Witch's Block

The Accidental Medium #1

by Amy Boyles

At forty-three, Paige Provey is at the height of her career. As the author of a successful paranormal book series, she has a legion of fans who all believe she has powers herself. But when Paige's ex-husband reveals that she's a fraud, she quickly finds herself and her career canceled.

But Paige is still under a publishing contract, so she must put out a new book--one that will save her career. The only problem is her crippling case of writer's block. So she heads to a lakeside community to refill her creative well.

Only while she's there strange things begin to happen: Paige speaks to a woman who she swears is transparent, and everyone in town dresses as if it's Halloween. Not only that, but there's a very mysterious (and attractive) man who claims to hunt monsters.

As if that's not weird enough, when Paige's ex-husband winds up dead, she becomes the primary suspect in his murder. Can Paige write another book, figure out the mystery surrounding Willow Lake, and also prove her innocence? Or will all her dreams go up in flames?

Find out now!

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Audiobook, Witches, Cozy Mystery, Cozy

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2022

About the author

Hey, I’m Amy,
I write books for folks who crave laugh-out-loud paranormal mysteries. I help bring humor into readers’ lives. I’ve got a Pharm D in pharmacy, a BA in Creative Writing and a Masters in Life.
And when I’m not writing or chasing around two small children (one of which is four going on thirteen), I can be found antique shopping for a great deal, getting my roots touched up (because that’s an every four week job) and figuring out when I can get back to Disney World.
If you’re dying to know more about my wacky life, here are three things you don’t know about me.
—In college I spent a semester at Marvel Comics working in the X-Men office.
—I worked at Carnegie Hall.
—I grew up in a barbecue restaurant—literally. My parents owned one.
If you want to reach out to me—and I love to hear from readers—you can email me at amyboylesauthor@gmail.com.
Happy reading!

Reviews

[Amy]

I'm so torn on this one. I liked the world building, but had issues with the main character. If the author hadn't specifically stated the MC was a 43-year-old divorcee, I would have guessed her to be a teenager. A really immature and ditzy teenager at that. It was often distracting and constantly annoying. I'll still probably read the next book in the series because I want to see more about the powers in this world and find out who took the book (I have a hunch)..and to see if the MC has any character growth.

[Stefanie]

Read 28/159 pages and this is a big nope from me: the main character, Paige, is incredibly unlikeable. She lied about being able to see ghosts, wrote books about it and got rich, and then when she is exposed she complains about being cancelled. UH, YOU DESERVE TO BE CANCELLED. Of course, then she actually does see a ghost. It looks like the rest of the book will be about unraveling that mystery and Paige's potential powers as a witch.

The writing style is quick and probably supposed to be funny, but it's definitely not my type of humor (it's mostly Paige complaining). Fans of simpler urban fantasy and "frothy" paranormal stories might enjoy this. I received this book as part of the Caffeine & Legends 2023 Advent box but will probably end up donating it.

[NightShade Queen 👑⚔️🐉]

I’m sorry to say but don’t waste your time with this one…. It took me 2 months to read all 159 pages… the main character is a 43 year old divorced woman that acts and talks like she is 20…. And the amount of times that she refers to the love interest as: Manly, masculine, or heavily clouded with testosterone is so revolting. I really tried… the only reason I am giving it 2 stars was for the overall idea of the magical town and creatures. I overall feel like this book had potential but was executed poorly.

[Alison Fitzpatrick]

I didn't think it was possible to write a good book in 200 pages... I was right, TOTAL GARBAGE! If I could give it less than 1 star I would.

[Leslie M]

Love.

[Payge]

Odd story with immature writing- the characters were hard to like and annoying.

[Tiffany]

3.5 rounded up

[Sassy Mystic Reads]

A twisty read full of self discovery and resilience. I enjoyed reading it.

[Kayleigh Conn]

Meh. The pacing was too fast. Every plot line felt rushed.

[Amanda Bradburn]

2.5 stars

[Sheryl]

DNF @ 43%: While this book sounded promising, it is actually very stupid. And the audio isn’t helping it. Even though it’s short, I can’t bring myself to finish it. Glad I got this one from the library.

[Holly]

3.5⭐️
Paige is a writer of paranormal mysteries and her fans believe she has powers herself…until her ex husband tells everyone she does not and now her career has been cancelled. She’s still under contract and decides to take a trip to the lake to help calm down and be able to write a new book to help get her career back.
The town isn’t what it seems. After a book falls on her head at the cabin she’s staying in Paige is now seeing strange things. She also meets a man who hunts monsters….and who becomes her love interest.
One day her ex husband is found dead and she’s the prime suspect. Now she has to figure out who killed him and what’s going on with this town.

This was pretty entertaining. There was always something going on. I loved Snows character and Grim is so hot and cold it’s funny. There’s monsters and witches and quirky characters. There is an ongoing mystery about the book that hit Paige in the head as it has disappeared and is more and likely the reason for all the crazy monsters showing up. She also things it’s the reason why she may have some type of powers now.
My only gripe about this book is how Paige’s character is 43 but she acts a lot younger. She also has a little bit of confidence issues and talks about getting Botox and plastic surgery a lot.
The ending sets it up for the next book to start and even though Paige’s character is a little naive I really like the setting and vibes of the storyline and will definitely read the rest of the books.

[Louise]

Cute little story but it felt too rushed! Her being an author almost seemed like a redundant plot point, as did Snow.
Probably won’t read the other books in the series but I’d like to hope that these things are a bit more fleshed out in those books.

[Tara Lynn]

This was exactly the type of light fun witchy cozy I was hoping to read. I'm really excited to check out the next book in the series.

[Patty (IheartYA311)]

A quick, fun read.

[Tiffany]

This book was pure FUN!!!

[Ember James]

I haven't finished it yet, but I wanted to get my thoughts down now. I may change the rating in the future.

The first half of the book is spent mostly on the main character being in denial of the situation. Even with some good evidence to prove the situation, she still denies it. It's annoying enough that I'm about ready to put the book down if it doesn't get better.

Edit: it got a little better, but her denial continued through most of the book. I agree with other reviews stating that the main character seemed like she hadn't grown past puberty. She's extremely vain and constantly talks about the other main character like a piece of meat.

I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Reb Sibley]

Fluffy, interesting start to a series.

Enemies to....are they dating officially??

Predictable.

[Dolly K.]

Cute lil’ read! I’m so enjoying reading this book, especially since it has no “bad words”!

[Ashley Yungbluth]

"Witch's Block" is book one in "The Accidental Medium" series by Amy Boyles. This first book of the series was absolutely fantastic. I can already tell that this series is going to be right up my alley. Paige heads to Willow Lake to try and get inspiration for a new book under a new pen name. Her ex-husband ruined her author career under her original name and has really put Paige through the ringer. Willow Lake has always been the place where Paige has loved to go. Now, she is seeing things in a new light. I enjoy Paige and Grim's characters and the different things that they go through. I enjoy the humor that Amy has added into the book. I found myself chuckling a few times out loud.

[Teresa (blewballoon)]

Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.

I'm sorry, I really wanted to give this one a chance, but the writing is some of the worst writing I've ever read. I can often look past clunky or juvenile writing for the sake of a good story and compelling characters, but there isn't enough substance here for how bad the writing quality is. I can't do it.

[Larissa Washington]

Paige Provey is an acclaimed author, known for a bestselling paranormal series. Her fans are so in awe that they believe she communicates with ghosts, and she does not deny those claims. While on a talk show promoting her book, her charade is revealed when her bitter ex-husband, Walter, decries her as a fraud. Her fame and finances plummet, and her ex-husband impresses upon her the alimony she owes him.

Other than her disgruntled ex-husband and dwindling finances, Paige is under contract. Her new work, whenever she can overcome writer's block, is another chance to resurrect her career. Yeah. That is going to be a problem because she does not have the ideas. Needing to find her muse, Paige escapes from an environment, from which she has been ousted, and rents a cabin in Willow Lake.

After getting bumped on the head by a large (magical) book, Paige sees and communicates with a transparent woman (Snow) in her cabin. She attributes it to stress--from that no-good, money-stealing husband, and a book deadline. But that's not all. No stranger to Willow Lake, Paige has been on more than one occasion, but it is not the same. She sees signs and people dedicated to Halloowenesque ideals. A leprechaun, a dog that isn't a dog--common to the area but not to the Paige who visited several months ago. The situation worsens when she finds her ex-husband Walter dead in her cabin, she is the prime suspect.

I am not a bitter wife or ex-wife and deemed Walter's death necessary. He was as annoying as a debt collector/telemarketer, except he did not err on the side of negotiating. He wanted 'his' money. That's it.

The 'gems' in the story are Snow, Grim, and Paige's neighbors. All are hilarious and nosey; some are dangerous. Snow has a past that I am interested in delving into, and based on the promises Paige made, I anticipate that the next book should provide more details about her life and death. Grim...my absolute favorite! If you have ever seen and enjoyed Grimm, the series about a detective in Portland Oregon, who protects humanity from vicious magical creatures, then you have a sense of the character in this story. Grim is a combination of Nick Burkhardt (Grimm) and Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts), the magizoologist.

With or without Grim and Snow's help, Paige is great at getting herself in life-threatening situations and 'magically' getting out of them though she does not know 'how' she did it. Being a medium and witch are beneficial, and I anticipate reading the next book to discover more about Paige's new book, possible romance, her relationship with her sister, and the mystery behind the missing magical book.

This is such a lighthearted fun read that will make you chuckle more than once!

[Mike Lewis]

entertaining new paranormal cozy mystery series


This is a new entertaining paranormal cozy mystery series. A fun cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. Page is a recently divorced woman in her 40s who is a Paranormal mystery author. Her husband fell out of a tree after being a peeping Tom on their neighbor. They then got divorced and he built her out of most of her money and she has moved for the summer into a small town on the lake trying to rebuild her life and write a new book to make some money to get back on her feet. Her problems are only just beginning though as new issues arise and new things begin to happen. No spoilers so you have to read on to find out what’s going on but needless to say as it is a paranormal story you know it’s going to have something magical or mystical in it. From book one it seems to be going to be a great new series. Check it out

[Rachel H]

DNF

I could not finish this book. The main character is too vapid and shallow. She's 43, but she's constantly lying about her age, obsessively thinking about her wrinkles, being cancelled, and worrying if she needs to get more Botex soon. The whole canceled thing was rather odd. Especially given the fact that the character had been lying about her abilities to see ghosts for years and made a lot of money from her lying. Then her ex-husband makes some allegations and everyone believes him without proof? The MC has salacious dirt on her ex-husband but she doesn't use it to try to discredit his allegations? The whole story lacks logic and common sense.

[🐥Erica 🐥]

By the end of the first chapter, I thought this book was asinine. A few more chapters in, and I amended that to absolutely asinine. Unfortunately, it never got better. Story, dialogue, details, you name it. I can’t say this is the worst book I’ve ever read, because I did finish it. Occasionally (only occasionally) the utter stupidity was entertaining. Two or three times throughout the book, I experienced a feeling similar to awe, at just how stupid it was. Alas, by the end of the book, I was just numb to it.

[Anya]

A charming little paranormal mystery with a huge helping of problematic MC syndrome. Describes the love interest as having a permanent scowl that she akins to "how SOME people have pronouns" which both is factually incorrect and just like a weird thing to say? Someone having a "permanent scowl" is not at all like pronouns? And does the author know that *everyone* has pronouns? I'm very confused. I don't think Amy knows what a pronoun is.

[Laura Hine]

DNF. Actually hated the main character for her utter incompetence, self pity, and stupidity. She acts like a spoiled teenage brat the entire time and she’s 43. The ex was a ridiculous character. If you’re trying to get rich off your ex, why would you get them ‘cancelled’ and ruin their career? It made no sense and came off as cartoonishly evil.

[Leah]

It was so bad it was good enough to finish, but it was filled with so much cringe it's no wonder the main character is cancelled.
TW should include: fat phobia and ED level talk about food , as well as referring to Sex Workers as "prostitues" and "hooker" and another one I forgot it was so bad.

[Tara]

Fun new series by Amy Boyles. She never let's you done for a fun cozy mystery

[Nadja Törnqvist]

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