Spells and Scones: A Magical Bakery Mystery by Bailey Cates

             Hmm, I’m still not sure about the direction Katie and Declan’s relationship is going.  There are some things I’m seeing that I definitely don’t like.  Since I haven’t read all the books, though, I don’t know if any of those things are going to change for the better.  I certainly hope they don’t change for the worse.

                While it was already expected to be an interesting night having a controversial self-help guru scheduled for a book signing next door to the Honeybee Bakery, no one expected it to be so interesting that a body would turn up.  The body is that of the guest of honor herself, Dr. Dana Dobbs.

                Fortunately, Katie Lightfoot is not the one to find the body this time.  That honor goes to Angie Kissel, a woman who confronted Dr. Dana in front of the entire crowd, trying to convince everyone in attendance that Dr. Dana was a fraud.  With the mix of her outburst and being found leaning over the body, Angie immediately becomes the main suspect. 

             Usually having someone be declared a main suspect would spur newly-discovered witch Katie to action, but not this time.  She is not willing to help Angie clear her name like she has done for others in the past.  It’s not that Katie necessarily thinks Angie is guilty.  The problem is that Angie was once a witch herself, and her familiar at the time was Katie’s current familiar, Mungo.

                Jealous over the relationship Angie once had with Mungo, Katie is reluctant to help her out.  It’s Mungo himself that convinces Katie of Angie’s innocence.  So, despite warnings from those around her, Katie sets out to prove whether or not what Mungo believes is true.        

                As Katie struggles to prove Angie’s innocence, she has her own problems to deal with.  Declan has proposed, but Katie was not in any way ready to accept.  This creates a rift between her and Declan, as well as between Katie and her uncle Ben.  To make matters worse, Steve has returned to town.  Every time Katie sees him, Steve makes it very clear he is not giving up hope that one day he and Katie will be together.

                What I found interesting while reading was how little magic there was in this book compared to the ones that came before it.  This one was more about people, relationships, and they problems they cause, than anything magical.  One of the biggest people causing those problems, in my opinion, was Declan.  I still don’t think he fully accepts who Katie is.  Even though he has known about Katie practicing witchcraft for a while, this has not stopped him from saying the occasional odd comment about it.  Then, even though he has these comments, he asks Katie to marry him.  That does not make sense to me.  What also doesn’t make sense is Uncle Ben and his reaction when he found out Katie did not accept Declan’s proposal.  First off, Katie’s love life and how she chooses to run it is not his business.  Second, Uncle Ben’s main concern should be Katie’s happiness.  She is his niece after all.  Her happiness should come first, no matter how close he is to Declan.

                With people acting so strangely about Katie’s life decisions, and magic becoming not such a strong force in the stories, I’m curious about where the series is going to go from here.  I have one more book in the series to read (at least of the ones published so far), and I’m interested to see what answers I may find.