Some Enchanted Éclair: 09/16/20

Some Enchanted Éclair by Bailey Cates and Amy Rubinate is the fourth in the Magical Bakery mystery series. Hollywood has invaded Savannah's historic district for a romcom set during the Revolutionary War. When the movie's "fixer" fires the caterer, the Honey Bee crew comes to the rescue. Then when the fixer is murdered, Katie Lightfoot sets out to solve the mystery.

This volume is a bit of a departure from the previous three where the focus has been on the local magical societies and rivalries. This one is still at its heart a magical mystery, but it's an outside one. It's an unknown threat with unknown consequences.

I liked the added catering angle. Usually the action in the bakery stays there, and the other magical stuff is done off hours. Catering gave the narrative a new outlet to get Katie and the rest of her coven/coworkers a way to be part of the mystery and the investigation in an organic fashion.

The one big change here for me as a reader is format. I've gone from reading the ebooks to listening to the audiobook. Amy Rubinate's narration is a little dry for me in places. Some of that stems from the long sentences of the text. Overall, her performance really is a reading more than Katie recounting what's happening. What I mean is, when I'm listening I don't feel like I'm in Katie's head. Instead, I feel like I'm listening to someone else read her statement of events.

Book five is Magic and Macaroons (2015).

Four stars

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