Casting Spells: The Sugar Maple Chronicles - Book 1
by Barbara Bretton
Welcome to Sugar Maple
Sugar Maple may look like your postcard-perfect Vermont town but that’s where the similarity ends. Our librarian is a beautiful Norwegian troll. The funeral parlor is run by a family of vampires. The Sugar Maple Inn is owned by Fae while the werewolves keep our hardware store well-stocked. For centuries we have been home to house sprites, witches, selkies, spirits, shapeshifters, and elves.
And who could forget Forbes, our lovable Mountain Giant?
I’m Chloe Hobbs, the half-human/half-magick owner of Sticks & String, the most popular knit shop in New England, where your yarn never tangles, you always get gauge, and the knitter sitting next to you only comes out after dark. And did I mention that I’m almost thirty, single, and with no prospects in sight? My friends and neighbors have been casting spells to help me find Mr. Right but so far their efforts have been all wrong.
Who'd have guessed I'd find my soulmate in Luke MacKenzie, a cop investigating Sugar Maple's very first murder? Bad news is he's 100% human which could spell disaster for a normal future with a paranormal woman like me--in love, in danger, and in way over my head.
Romantic Times Book Club – 4.5 stars – TOP PICK
Bretton launches her new series of magic and murder with an enchanting, lyrical masterpiece that should make its way to the bestseller list in no time. Brilliantly weaving the town of Sugar Maple with that of its inhabitants into one living, breathing entity, this novel captivates readers from the first page. With vibrant, multidimensional characters, including the town itself, Bretton pens a memorable romance that combines knitting, love, magic, and self-discovery.
Publishers Weekly
Tongue-in-cheek humor lifts this weird but fun hybrid, part knitting cozy, part paranormal romance, from romance veteran Bretton (Just Desserts). After a classy female tourist drowns mysteriously in an icy lake in remote Sugar Maple, Vt., the Montpelier authorities ask Boston homicide cop Luke MacKenzie to investigate. As Sugar Maple's temporary police chief, Luke soon notices the village's odd ambience. Originally a haven for witches who fled the Salem witchcraft trials three centuries earlier, Sugar Maple is now home to witches, vampires, fairies and trolls. Luke is also attracted to Chloe Hobbs, the half-human owner of the knitting shop Sticks & Strings, who must find Mr. Right if she's to preserve the spell that sustains the town's unusual residents. As sparks literally fly between the two, Chloe's "magickal" side stirs into life. Bretton charmingly depicts how love empowers Chloe and awakens Luke to some major surprises.
Sugar Maple may look like your postcard-perfect Vermont town but that’s where the similarity ends. Our librarian is a beautiful Norwegian troll. The funeral parlor is run by a family of vampires. The Sugar Maple Inn is owned by Fae while the werewolves keep our hardware store well-stocked. For centuries we have been home to house sprites, witches, selkies, spirits, shapeshifters, and elves.
And who could forget Forbes, our lovable Mountain Giant?
I’m Chloe Hobbs, the half-human/half-magick owner of Sticks & String, the most popular knit shop in New England, where your yarn never tangles, you always get gauge, and the knitter sitting next to you only comes out after dark. And did I mention that I’m almost thirty, single, and with no prospects in sight? My friends and neighbors have been casting spells to help me find Mr. Right but so far their efforts have been all wrong.
Who'd have guessed I'd find my soulmate in Luke MacKenzie, a cop investigating Sugar Maple's very first murder? Bad news is he's 100% human which could spell disaster for a normal future with a paranormal woman like me--in love, in danger, and in way over my head.
Romantic Times Book Club – 4.5 stars – TOP PICK
Bretton launches her new series of magic and murder with an enchanting, lyrical masterpiece that should make its way to the bestseller list in no time. Brilliantly weaving the town of Sugar Maple with that of its inhabitants into one living, breathing entity, this novel captivates readers from the first page. With vibrant, multidimensional characters, including the town itself, Bretton pens a memorable romance that combines knitting, love, magic, and self-discovery.
Publishers Weekly
Tongue-in-cheek humor lifts this weird but fun hybrid, part knitting cozy, part paranormal romance, from romance veteran Bretton (Just Desserts). After a classy female tourist drowns mysteriously in an icy lake in remote Sugar Maple, Vt., the Montpelier authorities ask Boston homicide cop Luke MacKenzie to investigate. As Sugar Maple's temporary police chief, Luke soon notices the village's odd ambience. Originally a haven for witches who fled the Salem witchcraft trials three centuries earlier, Sugar Maple is now home to witches, vampires, fairies and trolls. Luke is also attracted to Chloe Hobbs, the half-human owner of the knitting shop Sticks & Strings, who must find Mr. Right if she's to preserve the spell that sustains the town's unusual residents. As sparks literally fly between the two, Chloe's "magickal" side stirs into life. Bretton charmingly depicts how love empowers Chloe and awakens Luke to some major surprises.
