Sophia Rose Reviews Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett

Today once again I welcome Sophia Rose to the blog with her audio review of Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett, book #1 in her Sugar Shack Witch Mystery series.
Enjoy!

Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett

#1 Sugar Shack Witch Mystery

Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published: 2.9.21

ASIN:  B08SR6XQ6X

Time:  8 hours

Rating: 3.5

Format: MP3

Source:  Tantor Audio

Sellers:  Amazon / Kobo

Add To: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

They say you can't go home again. . .oh, if only that were true.

Thanks to a series of unfortunate events - and one backstabbing frenemy - home is exactly where I'm headed. back to Winterspell Lake, the small community in Eastern Washington where magic runs rampant and humans are outlawed.

Faster than you can say hocus pocus I'm unpacking my bags and settling into the guest room of my parents' house, trying to ignore the creeping sensation that I'll never break free again.

The one thing Winterspell has going for it is the sweets shop in the center of town, a bakery filled with magical creations designed to enchant the taste buds and charm even the pickiest of connoisseurs. Luckily for me, I get the friends and family discount since my parents own the famous Sugar Shack. If I want room and board, I have to frost cupcakes and sling macaroons with the rest of the fam.

Unfortunately, things in Winterspell aren't all sugar cookies and rainbows. According to the local news, a dangerous sea serpent has claimed the lives to three missing girls. The journalist in me has to have a look for myself, and what I find is something far more deadly.

Something that makes me wish I'd stayed in the bakery.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Rosella Midnight thinks she is up for a promotion when her boss calls her into the office and learns she is being fired for plagiarism after a fellow journalist steals her story and turns it in ahead of her.  Then she has to cut loose the last string tying her to a former fiancé before packing her bags and headed to her dreaded home town where she is a pariah to most of the town and has for many years ghosted the ones who are family and friends.  It was an interesting set up to the new series that spends a great deal of its time in a family-owned bakery where goodies kept me salivating.

 

The hidden magical town of Winterspell is full of magic and magical people, but there is also a killer on the loose.  Rosella would rather track down clues than face any of the issues confronting her, but it is more than that.  She senses the authorities are on the wrong track and talks their representative into giving her a few days to prove it.  Meanwhile, her love life includes a recent break up, a reunion with her highschool sweetheart that is awkward, and a new possibility with her temporary detecting partner.

 

It took seven chapters and nearly all my patience before I could learn what exactly the curse was that made Rosella the town pariah and sent her bolting out of town and turning her back on everyone and everything there including a high school sweetheart, her best friends, and her own family.  I have to say that I thought the townspeople definitely overreached and Rosella did as well.  She did to those who loved her what the prejudiced people were doing to her.  She even got snotty and manipulative with strangers to get her way- though, at least her motives were good.  And, I couldn’t respect her or like her much as a result.  I’ll have to see if further books raise my opinion of her as the series progresses.

 

But, I did love several aspects of the story.  This new magical world the author created with the town of Winterspell and beyond to other hidden magical communities, the magical law enforcement including a certain handsome, capable monster hunter and wrangler.  I loved the curse Rosella had that I actually thought was a powerful gift and so did her friends.  I look forward to seeing her reconnect with her friends and her sisters.  Rosella’s grandmother is a hoot and her family as a whole is going to be fun times.

 

The bulk of the book was setting up the series background, characters, and ongoing series plot, but there was a mystery.  The mystery was engaging and had a good dangerous climax.  It is also tied in to a bigger mystery that is part of the series arc.  I can’t wait to see where it goes.

 

Amanda Ronconi has narrated the author’s previous series and I was glad to hear a familiar voice take up the reins and tell this start to a new one.  I enjoyed her animal voices as much as the human ones and how she caught the tone of the book.

 

All in all, I have mixed feelings about the heroine, but love the world and can’t wait to see where things go.  This will definitely be one that paranormal cozy mystery fans should give a look at.

 

My thanks to Tantor Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Author’s Bio:

From a young age, Danielle Garrett was obsessed with fantastic places and the stories set in them. As a lifelong bookworm, she’s gone on hundreds of adventures through the eyes of wizards, princesses, elves, and some rather wonderful everyday people as well.

Danielle now lives in Oregon and while she travels as often as possible, she wouldn’t call anywhere else home. She shares her life with her husband and their house full of animals, and when not writing, spends her time being a house servant for three extremely spoiled cats.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/authordgarrett

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DanielleGarrettBooks/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

Sophia’s Social Media Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose