Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This mystery is very, very mild tea. Comforting, sure, and meant to give us a very fantastical look at pure comfort. From up and inheriting a tiny store and a whole cottage IN CALIFORNIA out of nowhere -- explained later), to reconnecting with old friends who really care, or finding a hot young thing who is instantly devoted to you, it has an amazing amount of tropes built right in and only a very few actual conflict points. Is it meant to wrap you up in a cozy little blanket and even give you a sweet dog (inherited as well) for your trouble? Of course it is. That's what it is designed for.

It's romance fantasy/mystery with a paranormal twist but it's really, really mild tea.

I'm not saying it doesn't do its job.
It very much does.

Unfortunately for me, the plot was fairly weak and the cliches had me rolling my eyes an awful lot and I kept saying words like "poppycock" and "oh, that's such bs" as I was reading. I do that fairly regularly, but if the enjoyment factor is still high enough, it doesn't bother me. It did, in fact, bother me a bit here.

I'm sure others will get a lot more enjoyment out of this fluff. Unfortunately, I DO like my tea with a little kick.

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