Book 72, 2022
Curse the Day by Annabel Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I finished reading Curse the Day by Annabel Chase last night. It is the first part of the "Spellbound" series of paranormal cozy mysteries. The main character is attorney Emma Hart.
On her way to visit a client, Emma gets lost in the Poconos and ends up in a town called Spellbound. The town is populated with supernaturals, including witches, vampires, goblins, and harpies. Spellbound has been cursed so that no one can leave. Emma learns that she is a witch, meaning she's now stuck in Spellbound, too. Since the town's public defender, a vampire named Gareth, was recently murdered, the council decides that Emma can live in his house so long as she takes on his work. The case Gareth was working on was to defend a goblin accused of jewelry theft. While Emma delves into Mumford's case, she also feels compelled to look into Gareth's murder. In the meantime, she has to take remedial lessons with other young witches, learn how to wield her magic, and deal with Gareth's sinister cat. Emma's sleuthing puts her at odds with Sheriff Hugo, a centaur, and may also land her in the sights of a killer.
A fun story. While I am tired of ye olde trope of 'character didn't know s/he was a witch/wizard until...' this was at least a bit of a refreshing take on it. The pacing was good, and it was liberally laced with humor. I admired Emma's pluck and her tenacity. Characterizations were good, although I hope to get a better feel for the regulars in future installments.
Favorite lines:
♦ The only signs of life were roadkill, so...no signs of life then.
♦ No one would believe my story. My internet article would end up with a thousand hateful comments about damning my soul to hell, along with a couple of Russian women wanting to date me.
♦ I loved food. I wasn't so great at cooking it, but I definitely loved to eat it.
♦ "I got the impression she wasn't the warmest coal on the fire."
♦ I was afraid of a lot of things, but unfamiliar cookies weren't one of them.
Delightfully cute, and I look forward to reading more in this series. Four stars.