Newly Wed and Slightly Dead (A Touch of Magic Mysteries, #1)

by Danielle Garrett

Amanda Ronconi (Narrator)

When a vampire marries a human, things are bound to get messy...

Nothing ruins a rehearsal dinner quite like a passive-aggressive toast from the unhappy mother of the groom. Things go from bad to yikes when she's found reduced to a pile of ashes and couture and the bride is pegged as the one wielding the wooden stake.

After years spent working the birthday party and baby shower circuit, Anastasia Winters finally has a corner office and a host of supernatural clients all begging her to plan their special day. But following a brush of bad luck, she finds herself on the brink of losing it all. With an ultimatum from her boss on the table, she knows her next wedding has to be perfect.

When the vampy mother of the groom is found dead, the bride goes on the run, and Anastasia is forced head-first into the murder investigation if she has any chance of getting the wedding back on track and keeping her job.

Unfortunately, this is one wedding crisis that requires more than a strategically placed bobby pin or double-sided sticky tape.

Can there be a fairy tale ending, or will it be Happily Ever Never?

• ASIN: B07X275KQD
• Publish Date: 18 September 2019 (first published 12 February 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Imprint: Tantor Audio
• Edition: Unabridged
• Format: Audiobook
• Duration: 4 hours and 9 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

I immediately loved Anastasia in Cupid in a Bottle, and I grew to adore her in this book. I love the sister element to these books – it’s kind of spoiler that I already know how things turn out with Harmony from reading Beechwood Harbor Series, but it’s still great to see her growth and the role her relationship with Anastasia plays in that. And, of course, the bickering between sisters; that’s great too. I think the fact that this series is fully in the Seattle Haven (where magical folks live, no humans) is a nice contrast to the Beechwood Harbor Series, where part of the challenge is always about keeping the magical secret. Here we get to see the everyday life of a witch, working as a wedding planner – complete with all the magical accoutrements. I loved the work-stress angle –Anastasia has a stressful and competitive job, with some pretty unreasonable pressures. Having also worked in event planning in the past (including some weddings) this rang so true, even with the magical flair. That Anastasia ends up so fully invested in the murder investigation because of her role as the wedding planner felt ridiculous, but then also completely believable when you consider the stressful environment where she worked. A love interest developed here too, with the SPA agent assigned to the case. Excited to see that develop.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Anastasia Winters finally has her corner office at the most respected and highly sought after event planner and working her first major wedding when things go terribly wrong at the rehearsal dinner.

The bride is human, and the groom a vampire from a powerful line. The Groom’s mother has done nothing short of torture towards the young bride and poor Anastasia. Last-minute changes and demands Anastasia can handle after all the Mother-in-Law is footing the bill. This wedding’s success will make or break Anastasia’s career and she likes her new corner office.

However, when the groom’s mother is found dead, and they accuse the bride of murder, things get complicated especially when the lead detective asks Anastasia out on a date. With her sister sleeping on her sofa and her coworkers vying for her office it’s a wonder she isn’t sitting in a corner crying. It was fun watching events unfold and seeing her handle each obstacle as it came.

The story has a nice balance of romance, office politics, family and murder-mystery. At just under five hours, it’s the perfect listen for a day trip or while handling your Saturday chores. Amanda Ronconi does a stellar job with the characters and enhances the overall story. The book is perfect for audio.

Amanda Ronconi narrated and I love listening to her perform these cozy, paranormal series. She captures the quirky characters, tension, and humor. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I’ve really enjoyed the first two series I’ve listened to by Danielle Garrett, Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery and Beechwood Harbor Ghost Mystery). This series is a spinoff from those series, but takes place in the Seattle Haven. It follows Anastasia, a supernatural wedding planner as she tries to make a wedding between a human and vampire something that will never be forgotten, but not in the way it turns out.

Anastasia is getting a lot of pressure from her boss about this wedding. She has a vengeful co-worker trying to undermine her and make her look incompetent. There is also the mother of the groom who doesn’t want the wedding to go forward unless the bride-to-be agrees to be turned, which she is refusing. What could go wrong? Someone decided they had enough of the mother of the groom and kills her and the bride is the prime suspect with no alibi.

While this story has a lot of the things I love about the other series, I found I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first two series. I think my main thing was the lack of fun characters around Anastasia. I tend to enjoy secondary characters more than the main characters, but there really aren’t any great secondary characters in this story. I also think all the animosity that Anastasia is going through at work left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m going through similar types of things at my work, so it wasn’t escape that like I normally do in audiobooks. That being said, I’m not ready to give up on this series yet. I’m waiting on the next audiobook to be released and I will give it a try.

Narration
Amanda Ronconi again does an amazing job with the narration of this series. I had no doubt that she would. She’s always great at bringing out characters’ personalities with her choice of voices and tone. I always look forward to listening to any story that Ronconi narrates.

**I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.