Garden Spells

RECOMMENDED: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen is $1.99! This author became an auto-buy for me after I read this book as a part of a GoodReads reading challenge. I would liken this book to women’s fiction with a magical realism slant. It’s heartwarming and beautiful and has a 4-star rating on GR. The biggest complaint seems to be the book is a little predictable, but we all need an easy read now and again. It’s the first book in the Waverley Family series.
In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.…
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.
When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.
Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own…
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Easy Love by Kristen Proby is 99c! This is a contemporary romance with an opposites attract plot. Since this is the first book in a series, some readers felt a lot of the plot revolved around setting things up. However, many loved the setting of New Orleans, and especially the hero. It has a 4.1-star rating on Goodreads. The second book in the series is on sale for $1.99 and the third book is $2.99!
Eli Boudreaux’s family has built ships and boats in Louisiana for generations. He comes from a hard working, wealthy family and his empire is growing by leaps and bounds. At thirty, he is the youngest CEO to ever head Bayou Enterprises, co-chairing with his eldest brother. His head for business and his no-nonsense work ethic is also quickly making him the best the company has seen in generations. His staff admires him, women adore him and Eli’s family is solid. But he’s recently discovered that someone on the inside of his business is stealing from him and he’s determined to find out who.
Kate O’Shaughnessy is hired by companies all over the world to slip inside and investigate every member of the organization from the CEO down to the custodial staff to find the person or persons responsible for embezzling. She’s excellent at blending, becoming part of the team, and finding the weakest link. She’s smart, quick-witted, and she’s now been hired by Bayou Enterprises, specifically Eli Boudreaux. The attraction is immediate and the chemistry is off the charts, but Kate has heard all about Eli’s playboy past and she has a job to do. Sleeping with the boss isn’t a part of that job, even if just the sound of her name rolling off that Cajun tongue and the way he fills out a designer suit does make her sweat.
Eli’s southern charms surprise Kate. The man whose reputation labels him as a ruthless, callous womanizer is not the man she’s coming to know intimately. He’s generous, protective and makes her smile. Cracking through Kate’s cool, reserved demeanor and discovering her love of sexy, expensive lingerie is a challenge Eli can’t resist, but her sweet nature, love of family and sense of humor pull at him in ways no one else ever has.
But when the person responsible for trying to single-handedly dismantle Eli’s empire comes to light, and it’s time for Kate to move on, to what lengths will Eli go to keep the woman he’s fallen in love with by his side?
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A Wicked Pursuit by Isabella Bradford is on sale for either $1.99 or $2.99 depending on the vendor! This is a historical romance with a forced proximity/nursed back to health plot. Some readers felt like nothing really happened in terms of conflict, but others that the romance was tender and sweet. Have you read this one?
In Isabella Bradford’s enthralling new trilogy, three noble brothers—London’s most scandalous rakes—are about to do the unthinkable: settle down. Harry Fitzroy, Earl of Hargreave, is the first to meet his match and lose his heart . . . to a lady who’s not all what he expected.
As the eldest son of the Duke of Breconridge, Harry Fitzroy is duty-bound to marry—and marry well. Giving up his rakish ways for the pleasures of a bride’s bed becomes a delightful prospect when Harry chooses beautiful Lady Julia Barclay, the catch of the season. But a fall from his horse puts a serious crimp in his plans. Abandoned by Julia before he can propose, the unlucky bachelor finds himself trapped in the country in the care of Julia’s younger sister.
Harry has never met a woman like Lady Augusta. Utterly without artifice, Gus is clever and capable, and seems to care not a fig for society. After a taboo kiss awakens passion that takes them both by surprise, Harry realizes he’d almost given his heart to the wrong sister. While London tongues wag, he’ll use his most seductive powers of persuasion to convince the reluctant Gus that she belongs with him—as his equal, his love, his wife.
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Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland is 99c! This is the first book in the Kara Gillian series, which was recommended by several commenters in a Character Driven Urban Fantasy Rec League. Some people had an issue getting into the writing, while others loved the trope of an occult detective. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
Cop and conjurer of demons, she’s a woman in danger of losing control—to a power that could kill….
Why me? Why now? That’s what Beaulac, Louisiana, detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when an angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who’s already claimed the lives—and souls—of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he’s back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.
Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac’s small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head…
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I loved GARDEN SPELLS. It felt like one of those “take me away” magical books. If only.
I read “A Wicked Pursuit” and for the first third, I was loving it. The prose is great. But…. nothing happens. There isn’t actually any conflict. Sometimes writers can overcome that by having the interactions between the two leads be so fun that you’re willing to not care that there’s no tension to resolve. But this wasn’t really in that ballpark – the leads are very young and very young-feeling. By the time they’re a formal couple, you have so much of the book left, and I just didn’t care enough to continue.
PS, here is my GR review of “A Wicked Pursuit”: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1636179252?book_show_action=false
I love love love Sarah Addison Allen. I am jealous of people who get to read all her books for the first time.
Tessa Dare’s Goddess of the Hunt is $1.99 on Amazon.
Sarah Addison Allen’s one of my go-to comfort reads and I was so thrilled that First Frost, the sequel, was as good as the original which shall live in infamy as one of my favorite books on earth, which i have shared with friends, coworkers, and relatives all the way up to my grandma and my husband. LOVE IT
Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full is $1.99 at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble US right now, didn’t check other sites. It’s a mystery with sheep as the protagonist detectives, and judging by the knitting giveaway thread I figure there might be takers. I read it a few years ago, went to refresh my memory with the sample, and .
Sigh – previous post was meant to end in
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GARDEN SPELLS is my favorite of Sarah Addison Allen’s books. All of them are delightful. This one is just marvelous!
I loved “A Wicked Pursuit” all the way through. Yes, the characters were young, but I enjoyed watching them mature and discover themselves. Not a wildly dramatic book, but a pleasure.
I thought “A Wicked Pursuit” was really boring and could not figure out what was so wicked. Granted, I like my romances kind of spicy but there was basically NO conflict. I really thought the hero was kind of a twit who really deserved to end up with Gus’ twit sister. This one book really put me off of this author altogether.
thanks so much for including the link to Character Driven Urban fantasy in the Mark of the Demon blurb! I missed that post first time around and am picking up all kinds of great suggestions.
I loved MARK OF THE DEMON. Can’t go wrong with Diana Rowland.
I was hopeful for EASY LOVE because I’m always on the lookout for books set in New Orleans, but…sigh…this was obviously written by someone not familiar with the city. Three nopes before I made it halfway through the first chapter. 🙁