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book_garden's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rants_n_reads's review
3.0
Having read the first book of the series, this second book seems a little disjointed. This one actually seems like the third book in the series. Diving in, Alex seems to be at a further point in her identity in town than I expected. She is now in a relationship with Jack when the first book ended with them barely at a truce. Her and Pepper also seem to have a Batman and Robin relationship I didn’t see coming. While the first book ended with signs that they were friends, I didn’t quite expect her to become Alex’s sleuthing buddy. As far as the plot goes, it needed some work. Some plot points seemed to be added in too late. Also, Alex’s role as detective didn’t seem to quite work. I didn’t understand why people were answering her questions when she interrogated them. She isn’t an established part of the community in the town yet, and unlike Dylan, these aren’t people from her past who would feel connected enough to work with her in the investigation. She was also throwing herself into the investigation before she knew that Jack suspected Celeste. Yes, we know that there is some sort of magical element included to make her fear for her family‘s secret, but it’s still seemed more like she was concerned more about the murder than the magical secrets Neve knew.
cservat129's review
4.0
Alex Daniels is at it again trying to solve yet another murder mystery in the magical town of Bellamy Bay, North Carolina. This town is full of magicals and mundanes, mundanes are humans with no magical ability. I loved the setting and the magical elements of this story. This is a paranormal cozy mystery that involves mermaids, dragons, and water witches.
Alex must help her cousin Celeste out when Celeste is accused of murder all while helping out at her familys' herbal apothecary and dating Jack, the detective on the case. I found this to be very fast-paced with a lot of action. Alex is adept at sleuthing and asking the tough questions needed to find out who the murderer is.
The story takes many twists and turns with plenty of magical elements, red herrings, and drama to keep me turning the pages. As for romance, Alex seems to be torn between Jack and Dylan. I find myself rooting for Dylan, a love interest from the first book in the series.
This book delivered for me with a surprise twist at the end! I look forward to the next book in the series.
Alex must help her cousin Celeste out when Celeste is accused of murder all while helping out at her familys' herbal apothecary and dating Jack, the detective on the case. I found this to be very fast-paced with a lot of action. Alex is adept at sleuthing and asking the tough questions needed to find out who the murderer is.
The story takes many twists and turns with plenty of magical elements, red herrings, and drama to keep me turning the pages. As for romance, Alex seems to be torn between Jack and Dylan. I find myself rooting for Dylan, a love interest from the first book in the series.
This book delivered for me with a surprise twist at the end! I look forward to the next book in the series.
bleyz16's review
4.0
4.5 stars rounded good.
A slower start for me, but really loving this series and quickly becoming one of my favorite cozy series.
A slower start for me, but really loving this series and quickly becoming one of my favorite cozy series.
tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition
4.0
The second installment in the An Enchanted Bay Mystery series, was a lovely follow up to the first series book, which I enjoyed as well last year. This paranormal cozy mystery included magical elements of the protagonist's Alex mermaid heritage and you get to also learn more about Alex’s past, new other magical beings who are residing in Bellamy Bay and why she is so drawn to the mysterious childhood friend.
While I felt there were a few slow parts in the story, overall, the narrator was great at telling us this tale that had intrigue, history, great red herrings and of course, mystery.
Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener’s copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
While I felt there were a few slow parts in the story, overall, the narrator was great at telling us this tale that had intrigue, history, great red herrings and of course, mystery.
Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener’s copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
hannah_monson's review
3.0
One thing that I love about cozy mysteries is that the answer is always there, but it's hidden in plain sight. Because of this, sometimes I can figure out who the murderer is, but usually I am surprised. However, the added elements of magic, which include improbable and unknowable disguises, as well as changes to the laws of the universe, mean that the mysteries don't feel accessible to solve because the reader doesn't have full insight into the magical world. Despite these drawbacks, Bellamy Bay is a perfect cozy mystery setting and the cast of characters is charming and relatable.
underwater_reader's review
2.0
A visiting artist is murdered after completing a mural for the upcoming mermaid festival in the second book in the Enchanted Bay series. There is also some stuff going on with mythological weapons and businesses doing bad practices and also dragons... I liked this book alright, but it just did not know what it wanted to be. The murder mystery was solved and I still had an hour and a half left in the audiobook. That last hour and a half was filled up with a lot of side plots that didn't really go anywhere. I think we definitely are going to need a third book in this series to keep the story going and dive into some more detail.
What I did enjoy about this book is the characters and the charming town. I really liked Alex in the first book, but in this one, she became a little insufferable. She was a little bit rude and she frequently held information to herself that would have sped up the investigation and helped others out. I do like her family and the townspeople, though. In this one, I really did not care for her police officer boyfriend. He was too gruff and secretive and he just didn't have any appeal for me. He also refused to acknowledge that Alex may be right about something and kept saying "It's my job." Dude, we KNOW you're a police officer. Alex was also super bothered by the fact that he keeps arresting people that she cares about. In [b:A Spell for Trouble|52440333|A Spell for Trouble (An Enchanted Bay Mystery #1)|Esme Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569678394l/52440333._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73073188] it was her aunt and now in this one, he's arrested her cousin. Might just be me here, but I feel like there might be some conflict of interest between the two. He was pretty annoying and I kept rooting against him. I also don't really care for the other love interest, Alex's childhood friend, Dylan. Hopefully, there will be more books in the series and hopefully, they will include Alex maturing and finding a good guy.
I had a hard time getting into this one and it took me a while to finish. I had to switch to the audiobook to get through it. Overall, I didn't love this one. If more are published in the series I will for sure read them, but I hope they are better than this one. 2 stars.
What I did enjoy about this book is the characters and the charming town. I really liked Alex in the first book, but in this one, she became a little insufferable. She was a little bit rude and she frequently held information to herself that would have sped up the investigation and helped others out. I do like her family and the townspeople, though. In this one, I really did not care for her police officer boyfriend. He was too gruff and secretive and he just didn't have any appeal for me. He also refused to acknowledge that Alex may be right about something and kept saying "It's my job." Dude, we KNOW you're a police officer. Alex was also super bothered by the fact that he keeps arresting people that she cares about. In [b:A Spell for Trouble|52440333|A Spell for Trouble (An Enchanted Bay Mystery #1)|Esme Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569678394l/52440333._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73073188] it was her aunt and now in this one, he's arrested her cousin. Might just be me here, but I feel like there might be some conflict of interest between the two. He was pretty annoying and I kept rooting against him. I also don't really care for the other love interest, Alex's childhood friend, Dylan. Hopefully, there will be more books in the series and hopefully, they will include Alex maturing and finding a good guy.
I had a hard time getting into this one and it took me a while to finish. I had to switch to the audiobook to get through it. Overall, I didn't love this one. If more are published in the series I will for sure read them, but I hope they are better than this one. 2 stars.
love_e_reads's review
3.0
While I kind of liked the paranormal backdrop of mermaid witches, the poor editing and grammatical mistakes made it hard to enjoy.