Cupcakes, Trinkets, And Other Deadly Magic, Dowser #1 (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
I had been putting off reading this installment for some time now. I prefer to be in the right headspace to appreciate a good paranormal book. I find that my reading experience comes off better that way rather than to be in the mood for the more interesting murder mystery that I tend to favor now and then. So I wandered into this book expecting light hearted magic and in a general sense all the fun that wicans get to have while spell casting. Instead, I got a heaping help of cool for my troubles and loved every second of it. The story follows a half-witch, Jade Godfrey. She has a small bakery in a non-descript Vancouver town that does some pretty solid business. She finds herself distracted by a random Vampire that seems to be testing the wards around her shop. Her fears are palpable as the danger starts to ramp up with each new event. Jade has to work harder to figure out why he seems to be there at the shop and her minor investigation yields results she is definitely unprepared to take on. Add to the mix the cupcake descriptions that literally had me reaching for "peanut chews" and as much chocolate as I could consider getting my hands on without it making significant changes to the waistline and this is definitely one that you will want to add to your book queue. The story is mixed with a great cast of characters that compliment Jade perfectly. The town itself is fascinating in its size and yet full of interesting shops and places to go. Jade has a bunch of growing to do despite her age. She hasn't yet embraced who she is and reconciled that with what she wants to be and that level of conflict shows in her reactions to the various events that start to up-end her life. I enjoyed this story because its format. You get to experience the events just as Jade is going through them, so you aren't shielded for foresight or foreshadowing, that can tend to come with complex storylines like this one. One of the best parts is that the author doesn't gift us with all of the keys to the kingdom, so if you want to have real answers like what's really in the basement, or what is Jade really dealing with here, you'll get no such answers from this installment alone. The other part that I like is that you are immediately hooked into the honesty that Jade presents, so you are intrigued enough to end the story and pick up the next installment without batting an eyelash. That means something when it comes to stories like this because I have found it to be a readers crossroads of sorts, do you care enough to continue on? Will you be able to walk away feeling like you have drained the story and you feel completely sated with the answers that you received? Often times, I have left whole buckets of information just sitting around because I had lost the attention factor just as the story was getting good. That will not be the case here for the reader, they are going to want to follow through and find out what comes next. They are going to enjoy Jade for her optimism and spunky ways, they are also going to be enamored with the people that she surrounds herself with. Out of a possible 5 stars this title gets 4. Have you had a chance to read this title? What did you think about it? Happy Reading! from amazon: If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have told you that the best cupcakes were dark chocolate with chocolate cream cheese icing, that dancing in a crowd of magic wielders — the Adept — was better than sex, and that my life was peaceful and uneventful. Just the way I liked it. That’s what twenty-three years in the magical backwater of Vancouver will get you — a completely skewed sense of reality. Because when the dead werewolves started showing up, it all unraveled … except for the cupcake part. That’s a universal truth. The truth is... i read this, & don't remember it hardly at all which is not a good sign. Trying to clean out my Kindle a bit, so will give it three stars for 'ok' and move on.....
What do You think about Cupcakes, Trinkets, And Other Deadly Magic, Dowser #1 (2014)?
I really enjoyed it! A bit predictable at points, but a good fun read nonetheless.
—politolog
This was my first magical book and I very much enjoyed it.
—mary
