North Carolina

Esme Addison: A Brew for Chaos

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Enchanted Bay Mysteries #3

Disclosure: this is the first book of this series I have read. I loved it so much I’ve already added the others to Mount-to-be-Read. If you like the magical mysteries of Heather Blake and Madelyn Alt, you need to read this series!

It’s fall and seaside Bellamy Bay, NC is getting ready for Oktoberfest. Aleksandra (Alex) Daniels is busy filling orders at her aunt’s apothecary shop, including secret herbal ingredients for newspaper editor Jonah Fox who is brewing up his special beer for the Oktoberfest beer competition. Alex is getting used to her recently-discovered magical heritage while keeping it a secret from her no-nonsense boyfriend police detective Jack Frazier. read more

Carol Miller: The Magician’s Deception

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Fortune Telling Mysteries #4

Disclosure: this is the first book of this series I have read. Apparently the theme of each Tarot-themed book comes from the main card of a Tarot reading done at the beginning of the book. Although Amazon describes the series as “hilarious,” that was not my impression. It’s fun and cozy, but not laugh-out-loud funny.

Sisters Hope and Summer Bailey run Bailey’s Boutique, a mystic shop in Asheville, North Carolina which features palm and tarot readings, tea, and mystical gemstones. When Hope does a one-card Tarot reading for a customer, her Gram peeks at the next undrawn card. It’s the Magician, which means “beware the deceitful stranger.” It’s enough to give Gram pause and for her to consider cancelling her school reunion trip with her boyfriend “Because it’s almost Halloween, my dear, and everything is turned around on Halloween.” read more

Allie Pleiter: One Sharp Stitch

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Nimble Needle #1

One Sharp Stitch is the first of the Nimble Needle Mysteries by Allie Pleiter. Readers are taken to Gwen Lake, outside of Asheville, North Carolina, with Shelby Phillips. Having just lost her job as well as a possible relationship, Shelby is headed home for a break from her life and to help her mother out at her needlepoint shop, the Nimble Needle. Her parents are finally taking a vacation in their RV. Shelby will only be minding the shop for a month, as she keeps reminding her parents and her perfectionist sister, Jessica. There’s also a trunk show coming up for local vendors, and Shelby will have to work with an old classmate, Kat Katsaros, who now makes needlework scissors — very artsy and expensive needlework scissors. Kat also sharpens blades of all kinds in a van that she happily uses to transport her scissors and crafts. read more