Author: Bella Falls
Publisher: Evermore Press
Series: Southern Charms Mystery
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Cozy Mystery
Rating: 4 Stars
Medium: Audio Book

I’d say we’re back to Honeysuckle Hollow, but we’re actually leaving the small, cozy town this time in order to travel to Charleston for a witch’s conference. A good chunk of the witches follow Gran in order to represent their town, network, and attend some panels that touch on magic and the community. Only things don’t turn out a quiet convention like everyone planned. When they say out of the frying pan and into the fire, this book definitely meets that in kind of energy in all the good ways.

Probably spoilers within.

Charleston is definitely a different feel and environment from Honeysuckle Hollow. With Charli’s hometown, it’s completely inclusive of the magical community but has wards and barriers set up to keep the humans out so it can be this small save haven for the magical community. But with Charleston, because it’s a big, bustling city packed with witches, hidden fae, and humans alike, there are a lot more rules to navigate in order to keep the magical community hush hush.

And after a coin toss between Mason and Matt, well, Matt, Charli’s brother had to stay home and be on duty while Mason was able to accompany the group of witches to the Conference. Can’t take all their Wardens from the town in one go after all. Especially not their best two together. Which makes things both interesting and awkward since Mason’s memories never came back to him so Charli’s been both emotionally upset at everything, understandably, as well as heartbroken because she’s lost everything between Dash being engaged and now having nothing relationship wise with Mason. The two do have a nice talk and agree to be friends, and just kind of use this as a fresh start between the two, which as a whole sounds nice but with everything she’s been through is also understandably hard for Charli.

But even her friendship with Mason pales in the excitement when we learn that Charli’s cousin Abby will be meeting her at the conference. Like Charli, I was excited to meet a member of her blood family since we haven’t really gotten to know them too well or much.

Before too much can happen though, one of the elite of Charleston’s witches is murdered. Everyone in the hotel is put on hotel arrest by the Charleston Wardens, who want nothing and no input from Mason despite him being a Warden himself. And worst of all, Gran is the one accused of murdering the woman.

It’s a high stakes game for Charli and the Honeysuckle crew because all eyes are on them since a member of their council, and the high seat of it at that, is being pointed at. The Wardens are complacent in arresting and pinning her for it, and when we finally do meet Abby things are super awkward and weird.

The pacing of this book was good and it felt almost like a noose tightening around my heart the closer we got to the end of the book and the more frustrating the turn of events because it wasn’t looking good for Gran until the very end of the whodunit. Coupled with the surprise from Charli’s blood family and this book left us on quite the rollercoaster ending. One I would gladly ride again, honestly and one that I likely will since I’m already neck deep in the next book.

I will say I was a little disappointed that Charli’s family was offered to a point but then almost like snatched away because while we learned some interesting things we didn’t get a larger scope into their world and with the way that door closed I’m not sure if, when or how we’ll see any of them again. Which leaves a …lot of still curious questions unanswered about her blood family.