SPELLBOUND, SCONES, AND SECRETS Book Review

Spellbound, Scones, and Secrets¹ (book 1 in Southern Magical Bakery series) by Tonya Kappes, eBook, 208 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Yes. I'm the daughter of the infamous couple, June Heal and Oscar Park. One teeny weeny problem, I'm a mortal. Yep. I guess I got my granny Darla's DNA. Good news! I might not have spiritual powers but I have a mean set of baking skills.

I'm delighted to be moving out of Whispering Falls, where y'all know I can't live since I'm mortal, and to Celestial Falls, another small southern town where I'm opening Heavenly Desserts. Of course The Marys wouldn't let me leave unless I took my new kitten with me. I'm beyond excited but fluff left my dough when Orin Reguila showed up. But that's not all that put too much flour in my cookies, there just so happened to be a murder...when someone ate my cookie.

I've got no one to turn to! It looks like I'm going to have to enlist Orin's help with his wizard skills. I just hope I can clear my name and save my business before The Marys make me pack up and go back to Whispering Falls.

BOOK REVIEW: I had no idea that this book even existed until I found out book 2 was about to come out (review coming soon and will get linked to this one). I love the new batch of Southern small town characters and that there is a magical element! I think that is one thing that helps with the cozy mystery and getting myself out of my head of There's no way that a person would go off and investigate a murder without the police's knowledge. Now it's We have magic and let's see if we can be stealthy and help local PD catch the bad guy. I don't want to say it made it more realistic but it did!

It's hard to narrow down what my favorite part of this story was. I love how Lo's kitten Skylar Blue seems to prefer Orin over her and I love seeing the friendship develop between Lo and Orin. He was someone who bugged the crap out of her growing up but having him help her make the bakery a success so she doesn't have to move back home was definitely a bonding experience! I think something may start brewing between them at some point but it's too early to tell. I promise that's not a spoiler.

Overall I give this a 5 star for my newest cozy mystery series! I did have a few times when I was trying to read but had adulting to do and I tried to listen to the audiobook and the narrator just wasn't doing it for me. Hence the reason I'm not including anything about the audiobook in this review. The characters are fun and some that were glossed over I expect to see in the future otherwise why mention them. I'm excited to see if we get more about Aggy, Lo's nosey next-door neighbor.

5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 44/50 complete

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