WANDS, WAFFLES, AND WHISPERS Book Review

Wands, Waffles, and Whispers (book 2 in Southern Magical Bakery series) by Tonya Kappes, eBook, 232 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Every small town hides a secret. This one has a few dozen… and a magical cat who knows them all.

After leaving her enchanted hometown behind, Lo Heal-Park thought she’d finally found a quiet life in Celestial Falls—complete with a charming bakery, a suspiciously talkative cat, and a second date with the local vet. But when a beloved town elder is found dead under mysterious circumstances and strange magical pulses begin rippling through the streets, Lo’s hopes for a fresh start vanish like sugar on a hot skillet. Now, with her unexpected spiritual gifts waking up and a magical crack in the town’s foundation threatening to burst wide open, Lo has to sift through secrets, seal old spells, and figure out who—or what—is stirring ancient magic from its slumber. All without burning the biscuits.

Warm, witty, and just a little wicked, Wands, Waffles & Whispers is the delicious first course in a new cozy mystery series perfect for fans of spellbinding small towns, cinnamon-sweet suspense, and heroines who stir up more than just batter. Because in Celestial Falls, even the magic has a sweet tooth… and it’s hungry.

BOOK REVIEW: There is definitely a disconnect here that I had a hard time with. It's noted at the end of the synopsis that that is the first course in a new series but this is the second book in the series (book 1 is tagged in the related posts). Given that I just read the first book before starting this one, I saw a lot of flaws. It felt like the author had forgotten about book 1 which came out in November 2021. That's a big gap of almost 4 years. It felt like she forgot to review how her characters acted and kind of started from scratch but not really. I know this sounds very critical and that I didn't like it but that isn't the case. I swear in the beginning we were only picking up a few months after book 1 left off and that would have made sense. Then you have Lo who all of a sudden seems to have more magic than when we left her, she has a wand, and her kitten (like I said...months) is all of a sudden being super sweet and calling Lo sugar. That isn't the same characteristics of kitten Skylar Blue we got before. Then there are times when Lo's magic seems like it's something she has been working on for years and is super comfortable with it which isn't really the case because a kitten doesn't stay a kitten for years! Now that I have that out of the way, I rate this 4.5 stars. The half star taken away because of all that I mentioned above. The story was still cute and wonderful. The characters are colorful and whimsical. I'm surprised her nosey neighbor Aggie isn't in this one more but then again, not a lot of the story takes place in Lo's home this time. We get to see Lo evolve and was there a hint into her love life there towards the end? You'll have to check it out for yourself. I do hope that we don't have to wait 4 years before our next trip to Celestial Falls.

4.5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 47/50 complete