Rating: 4.5⭐️
Hailey Edwards has quickly become another author who’s an auto read. So when I saw this amazing cover ( yes, an absolute classic) I was hooked.
Yard Birds is an urban fantasy series about a group of retired coven of witches, once a part of powerful undercover force ,WitchLight Hub.
Now down to five, Ellie Gleason and what’s left of the coven, Flo, Betty, Joan and Ida, have protected the town of Samford, Alabama for decades.
I love that Edwards has these wonderful women as both realistically worn down by their lives as past magical agents and by life itself. They are widowed in some cases, had hip replacements, suffering various ailments, hardened by their previous employment, trying to hide their past and get by as old women. Who they are and aren’t, in a community that hasn’t a clue as to what they are.
Then Elle’s great-nephew comes to her in need of help. And the old coven is reassembled to go investigate and solve the mystery of what is attacking the paranormal youth in a summer camp.
The author has created many questions within the story and given the readers many curious elements and aspects of certain character histories that require further exploration. The one that immediately comes to mind is the curse and mystery of Wally, Ellie’s dead husband. He’s or his soul is been stuffed into one of those mounted talking fish that you see on tv. You know, the talking Bass?
Why and who has cursed Wally isn’t revealed here. Just what the curse entails, what it takes to break it. A heartbreaking element for this couple.
It’s one of those things going forward that I hope the author will resolve this for them both.
The investigation was short but satisfactory. The fight scene involved a walker, which was also amazing.
And there’s a recipe for a Yard Bird Margarita at the very beginning that I intend to try out this weekend.
This is a book that keeps on giving.
Another winner, fantastic content and cover. More please. Especially of books with main characters of different generations. Not everyone needs FMC or MMC in their 20’s consistently.
Cover by Damonza. Great cover design and artwork.
Yard Birds series:
Crazy as a Loon #1
Dead as a Dodo #2
Free as a Bird #3
Buy link
Crazy as a Loon (Yard Birds Book 1)
Blurb
Ellie Gleason has protected the town of Samford, Alabama for decades. It’s not as glamorous as her glory days as the WitchLight Hub, but it keeps her active during her golden years.
Life is good.
Well, it’s okay.
Fine.
It could be bloodier with a smidge more gore, but retirement is meant to be low-key. It’s not like her fragile bones could handle the strenuous hunt for monsters anymore, even if her current duties are dull as dishwater.
But when her great-nephew shows up on her doorstep in tears—or is he her great-great nephew?—begging for help, Ellie straps on her beloved shotgun, Bam-Bam, and gets the coven back together.
Sure, Betty just had a hip replacement, and Flo would rather flirt than fight, and Ida is busy with her anniversary plans, and Joan is…Joan. But Ellie is certain she can whip the girls into shape in time to defeat the creature preying on kids at a nearby summer camp. She might even have them home in time for dinner.
- Publisher: Black Dog Books, LLC. (May 5, 2023)
- Publication date: May 5, 2023
- Language: English
- Print length: 133 pages
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 