Brownies and Broomsticks

A Magical Bakery Mystery, Book 1

By: Bailey Cates

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees.

While working at the Honeybee Bakery - named after Lucy's cat - Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty - Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells!

When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer....

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©2012 Penguin Group USA (Inc.) (P)2013 Tantor

Good but could be better

I enjoy this type of witchy mystery. It's formulaic which is a little frustrating because it's so easy to tire of angry/resentful police detectives (fixed later in the book, thank you) and more than one love interest (--hand on brow--"Oh, how will I know who makes me feel happy when they both have such allure!"). Ho hum. If the author gives the female lead some strength of character that meets her age, this could go somewhere. I'll give up one more credit to find out. Narrator is pretty good (I've listened to much worse) but she could tolerate slowing down just a little.

Loved the Storyline!

Bit only a great easy story to follow with plenty of intrigue, but a good narrator! And, that my friends, can make or break a good story!

Lovely story

This was a very enjoyable story. Well narrated and looking forward to the next book.

Entertaining mystery but ..

I liked the story and characters (especially her puppy) throughout but it took a few chapters to become familiar with ALL of the different characters introduced so quickly in beginning. This will make the next books easier to follow but made this book feel rushed to get so many characters introduced. Having said all of that this mystery has a lot to keep you guessing and was creative to the end. This story isn't so cookie cutter as other cozy mysteries so it was worth the time and continuing with the next book.

Speaking of rushed...the narration had me check the read speed of the audible app several times. She reads the book so fast in places that it sounds as if she's tripping over her words and doesn't see the end of a sentence or paragraph for that matter. It was made harder to follow with most of the male characters having the same voice. Not good when you are trying to decide who's who between Declan and Steve.

overall...I'll give the next book a listen in the hopes the narration improves with practice.

Torn on how much I liked it or not

I am torn on this one. I liked it but I also didn’t like it. The mystery was engaging because you really felt for Ben and wanted to see the truth emerge. The main character is okay and I enjoyed the supernatural elements.

The introduction of witchcraft was very well done and I liked how the author didn’t settle on one line of thinking with witchcraft. She developed as a culture with different views, techniques and lines of expertise. It was very well done.

Two of my problems include the introduction of a love triangle – I abhor those in books and the heroine made some really outrageous leaps of analysis without any real information to back it up. I understand thinking of possible scenario but Katie seemed to gravitate to toward every theory as the truth until she was basically slapped in the face with another theory.

totally fun and addictive

I don't normally just listen to books but I thought I would give this a try. So worth it! Great story, super fun performance and I enjoyed every moment.

Cute

I thought this story was cute, it didn't require you to think to hard about anything. The mystery aspect of the story was nice, and most of the characters were interesting. This book is definitely directed more towards younger girls, I think they would enjoy it the most.

Lighthearted, Enjoyable Listen

What did you love best about Brownies and Broomsticks?

Geared towards the ladies, it is a very easy and fun listen. Not too involved, but something perfect to take you away for a bit.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was easy going enough that it probably could have been listened to in one setting.

A honey of a book

A fun cozy book of murder with really good people and really nasty people self in a bakery that makes me hungry just reading. I do so love baked goods

Very cute book

Brownies and Broomsticks is a very cute book. If you need a little pick me up, then this is the book for you. I look forward to listening to the rest of the series. My only complaint is with the narrator. Normally I love Johanna Parker. However, she talked so fast, it was hard to fully enjoy the book.