95) Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey Cates

The Blurb :

Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees.

While working at the Honeybee Bakery—named after Lucy's cat—Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty—Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells!

When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer.

My Thoughts :

I love a good cozy and Brownies and Broomsticks not only promised to be paranormal but it also sounded like it was going to taste yummy! Who can pass up a mixture of magic and baked goods? To me it sounds like a recipe (or spell) for success. Although the proof is always after tasting the product I was pretty sure that this debut was going to meet my expectations and I wasn't wrong.

This start to a new series had everything it needed to begin its maiden voyage. Nice nosey young woman, a family who has been hiding her witch heritage from her, lots of yummy treats and guys, a cute little doggie and of course a murder that she has to get involved with. From the start it was obvious that not much could happen to ruin this book. The author wrote like a pro and despite the murder being a little lame/tame it was interesting enough to keep me reading till the end. Although I would have kept reading just to find out about the other characters, magic and treats.

Their was only one slight problem with this book, it made me extremely hungry! I have read books before that deal with food but I have never really found any of the dishes to be very appealing. However this book really had that effect and I was extremely happy to find the recipes at the end (usually I skip this kind of feature) and I am going to be trying them out.

I am definitely going to catch up with Katie and the Honeybee Bakery in the next book. This is a series I am sure will end up on my must buy list and will have me spending more time in the kitchen baking. A worthwhile read and maybe one you can add to your bag to read on holiday.