Spells and Trails

by Catherine Waltan

A little brother has disappeared. A ruthless villain that will stop at nothing to get what they want. Can a young witch and her faithful familiar save the day? 

Rosalind Harper has a pretty full plate, juggling school, work, an ailing mother, and of course a frisky feline. 

When an opportunity arises that she cannot turn down to save her mother, she and her cat Shadow, get to work. 

Nothing comes easy. In order for them to find the one they need to help her sick mother, they meet a hunky basketball star from high school who desperately needs their assistance as well. 

Will Rosalind and Shadow have to give up on one to save the other?

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2021

Reviews

[Wannee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start to an adventure of the young witch and her mischievous cat.

Spells and Trails is the first book in Bailey Bay Cozy Mysteries series and it is the first book that I read by Catherine Waltan.

Rosalind Harper and her mom left Emberhold, the capital of Dreynnen, the home of the witches and supernatural creatures, to live a normal live away from politics and magick and now they live in a small town of Bailey's Bay, a human world.

Rosalind's dad, Nathaniel, was an excellent magician skilled in Nature Magic and he tried to save the whole of Dreynnen from Ashlings, the powerful creatures that roamed around Dreynnen after dark, draining magick from witches and leaving them lifeless. He found the way to defeat them but it was forbidden due to the vessels for the magick so he was imprisoned and executed. Ashlings found out about Rosalind's magick and tried to take it from her but her mom protected her and had to relinquished her magick and the lack of magick flowing through her veins made her sick. Her mom's health is deteriorating. Rosalind is trying to find the way to rejuvenate the magick pools that resided in her mom, the witch could not live without magick for long, so eventually her mom will die unless Rosalind find the cure.

Rosalind attends classes at Flores High School and working as a waitress in a pub while taking care of her mom with Shadow, her cat, following her everywhere. Shadow is a beautiful, arrogant Burmese cat with black and silver fur that she rescued from the rain in Emberhold. They can communicate to each other telepathically; he is very smart and can sense magic and he is a great help to Rosalind in dealing with her magick and always giving her great advice. I love Shadow ^-^ even though he can be mischievous but he is soooo smart; I love and own cats and knows that most of them are not obedience, unlike dogs, and they think they are the boss of us ^-^

Cole Huxley, captain of basketball team at Flores High School, his parents are the richest in the town and currently they are working in Florida; Cole's little brother, Matthias, was missing at the park. Shadow felt the powerful Dark Frame magick that is involved with the missing of the boy that could heal Rosalind's mother so he encourage Rosalind to find the boy.

Rosalind will do whatever it take to find Cole's brother and everything it take to heal her mother. Working with Cole to find the boy and learn about her own magick is the journey that will change Rosalind's life forever.

This book is enjoyable in an even pace that the author describes the background of characters as well as the landscape in great detail to give us the clear pictures of what is going on. It is an interesting book that full of magic, witches and romance.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first book in the Bailey Bay Cozy Mysteries Series by Catherine Waltan is a suspenseful, magical and fun reading series starter as the young witch Rosalind along with Shadow her black cat familiar, and school mate Cole attempts to solve the mystery of three children being kidnapped by someone using dark flame magic, which is rare powerful and normally healing. Waltan lets the reader know rather quickly that Rosalind's father was publicly executed back in the land of Dreynnen where witches and other supernatural beings live for his illegal attempt to wipe out the magic-stealing Ashlings. The result of that is the moving to our world by Rosalind and her mother, where things take a turn for the worse when an Ashling steals her mother's magic when she tries to protect Rosalind from it, which in turn brings on a life-threatening illness as witches can only live for a short amount of time without their magic. The usual good vs bad characters are all described in great detail both physically, magically and emotionally. The character called "unknown" is a cruel power-hungry revenge-seeking witch who wants to become a God by sacrificing three innocent children to bring Lord Horace back from the dead and help rule the world, while along the way make all the people who were mean and dismissive, regret those actions. The story flows rather smoothly with just a few hiccups along the way. This is a voluntary review of an audible copy of this book.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the Audio version of this and almost DNF it at the very beginning as I didn't like the whole being told style that it started of with. But once I got past that initial info dump the story then began and I decided to see it though to the end. Overall it was a good story though the whole kidnapping young kids thing made me uncomfortable. The magic system was different which was refreshing and interesting. The cat Shadow was my favourite character but the two main characters just weren't my cup of tea. I feel like the target audience for this book is young readers and i'm just too old at 34 to enjoy it as much as others might.

[Fae Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although, a few times I found myself getting confused about who was speaking; I did however enjoy this audiobook. (I listened to it on YouTube, it was read by Catherine Waltan herself.) This book follows a young witch, Rosaline as she tries to help a boy, Cole, find his missing brother in order to hopefully find a cure for her mother. A rather short mystery involving a talking cat, magic and a cult. The ending was cute, though I didn't find myself caring all that much about the romance. I am interested to see how Catherine Waltan stretches this storyline out over the cross of the two other books, though.

[Lory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was enjoyable and entertaining read about young witch and her mischievous cat. Plenty of intrigue and action to keep you hooked from beginning to end. Overall a good read. I received a free copy via Booksprout and as always my reviews are totally voluntarily and no monetary compensation was received and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Crystal Toller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paranormal

This is a paranormal book about a witch named Rosalind and a human named Cole. When Cole's brother is kidnapped, Rosalind tries to help him find his brother. How Rosalind and Cole work together and who the culprit turns out to be makes for a great read. A new author to me but a good first book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to say I love Shadow her rescued Burmese cat. The backstory of her father and why her mother became sick tells a lot of about Rosalind's character. Curious to see how this series progresses.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[TD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not get into this book. I didn't feel any connection to the characters, so I didn't care how the story ended.

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. This seems better suited for a younger (YA) audience.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised to like it so much.

[Tracy Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but sometimes hard to follow