice are not her strong suits, but eventually she gets an ogre to capture her so she can try and retrieve the jewels he stole and return them to their rightful owner. Along the way, she grudgingly teams up with a Knight School dropout and his dragon friend who wants to be a chef. One down, seven more good deeds to go!

I bought this book for my daughter, and it's pretty cute. I like how the self-centered princess (very) slowly begins to think of others, which bodes well for the later books in the series. I do wish Lady Frump and the ogre weren't basically caricatures of stereotypes, but perhaps they might be given depth and nuance later on in the series? I won't hold my breath on that, though.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character secondary. Very fast-paced. Good for showing that not everyone fits neatly in predetermined gender (or species) roles, and even misfits have strengths to contribute.

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Payback's a Witch

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Emmy Harlow left town as soon as she graduated from high school and has only been back to visit a few times since then, determined to live a magic-free life on her own terms in Chicago, after a painful breakup from an ill-advised secret romance with the Blackmoore family scion decimated her self-esteem. Now 26, Emmy has a job she adores, a mountain of student-loan debt, and a fierce desire to maintain her distance from everyone and everything she used to love. Enter The Gauntlet, a centuries-old tradition wherein the scions of the town's magical founding families compete once "every fifty years to determine which founding family got to preside over all things magical in Thistle Grove." The Harlow scion is the impartial Arbiter, and Emmy is the Harlow scion.

Her first night back in town, Emmy heads to a local bar and encounters her worst nightmare: Gareth Blackmoore and his drunk buddies. For his part, Gareth...absolutely doesn't recognize her and tries to hit on her, stunned that his pickup lines fail to impress. Natalia Avramov witnesses Emmy and Gareth's encounter and, to Emmy's shock, not only recognizes but actively remembers her from high school, though Talia was two years ahead. The women spend the rest of the evening drinking and bonding. The following morning, Emmy drags her pounding head to brunch with her BFF Linden Thorn and gets another shock: not only has Talia also had..."unfortunate relations" with Gareth, but he recently broke Lin's heart. Talia crashes their brunch to propose revenge: an unprecedented alliance between the Thorn scion (Lin's twin brother Rowan) and Avramov scion (Talia) against the Blackmoore scion (Gareth) at the upcoming Gauntlet. Though the challenges cannot be known in advance, plotting and planning provides ample time for sparks to fly between Talia and Emmy. Will those sparks be enough to rekindle Emmy's love for their town, or will they flame out as the Gauntlet ends?

This book was great fun to read, especially the descriptions of how the magic felt as it roared through Emmy, and I really enjoyed the steamy romance between Talia and Emmy, though sometimes I wanted to remind them that relationships which last cannot be built from chemistry alone--feeling "at home" with your partner is far more important than flutters and zings. Reading Emmy's struggle with her quarter-life crisis made me grateful to be past that phase of life. So much angst and self-delusion, so much pointless resistance to that which feeds her soul. I also appreciated that for all the angst, sexuality was a non-issue. No one batted at eye at Emmy being bisexual or Talia having a strong preference for women, yet also having a foolish fling with a man after a bad breakup. Humans are humans, and heartbreak is heartbreak.

I look forward to book two in the series, which presumably will feature Rowan and Isidora. Perhaps the author will flesh out some unanswered world-building questions in that installment, such as how intermarriage between founding families affects magical abilities and bloodlines. Surely this has come up at some point in the past 300 years? They can't *all* have married "normies." Or along those same lines, how are family names passed down? Specifically, do men who marry into the founding families take their wives' last names? Is that how Emmy's grandmother was able to keep and pass on the Harlow name? Or Gareth's grandmother? These questions and others didn't keep me from enjoying the story, but they did make me stop and wonder.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are both strong. There is a lot of swearing and drinking (I am seriously concerned for their livers!) but no violence. Tons of flirting, raging hormones, sexy thoughts and banter--in short, it's pretty steamy/spicy, but not especially explicit. The Gauntlet is reminiscent of the Triwizarding Tournament in Harry Potter.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eGalley ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

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Bring on the Blessings

Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bernadine Brown earned her $275 million the hard way: she divorced her cheating husband. After a year of traveling the world, she's feeling the need to find a purpose for her life, and when she hears of Henry Adams, an historically all-Black town in Kansas that is struggling financially and has put itself up for sale, Bernadine has her Aha! moment. In her younger years, Bernadine was a social worker, and those instincts never die. She buys the town with the goal of making it a haven for foster kids and their foster parents.

Trent July, mayor of Henry Adams, along with the other 51 voting residents of the town, assumes anyone rich enough to buy a whole town must be white, so the arrival of a well-dressed, middle-aged Black woman comes as a shock. They are stunned by her plan to rebuild the town and quickly find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of construction. Everyone except the former mayor is on board with the changes, and soon Bernadine and her new assistant, returned local Lily, are flying in her private jet to various cities around the country to pick up the five foster kids Bernie has chosen. The children range in age from six to fourteen and come with all kinds of emotional baggage but little in the way of material possessions. Bit by bit, day by day, the residents and the children bond and begin to heal.

This is a warm hug of a book, set in a Kansas summer. It's a story of second chances, starting over, and Found Family, of foster children and a community to raise them. I absolutely loved it. It's hopeful, it made me cry, and I adored the characters. I don't know why so many people have categorized it as either Christian or romance--it's only barely either one. Only the seven year old Devon Watkins is particularly religious, and although Trent and Lily work through their decades-old estrangement to rekindle their relationship, it's just a sub-plot, not at all the focus of the story. I think Riley and his enormous hog Cletus get nearly as much screen time.

What kept this book from getting a 5-star rating from me was the dire need for a copy editor. There were typos and missing or extra words, a wrong name in one spot, and they all jolted me momentarily out of the story until I could make the corrections in my head to determine what the sentences should have said.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, setting & story secondary. A bit of swearing, a lot of flirting, some references to sex but nothing explicit. The only violence is perpetrated by the hog.

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The Bromance Book Club

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gavin Scott messed up. Badly. The love of his life, his wife of three years and the mother of his twin 3-year-old daughters, wants a divorce. He hadn't even realized they had grown so far apart until the night he found out she'd been faking it in bed for their entire marriage. The pain of her revelation sent him into a tailspin, shutting both his mouth and his ears until she got fed up and kicked him out of the house.

The thing is, Thea is furious because somehow over the past three years she lost herself, subsumed her identity and morphed from an artist into a stereotypical baseball wife, one whom Southern Lifestyle magazine called "wholesomely pastel." What Gavin doesn't grasp is that it's not just sex she's been faking, but everything, and she is D.O.N.E. being a stranger to herself.

Gavin, though, is desperate to save his marriage. So desperate, his best friend drags him to a very unique book group. A dozen or so alpha men of Nashville society--business owners, athletes, city officials--meet to read romance novels ("We call them manuals") and save each other's relationships. What?! Gavin thinks he's being punked, but the men are completely serious. What better way to learn the language of women than to read books "written by women for women...entirely about how they want to be treated and what they want out of life and in a relationship"? The men formulate a plan for Gavin to win Thea's heart all over again. In short? Backstory. It's ALL about backstory, and Gavin needs to understand not only Thea's, but his own if he is to have any hope of success.

I am so glad this is just the first in the series, because it's hilarious, heartwarming, and I wish men would try this strategy in the real world! Seriously, so many relationships could be saved and strengthened.

There is so much to love about this book. One of my favorite quotes is from a funny-but-serious moment in chapter 5 when one of the men says, "Don't be ashamed for liking them. The backlash against the PSL [pumpkin spice latte] is a perfect example of how toxic masculinity permeates even the most mundane things in life. If masses of women like something, our society automatically begins to mock them. Just like romance novels. If women like them, they must be a joke, right?" OMG, yes! Well, I don't know about the PSL--I hate coffee-flavored anything--but Ms. Adams is Spot On about the pervasiveness of toxic masculinity and the constant condescension toward the romance genre in particular.

My biggest beef with this book is that I really wanted Gavin to have more of an Aha! moment after he and Thea are cleaning up the puking toddlers and he has zero idea where the extra towels are. I mean, DUDE. It's your own house, how can you not know where the linen closet and clean towels are? A telling moment, no? But Ms. Adams moves on and passes up the chance for Gavin to have a meaningful awakening there, and I SO wanted him to.

I also kept forgetting the main characters were supposed to be in their mid-20s. Most of the time it seemed more like they were in their early or mid-30s. But given the belly laugh I had in the scene where Thea and her sister Liv come home earlier than expected and interrupt book group in progress, I forgive Ms. Adams entirely!

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and language secondary. There is no violence, but there is a lot of swearing amongst the witty banter and some very steamy sex scenes. Gavin struggles with a stutter and all the self-esteem issues that can crop up around that. The main characters are presumed white, but there are a few POC secondary characters.

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Kill the Farm Boy

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

This is a fantasy novel that takes many of the usual tropes and turns them upside down: the Chosen One is not a innocent farm boy (saying who it *is* would be a spoiler); Fia, the warrior, hates the bikini chain mail she begins the story wearing; the Dark Lord isn't very dark; the rogue is both female and not very good at sneaking or questing; the witch isn't really wicked; the quest goes sideways constantly and for unusual reasons (both helpful and not); there are allusions to pop culture (Nardstromp's department store at the Goblin Market, artisan cheese and crackers), and so on. The authors were clearly having a great deal of fun writing the story, and it's very entertaining but not as riotously funny as I was expecting (which is not the authors' fault, just a fact of how other readers/reviewers had hyped the book). I am looking forward to the next books in the series, though!

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. Characters have various skin tones/colors, although the fictional world of Pell and its surrounds doesn't map culturally to our own. There is some creative language throughout, especially from Argabella the bard, who likes to say words like "Shoutful," "Songful," and "Deadful." Argabella and Fia have a very sweet romance. There is quite a lot of violence, but it's not graphic--often more absurd than anything. A few main characters don't survive the quest.

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Front Desk

Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This #OwnVoices story of a 10-year-old immigrant from China who wants to be a writer and helps her family manage a motel for a racist owner who cheats them and intimidates them into accepting below-poverty wages grabbed me from the start and made me wish I could leap into the pages and rescue all the immigrants from those who take advantage of them. Finding out that many of the events in the book are based on real-life experiences of the author just made that impulse all the stronger. Sadly, I do not have the ability to protect fictional people. Now I need to focus my attention on ways to help their real-life counterparts. The story is set in the 1990s, but as we've seen in the recent days, weeks, months, and years, many people's racist attitudes towards Asians, Latinx, and African Americans haven't improved.

The extra sections at the end of this book, especially the author's background and the discussion questions, make this an excellent book club selection. Because so much of the story is based on the author's life, I am categorizing the book as "biographical fiction" as well as "realistic fiction."

For readers' advisors: Character doorway is primary, but story is also very strong. No sex or swearing. Mia's mother is beaten up, as is a friend they aid early in the story, but the violence is all off-screen. Strong themes of friendship, respect, care for others, hard work, and persistence in following your dreams.

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The Duke and I

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After binge-watching the first series of Bridgerton on Netflix, I pulled out my copy of The Duke and I to re-read and see how much had been altered. The book was even more delightful than I remembered! Far fewer sub-plots than on Netflix, and far more witty dialogue. In large part that is because in the book, Daphne is not quite as young as she is portrayed in the show--she's at the end of her second season, so somewhere around 20 instead of around 18--and she's more comfortable around men--too comfortable, is really the problem, as they see her as a pal instead of a potential wife. Even Nigel Berbrooke isn't as heinous in the book, just dim-witted, desperate, and convinced he loves Daphne. Lord Featherington is already dead, so there is no gambling debt sub-plot. There is no opera singer mistress for Anthony, no boxer best friend for Simon, no Queen, no pregnant Featherington guest/relative, and Lady Danbury is important but not Simon's mother's best friend. The characters are all white, as they would have been in those societal positions at the time and not as Shonda Rhimes revised history. (The color-conscious casting is the tv series is WONDERFUL.)

In short, the book focuses far more on the relationship between Daphne and Simon, as well as the warm relationship between the Bridgerton family members. Violet is a whole lot more cunning, capable, and confident in the book. Anthony has already allowed Daphne to turn down several marriage proposals. And the banter is a balm to my soul, a needed antidote to the violence and chaos in the news.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, setting secondary. There is a little violence (Daphne punching Nigel in the hallway is hysterical more than violent), a few swear words, and several medium-spicy sex scenes. There is WAY more nudity in the tv series, so this seems tame by comparison.

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Interview with a Dead Editor

Interview with a Dead Editor by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lexie has just been laid off from her job as a newspaper reporter when she gets a call asking her to interview for an assistant editor position at a small newspaper in a town she's never heard of. Unfortunately, when she arrives for her interview, she discovers the body of her prospective employer on the floor behind his desk. With a storm on the horizon, Lexie is anxious to get back on the road to Dallas, but first the local police must verify her alibi, which becomes far more difficult when her car's electrical system is inexplicably fried. Luckily, the job she was to interview for comes with a furnished apartment, so she's allowed to stay there until she can be cleared. With nothing better to do, she begins exploring the town, asking questions as she goes.

This book is set in February, but it feels like late fall. The town is straight out of a Hallmark movie--which is intentional and to which Ms. Swendson alludes in the opening scenes--making the book feel like a warm hug, despite the freezing weather and paranormal oddities. I love that all the female characters are strong and independent. No foolishness here! Lexie makes some smart moves to help save herself when the killer threatens her at the end. Plus the police officer is competent and intelligent. This makes the hint of future romance a lot more plausible.

The main characters are white, and supporting characters include an army vet who lost her lower legs in combat, a couple of ghosts, and a mixture of Latinx, African American, and white townsfolk, many of whom are descended from members of a traveling sideshow.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are pretty strong, and setting is also a factor for anyone who loves Hallmark movies. Or hates, I suppose. Minimal on-screen violence that mostly involves the killer briefly attacking Lexie. No sex or swearing. Some sub-plots & mini-mysteries are set up and left to be resolved in future installments of the series. Book #2 comes out in a few weeks, so readers won't have to wait long for the next chapter in Lexie's life.

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Chickens to the Rescue

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Farmer Greenstalk & his family are incredibly lucky to have such amazing chickens! The plucky poultry retrieve a watch from a well, cook dinner, rewrite a chewed up book report, bring back a stolen truck, rescue a cow from a tree, and bring home lost sheep. Chickens to the rescue! But by Sunday, they are tired and deserve a rest. ...Pigs to the rescue!

This hilarious tale of resourceful hens had the preschoolers in my storytime cackling with glee. We practiced saying the repeated phrase, "Chickens to the rescue!" before we began, and they belted it out with enthusiasm on every other page (spread).

I do wish the human characters weren't all so pale-skinned, but otherwise this is a fantastic, funny, farce.

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The Lightning-Struck Heart

The Lightning-Struck Heart by T.J. Klune
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An apprentice to the King's Wizard who gets kidnapped constantly, pines for the hunky Knight Commander, loves his parents, and has a hornless gay unicorn and a half-giant for best friends? Hilarious!! Absolutely crazy, and you just have to go with the flow. Or quest. Because, you know, rescuing the prince who's been kidnapped by a talking dragon and all that.

This is a long book (in print it's almost 400 pages, and the ebook version I read was over 600 pages), full of sass, snark, adventure, romance, heartbreak, sex puns, and magic. The characters are delightful--even the supposed villains cracked me up--and the dialogue had me convulsing with laughter.

Warning, though: you must have a VERY high tolerance for profanity and gay sex puns to enjoy this book. Seriously. So. Much. Swearing. And reference to sex--acts, organs, feelings. No actual sex scenes until the last few pages, though, unless you count the...er...interspecies encounter Sam unfortunately overhears a few chapters earlier. (He'll never get those images out of his brain! Gah!) As a straight woman, the actual sex scenes weren't my cup of tea, but they're more or less analogous to hetero sex scenes in some of the steamier romance novels I've read.

Almost all the characters were queer--mostly gay, one was asexual, and "Mama" was a drag queen. There were some token CIS characters, namely Sam's parents, the King, and the female members of the Ryan Foxheart fan club. I loved that being gay was completely ordinary and unremarkable. Even the Prince was gay, and that was no big deal because somehow gay men could have babies (although how was not explained).

The one thing that kept my rating from being 5 stars (and I know it's kind of nit-picky) was that the author & his copy editor REALLY need to learn the difference between "who" and "whom." Every single time "whom" should have been used...it wasn't. And there was at least one case where "I" was used in place of "me." The grammar mistakes yanked me out of the story and made me long for the ability to teach Mr. Klune & his editor about the difference between subjective & objective pronouns. It wouldn't have hurt for the book to have been a teensy bit shorter, although I feel like I should duck and cover for saying that.

This is the first in a series, and I look forward to reading the next installments!

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Prudence

Prudence by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alexia and Conall Maccon's daughter Prudence is (mostly) grown up now. So what better way to demonstrate her independence than to be tasked by her adoptive father to travel by dirigible to India to set up a new tea business that circumvents the East India Company? The need for secrecy regarding the tea causes no little confusion when the trip takes a decidedly more political...and supernatural...turn. Suddenly Rue and her friends are in the middle of a pitched battle, trying to prevent a war.

Although I enjoyed this first book in the Custard Protocol series, it didn't quite grab me the way the Parasol Protectorate did. I connected more with Alexia than I did with Rue, perhaps in part due to Rue's tendency toward heedlessness. The other characters never fully gelled for me either. Still, I liked the book well enough to read the next one in the series and thought the story picked up at the end. (The plot prior to that was pretty thin.)

Other reviewers have mentioned issues with cultural insensitivity, and I have to agree with them, for the most part. I do think that authors get a great deal of creative license when it comes to creating alternate universes, such as a Victorian England & India with vampires, werewolves, Rakshasas, weremonkeys, and even a werecat. However, I wish Ms. Carriger had written larger roles for Indian characters and not included the part where a dirty, nearly-naked Rue was mistaken for a goddess, for example.

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Pleating for Mercy

Pleating for Mercy by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Harlow Cassidy has recently returned to Bliss, Texas, after years of working in NYC as a fashion designer. She's set up a custom dressmaking shop in the house her recently deceased great-grandmother left her, and she's eager to get her new business off the ground. However, having a client's bridesmaid murdered in her garden isn't helping, so Harlow is quite motivated to figure out who the real killer is and clear her name.

This is the first installment of a fun cozy mystery series with elements of magic and ghosts. The Cassidy women have all been gifted with various talents thanks to a wish made by their long-dead many-times-great grandfather, Butch Cassidy. (Yes, that Butch Cassidy.) Death doesn't necessarily put an end to these talented women, either, as Harlow comes to realize.

I read this book about the same time I read the first in another magical mystery series, Secondhand Spirits, by Julia Blackwell. Both are enjoyable, but overall, this one feels more like a cozy, despite surface similarities of magical backgrounds, affinity for knowing what clothes someone should wear, trying to get fledgling businesses off the ground, and potential non-magical love interests. It's a bit lighter in tone.

One thing that left me puzzled, though: How in the world did Miriam and the sheriff know to barge into the bathroom there at the end when Harlow was being attacked by the killer? That made no sense. Did I miss something?

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character & setting secondary. No sex or graphic violence, but I think there might have been a couple of mild swear words? I forget--it's been a couple months since I finished it. (I'm just really behind with reviews.)

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Secondhand Spirits

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After leading a globe-trotting, itinerant life for years, Lily Ivory has finally settled down to run a vintage clothing store in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. She's making friends and enjoying the quirkiness of the area that helps camouflage her own powerful talent for witchcraft. Then one day, a child is kidnapped and a client dies under mysterious supernatural circumstances. Despite her reluctance to get involved and reveal her talents, Lily can't let the evil go unchecked, and she dives head first into a paranormal battle to save the little girl from La Llorona.

The first book in this cozy mystery series felt more like an urban fantasy where the main character happens to solve a suspicious death and save an abducted child. I liked it once I got used to the idea that it wouldn't be as lighthearted as either of Heather Blake's magical cozy mystery series--this series has a more "realistic" depiction of witchcraft, with detailed recipes for brews, spells, charms, etc.

The budding romance angle was appealing to me--I like Max and think the relationship could work if he softens his stance on the (non)existence of magic. I do not like the character Aidan, the male witch. He seriously creeps me out, not the least of which due to his unnatural charisma. I hope future volumes of this series reveal more of his secrets--I feel sure he's got nefarious ulterior motives.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There are a few mild swear words and a couple of creepy-atmosphere scenes, but no sex or graphic violence. It is a cozy mystery, but it feels a little darker (or perhaps more serious?) than other cozies, even other cozies featuring some type of magic or witchcraft. Fans of the TV show "Charmed" would most likely enjoy this series.

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Rebel Mechanics

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's 1888. The American Revolution never got off the ground, so the British still rule the colonies. Specifically magisters do--British nobility with magical abilities. A new revolution is brewing, however, this time fueled by young inventors called Rebel Mechanics who believe that non-magical machines are the key to overthrowing British oppression and achieving freedom.

Verity Newton's mother has died after a long illness, so Verity travels from New Haven to New York City in search of a governess position in a wealthy household. The teenager manages to land one on her first day, due in part to transportation assistance from the Rebel Mechanics, who waste no time in recruiting her as a spy for The Cause. Her position as a governess to the governor's grandchildren allows her access to intelligence from the highest ranks of society. Eye-opening experiences convince her of the importance of passing on information to the rebels even as she keeps her own secrets and discovers that not all magisters are alike.

Love love love this book!! I'm so glad the second one has just come out so I don't have to wait to dive back into this reality. I just wish the next book were available on audio already because this one was great fun to listen to. Well-written characters, a story that made me thankful for a long commute, and fantastic world-building.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting doorways are all strong. It's marketed as teen fiction, but it works for adults, too, especially fans of steampunk, alternative history, and urban fantasy. Since it's aimed at a YA audience, there is some kissing but no sex, bad language, or graphic violence. It would likely also appeal to fans of Patricia C Wrede's Frontier Magic series.

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The Crepes of Wrath

The Crêpes of Wrath by Sarah Fox
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Marley McKinney came to the tiny coastal town of Wildwood Cove to spend a couple of weeks running her Cousin Jimmy's restaurant while he recuperated in the hospital. When he is murdered right after returning to town, Marley struggles to help the police uncover the culprit without becoming the next victim.

What I liked about the first book in this new series:
*It was set on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula.
*The story was interesting, with a few twists and turns.

What I didn't like:
*The budding relationship between Marley and her former crush, Brett, felt too obvious and artificial.
*The dilemma of whether to stay in Wildwood or return to Seattle would have been much more convincing if her life in Seattle didn't sound so lonely & unfulfilling.
*The writing felt very amateurish in many places. Ms. Fox's editor should have helped her tighten her language and eliminate the zillions of repetitions (& variations) of the phrases "spinning thoughts" and "filled my mind." For example, on page 2 of chapter 3, there is an entire paragraph listing questions that Marley is thinking about, followed by a completely unnecessary one-sentence paragraph stating, "Those questions circled around and around in my head." Thank you, Captain Obvious! Removing that extraneous sentence would make the story flow much better, and this is just one example of many.

Bottom line:
The series has promise, but it needs more polish.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, setting secondary. It's a cozy mystery, so a couple of kisses but no sex, graphic violence, or profanity.

I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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Austenland

Austenland by Shannon Hale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jane Hayes hasn't had much success in the boyfriend department--she's been dumped a dozen times over the years, sometimes quite painfully. She takes refuge in her favorite movie, Pride and Prejudice. (The real one, a.k.a. the BBC version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.) Fantasy men like Mr. Darcy don't let you down like real men. Even so, she's reluctant to claim the inheritance left to her by her Aunt Carolyn: an all-expenses paid 3-week trip to Austenland in the UK where she'll live as Jane Austen and her characters did.

Jane eventually decides to make the most of her vacation, using it to immerse herself in her fantasy, thereby putting it to rest forever. Despite having sworn off men forever, Jane finds herself teasing the irritating Mr. Nobley, one of the male actors, and snogging Martin, a handsome gardener, and realizes she not only isn't ready to give up men, she likes the new freer Jane, who isn't so obsessed with finding The One. However, in a world where everyone's playing a role, how do you know what's real and what's not?

I saw and loved the movie a couple of years ago, not realizing it was based on a novel. I did enjoy reading the book, although I think I actually like the movie a little bit better, despite how closely the movie follows the novel. (I usually prefer the books!) It is a good beach read type of book--light and often humorous.

My younger self could really relate to Jane, although my current self wishes someone would smack her upside the head and remind her that there isn't anything wrong with being single, especially when the alternative is accepting a bad relationship like a needy ninny. In most respects, Jane is successful, and I wish she could SEE that and be more self-confident (ironically a trait that would almost certainly attract a better mate for her). My favorite part of the book was actually witnessing Jane rediscover her joy as a painter. I wish more authors would write stories about people who are happy, confident, and single. It can be done! The best romance authors often tell stories about characters who enjoy their lives and then happen to meet and fall in love with someone.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary. There is virtually no swearing and only kissing/making out (no sex). No violence, other than a small tussle in the airport.

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Sweet Haven

Sweet Haven by Shirlee McCoy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Addie is stressed. Really stressed. Her To Do list is taller than she is and includes things like running her grandfather's chocolate shop while he recuperates from a fall, losing ten pounds in about a week so she can squeeze into a hideous bridesmaid dress for an elderly friend's wedding, making hundreds of candies as wedding favors for said wedding, coping with her hypercritical mother, and figuring out how to keep her oversize puppy from escaping and wreaking havoc on the small town of Benevolence, Washington. She's frustrated by her inability to replicate the famous fudge the store is known for and worried that the business will fail if she can't learn to master it in time to meet not only walk-in demand from tourists and locals, but also the many online orders awaiting fulfillment. The very last thing she needs is the gorgeous new tenant upstairs distracting her. She's been burned before in the romance department, and she is Not Interested.

Sinclair is only back in town for as long as it takes to help his brother clean out their grandfather's house so his pregnant sister-in-law will come home. He harbors bad memories of growing up where his family name signifies lazy alcoholics, and he's worked hard to build a thriving business restoring old buildings, so he can't wait to get back to it. His PTSD and old injuries don't always let him sleep well, however, and soon he finds himself helping to capture Addie's runaway dog who interrupted his jog. In spite of himself, he's drawn to the frazzled accountant-turned-chocolatier and her misbehaving pooch, and before long, fudge isn't the only thing simmering in the kitchen.

This was a very sweet romance. Only a couple of mild swear words kept me from categorizing this as officially a "clean read." There are some steamy kissing (and almost-kissing) scenes, but no sex.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways are primary. Only the most particular readers would likely object to the "clean reads" label.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

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