Sophia Rose Reviews Hexes and Honey Buns by Danielle Garrett

Today Sophia Rose shares her audio review of Hexes and Honeybuns, #3 in Danielle Garrett's Paranormal Cozy Sugar Shack mysteries.
Enjoy!

Note: Sophia Rose was effected by that huge storm so she may be absent for awhile

Hexes and Honey Buns by Danielle Garrett

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

#3 Sugar Shack Mysteries

Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Published: 12.27.22

Time:  5 hours 42 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source: Tantor

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

Goodreads Blurb:

The pen is mightier than the sword - but what's a witch to do when she has writer's block?

After landing my first official journalist job I thought the ideas would be spilling out faster than I could type. But it turns out life in the shadow of my debut piece is a little...make that a lot, harder than I expected.

So, when a convicted murderer reaches out begging for help in proving her innocence, I jump at the chance to dig into another investigation.

The only problem? This trail is ice cold.

I don't want to give up on a good story, or let down a witch desperate for my help, but I'm not sure where to turn and I'm running out of time.

Will my last ditch effort pan out, or will I be forced to give my editor a blank page?

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

The Sugar Shack Mysteries has hit its stride and the series is delighting me at nearly every turn. Rosella is coming into her own.  The town, her family, and the magical worldbuilding are fun backdrop.  Slow-burn romance and clever mysteries with the rest make me eager to pick up my earbuds and settle in to enjoy the latest installment read by the talented Amanda Ronconi.

 

Hexes and Honeybuns is number three behind two long-novellas and two shorter between holiday-themed ones.  There are a few series connections that make it best read or listened to in order.

 

Picking up where the last caper left off, Rosella is back in the saddle with a journalism job and had a good first story out of the gate, but has nothing to follow up that triumph.  And, to add to that she’s still struggling with stay or go when it comes to being back in Winterspell and her relationship with Orion.  Things are at a real low point for her when she gets the call from a witch in prison who read Rosella’s investigative article and wants Rosella to prove Marigold innocent of her husband’s murder.  Orion’s off on a secret dangerous case that has her tide up in knots so she focuses hard on Marigold’s case and slowly picks up the trail on a cold case that’s warming up as she goes.

 

This series is growing on me.  I wasn’t keen on Rosella at the get-go and wanted her to buck up.  Well, she’s steadily working out her personal troubles with her town, figuring out what she wants to do with her life, and deciding whether to have a deeper relationship with Orion when his dangerous, isolating career is putting her off.  Speaking of careers, I loved that moment when Rosella realized that she really loved working her new journalism job and it’s what she went into journalism for in the first place.

Small side note, I would not be mournful at all if Chloe, her cousin, got rundown by a bus or something.  The mean girl schtick toward Rosella is beyond tiresome.

 

The mystery was well-plotted and kept me interested, but I confess the return to a series plot thread that’s had me curious for a while getting more attention toward the end of this book is what has me beyond excited to see what comes next.

 

In summary, Amanda Ronconi was abso-fab at narrating this latest with good, distinct voicing of all the characters and Hexes and Honeybuns was all a paranormal cozy should be.  Definitely one for the ‘to be listen’ stack.

 

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.

Website:  https://daniellegarrettbooks.com/

Facebook Author Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/daniellegarrettreadergroup/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. 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.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

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