New Paranormal Cozy Series prequel
This story is a short prequel to a new paranormal cozy series. In this story, we are introduced to several main characters including Mia, our new heroine. This should be a good series judging by the great series' the author has done. This one is set in a small and magical town between Sun Valley and Boise, Idaho. Plenty of room for many interesting mysteries. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Chili Cauldon Curse is the first story in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series. It’s a short novella that introduces us to the series, and I have to say that I rather enjoyed it.

I love cozies, but I haven’t really delved into too many witchy/paranormal cozies yet, so I was excited to read this. And I have to say that I rather enjoyed it :) I found the cover really pretty, and the synopsis was rather intriguing. It was hard to get into the author’s writing style at first, but after a chapter or two, I was fine with it.

I think this book was a great introduction to the series! The characters were great and entertaining and had depth. The mystery itself was very twisty, and overall, the book was very well-written! I really enjoyed it, and if you have a thing for witchy cozies, definitely consider picking this up.

I can’t wait for the first full-length book in the series.

I volunteered to read this book, through netgalley in exchange, for an honest review. I absolutely love cosy mysteries. This book is right up my alley. The characters are described well and the book is well written. The pacing of this book is quick and enjoyable. I can not wait to read the first book in this series. This is the prequel. You guys need to get this book on August 25, 2020 it'll keep you entertained from the first page. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. The next book comes out next year, on January 26, 2020.

Chili Cauldron Curse is the prequel to Lynn Cahoon's Kitchen Witch Mystery series. The story provides a great introduction to Mia Malone and her Grans. Only in town temporarily to help her Grans fix up the Magic Springs food bank, Mia's life is actually in Boise, Idaho. She and her boyfriend just bought a house together and she's anxious to get back and continue the remodel. Mia's plans are derailed a bit though with the discovery of dead body among the food donations.

The story is well-written with likable, relatable characters. There is enough character development in the is novella to allow the reader to really obtain a grasp of who Mia and Grans are and get to know them. The world building was creative and allowed the reader to visualize the setting. I'm excited to see the new world created by the author and can't wait for the first full-length book in the series. If the prequel is any indication, this series is going to be spectacular!

This is the second book in Lynn Cahoon's Kitchen Witch Mystery series. I hadn't read the first book in the series so it took me a bit to become invested in the characters. I plan to go back and read the first one. This cozy mystery had a paranormal element that I've never read from this author before. The ending was extremely satisfying and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

This novella is a sort of teaser for a new series featuring (I assume) Mia, a Wiccan. Mia's come home to Magic Springs, Idaho, to help her Grans, who is also a witch. She seriously did not expect that Dorian, a warlock and Grans' boyfriend, would be murdered or that she would help to solve the crime, This is a paranormal cozy but it never gets too woo woo. It's very much a set up = we get to meet the characters and setting along with a simple mystery to solve. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to the first full length book!

"New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon introduces a new heroine with her own special brand of culinary magic in this novella to introduce her Kitchen Witch series.

When Mia Malone’s grandmother asks her to take a week away from her restaurant job and come to Magic Springs, Idaho, she’s happy to oblige. Like Mia, Grans has witchcraft running through her veins, and life with her is never boring. Plus, the cause is a good one - helping Grans get the local food bank up and running again. But there’s an unappetizing surprise in store. While Mia is knee-deep in boxes of donated produce, she encounters the body of Dorian Alexander.

Dorian was a warlock, leader of the local coven. He was also her Grans’ new beau. There’s no potion that’ll make this trouble disappear. But if Mia wants to keep her Grans - now a prime suspect - from serving a spell in prison, she’ll have to unearth the real killer fast...."

Anyone else thinking, I want something to read reminiscent of the Sarah Michelle Geller and Sean Patrick Flanery film Simply Irresistible? Well here you go!

I was really excited when I found out Lynn Cahoon was starting a witchy cozy series. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this novella! The characters were likable and the storyline was just plain fun. Witches, chili, a cat inhabited by a ghost all lead to a fun, fun, start to a series. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more in this series.

Mia is visiting her grandmother in Magic Springs, Idaho and helping to organize the local food bank. Mia and her grandmother have magic. The town has a coven and there is a power struggle between members of the coven’s council.
When one of the council members dies, Mia meets the less than charming local policeman. He is on the spot to save Mia when things go south.
This is a short mystery and a good lead in for the first book One Poison Pie.

I was so excited to get my hands on this book, as I've read some of Lynn Cahoon's other series (Cat Latimer, Tourist Trap), and really love her writing. This is the prequel novella for her new series, the "Kitchen Witch Mysteries," and it did not disappoint!!! This may be my favorite yet to be honest!! We meet protagonist Mia Malone and her grandmother, Mary Alice, in the town of Magic Springs, ID. Mia is a restaurant caterer who lives in Boise but is visiting her grandmother to help out with getting the local Food Bank ready for the school season. I LOVE the world that the author has created in terms of the magical realism elements - creative, fascinating, and entirely plausible (like Harry Potter)! We start to understand what being a "kitchen witch" means and, more importantly, what it means to Mia as she was born with this gift but doesn't feel entirely comfortable with this part of herself. When her grandmother's new boyfriend is found dead in the Food Bank, Mia realizes the answer is tied to the local coven, and so she tries to investigate to protect her grandmother. Let's just say that the spirit of Dorian Alexander (the victim), continues to be a featured character in the novel and the way that the author did this was my favorite part!!! Absolutely hilarious. I really hope (and suspect), that Dorian, along with Mia's cat Mr. Darcy, keep appearing in future books as they were totally strokes of genius and add so much more to the world of this series! I hope there will be more information in future books about the healing properties found in nature, such as herbs, spices, etc. I think there will be as Mia's grandmother's magical recipe book was mentioned. Definitely 5 stars, a great start to a fresh new series in my opinion!

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to review this arc for my honest review.

This is a novella, and the first book in a new series. We get introduced to the main character Mia and the residents of Magic Springs, Idaho. Mia has come to town because her grandma asked her for help cleaning up and organizing the local food bank. While organizing Mia comes across the body of Dorian Alexander the leader of the local coven of witches who happens to be dating Mia's grandma. The town is full of both magical residents and the "Muggles" which is a term they started to use after Harry Potter came out.. Which I thought was pretty great.
This was a cute introduction to Magic Spings and Mia. It was a fast and fun read, and I'll be checking out the next book in the series, which is supposed to be a full length novel.

This is a solid novella introducing the new Kitchen Witch series set in Magic Springs, Idaho.

Typically, I don't like mysteries featuring magic or witchcraft, but I did enjoy this one. Interesting characters and premise. I look forward to reading the first full-length book in the series, One Poison Pie.

Lynn Cahoon is a favorite author of mine and I was very happy to receive a free copy of this novella introducing a new cozy mystery series from NetGalley.

This series takes a slightly different turn than her others as there is a whole paranormal aspect to it and Mia and her Grans are witches. It doesn’t turn me off at all to read about covens, Wiccans, the Goddess and the like, but if you’re an evangelical believer you’re probably not going to like this series. Cahoon takes these witches beyond just simple love potions to full fledged spells that have people’s spirits jumping into pets and a town with its very own coven. For me, it just adds a fun aspect to the mysteries and more fodder for the imagination. It’ll be interesting to see how the coven and the people in it develop in further books.

This was a novella to introduce the series, so there isn’t a lot of time to spend developing the characters and the plot and the killer is discovered rather abruptly at the end. I don’t take points away for that since I knew it was a novella when I started.

All in all, it looks to be a fun series with lots of opportunity to grow. Seems funny to me to set a coven and a series in conservative Idaho, but maybe that’s part of the charm. I’m going to read the rest of the series when it comes out!

I appreciate the advanced copy.

The opinions expressed in my review are my own.

I just kept telling myself while I was reading this [while I was rolling my eyes], that I didn't like the first two Farm-to-Fork books initially either [and I love that series now] and that I just have to hang in there and this one will grow [hopefully] on me as well. The whole premise was pretty obvious to me [though I didn't know who the killer was until the end, and even though the reveal was rather anticlimactic, it WAS a surprise, so that is a good thing] and I was not even remotely surprised at how the book ended [as it is set up for that very thing from the very beginning]. And I kept repeating a line from "Practical Magic" over and over - “You can’t practice witchcraft while you look down your nose at it", because that line describes Mia exactly. So hopefully that will also change and she will accept her gifts; waffling is never an attractive look on anyone, much less someone who is magical, but only likes to use it when it benefits her, but looks down in it in general.

I will be reading the full-length novel when it is released as I want to see if Mia and the others are more fleshed out and if the story is better. I have seen how her other books have progressed for the better, so I do have hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept referring to it as Chili Con Cauldron, which I thought would have made a better title.

This short novella will introduce the reader to Mia Malone, a woman with a legacy of witchcraft, but prefers to live a quiet life away from the community. That is until her grandmother asks her to come to Magic Spring, Idaho, to help organize the local food bank. Of course, Mia will do anything for her Gran. What she wasn’t expecting was the inner turmoil and fighting at the center of the coven. The upheaval that has left its leader, Dorian Alexander dead and Mia destined to be the next victim.

There is potential for this series. It follows the usual cozy/paranormal footprint. Hopefully, Lynn Cahoon will introduce additional characters that will stick with the reader without trying to overwhelm them with rabbit trails of shenanigans.

Chili Cauldron Curse is a quick, fun introduction to Lynn Cahoon's new paranormal cozy mystery series, Kitchen Witch Mysteries. We meet Mia Malone, a kitchen witch who is back in her hometown of Magic Springs, Idaho, to assist her grandmother and her friend in getting the local food bank in order before the new school year begins. When local coven leader, Dorian Alexander, who also happens to be her grandmother's boyfriend, is found dead in the food bank, Mia becomes determined to find the culprit. Will she be to solve the murder and get the food bank up and running again?

This delightful prequel was a great way to introduce the characters and give readers a feel of the community. The mystery was a little light, but that's to be expected given the length of the story. It still kept me guessing and the killer's identity was a surprise to me.
All in all, I have heard nothing but wonderful things about this author's books and look forward to continuing on with this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a start of a new series. Mia visits Magic Springs to visit her Gran and help organize a faltering food bank. Mia is a non-practicing kitchen witch. Her gran and much of the community are practicing witches.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the mystery. I look forward to more of Mia and her Gran in the future.

Chili Cauldron curse is a prequel to the Kitchen Witch Mystery series. It might be short--with only about 100 pages, but it packs a lot of information in the pages and gives the reader a nice introduction to Magic Springs Idaho and some of the people that live there.

I felt that Lynn Cahoon did a great job with this one and I am looking forward to more books in this series.

4.5 stars

This is the .5 novella in the new Kitchen Witch mystery series by Lynn Cahoon.

Another series to follow by Cahoon! Yay!

I have to admit I wished this story had been longer. It is only 100 pages and I feel like it could have easily been stretched into a full book. There wasn’t as much of the magic and I wanted to see but we did get a good introduction to everyone and what was going on in this Idaho town.

I wanted the revelation of the killer to be a little more drawn out since I about blinked and missed the whole whodunit part of the story. That seemed a bit too speedy for me. But the choice of the killer was a good one.

I feel like the next book in the series will really start this series off with a real bang. Definitely looking forward to it.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

This novella-length book is an intro into Lynn Cahoon’s new Kitchen Witch series. I’m a big fan of Cahoon’s Tourist Trap series, and this looks to be just as good. Mia is a witch and so is her grandmother. Mia is visiting her to help her set up a food pantry and conduct a chili contest. Of course, there is a mystery to solve and a possible detective boyfriend. I look forward to the first full length novel in the series. Recommended.