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Library Witch Mystery #3

Sorcery & Stories

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It's the holiday season in the town of Ivory Beach, and Rory Hawthorn and her new magical family are preparing for the festivities. But when a group of strange werewolves materialises in the library, it kicks off a series of bizarre events which appear to be lifted directly from her aunt's bestselling novels.Not only is Rory left to hold the fort when her family falls under the effects of the spell, her growing relationship with Xavier, the local reaper, lands her in hot water with his boss -- the terrifying Grim Reaper.Can Rory fix the damage, stop the rampaging spell and find the culprit before her life turns into a horror story?

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 10, 2019

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About the author

Elle Adams

69 books228 followers
Elle Adams lives in the middle of England, where she spends most of her time reading an ever-growing mountain of books, planning her next adventure, or writing. Elle's books are humorous mysteries with a paranormal twist and tons of magical mayhem.

She also writes urban and contemporary fantasy novels as Emma L. Adams.

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Community Reviews

5 stars
757 (53%)
4 stars
430 (30%)
3 stars
202 (14%)
2 stars
27 (1%)
1 star
9 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
Profile Image for Krystyna.
5,134 reviews50 followers
May 15, 2019
A wonderful flight of fancy

A great read. A plot of the magical events portrayed in books coming to life, a thief, a curse and a reporter bent on causing havoc. Our heroine plays a pivotal role in causing the mayhem to stop but in doing so exposes her relationship with the apprentice reaper to the Grimlocks Reaper with disastrous consequences.
Her wand shopping is a disaster. No wand seems to fit her and now the library is under attack from space werewolves. More and more mayhem occurs as more and more plots (in the books her aunt wrote come to life). Plus there is also the problem of a thief at large and a reporter who is better on causing as much mayhem as she can not only to the town but also to the Library. Can she do anything to stop it? Who is the thief? Then there is the problem of Xavier - the Grim Reaper is not amused to find him in her presence on several occasions. Will she stop the manifestations? Will she find the thief? Will the reporter be stopped from her belligerence? Will she find a wand? What about Xavier?
Profile Image for Darla Taylor.
1,695 reviews
May 15, 2019
Rory Hawthorn is really settling down in the magical town of Ivory Beach with her new family. The holidays are here and the Hawthorn family is preparing for the festivities when a curse breaks out in the library causing Rory's aunt's books to come to life. When the curse takes a deep hold on the family and the library it's up to Rory to set things straight.

I read this book in one sitting and loved it. It's well-written and the characters are well-developed. We get to know some more people in this book. I highly recommend the book and the series; I'm looking forward to another.
1,212 reviews5 followers
May 14, 2019
Delightful!

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Engaging characters and entertaining plots. An adventure for the imagination. Although I wonder if Jet is ok?
Profile Image for Tina.
59 reviews
January 14, 2021
I really wish this author had an editor. The story is good. I want to find out what happens next and what the deal is with the journal. But there are missing words, sentences that don’t make sense, and blatant continuity errors. I’m not in any rush to pick up the next one.
Profile Image for Atlanta Whitlock.
907 reviews12 followers
March 23, 2020
I honestly wasn’t expecting this series to get any more imaginative, but from this book alone I can see that Elle Adams has such a creative mind. I think she did an amazing job with this one, I honestly couldn’t fault it. There’s so much that happens, and whilst it has everything you could ever ask for, I couldn’t help but feel for Rory. Even Cass is learning to be a little nicer to her. But still, in this book Rory goes through a hell of lot and you can tell that from the writing and ideas that Elle had quite a lot of fun writing it. I’m really intrigued to see what happens next, and I hope that The Grimm Reaper changes his mind about things, because it would just be unfair to Rory. Seriously, this series is only just getting more and more amazing with each book and I can’t wait to see how creative Elle has gotten in the next book.

Rory has passed her exam and is able to get herself a wand, but when she goes looking for one she can’t seem to find one that fits comfortably. After deciding to give up and try another day, both Estelle and Rory go back to the Library and decide to help search for their Aunt Candance…. However, when they step into the library things don’t seem to be normal in there. It seems that someone has decided to bring some of the elements of her Aunt Candance’s books to life… With each day passing, it’s clear that it’s a curse but they have no idea who started it, but if they don’t hurry up soon everything will get infected and they may not end up existing. Will Rory be able to figure out the truth in time before they all disappear or the curse spreads into the town? What will happen when one of Candace’s old friends from university comes back and wants to get gossip on the Library?? Will everything work itself out or will they be too late???
5,727 reviews32 followers
June 3, 2019
Another book that is not only about the people involved but about an amazing living library that, to me, would be worth spending hours and hours in.

Rory is the main character along with her familiar Jet (a crow.) Also, the reaper Xavier is there.

Now, what is the problem she and the others have to solve? Well, one of the people is a prolific writer in a variety of genres. For some reason her stories are partly coming to life in the library and outside of it. So, what do you do with knights on horses? How about gravity going wonky? Let's throw in some nasty space aliens while we're at it.

If that's not enough of a problem there's Rory's inability to find a wand she can use, a journal her father had which is the target of a very powerful vampire, a party that is basically kind of out of control, a wedding she needs to stop and some dead people that suddenly show up.

The stories the author does are really neat with a lot of really odd things happening, fascinating characters and did I forget to mention how much I like the library?
Profile Image for Mike Lewis.
1,761 reviews6 followers
November 5, 2019
Great urban fantasy cozy mystery series

And entertaining cozy mystery urban fantasy series. A young woman who worked in a book shop that was owned by her father and his partner before her father died ends up getting fired by her father’s former partner. Some weird things happen and lo and behold she finds out she has a couple of aunts and cousins she did not know about. Besides that she finds out she is actually a witch. Her family takes her back to a supernatural town where the family owns the local magical library. The family also resides in this library. As she begins to learn how to use her powers and gets to know her family. She begins finding mysteries murders and trouble to solve. Follow along as her and her cousins an aunts and a couple of friends try and figure out and solve the mystery‘s. You’re very entertaining and well written Series. Great cast of characters with funny interactions at times and serious at others. Check it out
Profile Image for Amanda Jane.
1,331 reviews8 followers
March 23, 2020
A curse on the library..

.. or a curse on the books?

Rory, her family, and in fact most of the town, are drawn into Aunt Candace's most vivid stories when an old "friend" from her youth returns to write an article about Ivory Bay and the Library. Ursula is digging for dirt, always jealous of Candace she's desperately trying to find a way to get the library shut down.

Meanwhile "the Magpie" has been out and about stealing from everywhere. Captured on camera Rory knows he looks familiar but where is it she's seen him?

Candace writes under several names and genre's so they are not quite sure what might be coming next. From courtly romance and knights to trolls and elves and thence to space with some rather horrible aliens each turn of the page brings more reality. Rory can almost guarantee that the next round will bring back her parents love story.. but can she survive it to save the day? And will she lose her own budding relationship in the crossfire?
Profile Image for Angela Griffin.
1,391 reviews4 followers
April 10, 2020
Plenty of surprises

A curse, a murder, a thief, a muckraking reporter, an illicit romance...and Aunt Candace! Poor Rory is too busy to enjoy the holidays in Book 3 of this entertaining series. Untangling the many threads to determine which criminal goes with which crime makes this a worthwhile diversion. Certain elements (such as how the murderer's limitation could allow the chaos that was created, how the thief was able to leave the mark, and why Rory didn't ask about her father's book when the opportunity presented itself) should have been addressed; nevertheless, this is a fine read, and the ending has this reader eager for Book 4!
Profile Image for Anne-Marie .
897 reviews24 followers
January 25, 2021
Good

At first I thought oh no what did the author do...I really didn't like the storyline..one of Rory's aunts writes books and one of them has come alive in the library
Will Rory figure out what is going on? For the sake of the Hawthorne family and their library we hope Rory figures out what is going on...
As I read along because I really didn't want to quit reading the book I found myself enjoying the book more than I did at the beginning
At the end I'm like "What!?" How could the author leave me hanging like that!
Highly recommend the series I will be starting the 4th book shortly
Profile Image for Katie Storer.
520 reviews
December 26, 2022
3.75 Stars

The last book ended with an exciting cliffhanger. I was excited to see the confrontation between the two characters. However, this book started a few weeks later and we learn that the new story claims the two characters meet for the first time in this book. Points off for that error.

Otherwise, the story was exciting and a real page turner. The plot is complicated. I had to go back and reread a couple of paragraphs to fully understand the action. If you are willing to give your attention to this story, I think you will love the plot and the action as much as I did. This magic system is getting more interesting with every story.
May 29, 2019
Loved it!

I just love Rory! She's such a spunky character. Her Aunt Candace is definitely certifiable, but in a fun way. Aunt Adelaide and her cousin Estelle are the sane ones and cousin Cass is the snarky slightly mean one. All of them together keep the Library running. When a curse is let loose in the Library all heck breaks loose and it will take the whole family to contain it before it takes over the town. As if that's not enough, a reporter is trying to dig up dirt on the Library and the family and a notorious thief is breaking in all over town!
June 13, 2022
Sorcery & Stories is the 2nd book in the Library Witch cozy paranormal series. It is Christmas in Ivory Beach. Rory and her family are busy with their magical bookstore especially after Aunt Candace's book characters come to life! Werewolves, elves, horses, and more! It creates big problems for the library and strange things are happening.. The characters are great and the mystery kept me guessing, although it was a little harder to follow than the previous 2 books. There are a few laughs and some fun antics. Quite enjoyable! #Sorcery&Stories
Profile Image for Ardys Favaro.
8 reviews1 follower
October 10, 2023
awesome magical series

Ok so am only on the third book. But I read the first two in one day and I plan on starting the next one today. I’m not one to give plot away or synopsis of the story, but I will tell you that you can start the series at any point. The plot of each book is different the only consistent plot is the romance line. Now for characters you got an smartass owl, gossiping crow, absent minded aunt, animal taming cousin, a vampire in the basement, the Grim Reaper and his apprentice and finally our heroine who needs to get catch up on the laws of magic quick.
18 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2019
Cliffhanger

It was great until the end. I hate books that end in a cliffhanger. Other than the cliffhanger, the writing was good, and the storyline was a little heart wrenching. I may or may not have cried. I didn’t know who the culprit was until the end (totally guessed wrong). Enjoyed Rory’s interactions with Xavier and the Grim Reaper. Still disappointed with the cliffhanger.
173 reviews1 follower
February 10, 2021
The Wand Chose Her

Poor Rory: she can’t find a wand to work for her. She’s tried numerous wands in the wand shop, but none are the right one. If that weren’t enough, the library is under a curse. Have Kleenex at the ready when Rory saves the library and finds the right wand. A book not to be missed, even though I want to throttle Aunt Candace.
132 reviews
July 28, 2023
Another good book

I have to admit, this author's imagination is amazing.
I did find the last chapter a little confusing in terms of why was where and doing what but it didn't detract from the story.
I know it can't happen, but I would love Rory to get some proper time with her mum and dad.
Profile Image for BobaFett114.
1,935 reviews3 followers
May 18, 2019
Crazy good mystery!

The author wrote an incredibly wild and crazy mystery! Throw in a lot of magic and it's fun too. I love Rory and her family. They are well written characters too. I didn't like the very end because of a small cliffhanger.
Profile Image for Heaven Law.
36 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2019
Easy read

This is a fun fast paced book that gets emotional
In the magical libary the books starts coming to life causing mayhem and madness with a witch and a reaper and cast of magical creatures what can go wrong lol
Profile Image for Wendy Beachley.
96 reviews
July 1, 2019
Excellent! Great! Fantastic!

I totally love this series! The ladies are all fantastic and the storylines are hilarious. The town sounds perfect and the library sounds like a dream. I can't wait for the next book.
Profile Image for Emma Davies.
2 reviews
July 14, 2019
Spellbinding

This set of three books was amazing! I read them all in a weekend and was totally hooked, great characters and great stories I can't wait for the fourth book in September
Profile Image for Ardie.
207 reviews
February 4, 2020
I Love this series..

The who done it...Who did it..and where did everyone go..It's twist and turns and the surprising way it ended..Never knew if the curse was going to end or not..
391 reviews2 followers
June 23, 2020
Newly Minted Witch Finds the Perfect Wand

Rory becomes caught up in a curse which threatened to destroy her whole family. She finally solves the mystery, ancestors order to the library. I loved the twists and turns that this storybtook.
237 reviews1 follower
November 16, 2021
A Pleasant Reading Experience

Rory continues her adventure but there is more telling than doing so the story although entertaining, is less interesting. I still look forward to the next story.
Profile Image for Megan.
3,371 reviews43 followers
November 29, 2021
3.5 stars if I am honest with myself.

It wasn't as captivating this book. It is in no way a bad addition to the series but it certainly didn't and couldn't keep my interest so I have read other books while reading this.

In the end it was good and I did enjoy the story.
Profile Image for Josie.
1,899 reviews
April 13, 2022
Wand time

Wow, what a rollercoaster of a ride. So much happening and gasp the ending. I wanted to howl Nooooo! Of course, I've already purchased the next three books because I got to know.
103 reviews1 follower
April 15, 2022
Interesting and Sort of Scary

How many of us have dreamed of something in a book being real. I know I have once or twice in my lowest times. However, I think I will be to leave it there.
258 reviews4 followers
April 23, 2022
Great Series!

I have read three books in the series and was thoroughly hooked from the start. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, as well as other works by this author. Happy reading!
Profile Image for Kat Green.
1,121 reviews18 followers
May 19, 2022
I wrote a review for this book #3 of the Library Witches but it must have posted somewhere else. 🙄 Cute library mystery without sexual scenes to limit readership. The entire series has been a fun getaway read. 😊
Profile Image for Stacy.
28 reviews1 follower
September 25, 2023
Sorcery and Stories

This is such a fun read, and well developed characters. It is hard to put down. It has it all: humor, magic, talking birds, family drama, and lots of twists and turns.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews

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