The purpose of Thrifty Thursday is to read a book which was free (at some point).
Kindle freebie on September 8, 2020 (currently 99¢ at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.32 with 739 ratings and 120 reviews
One Dark and Stormy Knight by Hermoine Moon Series: Avalon Cafe #1
on March 30, 2020
Genres: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
Pages: 163
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
When kitchen witch Gwen Young discovers the spirit of King Arthur in the suit of armour that stands in her café only an hour after finding a dead body in the library, she knows it’s going to be a very strange day…
Gwen Young runs The Avalon Cafe in Glastonbury, England, and solves murders with a psychic Labradoodle called Merlin and a boyfriend who only materializes when she’s in trouble. Well, every girl needs a knight in shining armour! Join Gwen, Arthur, and the rest of their friends as they solve mysteries and murders, and fall in love along the way!
The Avalon Cafe is nestled near the great historic Glastonbury Abbey and the King Arthur legend that features at the nearby museum. Some say the present day land was once Arthurian legendary isle of Avalon and Arthur’s final resting place and some whisper that the owner of the cafe is a witch whose muffins are magic for what ails you.
On a wet night when everyone is sensibly headed home and not touring the abbey or museum adventure, Gwen is alone in closing her shop surrounded by her music, her dog Merlin, and one of the mainstays of the cafe, Sir Boss the suit of armor. Cleaning up and winding down, she’s interrupted by a childhood and college mean girl who got Gwen’s ex, her dream archeological job at the abbey, and now wants a cake to celebrate. Not minutes later, Gwen stumbles over her body and discovers there is more to Sir Boss than she thought.
One Dark and Stormy Knight is a light paranormal cozy mystery and I hadn’t gotten past the first page before I knew I was going to love Gwen, her kitchen magic, the setting of the cafe and town with all its lore, Merlin the dog, and the secret of the stunning blue eyed man who appears in Sir Boss’ armor.
The murder is introduced early as is the mystery of Arthur appearing in the suit of armor. I thought the author did a wonderful job introducing the world of her books, Gwen’s background, and the broader cast of characters while forwarding the two plot mysteries. There is a nice relationship network with Gwen. Her friendship with Imogene who is a police detective, her aunt and uncle, even the annoying reporter Matthew who suspects she’s a witch, and of course sweet Merlin her quirky dog and lastly Arthur who is a dreamy man who is patient and understanding with an attractive twinkle and definitely looks like a great warrior of legend.
It was a quick and easy read, but I was hooked from start to finish. All the joy of a new series to love discovery. I had the series recommended and I’m every so glad I finally picked up the first book. I will definitely be pressing forward and recommend it to other paranormal cozy mystery fans.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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It looks like this one is still free! It sounds great so I am going to grab it.
Yay! Glad to put you onto it, Carole. 🙂
It’s great when you find a book that hooks you from the start and is good all the way through.
Yes! I grabbed up the next in the series and happily read the prequel, too. I’m hooked. 🙂
This one seems perfectly spooky for Halloween month. Glad you’re off to a great start with this series 🙂
Thanks, Lucy! Yes indeed its a good one for spooky month.
I like the looks of this one. I like cute witchy books, and I love that she has a dog on her broom instead of a cat.
It is definitely a fun witchy one with Merlin the dog as her companion. 🙂
Great review Sophia! I snagged my free copy of the book!
Yay! Hope you get a kick out of it, Elizabeth! 🙂
I nearly picked this up the other day!
Its a cutie! 😉
I want to read more cozy mysteries, just need to find the time! Glad this freebie was a hit, Sophia!
I’ve been picking them up more often in the last few years. This was a cutie!