Audiobook Review: A Taste of Magic by Tricia O'Malley

Author: Tricia O'Malley
Narrator: Siobhan Waring & John Hartley

Title: A Taste of Magic

Series: The Scottish Charms #2

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Format: Audiobook

Published: August 25, 2026
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)


Summary: 

She’s hexed. He’s her ex. And if they can’t bake in harmony, Briarhaven’s big cooking competition might just go up in smoke.

Lyra MacGregor’s magic is as unpredictable as her love life—especially when her spellwork starts misfiring during the filming of Briarhaven’s favorite reality TV Bewitching Bake-Off. Even worse? She’s paired with Rabbie Campbell, her high school sweetheart turned heartbreak.

He’s never baked a thing in his life. She turns spoons into hedgehogs when he’s nearby. But with the cameras rolling, the curse deepening, and old sparks reigniting, they’ll have to cook up more than just a winning cake to survive. Because in Briarhaven, baking is spellwork, and love is the trickiest recipe of all.

Review:

I finished book 1, and I had to get my hands on book 2. I'm loving this town and this family. Plus...I had to know what the heck is up with Rabbie and Lyra. What happened between them the last time they were in town?

Lyra and her family have been back in town for about a year now. It is her turn to finally get her powers and lift her part of the curse. However, things are interrupted when a Baking Show picks Briarhaven to host the Christmas special. This is the chance Lyra has been dreaming about! She finally got a job at the bakery, but maybe this competition will help blast her Baking show to new heights. However, she is having issues with her magic, and now she's being partnered with her ex....

I really loved this one. I loved watching them go from enemies to baking partners to friends to being in love. It felt real. They finally are forced to TALK and hear each other out. *chef kiss*

Lyra is adorable. 

Rabbie is cranky and cute. 

Gimme all the hedgehogs. 

I just wanted to eat all the yummy desserts mentioned. 

This is a second chance, and I get scared of them, but the reason why they broke up was an easy fix once they matured, especially when they realized it was all a misunderstanding. 

The ending was lovely. 

The narrators were perfect. 

I loved this. So much fun. I want book 3!!!!

5 stars. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #42

- Reading Romance Challenge #20 (MC Works in the Food Industry)

Blodeuedd's Monday: Itch! by Gemma Amor

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Published: October 9, 2025 by Hodder

Horror/borrowed

Ohh I like weird. Josie left her ex after said ex put her in a coma. She went home with her widowed dad, she works at a pub, and life is just pretty shitty. Then she finds a dead body and everything becomes effed up.

It itches, the ants from the dead body are inside her. There is an legend from the woods that there is something there, something that demands offerings.

But it is also a murder mystery. As she is spiraling out of control she tries to figure out what happened to the dead woman.

I liked it. Messed up, creepy and good

Something moves on the forest floor...

Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out, heartbroken and recovering from an abusive relationship, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.

Josie's hopes of a fresh start are horribly derailed when she stumbles across a dead woman's decaying, ant-infested body in the woods. The grim discovery sends her into a downward spiral, forcing her to face uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past - all whilst battling the swarming black ants that seem to have burrowed into her mind... and her flesh.

As Josie struggles with infestations of all kinds, she scratches the surface of an age-old mystery - a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by ancient folklore and strange customs. So when the village dresses up for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask

Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth?

Or is she their next victim?

Audiobook Review: The Tuesday Night Club by Agatha Christie

Author: Agatha Christie
Narrator: Mark Bowen

Title: The Tuesday Night Club

Series: Miss Marple #SS 1

Genre: Mystery, Short Story, Classic
Format: Audiobook

Published: 1927
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library


Summary: 

A weekly gathering of murder mystery fans. Each week one of them challenges the rest of the group with a new mystery. Who can rise to the challenge?

And now for the first difficult case that comes to the Tuesday Night Club. The story begins with a dinner. After a supper of canned lobster and a dessert of trifle, three people became ill and one of them, Mrs. Jones, died. A bout of botulism was suspected but could it have been more than that?

Sir Henry Clithering, the former head of Scotland Yard, recounts it all to the club assembled at Miss Marple's house in St. Mary Mead. The group are keen to delve deeper as he asks whether any of them can resolve it. In the corner sat Miss Marple, knitting and listening.

Review:

I'm a terrible AC fan......I've never read any of the Miss Marple (that I can remember). EEE. Oops. 

Each week, this group of murder-mystery fans takes on a new mystery. The first difficult case lands on their lap....after supper, three people became ill, and one of them died. Who? How? Why? Everyone has their opinions, but who is right?

We all know the answer....Miss Marple will be the one to solve it. LOL, but I loved the format of this lil short story. She was fun! I want more time with her to really fall for her as I have with Hercule. BUT it was a nice intro to this unlikely hero. 

The mystery was nice and so complicated that it had such a simple solution. 

The narrator did well. I would listen to more if he did the voices for more.

Overall, quick, nice, and an interesting mystery. I want more. 

4 stars. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #41

- Library Love #25

Blodeuedd's Monday: Abducted by a Prince by Olivia Drake

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 29, 2014

Series: Cinderella Sisterhood (#3)

Historical romance /own

I have had this book for probably 10 years, oops! I am trying to get to my old forgotten books.

Ellie works as an unpaid servant to her uncle. She is the governess, nursemaid, chaperone, you name it. They took her in when her father died and did not really care.

Damien wants a key back that was stolen long ago, and he will kidnap someone to get it.

Oops, he kidnapped Ellie! Mistake. And her family do not give a damn. But Damien is hot, and Ellie is really nice. How can they ever let each other go?

Short answer. They can not! Cos this is a Cinderella story and they will live happily ever after and her family can go f themselves

I enjoyed it. Cute

She Was Stolen Away...

Ellie Stratham gave up her childhood dreams of a fairy tale romance long ago. To repay her late father’s debts, she’s forced to serve her spoiled cousin, Lady Beatrice. But Ellie has devised a secret plan to escape her life as a drudge. A plan that is thrown into jeopardy when she’s abducted by a mysterious stranger.

But Can He Steal Her Heart?

A notorious seducer of women—and a scoundrel to boot—Damien Burke has earned his nickname as the Demon Prince. But his plot to kidnap Lady Beatrice to make her brother return a priceless heirloom backfires—and he ends up with their penniless cousin, Ellie, as his hostage. By the time Damien realizes his mistake, he and his fiery-willed captive are trapped in a remote castle during a wild winter storm. And he soon finds that the true hostage may be his own heart.