Deadly Coins is the second in the Witch in the Woods series by Jenna St. James. It’s another terrific mystery that brings further insight into the some of the otherworldliness of the island and the creatures that live there, and the history of its inhabitants.
In this story, it’s all about a cold case that hit close to home for one of Shayla’s closest friends. There’s an investigation, suspicion that falls on an older group of people, and a dramatic twist.
Another satisfying story and slow burn romance.
I’m here for it. Plus a grumpy magical flying porcupine !
When game warden, Shayla Loci, and her cousin, Serena Spellburn, stumble upon a wounded dragon guarding gold coins, they have no idea it would lead to a clue about how Serena’s dad, Mac, really died nearly thirty years before. But that’s exactly what happened. Now Shayla and Sheriff Alex Stone must determine if Mac died of suspicious causes, and, if so, who caused his death and why. Between digging for thirty-year-old clues among supposed friends and experiencing a near-death fatality, Shayla is sure Mac’s death was planned. But can she prove it? With the help of Needles her flying porcupine, Shayla is unwavering in her pursuit to find Uncle Mac’s killer. But when things come to a head, and innocent people are in the way, will everyone come out unscathed? Or will Shayla have to make the ultimate sacrifice? If you like paranormal cozy mysteries and midlife main characters, then this series is for you!
Morning Glories & Murder is the sixth novel in Winters’ Willowmere Cozy Mysteries series and I find that, in a 17 book series, there’s elements of this that I still love and others that I find less appealing at this point.
Number one is the gorgeous language and the absolute beauty of the words Winters uses to convey a sense of character or atmospheric magic in her work. Succinct, poetic and witty, I love the expression of her voice here.
Her ability to create a mystical, living almost sentience that flows from the dirt and wood in Willowmere is amazing. It’s believable in feeling both ominous and beautifully ancient simultaneously.
The murder mystery each book is occupied with are also good. But each has felt a bit flat because of there’s been so much time spent on a convoluted, investigative work that apprehending the culprit is a rushed affair, concluded all too briefly.
Relationships too are sparsely linked, dryly written about and even more weakly linked. The reader must infer from bits of information where different relationships might be headed, if anywhere. I’m actually ok with that.
But it’s with the main character of Maeve Everhart where I personally have the most problems connecting. She’s been hinting at having considerable power but time and again she’s attacked. Yet Maeve is passive against violent aggressive tactics or undermining maneuvering.
Throughout story after story, she avoids taking evidence to the town’s sheriff, keeping clues to herself ( sometimes losing the key material), waiting and watching for “the soil” and Whim, the familiar to point to a possible motive or culprit.
It’s frustrating to read. Because essentially it’s wandering around as the culprit continues to escalate “evil doings” right until the last few pages. Then it’s boom, it’s whoever. Done.
Here she’s personally attacked in a number of ways, professionally, personally etc. And again, it’s an approach of “ idk, not sure what I can do about it “.
For me, I’m not sure if this type of character is worth the effort. Love the language, not connecting with any but the cat, a snarky wry individual on his best days.
Think I’ll give it a rest for now. Come back later when I need a hit for sentences like this:
“From his perch atop the hanging planter by the window, Whim offered a disdainful yawn and flexed one white-tipped paw. “It’s not the rosemary. It’s the coming crowd. You can feel the potpourri energy swelling already. Too many amateur aromatherapists. Not enough dignity in the ceramics.”
Sigh.
Not a fan of the covers, which doesn’t match up with the tone of the book.
Willowmere’s Summer Artisan Faire was supposed to celebrate beauty, craft, and memory. Instead, it begins with the discovery of a beloved potter’s body beneath her own shattered booth.
Maeve Everhart wasn’t looking for another mystery. But the clay doesn’t lie—and neither does the soil. As whispers of sabotage echo through the town’s sunlit streets, she’s pulled into a web of rivalries, forgeries, and unfinished work that someone was desperate to keep buried.
With her greenhouse rattled by secrets and old friendships tested by fire, Maeve must piece together a broken charm, a fractured legacy, and the truth that lives in what Petra left behind.
Because in Willowmere, every creation carries intention—and some were made to remember what others wanted to forget.
Get ready for a whirlwind mystery and cozy thrill ride in this paranormal cozy mystery. Get under a blanket and be prepared to be immersed!
“It smells like someone overwatered ambition,” Whim muttered from beneath the herb stand, his tail flicking toward a pot of mint that looked more like mush.
It’s Spring Planting Weekend in Willowmere and the commentary is flowing fierce.
My favorite paranormal mystery is back in force. High quality language, mystical imagery, scenes that feel both gothic and cozy along with a haunting landscape follow Maeve and Whim, her familiar, when beloved florist Marigold Bloom is found dead, holding a bouquet of flowers whose language sends a bite instead of a message of love.
We get an excellent story, a serious mystery and series of clues to lead to a complex albeit mystical investigation.
However, the language and phrases by the author just continue to delight me. Clever and creative, conveying a sense of humor and character with a conciseness that is perfect.
Example:
“Good morning, Dorian.”
He tipped his glass. “The garden’s looking well-fed. Much like the town’s curiosity.”
Maeve shook her head and tried not to smile. Dorian was charming, curious, and a little too good at circling truths without landing on them.
That’s Dorian Quinn owner of the Lavender Lantern, one of the several unique community members of Willowmere.
Always a tad too charming, too much, too perfectly put together, even at a murder scene, sipping a cocktail.
There’s an ongoing sense of grief and hidden secrets that are unraveling under Willowmere now that Maeve has returned home. Secrets that her great aunt Hazel knew about and helped seal.
Along with her familiar, Whim, and Silas Merrick, a local beekeeper, one death at a time, (one story at a time) the secrets are being revealed.
It does make me wonder, like that old joke about (Midsomer Murders) Cozy Mysteries, how many people are still living at the end of the series in such a small village?
I’m throughly enjoying the process, the mystical elements, and the fabulous writing.
I’m highly recommending this for anyone who loves great writing, interesting mystery attached to a bit of mysticism. Haunting and poetic.
Not a fan of the covers, which doesn’t match up with the tone of the book.
The garden blooms again… but something beneath it never died.
Spring in Willowmere is in full swing, and Maeve Everhart is trying to keep her hands in the soil and her heart out of trouble. But when beloved florist Marigold Bloom is found dead among her foxglove and rue, the scent of grief is laced with suspicion. The bouquet wasn’t accidental. And neither is the silence blooming in its wake.
Everyone in town has something to protect—some secrets are personal, some are poisonous, and some are old enough to be buried in the land itself. As whispers curl beneath fresh blossoms and intentions are masked with petals, Maeve finds herself unraveling a plot that roots back generations… and may still be growing.
Because in Willowmere, the soil remembers. And this time, it might not forgive.
Get ready for a whirlwind mystery and cozy thrill ride in this paranormal cozy mystery. Get under a blanket and be prepared to be immersed!
Moss & Murder (Willowmere Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by Corrine Winters is another excellent read in this mystical mystery series by Corrine Winters.
I confess to reading them for the lyricism of Winters’ language and the intelligence of her sentences. The beauty and almost poetic nature of the narrative is what continues to draw me to this series.
There’s the very essence of strangeness that wraps around the characters and town from the beginning of each story. The soil itself is hiding dark secrets, rejecting something or someone that is not completely welcome in Willowmere. And it’s talking, in its own way.
Maeve Everhart and her cat, the familiar Whim, are listening.
What Maeve is isn’t ever revealed. At least not yet. But human she’s not. Nor are all who live there. Everyone has hidden secrets, hidden agendas, and Willowmere itself a foundation based upon lockes and hidden knowledge. A foundation that’s slowly becoming undone.
The mystery here is who poisoned Howard Fisk. The investigation is one of listening, to the land, the community and all that is left unsaid.
As Whim, the snarky familiar often reflects upon when a certain unpleasant woman makes an appearance.
“Whim made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “She’s the kind of person who alphabetizes her sins.”’
I could actually quote passage after passage. But it’s a quick terrific read at 135 pages. They all are.
I’m highly recommending this for anyone who loves great writing, interesting mystery attached to a bit of mysticism. Haunting and poetic.
Not a fan of the covers, which doesn’t match up with the tone of the book.
The past wasn’t buried. It was sealed. Now the earth wants it back.
Spring has come to Willowmere, but something in the soil still remembers winter’s dead. When a beloved gardener dies under mysterious circumstances, Maeve Everhart senses more than grief clinging to the air. The town whispers heart failure. Maeve hears the hum of old magic—something patient, poisoned, and planned.
As moss curls into forbidden spirals and long-lost artifacts surface from the dirt, Maeve digs deeper into a mystery tangled in land deeds, vanished women, and truths rewritten by those desperate to keep power. Her only allies: a sharp-eyed cat who talks too much, a quiet craftsman who never asks the wrong questions, and the land itself—if she can learn how to listen before someone silences her too.
Because the boundary has cracked.
And what was hidden never meant to stay quiet.
Get ready for a whirlwind mystery and cozy thrill ride in this paranormal cozy mystery. Get under a blanket and be prepared to be immersed!
“Willowmere had secrets—buried in moss, whispered by roots, and now one of them just turned up dead.”
If ever there was a perfect example of the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover “ it’s the haunting, beautifully crafted Mildew & Murder (Willowmere Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Corrine Winters.
The cover, a brightly colored, almost whimsical comedic Candyland of a piece, complete with a cat that bears no resemblance to the highly intelligent familiar inside, gives a reader a totally different feel than what this novel is about.
The expectations might be for some lighthearted funny cozy mystery. Because that is what the cover infers.
However what author Corrine Winters delivers is entirely different. We immediately get Maeve Everhart and her familiar, Whim, returning to Willowmere after a long absence. She’s not been back since her beloved great aunt died, her grief still very strong, along with other aspects that kept her away, secrets that are buried deep within her and the town.
Winters builds up the town , the atmosphere and tension within it continually throughout the story. It’s a beautifully crafted element of the book, creating the suspense as well as crafting a mystical foundation for the characters and setting.
This is a place where the deep woods and actual dirt talks, it remembers, the mystical nature of the forest breathes here, through moss and mycelium. And it’s sometimes threatening. There’s murder and more threats from many sources.
It’s layers of intrigue, fascinating characters and landscapes that feel simultaneously sinister and ancient.
Winters’ Willowmere, Oregon, a small town famous for its mushroom festival, and its inhabitants has so many hidden secrets and journeys ahead that I can’t wait to read more of these books.
Highly recommended. Just a fabulous read. Just not sure why the disconnect between the book and that cutesy cover. Very jarring.
Willowmere had secrets—buried in moss, whispered by roots, and now one of them just turned up dead.
When Maeve Everhart returned to the fog-draped Oregon town she once called home, she expected grief. She didn’t expect the body of a celebrated truffle forager to be discovered during the festival meant to crown him king of the forest. The town whispers “accident.” Maeve, whose magic stirs beneath her skin like the soil under stormlight, knows better.
With her sarcastic familiar cat as unwanted backup and a reluctant handyman-turned-ally watching her back, Maeve digs into the mystery growing in Willowmere’s woods. The deeper she goes, the more tangled it gets—false trails, altered spores, and someone rewriting the land’s memory for reasons that could turn deadly.
And the moss? It’s not just remembering.
It’s watching.
Get ready for a whirlwind mystery and cozy thrill ride in this paranormal cozy mystery. Get under a blanket and be prepared to be immersed!
All Fun and Games is the penultimate book and it’s a fantastic read. As Honor Raconteur gets closer to the series finale next year, the characters are more settled in their respective roles and relationships. That’s never been more satisfying and clear than seeing Jamie and Henri finally engaged and preparing for their wedding and future plans.
Jamie’s Queen’s Own are functional and adding to their numbers and the core group we’ve gotten to know so well. And that brings us to this complicated series of murders that Jamie, Henri and the Queen’s Own must investigate.
Cruel, seemingly unrelated, and yet Jamie can feel there’s something tying these horrifying acts together.
Alongside the investigations, the couple are moving forward with their new life together. Looking for new housing, and oncoming nuptials.
There’s wonderful twists and heartbreaking turns. And a lovely little end.
The last book in the series will be published next year and I look forward to seeing how Jamie and Henri‘s remarkable journey comes to a close.
Highly recommended.
No sexual content. A sweet kiss, nothing more. Magical energy, crime investigation and science fiction. Terrific work.
This is Honor Raconteur also known as AJ. Sherwood. A must read no matter what name she’s writing under.
Cover by Katie Griffin
The Case Files of Henri Davenforth (11 book series to date):
It’s all fun and games until someone gets murdered.
Well, the Queen’s Own certainly isn’t having fun, because what’s worse than one case? Two, of course. And what’s worse than two? Whatever madness Jamie’s currently in.
The body count is rising, all the MO’s are different, and cleaning charms have wiped the murder scenes of clues. It’s hard to link the cases beyond the use of the charms, yet Jamie is sure there’s a connection. But what is it?
They need to figure out the answer fast, because the clues suggest one of their own might be next.
Family and Honor (Jacky Leon, #2) by K. N. Banet is another example of the second book in the series moving forward with character development, overall depth of series foundation and plot structure in such an exciting and fast paced way.
I honestly loved it better than the first for many reasons. Banet brings Jackie back into her territory, her home base where she’s comfortable. So we see a different aspect of the character. Right before the author begins to shake Jackie’s base and hard won stability up again.
An impulsive contract made because, once again the human child Carey is involved, will be the one thing that will pry open the solid isolation from werecat politics that Jackie’s maintained.
And ends up bringing her back into contact with her werecat family.
Banet has written a complicated, high paced, multi layered book. It has murder mysteries to investigate, multiple paranormal species involved, travel outside of Jackie’s territory, and further exploration into her family dynamics and history.
A real exciting, emotional thriller! Another late night finish! Just fantastic! Highly recommended!
I got away with it. Carey and her family are safe and I survived to tell the tale. Now I’m the only werecat in the supernatural community that can say a small family of werewolves lives in my borders. But, in the effort of saving Carey and helping her father, I had to begin shedding the secrets that kept me safe for years.
My identity is out there now. As one of Hasan’s children, more is expected of me and I had no idea what sort of repercussions would come from my decisions. Werecats are reporting problems all over the world and when two go missing, I can’t avoid the feeling of guilt.
My name is Jacky Leon and I am a child of Hasan, ruler of the werecats. I have to learn how to live up to the obligations and expectations of my family before more people die.
I’m reading a lot of strong women main character centric content, mostly urban fantasy and paranormal stories. Luckily there’s so much out there to explore from a multitude of writers as it’s a very popular genre, something I’m very excited about.
Oath Sworn, the beginning of the Jacky Leon series by K. N. Banet, is a strong start into the series, and really great take on this popular trope.
Banet is a new to me writer, and I’m unfamiliar with The Tribunal universe that this series takes place in. However, I don’t think that not having read other books from other series impacts on my experience here. The world building is slowly layered in as the events occur, giving them a solid foundation and putting the political and governmental system in place as needed.
What or should I say who really does it for me here is the main character, Jackie Leon. She’s a werecat. In this story one on a mission to recover a human child stolen out of her care by a werewolf gang. She’s tracked them down and is bent on retrieving the child, which means violating The Tribunal Laws.
It’s a terrific story with lots of storytelling and plot lines to develop and carry through to completion. It introduces Jackie, some of her origin story (part of which is an ongoing mystery). Her troubled dynamic with her werecat father, and current life. Then the father of the human child, Carey Everson , stolen from her. He’s the current Werewolf Alpha, and wolves and the werecats are vicious enemies historically.
There’s so many emotional undercurrents and unresolved conflicts between the species, so tensions are high, constantly threatening the tentatively established peace and process needed to search for Carey amidst rising enemies.
The story is extremely well written. The action is fast paced and often emotionally charged.
Each species is well defined and there no romantic relationship. But a hint of what might be developed in the future.
I liked that Banet wrapped up this story completely so we start fresh in the next book.
I’ve never been the type to find trouble. Owning a bar takes work and that was all I wanted. Serving cold beers and paying my taxes. Those were the responsibilities I wanted for the rest of my life.
I didn’t ask to be a werecat. I didn’t ask for the responsibility to uphold an ancient treaty. I didn’t ask to get pulled into the middle of a werewolf pack’s coup.
But Carey Everson, the very human daughter of a werewolf Alpha, needs me. Her father’s enemies are on her heels and I’m her last defense. And I’ll be that defense until my final breath, even if it means challenging the very Laws that govern the supernatural. I gave her my word.
My name is Jacky Leon and nothing is going to stop me from honoring my word.
The Jacky Leon series is an Urban Fantasy series with a slow-burn romance.
“I’ve had some revelations since moving into my own place:
-Living alone means no witnesses to my weirdness, which is empowering until you accidentally flood the kitchen while making noodles. Fairy lights are an emotional support infrastructure. -There is no middle ground between I am thriving and I just organised my socks by emotional damage level. -There is no such thing as too many mugs.”
From Maya’s Blog, readership is now climbing up to the millions.
When we last saw Maya, she’d left her abusive family and finally gotten the one room apartment that she had wanted, decorated with fairy lights and a coffee mug. Safe. But Gary the Grim Reaper who had helped saved her from the serial killer was missing, presumably because he violated his own laws.
Brew Diligence, a book of endless quotable sentences and incredibly moving moments, follows the same perfect format and flow of the first book. Maya, our brave woman barista continues to blog about her experiences to her followers who became her friends and family.
From 5 to millions, chapters of her moving forward, overcoming some huge challenges with hilarious stories and enormous amounts of pain and anxiety. And bravery.
Now she and her friends who are also her colleagues are in the midst of the fight to free Gary the Grim Reaper from his prison sentence for helping her escape from the serial killer.
Gary, another fabulous character, is missing not from the story but from the hole he left behind in the close relationships he formed. Plus his ghost cat, too, who left behind, is ruling the apartment at Maya’s.
There’s so much trauma and emotional scars here in this story. It’s balanced by the author’s carefully crafted humor and sensitivity to the subject matter and scenes. Hilarity and horror. Love and hate. Death and rebirth.
Despair and hope. It’s brilliant and brutal that all these things exist within this universe, these characters and their stories.
Is this really only the second book? Surely not. I’m astonished at the fact that this is so amazing on every level of excellence.
Yes, highly recommended. If I had more stars in the rating, they’d be there. So many stars!
Love this so much! Including the covers.
Cover Illustration Main image by Manuka Madushan, Digital Illustrator.
Of Owls and Oolong, the first in the Owls, Tea Shops, and Other Magical Nuisances series by Shari L. Tapscott, is an enjoyable fantasy tale. Tapscott’s story encapsulates everything from cozy mysteries, fantastical creatures and mythical places, to slow burn romances with elements of magic and darkness.
I be honest, I don’t understand book descriptions that I feel misrepresent the story. Nothing about this story reads “rom-com”. Sad, poignant, hopeful, and new beginnings. But rom-com? I don’t see it.
Kit is a summer Pixie who inherited her great aunt’s old cottage and tea shop in a magical tourist town across the country from her home and family in Washington state.
Moss Hollow, Vermont caters to the human tourist industry while hiding the fact that it’s a paranormal community that exists along side them. No cars inside the township, just carriages and buggies pulled by animals. Part of the charm during the many festivals.
The author builds a believable small town dynamic with all the various kinds of shops and shopkeepers of differing species, each with their own backstories.
It’s Kit, Rowan the Owl who’s not an owl she inherits along with the house and shop, along with Ash, her reserved neighbor and Council member, that’s the most of the main focus here.
I appreciate the world building, and the way Tapscott wove some of the darker elements of Kit’s background into the story. But that also works against it as well, because it’s so tragic and threatening that to have that aspect of the story be a part of the bigger plot at this point feels like it doesn’t have any foundation laid out for it.
The relationships between Kit and Ash, or Kit and Rowen aren’t really there yet. It’s a beginning but not established. So the ending feels rushed.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of the characters and series to see how the author develops them.
The author of A Vampire’s Guide to Gardening and Obsidian Queen brings you a lighthearted fantasy full of humor and romance, set in a cozy contemporary fae town. Welcome to Moss Hollow.
There are three things you need to know about my great aunt—she’s eccentric, she’s rich, and she’s dead. No, make that four things. She also named me as the sole beneficiary of her fortune. There are, however, a few stipulations.
1. I must move into her cottage in Moss Hollow, Vermont—a magical community that values tradition and tourists.
2. I must keep her beloved tea shop open and running for at least three years.
3. I must take care of her tiny owl, a prickly creature by the name of Rowan. He’s moody, opinionated, and he used to be a mage.
He doesn’t like me, he doesn’t like my dog, and he really doesn’t like the handsome fae councilman who starts hanging around as soon as I arrive in town.
But for a small fortune, Rowan and I are going to learn to coexist long enough for me to figure out how to turn him back into his normal self with my “cute and worthless” pixie magic—preferably before he ruins my dating life or drives me insane.
Owls, Tea Shops, and Other Magical Nuisances is a rom-com style contemporary fantasy. The perfect lighthearted escape, this story is sure to delight readers who enjoy cozy magic and humor.
The books in this series feature smoldering-but-sweet, closed-door romance. (Passionate kisses and some innuendo, but no spicy scenes.)
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 