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Sugar Maple #3.5
Charmed: A Sugar Maple short story
Can you keep a secret?
Growing up in Sugar Maple, Vermont, knit shop owner and sorceress-in-training Chloe Hobbs learned to keep a secret before she learned to tie her shoes. When your town is home to werewolves, vampires, trolls, sprites, and everything else the real world is told doesn't exist, you learn quickly how to hide in plain sight.
And now she's keeping the happiest secret of her life: she and 100% human chief of police Luke MacKenzie are going to have a baby.
But when a quiet young knitter at an afternoon workshop blurts out a warning about Chloe's unborn baby girl, Chloe and her magickal friends quickly discover just how hard it is to keep the biggest secret of them all.
Growing up in Sugar Maple, Vermont, knit shop owner and sorceress-in-training Chloe Hobbs learned to keep a secret before she learned to tie her shoes. When your town is home to werewolves, vampires, trolls, sprites, and everything else the real world is told doesn't exist, you learn quickly how to hide in plain sight.
And now she's keeping the happiest secret of her life: she and 100% human chief of police Luke MacKenzie are going to have a baby.
But when a quiet young knitter at an afternoon workshop blurts out a warning about Chloe's unborn baby girl, Chloe and her magickal friends quickly discover just how hard it is to keep the biggest secret of them all.
35 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 11, 2011
29 people are currently reading
478 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Bretton
130 books598 followersBarbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 14, 2011
Excellent short story taking place between the 3rd and 4th books in the Sugar Maple Chronicles. I love the characters in this series; they are so well drawn and colourful. I hope to be able to check in with Sugar Maple for some time to come.
April 22, 2013
I read all four print novels in this marvelous series and was so happy to find I had a short story on my Kindle just waiting for me.
Sugar Maple is a town hiding in plain sight. Why is it hidden? Well, because Sugar Maple is a magical town where the Sorceress, Witches, and Fae, among others, can exist peacefully. During the day it is a normal Vermont town, during the night, the magical come out safely.
Chloe Hobbs, a Socrceress and knitting shop owner, lives with her husband, the Police Chief, and only human, happily in town. She has a fabulous store and gives knitting classes. One student is a favorite, but she has a secret that will astound even this magical group.
This was a short story that made me speed through the pages. I love this series.
Sugar Maple is a town hiding in plain sight. Why is it hidden? Well, because Sugar Maple is a magical town where the Sorceress, Witches, and Fae, among others, can exist peacefully. During the day it is a normal Vermont town, during the night, the magical come out safely.
Chloe Hobbs, a Socrceress and knitting shop owner, lives with her husband, the Police Chief, and only human, happily in town. She has a fabulous store and gives knitting classes. One student is a favorite, but she has a secret that will astound even this magical group.
This was a short story that made me speed through the pages. I love this series.
December 21, 2014
Very short story. Great start but raised a lot of questions and gave you none of the answers. This book is part of a series. I purchased the first two books in the series after reading this one. But I'll have to purchase several more to find out how this story ends. I think I'll start at the beginning and see if I enjoy the series enough to continue. Until then what happens with the baby will just have to remain a mystery.
December 17, 2012
Excellent short story taking place between the 3rd and 4th books in the Sugar Maple Chronicles. I love the characters in this series; they are so well drawn and colourful. I hope to be able to check in with Sugar Maple for some time to come
December 6, 2013
Perfect Book for a Fun Fast Read
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this short story. It really took me inside the book. I cannot wait to read more!! Highly suggest if you're into fantasy/reality.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this short story. It really took me inside the book. I cannot wait to read more!! Highly suggest if you're into fantasy/reality.
January 16, 2015
Note to self: Short story that should draw you into the series, however I felt like there were two plots and both were left open ended...so I have to wonder is this isn't a series of open ended plots...the writing is good, but the characters didn't pull me in. I won't follow this series.
December 27, 2025
"Charmed" was indeed charming. I love the Sugar Maple series... a town full of magic and interesting/magical characters.
May 20, 2012
Short and sweet, it set the storyline up for the next book in this wonderful series!
April 18, 2015
This was an intriguing Sugar Maple novella. Just enough of a story to have you looking forward to the next book.
February 13, 2015
I enjoyed this with its mix of the supernatural and knitting! It is a prequel to another book and now I want to know what happens!
October 21, 2024
3 and 1/2 stars rounded up to 4
A pretty cute story, heavier on fantasy than on knitting contrary to what I was expecting but really pleasant and kept me interested all along.
I can definitely see myself giving a try to a longer book in this series and I'm not saying that all too often when it comes to cozy mysteries.
A pretty cute story, heavier on fantasy than on knitting contrary to what I was expecting but really pleasant and kept me interested all along.
I can definitely see myself giving a try to a longer book in this series and I'm not saying that all too often when it comes to cozy mysteries.
October 21, 2019
A little
This was a little story about a knitter who came to the shop for a workshop. She said something and left a different person. A way to keep us interested until the next book.
This was a little story about a knitter who came to the shop for a workshop. She said something and left a different person. A way to keep us interested until the next book.
April 1, 2018
Wish I would've read this before Stitches and Spells ... but it was a great short story, and definitely set up for the 4th book.
September 29, 2019
Cute little short.
November 15, 2022
It was a great lunch break short story. I really enjoyed it.
August 3, 2025
Nice little story about one of Chloe's clients who didn't know where she belonged in the world 💓
September 8, 2015
Barbara Bretton presented contradictions. She is a prolific romance-writer. I read no such things but she created one of the topmost adult paranormal series! There were no second-hand copies. I bought trade paperbacks brand-spanking new. I was a few years late reading “Charmed” and out-of-sequence, because it wasn’t in print. Therein lies another contradiction. I tend to drop authors who pull a “Kindle only” trick! The reason my eyes eventually cast upon these virtual-reality pages is because two years later, I received an electronic book prize. I chose another treasured author who committed the “Kindle” crime and found Barbara’s for free!
Having cautioned authors to not publish volumes that exclude pro-book fans - I wish this were collectible in print - it was a pleasure to rejoin this fanciful realm. I would have to say “Charmed” is a filler because it showed no outcome to the warning a store customer blurted out regarding Chloe’s pregnancy. The concluding full-length novel is certainly trouble-ridden and heavily conveys to readers the cosmic import of her daughter-to-be. In fact we could have done with a sequel to her birth. The way of novellas seems to be to depict one side story that is resolved briefly. Since I leaped from the previous full-length volume to the conclusion, it was nice to rewind and savour this period of early pregnancy and secrecy.
Allow me to tell anyone who hasn’t read this series that the atmosphere is like fantasy and magic rolled into compelling and ancient mysteries. They have to do with the long ago founding of their American town, a haven for those escaping persecution in Salem. Continuity of the founders’ descendents keeps Sugar Maple’s paranormal oddities shielded. The humour, pace, and sheer originality is indescribable. Experiencing this series firsthand makes for a pleasant, memorable surprise.
Having cautioned authors to not publish volumes that exclude pro-book fans - I wish this were collectible in print - it was a pleasure to rejoin this fanciful realm. I would have to say “Charmed” is a filler because it showed no outcome to the warning a store customer blurted out regarding Chloe’s pregnancy. The concluding full-length novel is certainly trouble-ridden and heavily conveys to readers the cosmic import of her daughter-to-be. In fact we could have done with a sequel to her birth. The way of novellas seems to be to depict one side story that is resolved briefly. Since I leaped from the previous full-length volume to the conclusion, it was nice to rewind and savour this period of early pregnancy and secrecy.
Allow me to tell anyone who hasn’t read this series that the atmosphere is like fantasy and magic rolled into compelling and ancient mysteries. They have to do with the long ago founding of their American town, a haven for those escaping persecution in Salem. Continuity of the founders’ descendents keeps Sugar Maple’s paranormal oddities shielded. The humour, pace, and sheer originality is indescribable. Experiencing this series firsthand makes for a pleasant, memorable surprise.
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February 9, 201635pgs, Growing up in Sugar Maple, Vermont, knit shop owner and sorceress-in-training Chloe Hobbs learned to keep a secret before she learned to tie her shoes. When your town is home to werewolves, vampires, trolls, sprites, and everything else the real world is told doesn't exist, you learn quickly how to hide in plain sight.
And now she's keeping the happiest secret of her life: she and 100% human chief of police Luke MacKenzie are going to have a baby.
But when a quiet young knitter at an afternoon workshop blurts out a warning about Chloe's unborn baby girl, Chloe and her magickal friends quickly discover just how hard it is to keep the biggest secret of them all.
And now she's keeping the happiest secret of her life: she and 100% human chief of police Luke MacKenzie are going to have a baby.
But when a quiet young knitter at an afternoon workshop blurts out a warning about Chloe's unborn baby girl, Chloe and her magickal friends quickly discover just how hard it is to keep the biggest secret of them all.
August 13, 2015
I am lazy and also my thoughts about book 1 in this series cover all subsequent entries:
Here is why I read this entire series in about 2 weeks: this series has all of my catnip, freaking all of it.
It has (in no particular order):
1. Knitting! (always happy seeing fictional people enjoy my obsession)
2. Mystery! (I may be terrible, but I'm a sucker for a murder)
3. Supernatural town! (they all live in peace and harmony (pretty much, ish...)! kum-by-yaaaahhhh....)
4. Witchcraft! (I would use my powers mostly for good, I swear)
5. Vermont! (I like Vermont; it's mountain-y and pretty)
If any/all of these are also YOUR catnip, you are in for a fun, quick series. Read them all!
Here is why I read this entire series in about 2 weeks: this series has all of my catnip, freaking all of it.
It has (in no particular order):
1. Knitting! (always happy seeing fictional people enjoy my obsession)
2. Mystery! (I may be terrible, but I'm a sucker for a murder)
3. Supernatural town! (they all live in peace and harmony (pretty much, ish...)! kum-by-yaaaahhhh....)
4. Witchcraft! (I would use my powers mostly for good, I swear)
5. Vermont! (I like Vermont; it's mountain-y and pretty)
If any/all of these are also YOUR catnip, you are in for a fun, quick series. Read them all!
July 7, 2015
I have trouble rating very short books so you can tell I really enjoyed this one.
I will agree with another reviewer that one portion of the story had a somewhat abrupt ending. I hope that means we will see that character return in future novels.
I liked the setting, the intrigue, the friendship between the characters.
I will be reading more of this series soon.
I downloaded this book, it was not gifted.
I will agree with another reviewer that one portion of the story had a somewhat abrupt ending. I hope that means we will see that character return in future novels.
I liked the setting, the intrigue, the friendship between the characters.
I will be reading more of this series soon.
I downloaded this book, it was not gifted.
December 29, 2015
Too short and all about some character we've never seen before and I really don't understand the ending
September 19, 2014
This book was a good book.
July 15, 2015
popsugar 2015 a book with magic
August 18, 2015
It was cute an fluffy, the first I've read in the series. I liked it enough to get the first book :-)
September 16, 2016
A quick novella to hold you over while you are waiting for the next book in the series.
November 27, 2012
great short story. good for a quick visit with our sugar maple friends
February 4, 2014
Just a sort story before the fourth book in the series.
July 20, 2014
2.5 stars - Cute story, but I just didn't feel any connection with the characters.
March 30, 2017
Fun short story!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews