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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The Ex Hex

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nine years ago, Vivi and her cousin Gwen got drunk and cursed Vivi's boyfriend after she broke up with him because he told her he was (sort of) betrothed to someone else back home in Wales.  Now he's returned to her small witchy town to recharge the ley lines, and she discovers her curse wasn't all wishful thinking.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Too much angst, swearing, and sex. I was listening to the eAudiobook, and I could only listen when my children were either in school or asleep--yikes! It might not have been as bad had I read the ebook instead and could more easily skim over the excessive bits, but I did at least take advantage of the 15-second-skip-ahead button quite a few times.

It wouldn't have bothered me so much if there had been more of a foundation for the relationship, I think. But I was never convinced they had enough in common besides magic to build a life together. They initially broke up because they failed to communicate or be honest about their feelings, and neither one really did enough growing in the intervening nine years before the present-day part begins. So when they reunite, they still can't properly communicate, and when would they fit it in between All The Sex anyway? Seriously, if you have a town full of witches and clueless non-witches with all magic going spectacularly haywire, maybe stop with the sex long enough to focus on figuring out a solution?? And maybe in doing so, you could figure out whether or not you make good partners? I honestly thought for a long time that maybe the sex was in there because it was going to turn out to be somehow related to breaking the curse, but no.

So, meh. I think this book might appeal to folks who are in the mood for an angsty, steamy, witchy fall romance and don't care about character development, multi-dimensional characters, or a well-thought-out plot, though.

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Under Lock & Skeleton Key

Under Lock & Skeleton Key: A Secret Staircase Mystery by Gigi Pandian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tempest Raj loves being a magician. She comes from a long line of Indian magicians, and she never believed in the family curse, but her recent spate of misfortunes has her wondering whether there might be some truth to the legend. She's back home in the Bay Area after her assistant sabotaged their Las Vegas show, nearly killing Tempest in an attempt to discredit her and steal her show.

Since she's home, her dad has requested her assistance looking over the blueprints for the current project his company, Secret Staircase Construction, is working on, because something about them just doesn't quite add up, and Tempest is an expert in the art of building elaborate illusions. Unfortunately, not long after Tempest arrives on site, the bagged body of her backstabbing body double falls out of a wall that's been sealed for decades. How is that even possible, and was Cassidy the target, or was the killer aiming for Tempest?

As you might expect with a book about magicians, misdirection abounds. Tempest and her friends investigate, uncovering means, motives, and opportunities that conflict and overlap. One thing I most appreciated about the story was that there was never any question of Tempest being charged with the crime, unlike so many mysteries featuring amateur sleuths. She simply needed to know what was really going on, and how, and why.

My absolute most favorite things about this book were the hidden rooms and secret entrances, the magical nooks and crannies, sliding bookcases, tricks, and illusions. I want to live in her house or maybe in the treehouse with her grandparents!! I want to eat her grandfather's delicious cooking even though I am a wimp and cannot handle spicy Indian food, though maybe the Indian/Scottish blended recipes he's invented might be less fiery?

One issue I had was that I doubt so many people would have believed Tempest would ever have tried those dangerous tricks that destroyed her show. For one thing, her work ethic would have been obvious to everyone in her crew, so I had a hard time believing that anyone who knew her could have been convinced she was at fault. Along those lines, though Tempest feels like she belongs everywhere and nowhere as a result of her multicultural heritage, she's not antisocial or a jerk, so it was hard to see why she didn't seem to have any true friends aside from Sanjay, Ivy, & Gideon. Las Vegas must have been a painfully lonely place for her.

This series opener did nicely set up future plotlines or subplots regarding uncovering her mother's disappearance and who was behind it. Probably the answer will also tie directly to solving her aunt's murder. I'm also looking forward to seeing how this burgeoning love triangle plays out, and learning more about the backstory behind her estrangement from Ivy.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, setting is secondary. No sex or onscreen violence. Only a couple of swear words. Plenty of real-world magic and illusions, nothing supernatural.

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Bewitched

Bewitched by Darynda Jones
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After a 6-month suspended animation nap, Defiance Dayne is once again awake and getting into and out of trouble. While she was sleeping, her dads and her best friend moved across the county to join her in Salem, MA, in her magical house, Percival, haunted by the ghost of her grandfather. Defiance tries at first to lie and say her magical powers have vanished, but that doesn't work, and soon she is tracking down all sorts of missing objects and people, trying desperately to figure out how to keep everyone alive, or at least keep them from dying again.

This volume in the series could have used some heavy editing, particularly the endless repetitions of how sexy Roan was and what his inked existence did to Defiance's "nether" or "girl" parts. That got old REALLY fast, and the book would have been much improved if we could have just skipped over most of that. Roan's backstory was a key subplot, so I wish Defiance had acted her age (45) and dialed back the lust in favor of really getting to know Roan for who he was and not just fixated on the heavily tattooed, kilted outer package. If readers are supposed to go for the pair as a serious couple by the end of the series, there has GOT to be more to the relationship than electricity. In both directions, though mercifully we are spared the recitation of Roan's lustful thoughts.

I LOVE Darynda Jones' books, but this is my least favorite. Some excellent parts, though! And I do still want to listen to the next book to see how the loose ends get tied up.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. Tons of sexual content, though really only one actual sex scene. Plenty of profanity, some violence and threats of violence, but not overly graphic. Trigger warnings for spousal and child abuse. LGBTQIA-adjacent, as Defiance was raised by her two dads, one of whom is Latinx. Her grandmother's love interest, the police chief, is African-American. Other characters are either white or not memorably specified.

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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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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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Chill of the Ice Dragon

Chill of the Ice Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle an ice giant that bested a powerful adult wizard and save a whole kingdom that has been frozen in magical ice with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and not only kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted, but also conned me into reading the entire book in one sitting, resulting in an absurdly late bedtime. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white secondary characters.

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Waking the Rainbow Dragon

Waking the Rainbow Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle a trickster giant spider's spell and save a whole country from drought with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted and really mad when I only read 4 chapters at bedtime, then begging me to read the rest the next afternoon. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white main characters, although the series clearly isn't OwnVoices.

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A Witch to Remember

A Witch to Remember by Heather Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Darcy Merriweather is Stressed Out. Not about her wedding coming up in a couple of weeks. No, she's a bundle of nerves over her younger sister's birthday and what it means for the Elder's renewal ceremony. Her family's nemesis, Dorothy, has become increasingly, dangerously unstable in recent months, and Darcy fears for their safety, especially after the Divinitea Cottage is torched, and it initially appears as though Dorothy set the fire after murdering one of the owners. Darcy teams up with her fiancé Nick Sawyer, the police chief, and Dorothy's daughter Glinda, a private investigator, to solve the crime.

This is a cozy mystery series that REALLY must be read in order. Secrets are revealed in each book in the series that would totally be spoilers for the earlier books. In this particular volume, however, Darcy's Big Secret was ridiculously easy to guess, so her angst and fears then seemed overblown.

Surprisingly, I also figured out who the killer was quite a while before Darcy did. I didn't have a clue what the motive might be, but I deduced who and how. I can't remember the last time I correctly guessed the murderer's identity well in advance of the sleuth's reveal. I have to say, I really prefer to be more in the dark!

Given the ending of the book and the divulging of a smaller secret in the final chapter, perhaps this might be the end of the series? I would hate to leave these lovely characters behind, yet this wasn't my favorite installment, so perhaps Ms. Blake is ready to focus on her Magic Potion series instead?

For readers' advisors: story and setting doorways are primary. The strongest language used is a few instances of "hell" and "damn." There is no sexual content, just some quick kisses. The only onscreen violence is Dorothy attacking other witches with (dark) magic/fire. It's a fun, easy read for anyone who's already read books #1-8, but don't expect much in the way of character development.

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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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Some Like It Witchy

Some Like It Witchy by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It seems a beautiful day in the Enchanted Village, yet Darcy has a bad feeling that trouble is coming, and her instincts are proven right when she and her friend Cherise discover the body of Cherise's realtor, Raina Gallagher, upstairs in the Tavistock house. The house had only recently come on the market when its reclusive owner died. Rumors of hidden jewels from a famous heist decades ago have brought treasure hunters out of the woodwork, and Darcy must figure out whether they have anything to do with the murder.

The fifth installment of the Wishcraft Mystery series is just as fun as the first four. There is less in the way of character development in this one, but the main characters are still multi-dimensional, which I very much appreciate.

The plot twists kept me from guessing the killer, although I am pretty sure have figured out who the dove and The Elder are. I am looking forward to the next book in the series to confirm whether I'm right and what that will mean!

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character & setting secondary. I only remember one swear word, otherwise it's totally a "clean read."

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One Potion in the Grave

One Potion in the Grave by Heather Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Carly Bell Hartwell uses secret drops to create magical potions that actually work, so when she gets a visit from a famous bride-to-be wanting a love potion, she's curious. And when her childhood friend, Katie Sue Perrywinkle, now Kathryn Perry, stops by her shop to say hello after a ten year absence and sets off Carly's "witchy senses" with the aura of danger surrounding her, Carly grows concerned. Her worry leads her to warn Dylan Jackson, her former-fiance-almost-boyfriend who works for the sheriff's office, that something is amiss. Sadly, Carly's warning doesn't prevent catastrophe, and she must piece together what happened before anyone else dies.

I really enjoy Heather Blake's two mystery series. They are fun cozies with quirky characters and small town settings. Two things affected my rating with this one, though: 1) I figured out near the beginning that a key assumption Carly made about Katie Sue's relationship to the Calhoun family was wrong, whereas it took Carly 3/4 or so of the book to realize her mistake, which was annoying, and 2) I actually figured out who the killer was several chapters before the end of the book. (I prefer not to be certain about who & why.)

OK, and a third thing that didn't help my rating was that I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in the first book in this series, and I had been wanting to get to know them better in this one, which barely happened. There is a little progress made in some key relationships, which I appreciated, but I felt like Blake could have had much more space to flesh out her characters if only they hadn't wasted so much time chasing red herrings. Ah well, it was still fun and a great choice for relaxing on the couch, recuperating after the holiday whirlwind.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There is no sex or onscreen violence and only a few mild swear words.

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First Frost

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sarah Addison Allen's book, Garden Spells, is one of my all-time favorite novels, so when I had an opportunity to win a free Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of First Frost from Bookbrowse in exchange for my honest review, I jumped at the chance.  First Frost picks up the story of the Waverley women of Bascom, North Carolina, ten years after the end of Garden Spells.  Bay is now fifteen, her mother is happily married to Henry, and her Aunt Claire is happily married to Tyler.  Claire and Tyler live in the Waverley house with their nine-year-old daughter Mariah, while Sydney, Henry, and Bay live in Henry's farmhouse.  Evanelle isn't moving as quickly as she used to, but she still feels the urge to give people unusual objects they'll soon need, and her best friend and housemate, Fred, has begun to do the same.

The tension in First Frost, thankfully, isn't due to stress in the marriages--I absolutely hate when sequels ruin love stories just to provide plot points.  Rather, each of the Waverley women is struggling with a different issue in her personal life: Claire has been doing virtually nothing but making special candies for the past year and feels trapped and exhausted by it, Sydney desperately wants another baby but hasn't been able to conceive, Evanelle is facing fading health and a friend who cannot bear the thought of losing her, and Bay, well, Bay knows where things belong and is tormented when others can't see it, in this case a boy she knows she's meant to be with who barely knew she existed until she wrote him a note that gained her some unwanted notoriety.  A mysterious stranger asking the townspeople questions about the Waverleys in general and Claire in particular just adds to the anxiety and tension.   They all know things will get better, as they always do, after the first frost of the year when the apple tree in the backyard blooms.  The trick is to hang on until then.

I loved being able to revisit the enchanting world of Bascom.  The story is delightful--perfect for a cozy fall or winter evening.   I didn't want to put it down.

What I did want, however, is for the mysterious stranger subplot to have been better developed.  I felt like it started to go in an interesting, magical direction and then sort of fizzled out by the end.  Otherwise, though, I loved spending time with these characters and this story.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, setting secondary.  It's a lovely story about family supporting and nurturing each other.  There is no sex (well, mention of it as Sydney focuses on conception but not any real sex scenes), violence, or swearing that I can recall.

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The Goodbye Witch

The Goodbye Witch by Heather Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Darcy's best friend Starla rushes in to As You Wish, panic-stricken because she's just seen her ex-husband for the first time since he tried to kill her two years ago, Darcy is determined to keep her friend safe. The trouble is, no one else can see Kyle, and how do you defend against someone you can't see? While Darcy's police chief boyfriend focuses on locating the fugitive, Darcy turns her attention to puzzling out why Kyle has suddenly reappeared after all this time. As with everything in this magical village, all is not as it seems, and unraveling the secrets to uncover the truth can be painful in more ways than one.

This is my favorite book in the series so far. The character development is especially strong for a cozy mystery, and I really enjoyed the relationships between all the major and even the minor characters. I admit, I was teary-eyed on more than one occasion! Bring on book #5!

For readers' advisors: character and story are both strong. There is no sex, bad language, or on-screen violence. There is magic, however, as most of the main characters are witches or related to witches. Contemporary setting--a magic-themed neighborhood of Salem, Massachusetts.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy

The Good the Bad and the Witchy by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #3 in the Wishcraft Mystery series starts off with a boisterous birthday bash for Harriette, an eighty-year-old "floracrafter," (a witch whose magical specialty is flowers), complete with her signature black roses and an aging stripper. The party is just getting going when Darcy Merriweather discovers the recently murdered corpse of the young man who'd come to deliver the birthday cake. Michael's ghost attaches itself to Darcy, urging her to help him find his killer, but Darcy's snooping puts her in conflict with Nick, her police chief boyfriend, because it gives the jealous Glinda ammunition she can use to threaten the couple.

Ms. Blake does such a good job of weaving together subplots and building 3-dimensional characters--better than many, if not most, cozy mystery authors. That's why my rating for this one is 4 stars, even though I often wonder why someone doesn't just wish to discover the murderer--Darcy is a Wishcrafter, after all, and I don't recall any stated laws of wishcraft she'd be violating. Perhaps Ms. Blake will explain that in a future book? Then again, if wishing solved the murders, these books would be VERY short.

I finally realized what I am picturing in my head when I read descriptions of the Enchanted Village: the set of Gilmore Girls but with a magical theme. Makes me wish it were a real place.

For readers' advisors: story & character doorways are both strong, and setting is secondary. No sex, bad language, or on-screen violence.

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A Witch Before Dying

A Witch Before Dying by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Darcy Merriweather, Wishcrafter and sole remaining healthy employee of her aunt's private concierge service, As You Wish, has just been hired to clean out Patrice Keaton's house so her daughter Elodie can sell it. Patrice has been missing for a year and a half, and Elodie can no longer afford to maintain both her mother's house & business. She warns Darcy that it'll be a big job--Patrice was a hoarder--but neither one expect that one of the first things Darcy uncovers will be Patrice's dessicated body.

The more Darcy digs through the debris, the more she uncovers a complicated web of wishes and secrets. At the heart of it all is the Anicula, a charm that both mortals and Crafters (as the witches prefer to be called) alike can use to make unlimited wishes. It's a power coveted by many, and Darcy has her hands full determining who might want it enough to kill for it.

To top it all off, Darcy must complete her investigation while simultaneously dealing with her aunt's imminent wedding, which seems to have been cursed, so many things are going wrong, and the Peeper Creeper who's been watching Darcy from the woods and breaking into homes all over town.

The second installment of the Wishcraft Mystery series does not disappoint. It's light, fun, and a fast read full of quirky characters you'd love to know in real life. Well, perhaps not the creepy Andreus Woodshall, who looks normal in the daylight and scary in the shadows. But definitely handsome police chief Nick Sawyer and his spunky daughter Mimi, Darcy herself, feisty Mrs. Pennywhistle, and the "familiars," Archie the macaw and Pepe the mouse.

For readers' advisors: story doorway, with character a distant second. No sex or on-screen violence, no bad language.

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A Potion to Die For: A Magic Potion Mystery

A Potion to Die For: A Magic Potion Mystery by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Carly Bell Hartwell's love potions are never more popular than when Mr. Dunwoody predicts someone will be getting divorced soon. His occasional prognostications are never wrong and inevitably lead to Carly being chased to her potion shop by a mob of panicked spouses worried that their marriages might be less solid than they thought. That all changes the morning Carly and her hex-selling cousin Delia discover a body in Carly's break room--a body clutching one of Carly's potion bottles. The fact that the potion wasn't the cause of death doesn't seem to matter to the spooked crowd, which evaporates as quickly as it gathered. The investigation, led by Carly's delicious ex-fiance, Sergeant Dylan Jackson, doesn't progress fast enough to suit Carly's dwindling bank account, and when her falling down house demands immediate repairs, Carly decides to ferret out the truth of who killed local lawyer Nelson Winston, and why she's being framed for it.

Quirky characters fill the pages of the first book in this fun new cozy contemporary mystery series from the author of the Wishcraft Mysteries. Blake does a good job of bringing the small town of Hitching Post, Alabama, wedding capital of the South, to life.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. I'm marking it "clean reads" because I can't remember any bad language, and there are no sex scenes or on-screen violence.

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Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So far as I can tell, this has been my most popular review on Goodreads.  Since I'm behind in writing my reviews, I decided to post this older (2007) one here in the meantime.  Enjoy!


What I learned from this book is...if an apple tree throws its apples at you, for goodness sake, pay attention already!

This book is lovely, magical, enchanting. I sat down to read just one chapter, basically to decide whether it was worth holding onto even though it was already overdue. At 2:30 a.m. I finished the whole darn thing. Couldn't stop myself. I floated in a state of suspended reality, where time had no meaning.

The basic idea of the book: two sisters experienced their childhoods very differently. Now, as adults, they must come to terms with choices, past and present, and with the unique abilities each woman inherited. In Bascom, North Carolina, townsfolk know Claire's garden grows produce with mystical properties, like the honeysuckle wine she makes that lets you see in the dark. Sydney has a gift for revealing a person's inner self through a haircut. Bay always knows where things belong. And whatever Evanelle gives you, no matter how strange, you'll be certain to need before too long.

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Battle Magic

Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fans of Pierce's "Circle of Magic" and "Circle Opens" quartets will probably like the latest installment of the "Circle Reforged" series. This time, Briar, Evvy, and Rosethorn have been invited to meet the emperor of Yanjing and tour his famous gardens. Their stay is not always a comfortable one, as the emperor shows off not only his gardens but his vast armies, lightning-fast mood swings, and absolute control over his subjects. While there, the trio befriend Parahan, heir to a nearby kingdom, sold into slavery by his uncle. When Parahan escapes...with a little help...on the eve of their departure, the emperor goes ballistic, ordering a vast manhunt to recapture his prized possession. Soon Briar, Evvy, and Rosethorn are dodging Yanjingyi soldiers as they flee to the border with news of an impending invasion, joining the fray as battle mages for their friend, the Gyongxin God-King.

As always, Tamora Pierce's world-building is outstanding, her stories exciting, and her characters well-developed. My main reason for the relatively low 3-star rating is the inexplicable decision to have Rosethorn cheat on Lark with Parahan. The affair comes completely out of the blue and is utterly gratuitous (albeit occurring offscreen, thankfully). It in no way moves the story along or has any other redeeming purpose. Removing it would not impact the sequence of events in the slightest. I'm sorry, Ms. Pierce, but what were you thinking?! Just because someone is bisexual does not automatically mean she's also adulterous! And if you ARE going to include infidelity, there better be a literary reason for it. I am still flabbergasted by this pointless artistic choice. Flabbergasted and disappointed. I lost so much respect for those two characters...and the author...the moment I read the first scene where Briar sees them embracing.

For readers' advisors: setting, story, and character doorways. Despite the adultery, it's a clean read, since none of that is actually described. This book is shelved with juvenile fiction in my library, but that is an error, in my opinion. Evvy is, I believe, twelve, Briar is sixteen or so, and Rosethorn is an adult, as are all the other characters, apart from the God-King. I would definitely consider this to be young adult fiction.

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