Nikki Haverstock

Dragons Are A Mage’s Best Friend by Nikki Haverstock
Casino Witch Mysteries #4

Being a Monza Mage is not for everyone but it is what Ella has chosen for herself. She is coming into her powers as she practices with mentors and uses her mage-skills in solving crimes...especially crimes that deal with finding out who has murdered recently deceased clients. Her sidekick, Vanessa, and she are an unbeatable team as they deal with spells against them, cast a few spells and do some sleuthing. In show more this book the owner of a business dealing with magic is killed and his wife wants to know who did it so Ella and Vanessa join the team looking for the culprit. While on the case she seeks the murderer, saves a dragon, finds out how the murder was accomplished, runs into a shopaholic, meets a woman in distress, saves a life and adds a familiar to her stable. She also runs into a past heartthrob and has to deal with the feelings that drums up.

This was a cozy mystery that grew on me as I read. At first I thought it a bit silly but as the story progressed I became involved and through a few twists and turns that had me guessing I began to wonder what the incentive for the murder was and then who was behind it. I am still wondering why spells were cast on some of the characters and though the one person who nearly died was saved did wonder why she had been spelled…while also wondering if perhaps Ella had been hexed or perhaps spelled, too.

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars show less

Lynn is a writer who travels to a film set to act as an advisor when one of her scripts is made into a film. It adds to her excitement that Ben Suder, who has been her celebrity crush for years, is the director and also plays a supporting role.
When she meets him for real, he seems to be even better than in her dreams, and then the actress playing his love interest does not appear. Lynn, who has trained as an actress as well, is cast in the role so that filming can go on.

Of course you have show more to absolutely suspend your disbelief in order to accept the plot, but still, I was interested in reading a romance taking place on a film set. Unfortunately, though, it was written utterly badly. While the prose was ok, it was all tell, not show. Most of the story is told through inner monologue, and the reader never really learns what exactly is so great about Ben, and why Ben falls for Lynn. This causes the novel to be quite boring.
Moreover, Ben and another director/actor are supposed to be the greatest stars on the planet, but their behavior and how they are treated on set just don't reflect that. I found it hard to believe it and think it should have been presented as a little less grand.
Then, there is a horse that runs around with their mate, a goat, and farts and disturbs everyone... I think it is supposed to be funny, but it is just weird in not a good sense and it doesn't add anything to the story.
In addition, there are some awful clichés in the novel (the crazy ex-girlfriend!) that give it a cheap feeling.

I am sorry to have to write such a bad review because I still like the idea and I also enjoyed reading about the setting in rural Arkansas. Lynn was a female main character who felt relatable, but she deserved a better story.

This is billed as a first in a series, but so far there is no second book, and if one is published, I will not read it. show less

Debut short story that hit a bullseye!

Wyoming is an interesting site to locate a huge training facility for archers and shooters with Olympic potential and goals. This was a fun read though not a very long one with about 80 pages total. It introduced characters that might be suspects or end up together in the future. The story lay groundwork for future interactions and solved a murder. It might have been fleshed out a bit more but each new author has to find their own pace and way of show more presenting their stories. As an introduction to a series it has great potential. I don’t see a lot of murders taking place on site BUT with archers and shooters traveling to various locals, coaches providing tutelage and such…more murders and mysteries could present themselves and romance might occur. I loved Moo, the Great Dane, and found he added a fun element to the story. Another likable bit was that the revealing of issues in some of the characters’ lives did not occur till nearly the end…and I have a feeling there are more life issues of other characters that might be revealed in future episodes.

I wish the author well and hope to see her name and her books in the future and would like to thank her for the copy of this book to read and review! show less

Di, sponsored by Westmound, is competing in her first archery competition in 10 years. She has moved to Wyoming after separating from her husband, works at a complex set up for Olympic hopefuls working in in the fields of archery and shooting and has made quite a number of friends over the past year.

Di is confident then nervous about her first competition. With friends to support her and new people to meet she does as well as she can. A few times she steps in to help out a few of the show more younger archers even giving a few nicknames that they treasure.

This would not be a cozy mystery without murder. When one of the rather annoying coaches ends up dead in the snow Di is on the trail quickly to try and find out who killed him and why.

I believe this is a story that will appeal to a wide age range. It is a story that can be read by youth or by adults to a younger audience. The love interest between Liam and Di is perfectly discrete and Moo, the Great Dane, plays an excellent chaperone.

Thank you to the author for the copy of this book to read and review. show less