Paranormal / Fantasy – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

Series: Standalone (?)

Release Date: March 10, 2026

Once upon a time, Pax Nomen, Paladin warrior for the Light, lay dying on the battlefield when he was offered the chance of a lifetime. Manny Quintas, the manager of Number Five Wayside Hotel and World Travel Hub wanted to retire, so he saved Pax from certain death on the battlefield in exchange for his promise to take over as manager of Number Five. Pax agrees and his life will never be the same, managing Number Five and traveling between magical worlds has been both challenging and rewarding, but when Number Five makes an unscheduled stop on the non-magical world known as Earth and then promptly shuts down, stranding all the “guests”. Without a source of magic to recharge Number Five, Pax will have to find another way to fix the hotel and get his guests where they need to be. He wonders if Number Five is looking for a new source of energy and for that he will have to find new tenants to move in and keep the hotel’s secrets. Pax never expected that those tenants would save much more than Number Five.

Widow and single mom, Josephine “Josie” LaChiusa is barely making ends meet when her landlord decided to raise her rent and forcing her to find a new place for her and her four-year-old son Amos. As luck would have it, she gets an alert on her phone of an apartment vacancy that is close to her job at the University and happens to be available for viewing immediately. She makes her way to the Number Five Wayside building and is immediately drawn to the place; something just feels right and that is not a feeling Josie gets very often. She gets the same feeling when she meets Pax and views the apartment, it is perfect for her and Amos and Pax offers her the space for less than her current rent. It almost seems too good to be true. After moving in, it becomes clear that there is more to Number Five than it appears, and maybe she made a mistake moving in. But Pax convinces her to stay, and she finds a friend in the serious, yet thoughtful man, something she desperately needs while juggling all her worries, work, motherhood and her meddling mother-in-law! That friendship becomes something more, but self-doubts and the hotel’s truths may destroy the very thing they need to heal Number Five and healing Number Five may end up leaving her with yet another broken heart.

I will be honest; this book was not what I was expecting – it was better! I loved the idea of The Wayside Hotels and World Traveling Hubs; I loved the all the residents of the Hotel – especially the fairy princesses who love rhinestones and Taylor Swift. The story has a lot going on, there are secrets, magical beings, found family, insecurities, a couple of warmish love scenes, delightful co-workers, an adorable preschooler, cheering fairies, a grumpy gnome, a sexy vampire prince, and an ending that might actually be a beginning. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it to my fellow fantasy/romantasy readers, I am hoping this ends up being a series and that there are more adventures to come!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Bewitching Miss Blair by Darcy McGuire

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Society of Scandalous Witches, #1

Release Date: March 1, 2026

When Clio Blair’s Uncle Lachlan MacDougal, a superintendent with Scotland Yard asks for her help in solving a murder/missing person case, she is happy to help. Clio has secrets, the main one being she is a fire witch and has the ability to talk to ghosts, so she understands why Uncle Lachlan asked for her help, but what she doesn’t understand is why he also asked Lieutenant General Thomas Grey to assist in the case! She finds the man completely insufferable, but to her dismay, she is attracted to him and for some reason can’t stop thinking about him. She tries hard to keep her secrets from him, but the longer they work together to solve Viscount Beachley’s murder and his wife’s disappearance, the harder it is. Especially when she begins having visions about him and finds herself falling for the last man she should ever want!

Lieutenant General Thomas Grey knows that Lachlan asked for his help because of his connections to the peerage. As the second son of an Earl, he has access to people and places that a commoner like Clio wouldn’t have. He is fascinated by her, but Thomas has his own secrets and knows that he isn’t fit for any woman, least of Clio. He tries to keep her at arm’s length, but as he unravels her secrets and truth about Viscount’s murder starts to come to light, his desire to keep her safe becomes overwhelming, even though it is clear that Clio can protect herself. Can he let himself fall for her, trust her with his truth and have the happily ever that has always evaded him or is he too broken?

I have mixed feelings about this book, on one hand, I loved the magic and the mystery, and I thought the book was well-written. But I wasn’t a fan of some of the story elements – like Clio’s familiar, a raven named Sir Robin Goodfellow – I have no idea why the raven was so nasty and foulmouthed – it made no sense to me, plus it was just hard to believe that it was just accepted that she walked around with a raven on her shoulder in Victorian England. I also felt like the animosity between Clio and Thomas was dragged out for way too long, it made it hard for me to believe they fell in love so quickly when they were so hostile for a good portion of the book. Neither of these things ruined the book for me, but I had a hard time accepting the final outcome of the mystery – I can’t say more without a spoiler, but it just didn’t work for me. Overall, I liked the story and would read the next installment, but I don’t think I would read this book again. If you are looking for a slightly spicy, enemies to lovers story with a paranormal twist and a bit of mystery, then I would suggest giving this book a try.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Share this:

Share this: