The Vanishing Bookstore: A spellbinding and unputdownable page-turner

This story was a unique change of pace for me. After the Christmas season, a witches tale was definitely needed.

1692. On the outskirts of Salem, a bookstore stands covered in overgrown vines. Inside, a young woman hides a linen-wrapped journal under a loose floorboard and runs away, panicked by the sound of hounds barking in the distance. The bookstore vanishes into thin air…

Present day. Stepping inside a pale-pink house on one of the oldest streets in Salem, Dora can’t believe she’s about to finally meet the mother she thought died tragically when she was just a child. But the excitement is short-lived. Dora’s mother has fear in her eyes, and with a trembling voice she whispers: ‘my life is in danger, and now so is show more yours…’

I love these dual timelines, and believe me, there is action in each one. It is hard to pick which timeline I liked the most. The 1692 in Salem is so interesting but the present day is more intense.

Dora is a character I enjoyed…heck I enjoyed all of them. They are quirky and serious all at the same time. Add in the pet crow and you have a fun, intense and unique story.

The narrator, Stephanie Cannon, is pretty good. There were places that I felt she was a bit overly dramatic. But that could have been me.

Need a good witchy tale…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less

In a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy about facing your fears to reach a happy ending. Interesting characters and plot, but somewhat YA in approach. The magic had potential but the logical loopholes were distracting. The titular bookstore is not the central part of the story. You might like the book better if you take off your thinking cap before reading.

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Plot Preview:

Present day, London. Thirty-three-year-old Dora English, a florist, is stunned when her aunt plans a trip to Salem to visit their family. Dora always assumed that the two of them had only each other. Now, she discovers that even her mother, whom she had presumed dead, is alive. But the reunion isn’t a happy one. Dora discovers that her family has

show more

been hiding certain secrets from her. The most shocking one is that their survival hinges on finding a bookstore that no one in the family has seen for generations. Now Dora has to do whatever she can to keep her family alive and together.
The story comes to us in the limited third-person perspective of various characters over multiple timelines.

Author Helen Phifer is a proficient writer of crime thrillers, police procedurals, and horror. This is her first foray into fantasy. While this book shows glimpses of her talent on the thriller side, the fantasy part could have been finetuned.

Bookish Yays: show less

In a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy about facing your fears to reach a happy ending. Interesting characters and plot, but somewhat YA in approach. The magic had potential but the logical loopholes were distracting. The titular bookstore is not the central part of the story. You might like the book better if you take off your thinking cap before reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plot Preview:

Present day, London. Thirty-three-year-old Dora English, a florist, is stunned when her aunt plans a trip to Salem to visit their family. Dora always assumed that the two of them had only each other. Now, she discovers that even her mother, whom she had presumed dead, is alive. But the reunion isn’t a happy one. Dora discovers that her family has

show more

been hiding certain secrets from her. The most shocking one is that their survival hinges on finding a bookstore that no one in the family has seen for generations. Now Dora has to do whatever she can to keep her family alive and together.
The story comes to us in the limited third-person perspective of various characters over multiple timelines.

Author Helen Phifer is a proficient writer of crime thrillers, police procedurals, and horror. This is her first foray into fantasy. While this book shows glimpses of her talent on the thriller side, the fantasy part could have been finetuned.

Bookish Yays: show less

The four women in the English family were hung as Witches in 1692 Salem. The Witch hunter was cursed by a man he was torturing and as a result, the English women, the witch hunter and a couple of others intimate to the events have been cursed to be reborn time after time. But this time has to be different, and the change relates to a powerful grimoire hidden in the bookstore which is protected by a vanishing spell.