The Little Shop of Curiosities: The Music Box Part1.

Crawshanks Guide to the Occult

by Vawn Cassidy

The Music Box - Part 1.

Despite being raised and well loved by his two adoptive fathers Harrison Ames has always felt alone. As an incredibly powerful witch he’s never come across anyone else who can do the things he can. Moving to London from Devon, he’d hoped that if he finally gathered the courage to confront the biological mother who’d given him up as a baby, he might finally have some answers.

Sam Stone, carries scars of his own, both physical and otherwise, but he’s determined to ignore them and get on with his life. But when fate drops a gorgeous prickly red haired witch in his life, he figures his luck is finally changing.

With mediums, dead drag queens, and supernatural beings as his new friends Harrison finds himself drawn into a world of magic and chaos. But amidst all the insanity that is his life, there’s Sam, his anchor when the secrets of his biological family begin to tear his life apart...

Genres: Paranormal, M M Romance, Magic, Fantasy, Witches, Gay, Paranormal Romance

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 25, 2025

About the author

Vawn Cassidy is the MM pen name of British author Wendy Saunders.
She writes MM Romance and Queer Fiction. She's created fantastical realities filled with sassy ghosts, witches and demons. She's also taken readers on a wild journey through the dangerous streets of Victorian London to the secret Molly houses and underground gay community. She also writes contemporary love stories.
She's known especially for her mad world building skills and for creating unforgettable characters you’ll fall forever in love with.

Reviews

[Ken W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I figured out this was parallel to books in the Crawshanks series, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I do love Harrison and Sam and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about them! Adding this to the prior series fills in some blanks and makes it all more enjoyable! Five stars!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the exception of a few past events and a few new scenes, this first part retells all the stories from the last books in the Tristan and Danny story. I imagined it would be a spin-off series that would pick up where the other one left off, but that's not the case. It's a bit tiring rereading stories you've already read and know how they'll end, although I imagine it all serves as a backdrop for the second part of the story.

[Kristel (hungryandhappy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Harrison so much! And Sam as well, but I'm weak for gingers so he wins in my heart. The freckles! I totally understand Sam for loving them because I do, too.
It was very interesting reading all books of the Deadly Serious series from Harrison pov, so we see the outside, and get to know him, his powers, his amazing dads, and how he is inside. He's plagued by mysterious nightmares and people who speak in vague riddles start appearing to him. I am so curious to know more!
On the other side we have Sam who we got to know more in the main series. He is a flirt but we see here how he truly us smitten with Harrison: they make such a cute couple. I'm so curious to see how Sam is going to react to what's going to happen next. I'm ready to see it all!

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this is so good. Harrison and Sam’s story is a long one with this being book 1 and what a fantastic start it is. There’s plenty of recaps of what’s gone on in the past adventures with Tristan, Danny and the gang but told from Harrison and Sam’s perspective. The way the story is weaved between those adventures and what is happening concurrently with these two wonderful men is beautifully done and had me turning the pages late into the night. Harrison is as prickly as ever but that doesn’t deter Sam at all, he really embraces and accepts that side of “Prickles” and very slowly earns his friendship and trust. There’s a bit of steam, some fun scenes involving Harrison’s dads and an ending involving the mystery of a cursed music box with family connections to Harrison that needs to be explored. I can’t wait for the next book which is due early 2026.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it a lot, but somehow it was all too much Tristan for me - don't get me wrong, I like Tristan -, and too little Harrison. It was a half retelling of volume 3, Harrison was an afterthought in his own story and it stops in the middle of it.
None of the secrets have been revealed, we have only a lot of teasers and hardly any answers...
I'm not directly disappointed, but somehow I expected more. Especially from the music box that appears in the subtitle. Come on, which is only mentioned in the last 10-20 pages and stuffed into a tresor... Harrison drinks tea most of the time, has 1 or 2 interesting scenes, a lot of melt downs, there are quite a few time jumps and actually you can only make sense of all the Tristan moments when you have read his series. Harrison doesn't manage to achieve any of his goals, he simply ignores them completely. So, I would be more involved if I couldn't sleep anymore, barely knew anything about my magic and there would be a woman near me who could maybe or maybe not answer everything...
3 stars read for me, and I hope that volume 2 focuses more on the mmc, which are really what this is about. Because Harrison and Sam deserve more...

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

another terrific story to this universe

Rating: 4🌈

With this crossover series in the The Dead Serious Universe, two previously supporting characters are finally getting their own story and relationship series.

That’s which Harrison Ames, recently relocated to town to look for his mother. And former DI, now PI Sam Stone, with his own connections to Danny and Tris, and magical powers of his own.

Both characters have figured largely in prior stories, and author Cassidy takes many of these impactful moments and dramatic events from these novels and repurposes them here. The reader gets to see certain scenes again, only this time from either Harrison’s or Sam’s perspective.

I have to admit I loved (spoiler alert) seeing Chan meet Death all over again. I can’t get enough of this couple, so this was an enormous surprise and plus for me.

I think Sam turned out to be my favorite character, more mature and better defined character of the pair.

Or maybe it’s because Harrison spends the entire story lying to everyone around him. Sam, Tristan, Danny. Even as the mystery and investigation surrounding the magical bookstore, the portal, and other aspects of that storyline, Harrison, knowing full well he had important information and details about the events surrounding the ongoing crisis, kept quiet.

He’s not a teenager. He’s in his thirties. Not communicating highly needed information to people who consider him a friend in a time of crisis.

No, I long ago learned that I’d had enough of this type of character. Whether the author needed him to be incommunicative due too plot purposes or considered it a necessary part of his personality, either way it led to a disconnect for me.

Yes to Sam, no or maybe to Harrison. And there are things I do like about him. Like his dynamic with his dads. So funny. But everything else? No.

I’ll continue to read because all the wonderful crossover characters and scenes. Maybe Harrison will win me back over. Who knows.

A definite winner otherwise.

Cover design by Natasha Snow

Crawshanks Guide to the Occult:
The Little Shop of Curiosities Cursed Object 1 The Music Box


Connected series:
The Dead Serious Universe,

Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed (6 book series)
Crawshanks Guide to Mischievous Spectres & Spirits(2 book series)
The Grim Adventures of Death & Chan Vol 1-3 (on the author’s website)

[Jewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Little Shop of Curiosities was an ok story and I did enjoy it overall, in spite of the first person present tense narrative. Harrison is aptly nicknamed "Prickles" and I really liked both him and Sam in the Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed series. I was wholly looking forward to seeing them actually together in a new series.

I had hoped that this series would pick up where the Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed series left off, but it doesn't. The entirety of this story takes place concurrently with that series so if you've read it, especially recently, The Little Shop of Curiosities will sometimes feel a bit repetitive, especially in conversations. Thankfully, Harrison and Sam aren't involved in everything that happened in the previous series so there is still quite a bit of original material, so that was a good thing at least. And much of it is suuuuper creepy.

I also wanted more actual romance and relationship development than we get. There was definitely a good start, with flirtations and even a kiss or two, but then Harrison and Sam are separated for months and when Sam is back we get smexytimes! While Sam was away we're told they text or talk every day, but we don't get more than a little bit of it and I missed the feeling of them really falling for each other. There was one really sweet bedtime story by video, though. Not dirty at all, but sweet.

I would not say that The Little Shop of Curiosities ends on an HFN as they've barely gotten together. I hope we see more romance and relationship development in the next book!

I do enjoy this universe quite a lot and I hope we continue to see Tristan, Danny, Dusty, Chan, and Death in future books.

[Choyang · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Little Shop of Curiosities, The Music Box'
- part 1 (Crawshanks Guide to the Occult) (Kindle)
written by Vawn Cassidy

Finally! I have been waiting with baited breath* for this whole offshoot of the 'Dead Serious' series!
*(oh, maybe it was that tuna sandwich I had for lunch... sorry Charlie!) ;-)

This was so much fun to read and I liked getting to know more about "Prickles" (Harrison) background and his life. Same with Sam.

What was intriguing was seeing certain events being played out from different viewpoints other than Tristan & Danny's (the original series) and how each character played a part in this whole magical world, both past & present. And seeing the cogs in the ghost machine (past & present) starting to align in weird and wonderful ways! .
These inter-connected series are some of my all-time faves, per plot, characters, scenarios, and very skillful writing!

Great storyline from Cassidy; they are such an expessive writer with great attention to details!

At turns the storyline was humorous, sweet, then scary & creepy, and on occasion violent & gut wrenching, coupled with that smoking sexy edge MM storylines that works so well in their novels! Wowza!

I might need a hard copy (no pun intended), if they ever come out with one!

Finished Book One; waiting on release of Book 2, and more...

Two thumbs up! 👍👍

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

********** Contains Spoilers**********



I’m new Vawn Cassidy’s work and I’m looking forward to reading more. I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a good start to the Crawshanks Guide to the Occult Series (Dead Serious), which is a spin-off to the Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed Series. I liked getting to immerse myself in this magical world that Vawn has created. This book spans the first few books of the Dead Serious Series but we get to see it from Harrison’s POV, as we only got snippets from him during that series. I think him & Sam are great together, so I’m really glad things are slowly changing between them.

I think the time while Sam was back in Leeds helping his Ma helped a lot as it allowed them to get closer without the stress of taking things further, since they physically weren’t in the same place. They’re both dealing with their own sh*t but i liked seeing them slowly lower their walls where the other’s concerned. I’m looking forward to seeing what Harrison’s dreams of his distant relative Cordelia Crawshank’s mean and seeing how his & Sam’s relationship strengthens during the next book which I’ve already pre-ordered. I’m also looking forward more books from Vawn Cassidy in the future. I’d recommend this book, series, universe and author to others.

[Rishabh Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Music Box – Part 1 was such a unique and enjoyable read. One of the things I loved most about this book was the magical and mysterious atmosphere. The idea of the music box and the scenes where the characters can see or interact with the dead added such an interesting and slightly eerie element to the story. It created a world that felt both magical and emotional at the same time, and those moments really stood out to me.
Another thing I appreciated a lot was how naturally the gay relationship was written. It felt genuine and normal, without being overly explicit or focused only on physical aspects. The relationship was portrayed with care, emotion, and authenticity, which made it feel very real and meaningful within the story.
Overall, the book had a great mix of mystery, magic, and emotional moments that kept me interested the whole time. It left me curious about what will happen next and how the story will continue. I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel because this first part has definitely made me want more of this world and its characters.

[Dawn Siemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prequel?

This book doesn't really have it's own plot. It introduces Harrison as he leaves Devon for London, and ends while Triston and Danny are at the haunted hotel murder mystery. Harrison and Sam flirt a bit, and there is one sex scene at the end.

I found this book pretty unsatisfying, as there's no central conflict that is resolved at the end. Conflicts include: Sam and Harrison's relationship (it progresses, but they aren't boyfriends at the end), Harrison's mysterious magical destiny, Harrison's bad dreams tied to Constance Crawshanks, and some unusually strong cursed items. Harrison hasn't really confided in anyone, despite having many people willing to listen.

There is a music box, but it only shows up at the end. It doesn't do anything, and nothing happens around or because of it. It's maybe a clue.

Four stars because it was interesting seeing things from Harrison's perspective, and I love all these guys.

[Catie Duckworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like getting the Dead Serious series through Harrison and Sam's perspectives, but this book is a bit too fast-paced, covering three books' worth of material in one. Since much of that is Harrison and Sam's retelling of Tristian and Danny's story, these characters did not get adequate time to develop. Harrison felt more developed since we got his background and inner monologue about him being a witch.

There is also a major continuity error in this book. In Dead Serious #4, Tristian talks about how Harrison and Sam are bickering at Christmas dinner and how he suspects that they've already hooked up, but in this book, Sam doesn't come back from Leeds until after Tristian and Danny head to the haunted hotel. These two books were only published two years apart.

The Cordelia storyline was haunting and disturbing, and I was left with so many more questions than I had at the end of any of the Dead Serious books. I am hoping answers will come in book 2.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it💜

This is a book I have been eagerly awaiting. It follows the same timeline as the Dead Serious books but now we get to read it from Prickles and Sam’s point of view and the budding relationship that we had only guessed about.

The author also takes us back in time to Harrison’s roots and we go right back to 1850 in Crowscroft Asylum, Spitalfields, where we meet Cordelia Crawshank, a very powerful witch with a very big grudge. This part was a very difficult read, the things she endured, that all the patients incarcarated against their will endured was awful but Cordelia having a will that wouldn’t be broken and unfortunately being Dr Ignatius Whyte’s favourite made her last seven years intolerable.

I loved this book and as always Vawn’s writing is excellent. I can’t wait to read part 2.

[isthisakink · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5. I am HERE for this new branch of this world. Like, so present and eager to be ensnared. Seeing the past events through fresh eyes is amazing, and added so much to all of the characters and the mechanics—and tons to backstory, which more details are forever everything to me, so yay. I already love Sam more than I did, and I like Harrison now. (Previously, I was just ehh about him and had no lasting opinion.) I am overly invested in the Crawshanks messiness, the magic, the mystery… It’s all there and I’m loving every minute of it. I almost hate that the book was split into two parts because now I have to sit and wait when I don’t want to. I started this right before midnight, and barely stopped until I was finished.

[Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of struggled with this book, because the main couple doesn’t actually appear to be main characters. Tristan is the main character, these awkward side characters just get calls and updates from Tristan on how the plot is progressing, without them really being part of it. Clearly this is a spin off series, and it feels like these poor characters were never fleshed out.

Since 50% of the book is about Tristan that leaves really a novella-length book remaining for the actual MCs. While I liked the characters and world building, I feel like there wasn’t enough relationship development, and by the end of the book barely anything had changed. Probably not going to try another book by this author.

[IAASA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Well what can I say. In this first book I do know what happens as I’ve read the previous books centring on Tristen and Dusty, but this first book tell those events from Harrison’s and Sam’s point of view. At first I thought it might be boring, like some other books I’ve read where it’s been repetitive but this was really interesting and really did keep me hooked. We also got a lot more back story which answered a few more of the unanswered questions from Tristens story. So this book set the scene and it was brilliantly done.

The next part, will follow on to around the time the previous story finishes and I’m very excited to read it.

[Sharon Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the Wait

Like all Vawn Cassidy fans I've been eagerly waiting on this book release and was a bit worried I would end up disappointed by setting my expectations too high. Not a chance. The story developing Prickles and Sam's journey is in the same timeline as the Dead Serious series but fills in the gaps from their viewpoint. But, it also goes way back to Cordelia's story which was an unexpected bonus and added a bit extra. The author's humour is always a joy to read and her character development, fantastic. Can't wait for part 2 - go Vawn, I know there were delays with the book but you are seriously talented!

[MyDoRyS · Rating 2 out of 5]

My reviews are my own. If you liked this book or not, I respect your opinion. This is merely my opinion, so let's keep it courteous. My review is honest and voluntary.

I believe it is incredibly unfair to new readers and absolutely assholly for authors to expect people to read 300 books to understand a book ONE in a new series. This is what you can expect on this one. The idea is great, but you need to read the previous series to fully understand this one. I won't bother to continue; I hate this lazy cut-and-paste from other books to milk yet another story.

On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!

[Lis loves literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vawn Cassidy's stories are always a perfect blend of humor, suspense, and deeply drawn characters. In this book, the characters were particularly strong, and I especially love Sam. I have to say the story was a bit flat because it was essentially the plot of the "Dead Serious" series, just from a new perspective—that of a minor character who doesn't actually experience everything. However, since I really enjoyed the series and found the characters in this book fantastic, I still had fun reading it and I'm looking forward to the next book to get to know Sam and Harrison even better and see how their relationship develops.

[I. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light spoilers ahead:
There would be no story and no love story if not for higher beings bending the events to fit the plot.

Insta-love&lust, but both MCs are as virginal as possible: One never even had a libido before laying eyes on the love interest, the more wordly one at least never had a boyfriend.

Personally I don't subscribe to the philosophy that a rape victim is not supposed to seek vengeance to "not become a monster themselves". Go Cordelia! Go get them all!

What's the deal with Diana and Herne? Is this man-less free independent goddess of Roman mythology really shipped with a guy....

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars. I love Harrison and Sam so much and was highly anticipating this release. It’s an interesting and fairly unique concept to do a series over again but from a different character’s perspective. I assumed this book would pick up after the last book and just involve a lot of flashbacks, so I was a bit surprised to start from the beginning. There were a couple of parts where I was a little bored, because I’ve read some of these lengthy scenes before in Dead Serious, but mostly I really enjoyed this. Excited for Part 2 in February!

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! I love the original series so to have a spinoff for one of my favorite characters was wonderful. For the author to go backwards and let us see one of the original storylines from this character's point of view was brilliant and very well written without messing up the original book. I think Harrison is fascinating and I cannot wait to learn more about his connection to the past and future. This author knows how to spin a tale weaving in all the quirky character personalities without losing site of the plot.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrison moves from Devon to London and takes over a local occult store.
He meets Tristan and the gang. This story looks in the background of Cordelia.
Only thing was this book was originally planned for Jan 25 release and so parts of it would have been new news but the 5th book in the series was published before and so alot of what was still to be found by the characters in this book we the readers already knew the results of.
However, I am enjoying Sam and Harrison and will read further books.

[Rissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 really...

I was totally waiting for the appearance of said music box and it didn't come until that cliffhanger of an ending. I guess I now know why it says Part 1, duh.

But I understand, we are getting Harrison's POV as we go through all of Tristan's books. So I am trying to be patient, which is not one of my virtues. Nevertheless, I am enjoying learning more about Sam and reading about Harrison's 2 dads. :)

(My heart hurt for Cordelia. There were/are just really horrible people.)

[N Ras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy do I love Prickles. I’m so happy to be in this universe again with all of my guys and queens! I was really hoping this new series would start where the other books left off but whatever, I truly didn’t mind reliving these events from Harrison’s POV. If you’re not up to date with everything Dead Serious, you can start here and still have a good time. Although, I think reading Dead Serious start to finish before this would allow for a much better experience.

[RE Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a side step from the main series, but I enjoyed it. I like Harrison and Sam, and I definitely enjoyed their growing relationship. The paranormal aspects were intriguing and entertaining, as well. My main issue here is that Cassidy is basically writing the two series simultaneously, so the story cuts out now and then because (I'm guessing) she doesn't want to 'spoil' the other one, and that was annoying. Still, I enjoyed it and will pick up the next one too.

[JILL Stock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacularly brilliant

Words won't convey how brilliant I found this book to be. If you have read Tristan stories this book follows a perfect time line but from Harrison's perspective. Vawn reading is just out of this world and draws you in to the story the builds with each page until the final for now page that has you literally on the edge of your seat gasping. Loved it.

[Beanzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since Harrison and Sam were introduced from the main series, I was dying to read their love story. As other had stated this is a really slow, slow burn but it's worth the wait. We get to see the events from the main series unfold from their prespective and we really get to know them. I held off to read this till now cause the second part is not releasing till the end of this month and I want it NOW. This is my second 5 stars of the year and I can't wait for part 2!

[Golden Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrison & Sam

Having read what came before, it was interesting to get what was happening along side Tristan and Danny’s story. Cordelia’s story, told through Harrison’s dreams was fantastic. Prickles is great nickname for Harrison, he often thought to himself why was his reaction so prickly when he was so attracted to Sam. Getting to know these two was a treat. Can’t wait for what’s next. And I loved Harrison’s dads!

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF ~50% This looked promising, but as I went on, it felt like a book about a secondary character in a Tristan x Danny story. And not in an meta/tongue-in-cheek/playing-with-the-tropes interesting way. I read some reviews and saw that this was a spin-off (?) of the Tristan story. So my feeling makes sense. But from those same reviews, this book is not going to give me what I want and I don’t feel like reading the first series to understand what’s going on.