5 Hoots
A perfect match gone wrong, a haunted hair brush, and a ghost that wont leave his grandson alone.
I picked this book up because I wanted to read something for Valentine’s day BUT I am not a fan of romance novels. I figured if I was going to read something that focused on romance it might as well have something else I enjoyed (mysteries, ghosts, and magic) and boy, was I not disappointed!
The first thing that stood out to me was how much I really liked Joanie! She is kid and someone that I could absolutely see myself being friends with. Oh, and I totally love her denial about being a witch. Can she see ghosts? Yes. Do her mother and grandmother identify as witches? Yes. Does she have a magical knack for helping couples get together? Yes. Does any of this help her realize how special she is? No, and that’s what I love about her. Even when she does a spell she just calls it a recipe, because denial is a strong thing lol.
Okay, okay…time to talk about the book itself. I loved the pacing and how Pease introduced the town and how many couples Joanie got together. She is a magical match maker but one of her matches is not going according to plan. Something is causing her perfect match to start fighting, and that something is a ghost! Whenever the ghost gets upset the couple begins to fight! Of course Joanie isn’t going to let a ghost ruin her perfect match, so she has no choice but to get to the bottom if what’s going on. This is really where our little adventure begins.
Overall, the book light hearted and extremely inclusive! I loved how Joanie reacted to one of her staff members mentioning his boyfriend. I also loved how the couple she was getting together was of mixed races. In fact she even mentioned how Rich was a little apprehensive to how people might react to the two of them. It was wonderful to have a cozy mystery be so diverse with it’s characters. I also enjoyed that there was a single father in the story as well! This book really went outside of the usual characters you find in a cozy mystery. If you give me diversity, a little Lgbt+, and a touch of magic I am sold! I loved this book and am excited to have found a new cozy mystery series!
The Owl's Book Nest 
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