10.13.2022 | Thursday

A Risky Potion

category: Book Reviews
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A Risky Potiontitle: A Risky Potion
author: Constance Barker
series: Happy Blendings Witch #7
published: 18 March 2020
publisher: self-published
genre(s): cozy mystery, paranormal
pages: 90
source: Kindle Unlimited
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | Goodreads

rating: three-stars | series rating: three-stars

the blurb

An Itch that Can't be Soothed, a Portal to be Opened and a Strange Death
Sam is plagued by an itch that won't go away. However, it only hits her at certain times. Is the itch related to dark forces that tend to appear outside her home?
The twin detective's vampire mother has arrived in town. Seems she knows the old vampire living in the Windemere Mansion. Are they plotting something or are they foes?
Phineas needs to open a portal to another world. Can he count on the coven to help? Or will someone try to stop him?


a few notes

cover notes: pretty in pink
keywords/phrases:
murder, witches, magic
mood reading:
in the mood for witchy vibes
anti-bonus points:
felt rushed and unfinished

my review

If this is truly the last book in this series, it has left a lot of loose ends. Nor did it really feel like it moved the story along for most of the characters. It felt very different from most of the other books in the series. The Happy Blendings Witch books have always followed a normal cozy mystery formula… a murder, an investigation, and the solution. There are always good subplots woven through that formula, but the crux of the story is still that structure. Not so in this book. The murder and everything to do with it felt like an afterthought that was only superficially part of the story. There was a subplot with Samantha, too, the mysterious itch. There is so much about that that seems left unanswered and unaddressed.

If this is the end of the series, I wish there had been a more satisfying wrap-up.

About Constance Barker

Constance Barker lives in the Midwest with her husband and two Akitas where she can look out from her screened porch onto a wooded area brimming with activity. Since she was a young girl she read mysteries, often given to her by her grandmother. She loved figuring out who the culprit was and sometimes she was right and other times startled at who the author picked as the assailant. Now she enjoys writing mysteries herself. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in her favorite vacation spot, Las Vegas or shopping for bargains.

Rating Report
plot
three-stars
characters
three-half-stars
writing
three-stars
pacing
three-stars
Overall: three-stars

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