A Slice of Magic
A.G. Mayes
Length: 234 Pages
Published: January 25, 2019 (HarperImpulse)
Rating: 
Synopsis: Susanna Daniels has spent over twenty years wondering why her beloved Aunt Erma disappeared from her life. When Aunt Erma leaves a voicemail asking for help at her pie shop, Susanna thinks she’s finally going to get the answers she’s been waiting for. But when Susanna arrives in the small town of Hocus Hills, Aunt Erma is gone, leaving only a short note and her mischievous dog, Mitzy. Running a pie shop is harder than Susanna could have ever imagined. To top it off she has an inspector and an overzealous gym owner breathing down her neck. Then a cookie shop opens up down the street bringing competition she can’t afford. As if that isn’t enough, strange things start happening around town.
After a mysterious request for help is left on her voicemail, Susanna packs up and heads to Hocus Hills to run her Aunt Erma’s pie shop. Erma has disappeared leaving only a voicemail and a note behind, leaving Susanna alone to run her business. Unfortunately, Susanna has never had a knack for baking and we follow her as she bumbles through pie after pie while getting to know the various members of the community. I originally sent a request to review this title to fulfill the Sweet Street
I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters, particularly our protagonist Susanna. Her unfortunate lack of baking skills was amusing but that was all that stuck in my mind and even then it was repetitive. We are told that she is particularly handy but we don’t truly get a chance to witness her talent, just told repeatedly that she can fix things that others can’t.
The alleged love interest, Henry, has the personality of flour. We only see him a handful of times around the town, at the nursing home where he works, and at the bakery and we learn next to nothing about him until this moment at the end where he makes a sudden confession to
The saving grace for this book was the cute moments amongst the Morning Pie Crew. I wish there had been more scenes with the amusing nursing home residents as my favorite scene featured an octogenarian that was a former dancer and had a wonderful outlook on life. If I had gone into this book expecting a cozy mystery rather than a sweet romance, I doubt I would be this disappointed. I may read the next one to fulfill one of my cozy mystery reading challenge requirements but I won’t be using it for the romance challenges in the future.
**I received an ARC of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley. All of the above thoughts and opinions are my honest take on the work.
