good start to a new series
Rating: 3.5⭐️
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.
No spice, mystery, and fantasy.
Entertaining and very enjoyable.
Love that cover!
Cover Design by Covers by Juan
Owls, Tea Shops, and Other Magical Nuisances:
Of Owls and Oolong #1
Of Pixies and Pekoe #2 - Jan 2,2026