I got a copy of Seashells, Spells & Caramels and Black Arts, Tarts & Gypsy Carts by Erin Johnson, narrated by  Hannah Somerville through a giveaway on r/audiobooks and I’m happy to report they’re delightful! 

It’s a 1st person story of a 20something  baker, who’d been saving for own bakery when bad luck struck. Luckily she’d been given an invitation by a mysterious stranger to attend a competition for the royal baker for a strange European kingdom. It quickly becomes apparent that this is no ordinary island city, at night the tourists go home, the tide comes in and the magic comes out. 

Not recommended if you’re trying to curb your sugar intake. 

Seashells, Spells & Caramels

In this one the focus of the story is more heavily on the baking than the mystery solving. This is a must read for fans of cooking shows, first book is a magical baking contest, I was very invested in the contest part. In true fantasy style suspicious shit goes down, plots are revealed, people are never what they seem. 

Imogen was great to follow along, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way she was narrated, fun and a little bubbly. Kinda reminded me of the narration in Travis M Riddle’s Balam Spring, same sort of good energy.

I thought the characters were fun, there’s a loyal best friend, a stubborn magical flame, (actual fire flame not romantic flame) and the judges in the competition are very cool, a fortune-teller and a vampire. I will say Imogen is not the best with catching hints and twists, sometimes you can tell a mile while that something something and it just takes her forever to figure it out. 

Black Arts, Tarts & Gypsy Carts 

The second book takes off where the first left off. There’s continuity and growth to the characters’ relationships we know.

This one takes place at a carnival fair, so for me at least, the creepy factor is automatically up. The murder is much more gruesome and the investigation kicks off in full force. 

The plot thickens considerably and conspiracy is afoot, seems generally more mystery focussed, probably because book one had a lot of scene setting to cover.  Also towards the end it’s clear that there’s more to everything that meets the eye and I think there’ll be a bigger overarching mystery through the series. 

Baking is sounds delicious in this one too. The only reason I’ve put off book 3 is because I’m really trying to get back to my usual weight before my seaside holiday and these books have caused random baking at my house. 

Bingo squares 

Self pubished, long title, slice of life/small scale, vampire