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The Biscuit Witch (A Crossroads Café…
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The Biscuit Witch (A Crossroads Café Novella, Book One of the MacBrides) (edition 2013)

by Deborah Smith

Series: The MacBrides (1)

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315764,525 (3.59)None
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:The Biscuit Witch
Part One of The MacBrides
A Crossroads novella
Dear Dr. Firth:
I know you are in your cups at this time, drinking, taking pills, and sleeping under trees, but I have some experience rehabilitating lost souls in that regard, and so I am enclosing a box of my biscuits and a cold wrapped container of cream gravy for dessert. Please eat and write back.
We need a veterinarian of your gumption here in the Crossroads Cove of Jefferson County.
â??Delta Whittlespoon, proprietress of The Crossroads CafĂ©
Biscuit witches, Mama called them. She'd heard the term as a girl. She'd inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them. â??Tal MacBride
Welcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to discover just how important their family once was, and still is, to the proud people of the Appalachian highlands.
Tallulah MacBride hasn't been back to North Carolina since their parents' tragic deaths, twenty years ago. But now, Tal heads to cousin Delta Whittlespoon's famous Crossroads Café in the mountains above Asheville, hoping to find a safe hiding place for her young daughter, Eve.
What she finds is Cousin Delta gone, the café in a biscuit crisis, and a Scotsman, who refuses to believe she's passing through instead of "running from." He believes she needs a knight in shining flannel.
When a pair of sinister private eyes show up, Tal's troubles are just beginning.
For Tal's brother and sisterâ??Gabby, the Pickle Queen, and Gus, the Kitchen Charmerâ??the next part of the journey will lead down forgotten roads and into beautiful but
… (more)
Member:cfredd
Title:The Biscuit Witch (A Crossroads Café Novella, Book One of the MacBrides)
Authors:Deborah Smith
Info:Bell Bridge Books (2013), Kindle Edition, 122 pages
Collections:Your library
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The Biscuit Witch (A Crossroads Café Novella, Book One of the MacBrides) by Deborah Smith

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*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This is my first book with Misty Gray narrating. I found her interesting because we start with Delta who wrote the letter and get a Southern accent, then we get a section from Douglas with a Scottish accent. We end with chapter one from Tallulah's voice, which is different than the previous two. I was struck with these different accents and taken by them. Misty was clear and clean throughout the book, nothing to distract from the words of the story.

Delta feels like a strong woman with solid beliefs of all around her from her letter we read in the prologue. She sounds like a kind person based on that first line. From that letter, it feels that family is important to Delta. She keeps track of the family line as though it's important, and uses it. However, we only meet Delta at the beginning in the letter and at the end by phone.

For listening, the book is broken up strange and, at times, it's hard to pick up on. There are sections in each chapter with sub-titles instead of a new chapter. For audiobook, it doesn't always translate well because we don't see these titles, and sometimes sound to be part of the story. I did adapt and knew to keep an ear open for them.

Okay, in the beginning I wasn't sure where the story was going. We get Delta's letter then Doug's account with the sheep. I thought I knew where the story was going, but then we get into chapter one that's Tal's reminiscing about her family past. This felt like it was a huge info dump without leading us on the story. It was about her parents - who related to, who died, and what they did and how they died. Then we end the chapter right where Doug ended up with the sheep. The story took off from there.

The story is good. But it's not my style of writing and format. I like Tallulah and her story. She's on the go, trying to get away from the father of her child as he's not a good person or the lifestyle she wants for her daughter. She makes her way to the home town of her family roots. And here she finds a good man and good people. Tal even learns about her family heritage, which she didn't know with losing her mama so young.

The romance... Tal does find a man. But the relationship between her and him and him and her daughter seems to happen so fast. Like in two days fast. Okay, maybe three? I know it's a novella and looking past the quickness, it made for a sweet story.

The story has a few different angles to it. There is a sweet love that blossoms, of course. But we also see more here. Tal has a daughter and some troubles she's running from. Tal gets a solution to those problems and grows as a character too. We also see the thread that will connect the stories in this series - Free Wheeler, a small town. There is a history here that Tal starts to dig into and learns.

As for the cooking reference, I was expecting more "magic" in the baking. There is love backed in those biscuits, and people love them but I thought there would be some spark related to the baking. It wasn't as much of a tie as I thought there would be, but that's okay.

It's a sweet story with Tal who's drawn to bake all sorts of goodies with heart and memories. Family and friends are everything, and will help you when you are in need. ( )
  MelHay | Jan 13, 2018 |
I didn't realize this was a novella when I first requested the book from NetGalley. Normally, I don't read novellas because they usually feel too rushed and aren't long enough to satisfy my desire to know as much as possible about the characters. And that proved to be the case in this story; the majority of the book takes place in the space of three days, then there are a few pages that take place a month later that tie up the main story line and hint at what might happen in the other novellas, which will explore the stories of two side characters mentioned in the book.

Overall, for being a quick romantic read it wasn't too bad. I still didn't like how hurried the story felt even for a novella, and the main character's love interest is from Scotland and his accent and choice of words felt forced at times. If the author had turned this into a full length novel I probably would rate it a 4 assuming the essentials were still the same, just expanded.

I'm optimistic about the first sequel since it is almost 50% longer than this was.



*received a digital copy free through netGalley ( )
  twileteyes | Feb 4, 2016 |
Total enjoyment, fast read and onto the next installment… I could read stuff like this all year long, just feel good reads. ( )
  mchwest | Dec 30, 2013 |
This is the first book in Deborah Smith’s The MacBrides series, which is a spin off of her novel, THE CROSSROADS CAFE. While THE BISCUIT WITCH can be read stand alone, I think I would have gotten a better sense of the place and characters had I read THE CROSSROADS CAFE first. THE BISCUIT WITCH is a novella, and things happened very fast.

Tal is on the run with her five-year old daughter, Eve. Looking for a place to hide out, the mother and daughter head to Tal’s hometown in the mountains of North Carolina, hoping to get help from Cousin Delta, owner of the cafe. But when they arrive, Delta’s gone, and instead they meet up with a sexy Scotsman named Doug Firth. He’s the local veterinarian, and he has a soft spot for any creature in trouble. Immediately he can sense trouble surrounding Tal and Eve. Tal’s not looking for a knight in shining armor, but she’s smart enough to accept help when offered.

THE BISCUIT WITCH is a big, complex story compacted into a short 130 pages. For me, Doug and Tal’s love story and the bond that formed between Doug and Eve was way too rushed. Sure, it was sweet, but not realistic. The point of view alternated between Doug and Tal, and it switched a lot, sometimes abruptly. There were a few times I was confused about whose head I was in.

I did enjoy learning the MacBride family secrets, and what they mean for Tal and her troubled siblings in the rest of the series. I also liked the magical realism in this book. Tal had a couple of unique gifts, one of which was her enchanted baking, though I wished that part had been fleshed out more too.

There’s no resolution to the MacBride Family mystery in this book, though it does set a strong foundation for the rest of the series. I am very curious to see how the siblings’ story plays out, so I’ll probably continue on with the next book.

Source: Review copy from NetGalley ( )
  bookofsecrets | Aug 3, 2013 |
I have been a huge fan of Deborah Smith’s books for years. Her newest book, The Biscuit Witch, takes place in the same small town as one of her previous books. It’s been about six years since her last book and I was so excited to find out that she is writing a new series of three novellas about the MacBride siblings.
In this first book, Tal MacBride and her daughter Eve make their way to the small town where her fellow biscuit witch and cousin Delia owns the Crossroads Café. On the run from her ex-lover and trumped up legal issues, she doesn’t plan to stay in town but merely to make a short visit before moving on. When the first encounter she has in town is with a bear trying to eat cupcakes out of her back seat and lick frosting off her knees, she has her first inkling that things aren’t going to go as planned. Tal is saved by local veterinarian Doug Firth, a few hundred sheep, a goat named Teasel and two gay women who run a shelter/farm for abused women.
While in Asheville, Tal finds herself drawn to the easy going Doug and becomes part of the fabric of the town. She discovers that the town holds the key to her future and the answers to some big questions about her family’s past.
I loved this book. The romance between Tal and Doug is sweet and unfolds perfectly. There are quirky town folk who are part of the healing that happens for both Tal and Doug. There are parts of the book that will just make you laugh out loud (I will never look at fondant in the same way again) and parts where you just feel like you would love to live in Asheville and be part of the community.
Since this is the first book in a trilogy, it sets up the next book by ending with a mini cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the book to come out! ( )
  SharonR53 | May 25, 2013 |
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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:The Biscuit Witch
Part One of The MacBrides
A Crossroads novella
Dear Dr. Firth:
I know you are in your cups at this time, drinking, taking pills, and sleeping under trees, but I have some experience rehabilitating lost souls in that regard, and so I am enclosing a box of my biscuits and a cold wrapped container of cream gravy for dessert. Please eat and write back.
We need a veterinarian of your gumption here in the Crossroads Cove of Jefferson County.
â??Delta Whittlespoon, proprietress of The Crossroads CafĂ©
Biscuit witches, Mama called them. She'd heard the term as a girl. She'd inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them. â??Tal MacBride
Welcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to discover just how important their family once was, and still is, to the proud people of the Appalachian highlands.
Tallulah MacBride hasn't been back to North Carolina since their parents' tragic deaths, twenty years ago. But now, Tal heads to cousin Delta Whittlespoon's famous Crossroads Café in the mountains above Asheville, hoping to find a safe hiding place for her young daughter, Eve.
What she finds is Cousin Delta gone, the café in a biscuit crisis, and a Scotsman, who refuses to believe she's passing through instead of "running from." He believes she needs a knight in shining flannel.
When a pair of sinister private eyes show up, Tal's troubles are just beginning.
For Tal's brother and sisterâ??Gabby, the Pickle Queen, and Gus, the Kitchen Charmerâ??the next part of the journey will lead down forgotten roads and into beautiful but

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