Friday, 12 May 2023

Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #242 featuring **Cursing up a Storm ~ The Witches Murder Club Book 1** by Samantha Silver PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins

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Hello meautiful library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ 

Thank mew for joining me in the stacks today, and I hope mew are sitting down before mew see my picture below.

Yes, I did go outside on Sunday afternoon, it was a glorious day; warm and sunny, and the P.A. and Dad were busy in the garden so I ventured out onto the patio while the P.A. was doing a bit of potting on. In fact, mew can see that I am watching her, she was just off camera to the right of the picture.

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And if mew were here last week, mew may remember my concerns regarding young Melvyn's cattitude? Well, I summoned him to my office in the library and gave him a rather stern talking to, and I even gave him a verbal warning. Not that I can repeat any of it, as I did verbally fluff him up and down dale! MOL

Needless to say, he did apologise profusely and pledged his undying loyalty to the library and told me that as a kitten he always dreamed of being surrounded by books and being able to be part of a team, like here at the M.C.L. (Mewton-Clawson Library) with myself and the library mice. Also, he said that he'd take extra care when returning books to the stacks in future.

So the good news is, Melvyn is back on track... for now.

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Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.
1. I’ve got a yen for __________________________.
2. I would gladly trade ________________ for _____________________.
3. It seems like only yesterday that _________.
4. If you offered me _________, I would _________.

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I’ve got a yen for travel, there are a few places I'd like to visit, although with The B Team, that's not possible, so I will continue to watch National Geographic and travel from the comfort of my sofa! LOL

2. I would gladly trade my house for a small farm with about 15 acres and a little bit of woodland.

3. It seems like only yesterday that the garden was bare, and yet today it is literally popping with colour. I adore the spring after the long bleak winter months, to see everything flourishing brings me so much joy. Although I must add it does take a considerable amount of work and constant effort to maintain it! LOL

4. If you offered me a silver Maine Coon cat, I would take him/her in a heartbeat.

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Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

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This week's top book pick is...

Amber's Book Reviews #242 What Are We Reading This Week ©BionicBasil® Cursing Up a Storm by Samantha Silver
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

Cursing up a Storm 


The Witches Murder Club Book 1

 by 

Samantha Silver 


       Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

Weather witch Storm Bancroft has never been afraid of ruffling a few feathers, even if it means occasionally being pecked at. So, the local mayor trying to kill her after she exposes him as an embezzler in the local paper? All in a day's work. But when the mayor in question is found stabbed to death the next morning, Storm quickly realizes she's suspect number one, and that's a problem.

Knowing she has to do some investigating before she ends up doing hard time instead, Storm rounds up a rag-tag group of other local witches who all have something to gain from the murder being solved, and voila—the Witches Murder Club is bo
rn.

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I reviewed several of Samantha Silver's books previously, here are the links:




I still have another five to go to complete this series, and they are on my to-read list, in case mew're wondering! MOL

Anyhoo let's dive into this new series, Cursing Up A Storm, the opening paragraph is rather exciting and sets up the rest of the story. Our heroine Storm, who is a weather witch finds herself in a life-threatening situation and the plot unfolds from this singular event leaving her as the prime suspect in a murder.

Her talking familiar is called Jay, and like a lot of the cat characters I've read in recent cozy mysteries he's got a snark-vibe and some serious cattitude happening, and while this doesn't detract from anything, I'm just finding it a little too formulaic as it's being used everywhere. What's wrong with having a really supurr helpful, kind and considerate kitty, as mew know some of us are not all snark-beasts?! MOL  And before mew jump to any conclusions, I did like the cat and he was funny in places.

I did enjoy the start to this new series, the plot unfolds well, it has a nice tempo, the characterisation is good, the characters are likeable, and the setting has a nice vibe, although I thought the town name of Golden Hope did sound like a restaurant. 

The story obviously has a little paranormal edge, and as far as cat/paranormal cozy mysteries go, this is a fun, lighthearted easy read. Which if like me, mew love your cozies, this one might be a good addition to add to your to-read list.  I'm looking forward to book two, as book one was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, and mew know I like a long series and so far this has seven books, so we'll see how the rest of the series unfolds. So watch this space for more.

Mew can buy the audio version for a reduced price of £3.49 on Audible UK, or if mew have a Kindle Unlimited subscription mew can read it for free.

Audio: 5 hours 40 mins
Paperback: 209 pages
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My Ratings Scale

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Ratings of:

Cursing up a Storm


Overall Enjoyment

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I really hope mew enjoy the book as much as I did if mew decide to read it.

It's time for me to say BFN or bye-for-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just for mew, and don't forget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page.

Until next time...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


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