Review of Full Moons, Dunes & Macaroons: A Cozy Witch Mystery (Spells & Caramels) by Erin Johnson
A Cozy Witch Mystery
Spells & Caramels, Book 5
Erin Johnson
Cozy Mystery
Self Published
ASIN: B07BPGFNRR
Print Length - 248 Pages
About the Book:
The big day has finally arrived, and Imogen, Iggy and the bakers head to the Fire Kingdom for Hank and Shaday’s wedding. Imogen is totally fine with it—or so she keeps telling herself. Even the murder of a famous wedding guest can’t stop the impending nuptials. So when Imogen’s repressed feelings magically ruin her baking and she’s banned from the kitchen, she sets herself to finding the killer. Her search leads her through the desert kingdom’s bustling marketplaces and the maze-like raid, to discover underground movements, shady characters, and more secrets about the people around her than she thought possible. Could the killer be the clever journalist or the rebellious palace maid? Perhaps it’s a member of the royal family. With the Fire Kingdom’s people churning for change, a mysterious artifact missing from the museum, and a dastardly plot brewing, Imogen begins to feel the heat. When Horace contacts her and makes her a tempting offer, she struggles to choose between him and her new friends. Imogen’s choice will have enormous consequences over a deadly plot that threatens the people she loves. Will she stop a killer and find a happy ending in the process? Or will an ancient legend come to life and destroy them all?
The wedding day for Hank and Shaday has arrived. The royal bakers travel to the Fire Kingdom with the royal family to get ready for the festivities. Imogen has known for a long time that this day was coming and tried to convince herself and everyone around her that she's okay being the other woman and Hank's marriage is just a formality. Everyone, including herself, knows she's definitely not okay with this arrangement. Unable to control her emotions during formal gatherings or while baking, Imogen has been temporarily removed from her duties.
This is perfect timing as she can now investigate the mysterious death of one of the high profile guests. In her quest to find the guest's murderer, Imogen stumbles upon information about Shaday, comes back into contact with Horace, and learns about the mysterious disappearance of an artifact from the Fire Kingdom's museum. When Horace offers Imogen a different life, away from Hank and the rest of the royal kingdoms, she is tempted to take him up on it and leave her current life behind. Unfortunately, Horace is up to his old tricks and now it's up to Imogen, Hank, Shaday, and her warriors to try and save the day.
I have grown to really love this series. Imogene, Hank, Maple, and Sam, along with all the others, are well developed characters. They aren't flawless characters but that's what helps give them, and the story, so much charm. The continued world building provides more information about the magic practiced by various characters, describes scenes very well, and helps the reader develop deeper connections with the characters. I really enjoyed continuing to get to know everyone better in book 5.
Imogen is a fun, caring, and interesting character. She has embraced the magic she was born into and is still learning how to harness or use the magic. Imogene and Maple are great friends and I love their friendship, even when Maple has to be hard and dismiss her from the royal kitchen during baking time for the wedding. I love the dynamics between Imogene and Prince Harry aka Hank. They are cute together and I really enjoyed how things developed in Full Moons, Dunes, & Macaroons. And Iggy is the best! He's mouthy but Iggy and Imogen have a great relationship and love to watch it continue to grow.
I really enjoyed the fifth book in this cozy mystery series and found the setting and characters to be interesting and exciting. I was completely engaged in the story. There were some twists and turns in the quest to catch the killer. This story dealt with sets of emotions that were never really encountered in previous books. Imogen finally has to acknowledge and accept that her love is marrying another. While it's been alluded to in the other stories, here we are reading the book where the wedding is taking place. The author does a great job conveying her despair.
There are multiple threads woven through Full Moons, Dunes, & Macarons that keep the story fresh and interesting. The book was fast paced and easy to follow. I look forward to the next book and the continued exploration into Imogen's past and development of the relationship between Imogen and Hank. It will also be interesting to see how, or if, the author continues to develop Imogen's relationship with Horace.
I was given a copy of this book to read.
My Review:
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