A Magical Match is the 9th book in the popular Witchcraft Mystery series from Juliet Blackwell. In this book, our main character, Witch and vintage store owner Lily Ivory, has the looming big bad showdown to save San Francisco with unknown entities over her head, a wedding to plan, and a mysterious doppelganger murdering other supernatural beings. Of course our Witch is feeling run down and has a magical cold. Is it the evil cup cake lady? Is someone else arrived to take Lily down?

Wonderful repeat characters round out the story and gives you just enough progress with each to move their stories onward. Love Patience and happy to see Lily and her work together to save Sailor. My only complaint is that this felt like a filler book before the big showdown that we have been hearing about in multiple books. Would be happy to see that concluded sooner than later. Still enjoyed it but I don't want to see this go on for much too longer.

Good addition to the series. It was nice to get to meet important members of Lily's family and it'll be interesting to see what happens next for them. Looking forward to the next book.

A cute cozy mystery that I will share with my customers at the store if they need a new fix. Have several in mind that would most likely really enjoy it.

This is the first book in the series that I read, so I was a little confused at first. However, the book soon grabbed my attention and soon I wasn't concerned about what I didn't know. It was interesting enough to make me want to read the previous books. Highly recommend if like cozy mysteries with magic elements.

Readers will love the magic, the love, and the family aspect to this latest mystery. It is like walking into a community of friends and leaving as a family whenever you read a book in A Witchcraft Mystery series. I highly recommend readers find a day to get lost in this book, as you won’t want to come up for air.

In A Magical Match, Lily has a lot on her plate. She's helping organize a benefit for a local women's shelter while trying to plan her very own wedding to Sailor. All is going as well as can be until a man from Lily's past confronts her about something she allegedly stole from him many years ago. When this same man is found dead later in the day and the last time he was seen alive was with Sailor in his face defending Lily, Sailor becomes the number one suspect. Sailor's guilt is corroborated by several eyewitnesses, including a security camera, but Lily is convinced he didn't commit the crime. Her assumptions are validated when "Sailor" is seen out in public when he is still behind bars. Now Lily has to figure out who in the magical community is to blame, all while continuing on with the benefit, planning her wedding, and preparing to see her mother again after a long absence.

The Witchcraft Mystery series by Juliet Blackwell just keeps getting better and better. I love Lily's character and Oscar's companionship. Lily is simply an amazing and down-to-earth witch. I have enjoyed watching Lily's character grow so much from book 1 until now. She is embracing who she is finally and allowing others into her life without all of the doubt and suspicion, getting more comfortable with her surroundings in each book. She has friends that accept her for who she is and what she does, a very successful resale shop, and a familiar that sometimes just steals the show.

Each story in this series has developed nicely. The reader is taken on a brand new adventure in the world of the paranormal with each book; the content never duplicated or stagnant. The novels are suitable for anyone who wants to read them - teens, adults who don't like sex or swearing, and adults who do like those things but also like the cozy mystery scene, too (like me).

If you're looking for your next cozy series then I highly recommend Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft Mysteries. They are written well, have great storylines, solid plots, and easy-to-like characters. The dialogue between all characters is smooth and understandable and the novel is an easy, relaxing read. I am waiting patiently for the next book in the series.

I was given a copy of this book to read.

Juliet Blackwell immerses the reader in the paranormal Witchcraft mystery world in A Magical Match. Lily Ivory, wiccan witch, works with her gargoyle pig familiar, Oscar, and other witches to find out who murdered the victim that her fiancé Sailor is arrested for killing. Meanwhile she is looking for a wedding dress and foiling other magical workers. What could go wrong?

A Magical Match: A Witchcraft Mystery
By Juliet Blackwell
Berkley
April 2018

Review by Cynthia Chow

Lily Ivory knew she was going to have her hands full when she agreed to have her vintage clothing shop sponsor a coven’s fund-raising Magical Match Tea. Haight-Ashbury’s Welcome coven prided itself on being inclusive and well, welcoming, so what initially began as a matching-outfits mother-daughter event soon evolved into an all-gender, mother-figure brunch. They’ve barely mapped out the invite list when Tristan Dupree, a man Lily hasn’t seen since she was a teenager, barges into her Aunt Cora’s Closet shop demanding that Lily return the item she stole. Since their only previous meeting coincided with the last time Lily encountered her father, - an event shrouded in magic and left her with only remnants of memories - Lily can’t swear either way if she did indeed take Tristan’s belongings. Lily’s stalwart fiancé Sailor gallantly protects her from Tristan’s accusations, but their public confrontation leads police back to Sailor when Tristan is soon found dead. It certainly doesn’t help that witnesses spotted a very casual, and obviously bloody, Sailor leaving Tristan’s hotel just before the murder.

Sailor may be hiding some secrets, but Lily knows that he could never kill another in cold blood. There’s definitely some magical interference going on, as multiple sightings place Sailor in places he claimed to never have been. Keeping Lily distracted is a caravan of witches on their way to attend Lily’s hand-fasting with her betrothed, as they seem to be taking a long, rather meandering, route towards San Francisco. Lily is more than a little anxious about their arrival, as they include not just her adored grandmother, but Lily’s estranged mother. Lily’s mother was the reason the young budding witch was forced to traumatically flee home, and Lily is uncertain how forgiving she can be in their reunion.

As dire as the events may seem, this amazing ninth in the series continues to maintain its highly entertaining, warm-hearted approach to witchcraft and its practitioners. Even more impressive is how the author has built a long thread of mystery throughout the novels, one tied together by a prophecy that has Lily as its focus. Her mentor, the mysteriously enthralling Adian Rhodes, warns that having a love partner will only make her more vulnerable, but Lily is finding that building closer allies may actually strengthen her. Taking on a rebellious young witch as her own apprentice brings in an added viewpoint, not to mention further insight into to the wounded young woman Lily was once herself. No small amount of humor stems from Lily’s changeling familiar, a hobgoblin-pot-bellied-pig who continues to search for his mother while accidentally partaking in a little non-medicinal herbals. This is one of the most charming paranormal cozy mysteries being written today, successfully mixing magical lore with sympathetic and relatable characters. I can’t wait for the next adventures of these beloved witches of Haight-Ashbury.

E-copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lily Ivory is planning a charity brunch and getting the final details set for her wedding, when someone from her past shows up and accuses her of stealing from him. Given a 24-hour deadline, Lily tries to figure out what it is that is supposed to be stolen by consulting with Aiden about her forgotten past. However, when her accuser shows up dead and all signs point to her fiancé, Lily must try to figure out who the real killer is, why her fiancé seems to be in two places at once, and what it all has to do with the future of San Francisco. Are these the evil-doings of a rival or is something more sinister afoot?

This is the ninth installment of the series, but the first book of the series I have read. However, that did not take away my enjoyment of the story. It was easy to figure out how the character's related to each other, as well as some of their backstories and the overarching plot. It was also easy to settle in which these enjoyable characters. The author also provides a rich description of place. I am now eager to start this series from the beginning!

A Magical Match by Juliet BlackwellTristan Dupree, a shadowy figure from Lily Ivory's past is in San Francisco and has given her 48 hours to return his... well, she doesn't exactly know what it is that she stole from him. Whatever it was, she doesn't have memories of that time in her life. She's also dealing with trying to put together a 1950s brunch to benefit the local woman's shelter as well as the evil owner of a cupcake store. Oh, and her whirlwind fiance is in jail for murder.

I don't know how but I missed a book or two in the series and that definitely lowered my enjoyment of reading this book. There was a lot of world-building in those books that made this story harder to follow. I'm guessing that people who have read the whole series will really like this book but I would not recommend it to readers new to the Witchcraft Mystery series.



Three stars

This book comes out April 3

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

I just finished reading A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell. I love this fun series and have read them all! Juliet Blackwell is one of my recommendations for someone looking for a "magical cozy mystery" series. Her characters are so much fun!!!

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series, so I looked forward to it. It's not disappointing. This is a typical cozy -- fairly fluffy, and each one is not very much different from those that came before. The thing I love about it is the characters. They're fun, flawed, and likable.

This was a strong addition to this series. It's nice to finally get some back story into the main character.

Juliet Blackwell's Lily Ivory is back in another delightfully witchy adventure, along with all the colorful characters we have come to expect from this series. Blackwell's breezy, engaging writing and twisted, intriguing plotting create the atmosphere fans have fallen in love with in previous entries. Here, we learn more about Lily's past, get to meet her amazing grandmother, and wring our hands over her "will they/won't they" relationship with Sailor. If you haven't read the Lily Ivory books, get them all out of the library and binge-read them on a cold, snowy day. It will be the best day of the year, I bet! Highly recommended.

This has been a fabulous series, and I cannot wait to see where the author goes in the next installment!

'A Magical Match', by Juliet Blackwell. This book is part of her Witchcraft Mystery series. I have not read any of the other books in this series, but despite that, I didn’t feel like I was missing much relevant information. All the characters were explained as to who they are in regards to the main character, Lily. There was enough backstory to not feel lost. In this book, Lily is preparing for her upcoming marriage, when her fiancé is accused of murdering a former acquaintance of Lily’s. She must try to clear his name, while planning her handfasting ceremony and prepare for a big event at her vintage dress shop. All this must be done while she suffers through, wait for it… her very first cold. Is it a natural cold? Read and find out! This book will release in April 2018.
I’m a big fan of cozy witchy mysteries, (as I look at the Ellery Adams and Bailey Cates books on my Kindle), and this is a nice addition to my reading list. I’ll have to go back and start from the beginning!

I have to admit I love this fantasy series and have since the very first book. So naturally, I was delighted to be back in the magical world of Lilly Ivory. This latest in the series finds witch Lilly dealing with the imminent arrival of her mother, her grandmother’s coven, a magical cold, her upcoming nuptials, a mother-daughter matching-outfits fund raiser, and a possible doppelganger of her fiancée. Blackwell’s characters are always fun…well, except for the bad guys/gals.…the story is fast paced, the mystery an intriguing one and, always a plus, a happy ending. If you can suspend reality for a bit you’ll enjoy a romp through Lilly’s world as a witch in modern day San Francisco.