Sella wants to be helpful. But she keeps messing up.
She and her friends arrived in the land of humans for what should have been a short, simple trip. That is, until a prominent military leader– and wyvern rider– is found dead, burned by powerful fire.
Distrust quickly brews between the town and the soldiers as each side scrambles to find the killer.
But Sella has another worry. She’s determined to find a spell to help Cali, the ghost with a sunshine smile, finally obtain the ability to communicate with the rest of the living. And Sella isn’t going to let a murder get in the way of her goal.
All Sella wants to do is help her friends and craft the perfect “lucky day” blend. But in a land where luck is hard to find, she’ll have to use all the lessons she’s learned to find a way to keep everyone together.
Wren Jones lives in the Sonoran Desert with her family and two cats. Like most writers, she has been a storyteller for a long time. After her daughter was born, true crime felt a little too true, and darker fiction felt a little too dark. She started reading cozy mysteries, and after a while, she realized a little dose of fantasy and bi-rep was what she was missing. She figured what better time to research, write, and launch a novel that she’d been procrastinating on than while working full-time and raising a tiny human, so here we are.
As soon as I heard that Sella, Cali, Lorna and Beejee were back again - this time taking their adventures on the road to Cali’s home country - I immediately pre-ordered and was excited for the mid-October release. And yes I am reviewing this almost exactly a month after release, during which time I’ve started and finished FIVE other books, so I will quote myself from my review of Practical Potions and Professional Courtesy:
“I can’t really explain why I read these books so slowly - I tend to read multiple books at once, so as a result other books have come and gone while I have slowly read and re-read this book, focusing on how much I enjoy the nuances of each interaction. I have come to truly love the cozy genre, and the way Wren writes her stories and character interactions really makes me pause to focus on being in those moments and savoring the scenes. Love this and can’t wait for the next one!”
Practical Potions and Paranormal Proclivities has our heroes back in action making special magic-infused coffee, tea, and delicious baked goods (recipes at the end of the book, just add your own magic!), this time in a place dominated by humans but also much more open and accepting of witches and magic.
Sella is fulfilling her promise to Sediri to help set up her new shop and develop a signature blend. But she also is seeking to interact with more witches and hopefully find a spell to help Cali speak and be heard by non-witches similar to what she did for Beejee.
Of course there is a murder, of course Sella and Lorna end up embroiled in the middle of things, and of course Cali returning to her home country is not as simple as it might seem. But then again, as a ghost with a complicated family relationship - how could it NOT be a challenging visit!
We get new characters and I enjoyed seeing this other part of the world - as someone who lives in the northeastern US and has had trips to both Arizona and Nova Scotia in the past year or so, I recognize so much of what the characters were feeling! There were no characters who were unwelcome, but since we’ve had two books to fall in love with the original characters these new ones feel temporary. Hopefully we’ll get to revisit some in a future book, as I would love to see this magical world get even larger and more inclusive.
All of Wren Jones books have been around 300 pages, and this falls in line with the others in the series (and also the lovely Damsels & Dinosaurs), but in some ways this felt a bit shorter as the focus was on the characters more than a larger narrative.
The great thing about these stories is that we see growth in every book for each individual, their relationships with each other, and their relationships with the world around them. They are growing as our understanding of them grows. It is a cozy world for Sella and crew, and I am happy for every opportunity to join them!
I love this series so much! I think this third book is my favorite so far though. I found myself reading all three slower than usual, to soak the cozy vibes in even more.