A Spirited Blend

A Crystals & CuriosiTEAS Mystery Book 3

Digital Book (Audiobook Available)

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    1496735226

Kensington Cozies

288 Pages

(Price TBA) $12.99 Amazon

March 25, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Halloween around the corner, Shay Myers is brewing witchy seasonal sips at Crystals & CuriosiTEAS -- while simultaneously steaming over pub owner Liam Madigan's decision to take anybody but her to the town/s Monster Mash dance.  Her romantic premonitions have missed the mark since she settled into coastal Bray Harbor, opening the door to questions about whether she's really the gifted seer her late mother imagined.  It's why she second guesses the dark vision in her tea leaves about a local citizen and their obsession with genealogy, Irish folklore, and magic.

But when bad omens come true, Shay doesn't have time for self-doubt.  A woman's body has been discovered, frozen in a strange pose with an eerie black butterfly on her forehead, leading to suspicions that the victim took a conjuring ritual too far due to limited experience -- or was murdered by someone with too much.  As an investigation stirs up a sinister connection to a boardwalk mystic shop, Shay, guided by her knowing dog, Spirit, finds herself tracking down a shady figure from her past, navigating the sudden reappearance of her ex-husband, and chasing down a wickedly perceptive criminal who might finally be her match!

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When Shay Myers began her day, she didn't expect pub owner (and secret crush) Liam Madigan to come running to her for advice on his love life (again).  In fact, she's so tired of it she sends him away, but he thinks she's just having a bad day and will get over it.  But it's not the day that has her bothered.  It's the visions she's been having.  And when a local citizen steps in for a tea reading, Shay can't believe what she sees -- or hears.  The woman thinks they might be related, even though Shay tells her it's not really possible.  But the woman persists, and shows Shay an object she found among her mother's possessions.  Not able to completely convince her, Shay sends her off, and then worries about what she's seen in the tea leaves. Asking the help of Liam's wise Irish Gram, she fears the worst.  

But then her ex-husband and his new wife appear in town, telling her they've bought a local winery that was for sale.  As if things couldn't get worse, she finds they do.  A friend-turned-enemy has opened a rival shop, and someone else shows up, who's willing to do her harm.  Now, with visions that only spell possible doom, how can she find the truth?  Then someone is murdered nearby, and she's not sure if even Gram can help her with this one...

This is the third entry in this series, and I do believe it is the best one yet.  While I have loved this author's other series as well, I am tending to love this one even more.  I am so over tales of witches, vampires, and werewolves; but a series about a seer is indeed unique, and the story line behind all this makes it believable as well.

Shay didn't always know she was one; she discovered it after her return to Bray Harbor when her marriage and life fell apart.  In this book she is beginning to understand more, not only about herself, but also having ideas, with the help of Liam, of what happened to her before (I cannot say more as it will give away too much of the book).  Suffice it to say, it gives an opening for future books, and also gives us a glimpse of Shay's past, not counting her Irish heritage.

Finding a killer isn't going to be easy, especially once she learns her nemesis has arrived in town, and the fact that her now-enemy might be involved.  It's good she has Spirit to protect her, she needs him more than ever.  There is plenty going on here, not only with Halloween, but with Shay trying to keep her business open, trying to figure out what is going on with her ex, and, of course, trying to find a killer. 

The ending is surprising, which is how it should be; the climax is stirring, but nevertheless a tad sad.  Yet there is more to come, and I eagerly await the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DB3N3CLQ?ref_=dbs

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6931622610

More on Lauren Elliott's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lauren-elliott/

Murder In A Cup (A Crystals and CuriosiTEAS Mystery Book 2)

Author:    Lauren Elliott

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496739070

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

November 28, 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Self-taught "seer" Shay has much to learn as autumn hits the quaint coastal town of Bray Harbor.  Since attempting the art of blending herbs at her popular shop, Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, she's set on growing ingredients in the mysterious greenhouse on the second floor -- if only she can separate the medicinal plants from the deadly ones.  Her new skills are put to the test when she meets pub owner and ex-detective Liam Madigan's Gran.  A psychic from Ireland known for interpreting tea leaves and people, Gran encourages Shay to build upon her natural talents and hold her own group reading...

Despite Shay's reservations about putting herself in the spotlight, the evening goes off without a hitch.  At least, until she does a reading and a customer goes from chatty to dead in a flash, poisoned after sipping a toxic substance recently grown in the greenhouse.  Worse, Shay's assistant is suspected of intentionally serving the lethal brew and committing cold-blooded murder.  Now, aided only by Liam and her dog Spirit, Shay must exonerate her employee and save the future of Crystals & CuriosiTEAS.  But when clues start lining up like leaves in a teacup, she'll need to understand the signs right in front of her to catch the manipulative murderer before it's too late...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When the local owner of a mystical shop dies, she leaves everything to Shay.  After Shay figures out why, she and her sister Jen proceed to turn the shop into Crystals and CuriosiTEAS, a teashop that also offers special blends to people needing help or guidance.  Occasionally, Shay will also do tea leaf readings, which has become popular amongst the locals.

One group, known as the white gloved ladies, has made the shop a weekly visit, and because they are so respected, Shay's new tearoom is booming.  Between her, Jen, and their teenage helper Tassi, they manage to make things work.  For a while, anyway -- until Tassi's dad shows up and declares that he's fighting her mother for custody.  Tassi dislikes her dad's fiancée, and refuses to go with him.  But one night, during a group reading, one of the women in the white glove group dies, prompting Tassi's father to get a restraining order against Shay and vowing to ruin her.

Shay is distraught, but when pub owner Liam Madigan returns from Ireland with his grandmother, known as 'Gran', the woman seeks out Shay and takes her under her wing.  To make matters worse, Liam is having troubles of his own, and his cousin shows up out of nowhere.

Shay has her hands full and her pockets temporarily empty, but will she be able to rectify the situation?  Will she be able to find out who really killed the woman?  And more so, will she be able to get her life back to where it was?...

This is merely the second book in the series but I am completely hooked on it.  I loved the first, and this one even more.  Shay is growing as a person, and being accepted for who she is.  Her life in this village begins to round out, until Tassi's unfortunate being of a father shows up.  She's sure he has an ulterior motive, but when he starts harassing her, she wonders why.

I love the character of Gran.  She's completely delightful.  A bit of the 'Old Country,' if you will.  I am pleased that the author brought her into the series, and hopefully will keep her there.  I did like Liam quite a bit, but as most men (don't get upset, we all know), he's a bit oblivious when it comes to certain things.  Read the book and you will know what I am talking about.

And let's not forget Spirit, the magical dog who appears just where he's needed most.  He's more than just a dog, but an intelligent friend who senses danger and knows just what to do to prevent it.  Ah, if only humans could understand what he is trying to say...

The murder itself is very well planned out, and quite a bit intriguing as well.  We watch as Shay tries to navigate her desire to help Tassi and figure out who the murderer might be at the same time.  While I knew who it was before Shay, it was entertaining to watch her figure it out and put the clues together.  In the end, it gives us a glimpse of what to look forward to in the next book, which, I think, will be just as enjoyable as this one.  Highly recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Crystals-CuriosiTEAS-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0BZBPVK1C/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5621410210

More on Lauren Elliott's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lauren-elliott/

Steeped in Secrets (A Crystals & CuriosiTEAS Mystery #1)

Author:    Lauren Elliott

Genre:     Mystery/Fantasy

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496735201

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

$26.00; $12.99 Amazon

November 29, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Even with her life in ruins in New Mexico, Shay feels uneasy about settling into the small seaside town where she grew up on California's Monterey Peninsula and taking over an estate bequeathed to her by Bridget Early, a woman she had barely known.  Her heightened senses -- an empathic gift she's had since childhood -- go into overdrive upon touring Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, Bridget's eclectic tea and psychic shop brimming with Irish lore and Celtic symbols.  They reach a boiling point when Shay looks up to discover a stranger's body sprawled across the shop's greenhouse roof...

With her new business a crime scene and questions brewing over Bridget's so-called accidental death, Shay fears she's also inherited the attention of a killer.  The terrifying realization sets her on an impractical investigation for answers aided by her sister, an elusive pure-white German Shepherd, a strikingly handsome pub owner who speaks in a gentle brogue, and a misunderstood young woman with perceptive talents of her own.  As Shay struggles to figure out her true purpose in Bray Harbor and the powerful connection she has with the tea shop, she must trust her judgment above all else to identify a ruthless murderer and save herself from becoming victim number three...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Shay Myers has left her home in New Mexico, broken from a marriage that left her nothing and took everything.  The reason she is here is because she's learned of an inheritance she's been left by a woman she barely knew, Bridget Early.  Bridget left Shay her business and her home, a cottage by the sea.  At first wanting to sell, she's changed her mind and decided to reopen the shop as a tea room.  But the real estate agent is pushing her, as well as her older sister Jen, to leave -- especially when a body is found above the shop.  But Shay is made of stronger stuff, and with the help of a young woman named Tassi, and a stranger white German Shepherd named Spirit, who seems to know what she needs, Shay decides to make her home here again.

But it's not going to be easy,  With the pushback from others, and an even stranger gift, she wonders what Bridget was trying to tell her.  With the help of the owner of the pub next door, a handsome Irishman, she knows she has to make this work, at any cost.  Even if a killer is looking for her next...

This is the first book in the series, and I do love Ms. Elliott's other series, so I wanted to give this one a chance.  I am not fond of fantasy books but this book had me enthralled in a very short time.  There is so much I can say, but will not so in order not to spoil the book for others.

It is a lot of mystery, a little fantasy, a touch of romance...exactly what it should be to bring the reader into the story.  The author takes us to another place, and even another time, and we are drawn into the story easily, and wanting to be a part of it.  Oh, how I wanted to see the shop and the garden; but I will have to settle for seeing it through Shay's eyes.  A little Irish folklore can go a long way into enchanting a mystery and showing us Shay's future, if not her past.

This is a most delightful beginning to a series, and I can still see it in my mind's eye; wanting to read the next in the series soon.  I will definitely be looking forward to it.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Steeped-Secrets-Lauren-Elliott-ebook/dp/B09TX19WNN/ref

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4829557960 

More on Lauren Elliott's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lauren-elliott/