It's the first annual Spellbound Day, and the community has come together to celebrate recent seismic changes. Local lawyer Emma Hart is on top of the world, reveling in her new marriage and her promotion within the coven's academy.
When residents begin acting strangely, the entire town is thrown for a loop. With the help of Sheriff Astrid and the rest of her friends, Emma sets out to uncover the cause. Is it simply a negative response to the influx of new paranormal residents? Or is there magic at work?
Goodreads Rating: 4.40 stars with just over 600 ratings.
Genre Listing: Paranormal, Witches, Romance, Cozy Mystery, Fantasy, Magic
Get the Book: Amazon
Goodreads Challenge: 33/30
Book Review:
I really need to step away from burning through series. Granted, I picked this one up because I knew it would be light and enjoyable, which is precisely what I needed after Aaru: Halls of Hel. Crazy for Brew by Annabel Chase is the first book in the Spellbound spinoff series, Spellbound Ever After. It picks up a few weeks after the Spellbound series ends. Emma and Daniel flee Spellbound since the curse is broken and head to Greece for a Honeymoon, and come back to a few changes.
The whole main plotline for Crazy for Brew is the struggle of now having newcomers in the town and people leaving. Of course, because it's Spellbound; there is chaos and mayhem. It also centers around Emma's friends, so she naturally decides to figure out who's behind the mayhem. There are also copious amounts of swooning over Daniel.
I don't know if it's because I burned through the entire Spellbound series like I'd never get to reread it, or what, but I wasn't all that enthusiastic about Crazy for Brew. I was actually able to set it down for a day or two. It's still incredibly short at 191 pages, so it's not like it was going to take me long anyways. At this point though, it just feels like there's a particular format. Emma gets a case, something else happens in town that probably involves her friends, something her client or someone else says to her flips a switch and all of the sudden she knows who did the thing in town.
I think there's a definite influence from the real world that creeps its way into Annabel Chase's work. It's interesting and subtle but also relatable. I could be reading way too much into things, but I think the mayoral election took place near when the real world presidential election would have taken place. In Crazy for Brew, the borders of Spellbound are now open, and the residents have to deal with issues like infrastructure, how to let new residents in, resident quota, etc. It just published in March, and obviously, border discussions are a hot topic right now. Again, I could be reading way too much into it, but it's something I found interesting.
I think my favorite character in the book and series will always be Agnes. She's old, she's sassy, she doesn't give a damn about what people say or think. Even though Agnes is my favorite, Annabel Chase does an excellent job of giving each character a decent amount of personality. I'm reasonably impressed with this considering that the books are so short. Emma especially feels extremely relatable, despite having magical powers.
Overall, I enjoyed Cray for Brew. I liked the inclusion of new residents and showing how some of the residents of Spellbound were for it, while others were against it. I will say that why the books are entertaining, they each follow a precise formula, and Crazy for Brew was no different. The inclusion of everyone acting differently felt a little similar to when the council was made to act like children. I'll most likely continue the series, but I'm not going to binge through it like I did with Spellbound. I think it'll be an excellent filler to read in between other books when I just want something short and quick.
I think there's a definite influence from the real world that creeps its way into Annabel Chase's work. It's interesting and subtle but also relatable. I could be reading way too much into things, but I think the mayoral election took place near when the real world presidential election would have taken place. In Crazy for Brew, the borders of Spellbound are now open, and the residents have to deal with issues like infrastructure, how to let new residents in, resident quota, etc. It just published in March, and obviously, border discussions are a hot topic right now. Again, I could be reading way too much into it, but it's something I found interesting.
I think my favorite character in the book and series will always be Agnes. She's old, she's sassy, she doesn't give a damn about what people say or think. Even though Agnes is my favorite, Annabel Chase does an excellent job of giving each character a decent amount of personality. I'm reasonably impressed with this considering that the books are so short. Emma especially feels extremely relatable, despite having magical powers.
Overall, I enjoyed Cray for Brew. I liked the inclusion of new residents and showing how some of the residents of Spellbound were for it, while others were against it. I will say that why the books are entertaining, they each follow a precise formula, and Crazy for Brew was no different. The inclusion of everyone acting differently felt a little similar to when the council was made to act like children. I'll most likely continue the series, but I'm not going to binge through it like I did with Spellbound. I think it'll be an excellent filler to read in between other books when I just want something short and quick.
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