A nice cozy. It was an entertaining and fun read.
I liked the world building and the cast of characters, the cat was really funny.
The plot was good, no plot, and it keep you guessing till the end.
I look forward to reading other instalment in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Absolutely loved Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets. Cozy mystery, well written, engaging. Nice historical background that draws you in as well. Amanda is learning to navigate her magical powers in a world of non-magicals, with the help of her deceased grandparents. She also has to watch and avoid causing her asthma to flare up. So having a new asthma treatment center in town should be a good thing, right?? Maybe not. Read on and discover the fun of Amanda Cadabra for yourself!

Amanda Cadabra and the cellar of secrets by Holly Bell is a wonderfully light read, full of fun and magic. It takes a village to raise a child is certainly true in the case of Amanda Cadabra, who has everyone in her village knowing her every move and looking out for her welfare and prospective love life.
This would be a refreshing addition to our college library.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I wasn’t too sure if this might be a bit on the “cutsie” side with the name of our protagonist. I am so glad I gave it a chance because even with the subject matter, the characters were never cloying or over the top. There was a good solid mystery that blended the magic in seamlessly.
Amanda is a witch who tries to stay under the radar of the normal world. Aided and abetted by her familiar, Tempest, she is growing her skills and figuring out how she fits in. Her grandparents who raised her continue to assist her even though they are ghosts. She also interacts with others who share her magical abilities including two police officers, one of whom is not fully aware of his own power and who is clearly going to be a romantic interest in future books.
My favourite character is the cat, Tempest. He has just the right combination of feline disdain for most things human and affection for his own human, Amanda. He steals the show every time he does something. Even though he is my favourite, I did like all of the characters. It did take me a while to figure out what was going on as the story kept popping back and forth across a couple of plot lines. Once I put it together though it was thoroughly enjoyable with charm and suspense.
I look forward to following Amanda’s adventures in the future. I give it five purrs and two paws up.

I recommend reading the first book in this series prior to starting this one. I was a bit lost for a while. There is time travel, magic and mystery! This installment was a fun and quick read full of intrigue. I read this ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was not familiar with this author, until now.
I did not read the first book from this series, but I did not suffer because of that. You will be able to pick up the story from book #2.
Overall, it was a great read. It was funny, mysterious and the story bewitched me well :)
I am looking forward to more books by Holly Bell and more adventures with a witty, and funny Amanda Cadabra!

Intrigued by the title, which sounds like an amalgam of a Nancy Drew book with Bewitched, I downloaded it from netgalley. Turns out the title was a pretty good indicator of the book. Amanda Cadabra is a youngish witch who is leaning the one and outs of the craft. Set in present day England, the story dips back into the WWII era with spies and murder. Amanda is plucky and resourceful, but still relatively undeveloped. She communicates with her grandparents who are "beyond" and the dialog reminds me a little of Topper. All in all, a cute read with a solid mystery. Rounding up from 3.5 stars.

Not what I expected. I picked this up thinking it was a quick cute cozy witch story. It is actually much more involved. The mystery has several parts and there are the human and the ghost characters. At points it is a bit bogged down with detail but overall it was a good story with a lovely ending. I was pleased with the book.

Amanda is on the trail of a few puzzling pieces of hidden historical secrets that would give her a better picture of her family origin and about a traitor’s betrayal which amounted to treason. Fear knows no boundaries it seems as it travels down through time in a family most anxious and eager to maintain their reputation, they think nothing of committing murder to keep the truth from being unearthed, She is also faced with a few villagers with witchery in their blood and romance in their veins, making them out to be in my book annoying matchmakers. A curiously intriguing, and bewitching tale with deeply hidden secrets buried underground.

This book gives you much more than you'd expect by reading the cover. Yes, it has lots of humor, but it's also a solid murder mystery with a unique spin. It was a welcome break from the couple of boring nooks I read before it!

Well not abracadabra of course... What a strange name, but of course, one that is very memorable.
So we have a cosy mystery novel set in a strange village with ghosts and witches and hidden secrets.
At times, I thought I was reading a book for teenagers or for US readers who wanted to have a traditional English village with all the traditional English characters in it. Including funny names and so on.
That said, it was an enjoyable and humorous tale with engaging lead characters - Amanda herself and her feline familiar and the detective who can't know the real truth about witch-craft, but sort of knows about ghosts.
Very light reading but ..

A really entertaining read. Amanda Cadabra and her partners in crime are great fun. The writing has great elements of both humour and suspense. I’ll definitely read more by Holly Bell. Just the thing for a light afternoon’s entertainment.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

In this next Amanda Cadabra cozy, the past is making an appearance in the present as the new asthma center is being built over the remains of Lost Madley and once again Amanda finds herself with a murder mystery to solve while helping the Inspector to solve her families murder mystery. It is not necessary to have read the series starter, but you are going to want to. Such a great set of characters from Amanda and her transitioned Grandparents to her familiar Tempest, plus all of the most heartwarming and unique Villagers, after all you can't trust those are not Village. Amanda and Trewlaney are learning to work together as it seems that both of them will be following the same path at some point. Such a unique and original main character, a girl with asthma who does furniture refinishing and repairs, thank goodness for magic!

This is a fun paranormal cozy mystery. I have not read the first in the series, so you can definitely enjoy it as a stand-alone. Some of the characters could use a little more development. My favorite character is the grumpy cat. This book is kind of a mixture of Nancy Drew and Bewitched, or the 90's version of Sabrina the Teenaged Witch. The mystery is well-plotted and full of humor. I look forward to more of this series.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

Cozy, crazy and characterful, in a charming setting with a cranky cat, add to that an intriguing mystery, and what else could you want aside from a comfy chair to read in?