🎧 Listened in audio | 📢 Narrated by Stephanie Willing
⏱ Duration: 10 hours | Genre: Paranormal cozy mystery
🏷️ Publisher name: Hachette Audio | Forever (ARC by NetGalley)
Book Blurb
Cam Parker is a cookbook ghostwriter who likes staying invisible. When a storm damages her grandmother’s house, she takes on a difficult celebrity client to pay for repairs and returns to her coastal Virginia hometown of Silver Cove. Between small-town drama and growing feelings for carpenter Ian McCabe, her carefully ordered life starts to unravel. Then she accidentally summons a ghost from an old cookbook, one who needs help righting a century-old wrong. With everything piling up at once, Cam has to decide whether her cautious approach to life is really working for her.
Let’s talk about the book:
Let me start with this, this is a stand alone book. The reason why I am starting with this line is because, throughout the book, you will wish this was a series. Another thing I should state right at the start is, this is a debut novel. And the reason I say this is because you will never guess on your life that this author has not published a work before this book. The finesse of the writing and the story telling is surpassing even next level. I am IN LOVE is an understatement for this book.
Meet Cam Parker who likes to be on the sidelines, away from spotlight. Enter Silver Cove, a town that’s just wanting to make it big. Hovering over Silver Cove is Ada, a ghost, who is as larger than life as you could possibly imagine. What will happen when you put Cam in Silver Cove and introduce Ada into her life? A Pinch of Magic is what happens.
Avery, Birdie, Ian, Paige, Izzy, Roxy, adds so much colour to the story. There are layers to this mystery that you keep peeling away as you go in the story. Cam’s story, her background, Birdie’s story, Izzy’s air-brained personality, Paige and her teenage angst, Avery and the ‘summer sister’ vibes, every single thing is something you cannot get enough of. Ada’s POV is just spectacular. It embodies the emotions of someone who is so full of life but was sadly taken away from life far too soon. You can feel the sadness but also the joy of having to experience life in whatever tiny bits she is given, and her positivity even after being a ghost.
Narration:
Stephanie Willing is one spectacular narrator. Not only does she do the whimsy in Ada’s voice with perfection, she also brings out Cam’s character beautifully. The initial hesitation in Cam’s personality evolves slowly but surely and Stephanie captures that growth very well in her voice. Her narration of Izzy and her “vibes” were spot on, as was for all the other characters. Yes, the writing is beautiful, but the narration gives a unique personality to each of the characters that just enhances the effect the story has on you.
I am very sorry to know that this is a stand alone book. I feel so like Ada wishing I could be in Silver Cove for much much longer.
Releasing tomorrow, don’t hesitate in getting this book
Would I recommend it?
Yes, absolutely. A Pinch of Magic by Emily Heil is a standalone paranormal cozy mystery about a cookbook ghostwriter who accidentally summons a ghost, set in a town I did not want to leave… and it is a DEBUT, which I still can’t wrap my head around. Stephanie Willing’s narration makes the audiobook the way to go. It releases October 6, so mark your calendar and add it to your TBR today. My only complaint is that I want a whole series.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Five books to read next
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
If Silver Cove’s quirks and Cam’s family ties pulled you in, this story of magical sisters in a small town is a natural next read.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Another small town with a little magic in the food and a family home that feels like a character, so Cam’s world will feel familiar.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell
You loved a ghost with unfinished business, so try this Haunted Home Renovation mystery where a house comes with a spirit and a secret.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey Cates
Food, magic and a mystery all baked into one, which makes it a good pick if the cookbook side of Cam’s story was your favourite part.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
A cozy, character-heavy story about someone learning to stop hiding, which echoes Cam’s journey out of the shadows.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Which Ghost Would You Invite Into Your Kitchen?
Ada is the kind of ghost who makes you rethink what a haunting can be. Would you let one hang around if she came with that much joy? And if you have read other paranormal cozies that left you begging for a sequel, I want to hear about them. Tell me in the comments, and if A Pinch of Magic is already on your TBR, say so!
Book Links
Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert
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