Spun By Sorcery

Title: Spun By Sorcery
Author: Barbara Bretton
Series: Sugar Maple Series (Book 3)
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary Romance



After Chloe beat Isadora in Book 2, she and Luke are ready for a big, hot breakfast. Only problem is that they seem to have lost Sugar Maple. Their beloved town is no where to be found. The two and Janice start a trek to Salem to see if they can find any information on their missing town.

The idea is that since the Sugar Maple original townies were from Salem, that someone must have stayed behind and there must still be magic in Salem.

The roadtrip to Salem is anything but ordinary or safe. The trio have several near death experiences, which leads them to believe that they are indeed on the right track. When they finally arrive, things seem relatively normal and not very magic like, until everything seems to happen at once.

Luke finds some interesting information on a never aging resident of Salem, Chloe is attacked in an antique shop and Janice finds something a bit off about Penny. They figure out where Sugar Maple went, and start the epic battle to win back the town.

Although it was interesting to learn a bit more about the history of Aerynn and how Sugar Maple came to be, this book was missing the "magic" of Sugar Maple. It was almost a book about a roadtrip gone horribly wrong, without any humor. I can see how it may be an essential part to the series, but now that everyone is back in Sugar Maple, I can't wait for Book 4. Especially after the teaser at the end.

Laced With Magic

Title: Laced with Magic
Author: Barbara Bretton
Series: Sugar Maple Series (Book 2)
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary Romance



Luke and Chloe are together and happy now that they've banished Isadora in Casting Spells. They have only 2 things to worry about: Is Luke staying in Sugar Maple? and Is Chloe going to have a baby so she can keep the town safe.

Then Luke's ex-wife Karen shows up into town claiming to be making contact with she and Luke's dead daughter. Luke doesn't buy it and the goal is to get her out of town ASAP. The villagers of Sugar Maple don't like too many humans around and Karen makes 2, which is too many.

Unfortunately, they find out that Karen is seeing Steffie (the daughter). It's Isadora's doing. She's taken Steffie's spirit and put her in a little box and is going to torture her soul forever unless Chloe reverses her banishment. Since that's not happening they need to find another way to save Steffie and Sugar Maple.

I thought that this was a good second book to the first, and boy does it have a shocking ending. I'm thinking there must be more Sugar Maple books in the works because there is no way that this could be the end.

Chloe and Luke really seem to come far in their relationship and I was glad to see Chloe make a connection with Karen through their knitting. More secrets about Sugar Maple were also unfolded, such as why the Inn is always booked - which I'd been wondering for the whole first book.

Casting Spells

Title: Casting Spells
Author: Barbara Bretton
Series: Sugar Maple (Book 1)
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary Romance



Chloe lives in Sugar Maple, a town modeled after Salem. The only difference is that in Sugar Maple the different are embraced. Vampires, Witches, Selkie, Fae and many other creatures all live together. There is only one human - Chloe. She is the daughter of a deceased witch and human and appears to have inherited none of her mother's powers.

Chloe's maternal line is an important part of Sugar Maple. The women in the line keep the town safe from non-paranormal folks. The spell keeps the town looking normal and flying below everyone's radar. Unfortunately since Chloe has no supernatural powers, the spell is wearing off and things are going a bit south in Sugar Maple. A passing by tourist is murdered.

Which brings Luke into town. Luke is a Boston police officer who is in Sugar Maple to figure out what happened with the murder. Between he and Chloe sparks fly (literally).

I thought this was a fun book. It reminded me slightly of the Charmed series combined with Eastwick. I did find it to be a little anti-climatic where the Book of Spells was concerned. Chloe spends a large amount of time looking for it, and when it's found it's almost glossed over.

Overall I can't wait to read the next one.