Tag: witches and wizards mystery series

Review: Tides of Betrayal (Witches of Willow Cove Book 2) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4⭐️

Tides of Betrayal, the second book in the Witches of Willow Cove, is another excellent read. It has a great magical mystery that involves the community, increasing nightmares and possible curses.

Rowan Page, her familiar, Moss and all the other Willow Cove inhabitants who are starting to become involved with Rowan in her inherited bookstore, Quill & Tide, are really developing their own roles and engaging personalities. With their unique backgrounds and their involvement in the community as each new disaster unfolds. 

I enjoyed this mystery and most of the magical aspects surrounding it. There was a few twists and the villain, while being blatant,  was truly cold about the ramifications of their actions, not a morally grey character. Unusual for this kind of story.

My slight issues are with the Cal, the Sheriff who, had a history with Rowan’s aunt. Now he still figures only minutely into cases that have a high impact on the community. Cal has a strong sense of something extraordinary going on but leaves it alone. 

Then there’s the librarian, Jude, whose personality is as problematic as his name. I find Jude unlikable. He’s that person that makes you think, hmmm, he’s was voted the last person picked for just about everything. Justifiably so. 

I thought leaving the story with an even bigger mystery was a great idea. Loved it and can’t wait for the next book to come.

Witches of Willow Cove (2 book series) 

A Novel Death #1

Tides of Betrayal #2

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        Tides of Betrayal (Witches of Willow Cove Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Rowan Page would like to believe things at Quill & Tide are finally settling down, but the books have other plans. When a prominent local collector dies in what looks like a tragic sleepwalking accident, Rowan notices something the police can’t explain.

People all over town are having nightmares.

Moss wants nothing to do with the cursed books turning up across Willow Cove, Aunt Oona’s ghost is more cryptic than helpful, and the closer Rowan gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that some old betrayals were never buried.

They were shelved.

July 20, 2026

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Language

‎English

File size

648 KB

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Print length

261 pages

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Book 2 of 2

Witches of Willow Cove

Review: Bear Many Hats (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 5) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4⭐️

The author sets many different plots in motion with Bear Many Hats, the fifth book in the fantastic Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow series.

One storyline, the main plot that centers around the wandering bear in the town, is the one that carries the most interesting elements while also being the most easily solved mysteries of the story.  It’s a carryover from the previous book and you could pretty much see it even then.

What keeps the reader engaged is the new characters, the dry, layered dialogue between Blythe Fairfield and her familiar, Pippin, either when commenting on customers in her shop or events in their community. It’s warm, well written, and even the smallest interaction is beautifully executed.

The mystery, who shot the sheriff, is more emotional than much of a mystery. The author introduces a ex-girlfriend who I expect to add further drama and the ending is a bit of a shock for all. A definite cliffhanger of sorts. That’s extremely well done.

Love the author and series. Can’t wait to read the next book.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 

Bear Many Hats #5

Drop of a Hat #6 – Sept 22,2026

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        Bear Many Hats (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 5)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield was just starting to settle in.

She has a tea shop on Main Street. A talking cat who critiques her blends. A boyfriend who runs a fever nobody can explain but kisses her like he means it. And a town that’s almost stopped whispering about her.

Then someone shoots the sheriff.

Paine is found on the side of a country road with a bullet wound and no explanation for how he got there. The town is terrified. Deputy Dewey is in over his head. And Blythe is not going to sit in a hospital waiting room while whoever did this walks free.

Between an ex-girlfriend who keeps calling the hospital, a parolee who won’t explain where he was that night, and an elderly woman loudly telling everyone at the post office that the sheriff had it coming, Blythe has too many suspects and not enough answers.

But something about the case doesn’t fit. The evidence points in too many directions. And Paine, when he’s awake long enough to talk, keeps mentioning dreams he’s been having. Vivid ones. The kind that feel real.

Pippin says the dreams mean something. Pippin says a lot of things. And Baba Grimm has started showing up with gifts that aren’t entirely safe and advice that isn’t entirely free.

Some mysteries are about who did it. Some are about what’s been hiding in plain sight. And some answers change everything, including the person you thought you knew best.

date

June 7, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

216 pages

Book 5 of 6

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

Review:  Hat Trick (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 4) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.75⭐️ 

Well, if that wasn’t just an excellent book.  The mystery was one where you knew who did it after a while. But the investigation takes Blythe and her familiar, along with Anya, on a path that leads towards many places and players. So the plot winds up being poignant, character driven and layered with smaller pieces of other mysteries . 

The author meaningfully scattered bits of information about the community throughout in new ways that knowledge of who did the murder early isn’t as key as you think. 

And there’s another stranger mystery brewing that will lead to the next book in the series. 

Sara Bourgeois is another autobuy/autoread for and this series is a great example why. 

Highly recommended. Love the author.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 

Bear Many Hats #5 – July 21,2026

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        Hat Trick (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 4)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield is finally getting the hang of her weird new life.

She owns a tea shop on Main Street. She’s dating the sheriff. Her late great-aunt’s notebooks are slowly teaching her what kind of witch she is, and her familiar has mostly stopped acting like tolerating her is a personal sacrifice.

Mostly.

Then the Cauldron Hollow Fall Festival rolls into town, and a dead body turns up behind the vendor trailers before the booths are even open.

The victim was a quiet leather worker traveling with the festival vendors. No enemies. No debts. No obvious connection to anyone in town.

At least, that’s the story everyone wants to tell.

As the festival barrels forward with tourists, bear sightings, and town gossip, Blythe starts tugging at threads nobody else seems to see. And somewhere between the funnel cake, fake smiles, and festival chaos, someone decides Blythe needs to stop asking questions.

Permanently.

It doesn’t help that Sheriff Paine is pulling away for reasons he refuses to explain. Or that Pippin keeps insisting being a Tallowmere should be enough to solve every problem, intimidate every enemy, and possibly improve Blythe’s posture.

But Cauldron Hollow has secrets it doesn’t show the tourists, and this one has been waiting twenty-four years to come due.

Blythe is about to learn there’s a big difference between a man running from his past and a man waiting for it to find him.

Sometimes the trick isn’t what’s in the hat.

It’s what’s been hidden in plain sight all along.

May 18, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

218 pages

Book 4 of 5

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow

Review:  Hat Out of Spell (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 3) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️ 

Hat Out of Spell took the main character of Blythe Fairfield, her family history as well as the paranormal nature of the community of Cauldron Hollow to new levels. 

The author does this using the complicated murder of a recently returned and detestable man, using the investigation to examine darker, more intriguing areas of Blythe ‘s ancestry, that of the cemetery she’s renovating, and in-depth interviews into the community of witches and craftsmen who support them.

It’s small town dynamics but powered by a strong paranormal force, The Veil and old laws that Blythe has no understanding of. 

I just love this story, all the many complex plots threaded together, some resolved, but many more intense storylines that are just getting out there for Blythe to think about and accept. Like her Aunt Moira, and what her future might look like. 

Now to wait for the next book to be released. 

 What a fantastic series and group of characters. 

Just terrific. Great storytelling. 

Highly recommended. Love the author.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 – June 23,2026

Bear Many Hats #5 – July 21,2026

Buy link

        Hat Out of Spell (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 3)

    

Blurb 

Blythe Fairfield was just starting to feel at home.

She has a job at the local grocery store. A talking cat who insults her daily. A date with the sheriff that actually went well. And a cemetery full of dead relatives she’s been restoring one headstone at a time.

Then one of those headstones gets a new neighbor.

Griffin Midnight, a witch with more charm than sense, came back to Cauldron Hollow after breaking Blythe’s best friend’s heart. Now he’s dead in the Tallowmere family cemetery with a bottle of wine and two glasses, and the whole town is looking at the two women who had the most reason to want him gone.

One is Anya, Blythe’s best friend, who screamed at Griffin in public. Twice.

The other is Blythe, whose family graves someone turned into a crime scene.

Between a grandfatherly tea shop owner hiding a secret, a council member with a grudge against her house, and a killer whose magic is so subtle nobody knows it’s there, Blythe is running out of time and suspects. Pippin says the answer has been in front of her the whole time. Pippin says a lot of things.

But when Blythe opens her great-aunt Moira’s notebooks, she finds more than clues. She finds a secret that will change everything she thought she knew about her family, her best friend, and the familiar who’s been keeping his mouth shut since the day she arrived.

Some spells you cast. Some spells you inherit. And some hats are harder to take off than they are to put on.

April 27, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

211 pages

Book 3 of 5

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow