Compelling love spells are used to brew up one charmingly delightful whodunit as USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne continues her cozy paranormal mystery series...
Boxes of delicious chocolates and roses by the dozen are aplenty in the small town of Paramour Bay as Valentine's Day approaches, but all is not so rosy in Raven Marigold's life when a simple love enchantment goes horribly awry. You see, the affection spell is only meant to affect one recipient...not the entire town!
Things for Raven go from bad to worse when small fires begin to break out all around town, causing damages to the local shops and homes alike. What's a witch to do when she believes her attempt at evocation magic might be responsible for sparking these crimes? Why, she must grab her trusty familiar and investigate, of course!
Open your hearts to this spellbinding Valentine's Day tale by falling in love with this charming adventure of mischief, tea, and magic!
Kennedy Layne is a USA Today bestselling author. She draws inspiration for her romantic thrillers in part from her not-so-secret second life as a wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant. He doubles as her critique partner, beta reader, and military consultant. Kennedy also has a deep love for cozy mysteries, thrillers, and basically any book that can keep her guessing until the very end. They live in the Midwest with their menagerie of pets. The loyal dogs and mischievous cats appreciate her writing days as much as she does, usually curled up in front of the fireplace.
A light, fluffy, easy read. With our favourite catnip addicted, sarcastic cat and his owner up to the eyes in trouble. Great characters and as you might have guessed my favourite is the cat. He's not a sight you would wish to meet but his caustic tongue certainly acts like a foil to his almost too sweet owner. Her day was going from bad to worse. Her new employee was driving her nuts, her cat was in hog heaven from the catnip supplied by said employee and it now looked as if the simple charm she had made (to liven up an existing relationship) might, just might, have gone a bit OTT. Several people who have touched the bottle it was in were now making googly eyes at each other. Now to top it off smoke was coming out of her back room in the shop. Once this was cleared (apparently someone had set fire to the trash can in the alley) other reports of fires began to come in. What is going on? Then her mother appears and supervises a reversal spell on the bottle housing the charm. But the fires don't stop! Her employees accounting office is badly hit and with end of year soon approaching this could be a disaster. Can they find out who is behind all this before an innocent person is conveniently charged? Can this be solved before her St Valentine's Day dinner date with Liam? Why is someone else now taking an interest in her?
Charming Blend is book five in the A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery series by Kennedy Layne. When strange things started to happen in the small town Paramour Bay, Raven Marigold, believed her love spell caused the crime wave. Due to this conclusion, Raven Marigold began to investigate the crimes to find the person who is responsible. The readers of Charming Blend will continue to follow Raven Marigold investigation to see if she finds the person who is committing the crimes.
Charming Blend is a sweet paranormal cozy mystery and which I enjoyed reading. I love the way, Kennedy Layne incorporated the grumpy cat Leo with the characters of Charming blend. I had had to laugh at times reading Charming Blend with some of the antics of the characters. Charming Blend was well written and researched by Kennedy Layne, and I will certainly read more books in this series. The portrayal of Kennedy Layne characters and the interaction between them I liked.
Paramour Bay #5: Charming Blend Suggested Rating: 4 stars 🌕🌕🌕🌕
In a Nutshell:
The fifth instalment of the Paramour Bay series delivers its signature blend of quirky humour, supernatural shenanigans, and small-town charm. As the mysteries of Paramour Bay deepen, our protagonist dives into yet another adventure, balancing magical mayhem, eccentric neighbours, and a mystery that needs solving.
Why Read It?:
The series is delightfully weird and consistently funny, with moments that will make you laugh out loud. Leo the cat is, as always, the true star of the show. His antics and personality bring so much life to the story, often stealing the spotlight from the humans. The plot moves briskly, with a satisfying mix of supernatural intrigue and cosy mystery vibes. The community of Paramour Bay continues to evolve, offering both familiar comforts and surprising twists. While the mystery itself is engaging, it’s the relationships, humour, and Leo’s constant scene-stealing that truly make this book shine.
Summary:
Charming Blend is another solid entry in the Paramour Bay series, delivering all the weird, whimsical, and witty moments fans of the series have come to love. If you enjoy your mysteries with a dash of magic and a side of feline charisma, this is a must-read.
Would I read the next one? Absolutely—Leo wouldn’t have it any other way!
Valentine's Day is approaching and unfortunately a simple love enchantment goes horribly wrong, affecting others throughout the town. Add to this, a problem with fires breaking out in random places around the town and the situation gets even more crazy. All of this makes for a hilarious story. I love the Valentine's Day theme, the fun characters, and the romance. Such an entertaining book.
Pinocchio had his Jiminy Cricket as his conscience and Raven has Leo. It is interesting how Raven and Leo interact with each other. The Catnip Cartel cracked me up. For a cat Leo is well described as a cat with memory loss. Like a real cat Leo memory loss comes up at his convenience. I wish sometimes Raven would stop acting rashly and think or listen to Ted and Leo before starting troubles.
Every book I've read so far has been entertaining due to that dramatic snarky cat. He is worse than Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch seriously. Also happy my theory about Rye the handy man was confirmed, but the question has he always been there in the town, is he the same man the coven was talking about showing up as a problem and is he ok love with Raven?
This series is so funny with Leo the talking cat. Not all mystery books have to have murders and this time its arson and theft that take place. If you want to find out the who's whys and wherefores you'll have to read the book. I think you'll like it and get a few laughs at the same time.
Raven is still charming but inept and juvenile. Leo is still obnoxious, but his final revelation makes sense of an anagram I've been questioning. That tidbit is more compelling than the story's current mystery, unfortunately.
The interaction between Raven and her familiar Leo is funny. Not a murder this time but could the series of fires be caused by a spell by Raven gone wrong or another reason?
Cute series. My issue is the repetition in each book from previous books in the series. If we are reading a series and all this was introduced in the first book, why the repetitive writing? It seemed like you were just trying to fill up pages.
It started out very promising - a charming spell gone wrong, but that was snuffed out too quickly. The fire mystery “was me, wasn’t me” was a bit too weary, which in turn made me roll my eyes over and over again.
The whole time I was waiting for something more to happen, but that never did.
This Rye guy keeps popping up and yet nothing really happens.
Apart from everything we have the repeating phrases such as “my accident-prone tendencies”. I understand that and I remember the previous 3 times it was mentioned.
Overall, it was not bad, but I kept waiting for something more.