A fun fast paced story following the main character Zelda a 47 year old witch from Florida to New York to fix up and reopen her grandmother's shop. She's spent the majority of her life avoiding using her magic in favour of living a normal life but after getting mixed up with vampires, witches and fae she learns to "embrace the weird" and becomes stronger than ever.

I love love loved this book! It was such a cosy fun listen. I'm so glad it's apart of a series because I need more of it, I will definitely be starting the next book asap!

All the characters in this book have such fun and loveable characters, adorable dogs (jester has my heart), the story itself is paced slow enough that you feel like everything is covered but fast enough that someone like me who struggles to focus on audiobooks didn't lose focus once. The narrator Hollie Jackson's narration is also a huge part of that! She did an amazing job narrating the story.

I would definitely recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves a cosy paranormal read.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to listen to this audibook.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This wasn’t ground breaking for me but it was good. It was interesting enough that I wanted to keep reading it.

I wish the author had focused a bit more on the magic system because it seemed fascinating but I knew so little about it I was confused.

The author goes through the magic a bit throughout the book but they just keep adding new parts of the magic world to the point where it seems like everything goes.

This is also very short for a fantasy so that may play a role as well.

I’m super interested to see who the MC ends up with because at this point it’s anyone’s guess 😂

Overall I had fun with it and will probably read the others at a later date!

My Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

This book is the epitome of cozy! I love that the fmc is middle aged, imperfect, and an animal lover (Jester!!!). The narrator of the audiobook had me laughing as she brought the story to life. If you want a fun, cozy, paranormal mystery that will have you chuckling along with the lighthearted humor, give this book a chance!

„Spells and Sandwiches“ ist der erste Band der Reihe „West Side Witches“ von Kate Moseman und ein kurzweiliges Fantasy-Abenteuer. Das Hörbuch wird gelesen von Hollie Jackson und umfasst knapp sechs Stunden.
Die Stimme passt perfekt zur Persönlichkeit der Protagonistin Zelda Hawkins, einer Hexe aus deren Ich-Perspektive die Geschichte erzählt wird. Die Sprecherin schafft es aber auch darüber hinaus ganz hervorragend, den anderen verschiedenen Figuren Leben einzuhauchen. Die Charaktere haben alle einen ganz eigenen Charme, der sehr gut rüberkommt und es macht Spaß, ihr gemeinsames Abenteuer zu verfolgen. Das Erzähltempo ist recht hoch und so wird es nie langweilig. Nach dem Klappentext hatte ich eine gemütlichere Geschichte erwartet und so hat mich Zelda rasante Reise zwar überrascht, aber durchaus positiv überrascht. Die Geschichte macht definitiv neugierig, wie es für die Charaktere weitergeht; der zweite Teil der Reihe trägt den Titel „Masks and Mirrors“.

I was able to get this read through NetGalley and it was such a nice quick listen between a few bigger reads on our road trip. A fun little cozy paranormal story.

The narrator was amazing. I loved that the FMC was older. It definitely started slow and took me a while to be pulled in, but it got better closer to the end. Will definitely check out the rest of the series.

This book is right up my alley. What is not to like about a mature witch and a vampire working together to defeat fae?

Funny witchy adventure with loveable characters and plenty of excitement. Zelda moved to New York to reopen her grandmother's sandwich shop, but ended up on a grand adventure.

A witchy fun light read.

FUN FUN FUN!!! I really enjoyed Spells and Sandwiches'. Witches, Vampires and Fae OH MY!! This book has a fast moving plot that kept my attention and was well written. Zelda meets some interesting characters as she embarks upon re-opening her grandmothers sandwich shop in New York City! I loved the characters and enjoyed their interactions and feel like they all fit within the plot.

I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series. I recommend this read!

Thank You to NETGALLEY for the opportunity to read this work. My review was left voluntarily based on my read.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version.
I enjoyed this book. It is a whimsical fantasy novel thay I usually don't really go for. It just depends on the book. But I enjoyed the narrator and I would recommend to anyways that likes this type of genre.

Cute and whimsical, with a slightly different take on magic, which I appreciated. Overall, this book is a fun, light, witchy read, if a bit lacking in character development. It was also all over the place with little sense of direction tying the plot together. The narrator of the audio version did an excellent job bringing the story to life.

I found this audiobook to be a cute, easy listen. I thought it was equal parts witty, amusing, and entertaining. I LOVED that the FMC was in her 40's!! Thank YOU Moseman for understanding that main characters don't all suddenly cease to exist after age 30 or so. The audiobook was a great compliment to the story. I absolutely recommend this as a cute witchy RomCom option.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate Moseman, and Fortunella Press for this audiobook ARC.

3.5 Stars

This was a cute, short little witchy tale with lots of action. This book was so much fum to read. I love books like this where you can read or listen to them in one day. I had just the right amount of romance and intrigue.I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

A first in a new paranormal series with Zelda and all her fun characters and poodle.
A fun,cute quirkly, humor,,drama,romance.
Great characters.
A easy fun read.
Narrator is really great. Good narration.
Voluntarily reviewed.

This audiobook was right up my wheel house. The narration was perfect
I love witchy romcoms. This is an adorable journey to find yourself while collecting cute and adorable side characters. Out FMC can take powers from others and it's definitely a power I would want. These side characters are a very eclectic group and I love them all. I can't share much without spoiling the fun but I will definitely be continuing this series.

Spells and Sandwiches
West Side Witches, Book 1
by Kate Moseman
Narrated by Hollie Jackson

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley

Zelda Hawkins has moved back to Manhattan in order to open up her witch grandmother’s sandwich shop. She learned magic and how to cook from her grandmother.

Zelda quickly forms an intricate circle of friends and family.
Lily (her younger cousin)
Daniel (her upper class ex that knows about magic)
Barron (a handyman intent in helping her for mysterious reasons)
Poppy (a mind-reading fire witch and Zelda’s new roommate)
Victorine (a patron vampiress that hires Zelda for a very important side project)
James (a vampire)
Bruce (her brother who lives in D.C.)
And a couple of cute dogs

Zelda basically goes back and forth between remodeling the sandwich shop and working on the side project. There are forces helping her & forces intent on thwarting her.

The book felt very slow to me. I had to listen at 1.25x speed just for it to keep my attention. The world-building, character building, and plot were all good, just slow.

Hollie Jackson does a good job narrating if you can handle 1.25x speed.

I am iffy on recommending this book. It is good, and the story has merit, but the slow pace may put some readers off. If you’re willing to speed up the audiobook - I recommend this book.

Spells and Sandwiches by Kate Moseman
West Side Witches series #1. Paranormal women’s fiction. Previously published as Undercover Paranormal.
Zelda Hawkins came to Manhattan to open a deli. She gave up her magic a long time ago, so she’s surprised when a vampire offers free rent at her family’s old restaurant in exchange for a little magic repair. Zelda’s life goes from staid to zany in seconds with her poodle, her brother, an ex-boyfriend and a mind-reading roommate along for the ride.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook of this story performed by Hollie Jackson who did a wonderful job with humor, sarcasm, and disbelief. There were distinct voices for different characters with their own personalities. This narrator is super popular among the paranormal authors and there is a reason: a phenomenal performance. It is a bit on the faster side so if you read above 2.0, you may need to slow it down a smidge. I personally listened at 1.5 which is equivalent to local patterns in my area.

Entertaining, amusing, and a few laugh-out-loud comments.
I will absolutely be continuing this slightly snarky witch series.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

This was a short and sweet palate cleanser. Zelda, a witch who can absorb powers, moves to NYC after inheriting her grandmother’s sandwich shop. An old, powerful vampire approaches her about repairing a mirror that Zelda’s grandmother has once spelled to keep the Fae locked away.

The supporting characters brought so much to this story’s. And the narrator was great! I listened to this in one sitting.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

This was a pretty cute paranormal rom-com read. While there is light world building this is not a the aim of the book. I really enjoyed the story, it felt fresh.

Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Kate Moseman for an ARC of Spells and Sandwiches audiobook narrated by Hollie Jackson in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick listen with vibrant characters and cozy fantasy themes with an older FMC who is trying to maintain ties to her past while finding herself and her life’s purpose. As a mood reader, this is typically the type of story I would read during the autumn months and so I found myself struggling to become really invested in the story. I believe there was a cohesiveness that was also missing between three of the main plot points within the overall story, so they didn’t feel as fleshed out as they could have been in order to bring the whole story together. Lastly, I was looking forward to a more mature heroine, however she read young to me.

Overall it was enjoyable and cozy read with an intriguing premise.

Spells and sandwiches was such a fun, cozy read! The narrator was fabulous, and I will be looking for more by her.