BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Monday, August 11, 2014

Blog Tour Review of Bewitching Boots by Joyce and Jim Lavene And A Giveaway


Publisher: J. Lavene
Series: Renaissance Faire Mystery #7 (Amazon has it incorrectly marked as book 8)
Format Read: Kindle book
Source: the authors in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Jessie is thrilled when she finds Bill Warren, an old fashioned shoemaker, and he agrees to come back to Renaissance Village with her. She’s not so thrilled when claims to have elf magic, and he falls for Princess Isabelle. The dancing slippers Bill makes for Isabelle make him a suspect when the princess takes a leap from the castle terrace. Now, Jessie must find the lady or lord who helped the princess with her last dance before she loses her star attraction.

Bea's Thoughts:

I enjoy going to Ren Faires so a cozy mystery set at one caught my attention. I've read Lavene before but not any of the books in this series. That wasn't a problem though, the book worked well as a stand-alone. I wasn't prepared for the book to be a paranormal cozy mystery; I have a love/hate relationship with those. Most I've read didn't work for me; either the paranormal aspect doesn't work or the cozy mystery aspect falls apart. Happily, that wasn't the case here.

The new cobbler at the Faire (and I loved the debate and misunderstandings around the words cobbler and shoemaker) claims to be the descendant of an elf and to have real magic. Does he? The book never actually tells us, but drops little hints for the reader to draw their own conclusion. There are some paranormal events involving ghosts that work well and are mostly believable. The Lavenes smoothly blend the paranormal aspects into the story and while they're important, they don't overwhelm the story.

Jessie and her husband Chase are appealing; sweet but not overly so, multifaceted, and with differing opinions, they felt like the neighbors next door. They are also newlyweds and Jessie harbors some insecurities about her husband's fidelity when she discovers that he's training a new knight who happens to be female and he didn't mention it to her. As they deal with that, they also have a murder and several attacks to contend with. There are red herrings, clever clues, smart little touches, and details that provide a wonderful picture of the background workings at a Ren faire. I enjoyed learning about Faires and will look at the one I attend with a new perspective.

I really enjoyed "Bewitching Boots". It was fun, enjoyable, humorous, and kept me guessing.

******************************

TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY

The authors are giving away a Bewitching Boots tote with a print copy of the book and a $20 Amazon gift card.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for having us here today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wondering just exactly how elf magic works. Should be another fun book.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love their other series but haven't tried this one yet. Glad to know they can be read as a stand alone! I'll definitely have to pick this one up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Boots and fairs sound like some great modern Medieval mystery! Ronnalord(at)msn(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was eyeing this when you had it on your Sunday Post. It just sounds fun and I like a bit of paranormal sometimes in my cozies. I also like you can read it as standalone.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh that sounds fun! I loved the Faire growing up. It's been ages since I've been to one so reading one in the setting sounds great. Always nice when an author can really pull off a combo that doesn't usually work for you :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. another book added to my Wish List!!
    thank you for the giveaway!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. congrats to Joyce on the new release!!! This looks and sounds like a lot of fun :) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's so great what the Lavenes have done with this series in just a few short years. A really well-liked series and a truly loyal readership. Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing one of the previous books in this series, and it was a lot of fun. I keep meaning to go back to the beginning and read them all -- but this one sounds so intriguing, I might just have to read it first.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fun!


    patucker54 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  12. This sounds like a good book! I am looking forwards to trying it out, and you've made it sound nice. On top of that, thank you for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I enjoy hearing from my readers. Let's talk!