Book 99, 2024

Six Stunning Sirens by Lynn Cahoon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Last night I completed the book Six Stunning Sirens by Lynn Cahoon. It's the 6th installment in her "Kitchen Witch" series of paranormal cozies, featuring kitchen witch Mia Malone.

While Mia toils as the event coordinator at the local Lodge, her boyfriend's mother, Abigail, has taken over running Mia's catering business--Mia's Morsels. When both venues bid on hosting the annual beauty contest for the Harvest Moon Festival, Mia's Morsels wins the contract. For Mia, it's a win-win. At least, that's what she thought before reality hit. Not only does she have her regular job (with its odious boss), but she's also stepping in to help Abigail get ready for the pageant. Making matters worse, Mia learns that this pageant gets cutthroat and that people have literally died in prior years. She's determined to see things run smoothly, but even with increased vigilance, one stage mom ends up dead and another in the hospital. Compounding the stress is the fact that Mia's assistant, Christina is not just fighting with her boyfriend, but she's also begun applying for other jobs. Mia is both proud of Christina's accomplishments but also sad that she'll be losing her. It's going to take all of Mia's skills as a kitchen witch to make sure no other lives are lost.

This was a fast-paced read with intriguing action and wonderful characters, but I was utterly gobsmacked by how blasé everyone else was about the vicious nature of the pageant. They were all like, 'Oh, remember the year that two contestants and a judge died? LOL!' Both Mia and I had WTF all over our faces. There was all kinds of relationship drama between Christina and Levi, Abigail and her husband, Mia's grandmother and her beau, and Mia's ex-fiancé showing up on the eve of his wedding to whine about how it should have been Mia he was marrying. Ugh. These books always seem to have so much going on, and this one was no exception. Things worked out nicely, although I don't feel the eventual villain got the appropriate comeuppance. Hmpf.

Favorite lines:
♦ "My dream has always been to live in an apartment with both my bosses."
♦ "Why do you look like you just stole your best friend's last dollar?"

Very good, probably deserving five stars, but I'm withholding one for the aggravations I endured while reading this.