Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club: Book One When a coven of hedge witches casts a spell for their hearts’ desires, the world turns upside down. Bartholomew Baker is afraid to hope for his heart’s true desire–the gregarious woodworker who sells his wares next to Bartholomew at the local craft fairs–so he writes the spell for his baking business to thrive and allow him to quit his office job. He’d … him to quit his office job. He’d rather pour his energy into emotionally gratifying pastry! But the magic won’t allow him to lie, even to himself, and the spellcasting has unexpected consequences.
For two years Lachlan has been flirting with Bartholomew, but the shy baker with the beautiful gray eyes runs away whenever their conversation turns personal. He’s about to give up hope… and then Bartholomew rushes into a convention in the midst of a spellcasting disaster of epic proportions.
Suddenly everybody wants a taste of Bartholomew’s baked goods–and Bartholomew himself. Lachlan gladly jumps on for the ride, enduring rioting crowds and supernatural birds for a chance with Bartholomew. Can Bartholomew overcome the shyness that has kept him from giving his heart to Lachlan?
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I thoroughly enjoyed this light hearted Amy Lane book. It had all of her signature qualities but aimed at the sweet end of the spectrum.
Tolly is a sweet witch who’s had a crush on Lachlan but he was always so nervous that Lachlan never even had a twitch of an idea. But through an accidental spell gone wrong, everything gets out in the open. And I mean everything. Lachlan finally gets his man and Tolly has someone who will be there always.
This book was super touching and sweet and I loved the cul de sac coven. The spell that was cast was interesting and I was surprised at the ramifications.
The heat between Lachlan and Tolly was Amy perfect.
If you enjoy laughing at weird shenanigans, lots of baking and sweet heat, this is a good boook for you!
Bartholomew and Lachlan are just delectable! A dash of paranormal and a whole bushel of sweet, Shortbread and Shadows is just perfect from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Tolly’s friends wished for! I gobbled this story down just as fast as I could, and it’s a great read if you need a lighthearted happily ever after in these troubling times!
Bartholomew and Lachlan have been crushing on each other for almost two years, adorably unaware that their feelings were answered all along. It was only after a spell gone bonkers that the fate kinda sped up things between them and made them own up to their feelings.
This book was a lot of fun and also with a bit of suspense thrown in. Because while Bartholomew and Lachlan were finally finding their way together, two of their friends were missing and there was magic going wild.
There’s still a lot of work in order to put things to right, truths to be admitted and I’m sure the next installments are going to be as fun as this one. Can’t wait!
This was such a refreshing, sweet story. Tolly and Lachlan have some interesting hurdles to overcome in their relationship, but Lachlan’s calm understanding of Tolly’s special abilities is the one thing Tolly needs to become his true best self. This book is very different from other Amy books, but I ended it already wanting to read the next one!
Start with a wood worker add in a IT guy whos a baker and a hedge witch at heart. Stir in a coven full of friends and you have a wonderfully warm romance.
Lochlan has a long time crush on the sweet baker he works next to on the vender floor. Bartholomew is very sweet, but oh so very shy. It takes one big spell going wrong. When trouble hits, Lochlan is right by his side.
This series is going to showcase Amy Lanes sweet side. So it goes without saying. This is a low- angst read. It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon. Im looking forward to seeing each coven member contribute to the fixing of their part of the spell and finding their person.
This was a very sweet and magical romance. I loved Bartholomew and the friends who made up his coven. The magic was amazing, and I was impressed with the way Lachlan just accepted every witchy moment. The long awaited and yet in many ways instant love between Lachlan and his Tolly was wonderful to see. My heart turned to goo for these men.
The secondary characters were wonderful, with the exception of Tolly’s parents. The cul de sac coven stole a piece of my heart, and Lachlan’s family (in the bonus story) were everything Tolly needed them to be. I can’t wait for the next installment of this fantastic tale. There are no doubts in my mind about this couple’s HEA, but there are other story threads begging for resolution. With this group of good hearted witches, I know I won’t be disappointed with their results.
This is the first book in the Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club. I loved this book, it was funny, light with some very compelling story lines. The characters are well developed and the oh so easy to love. The pace moves so you are always wanting to read it. I can’t wait for the next installment.
Shortbread and Shadows by Amy Lane was given to me in exchange for an honest review. Bartholomew Baker, hedge witch and baker, didn’t realize that half truths and lies would make his world implode in a weird and unexpected way. Lachlan Stephens, woodworker and crushing on Bartholomew, saw Batholomew needed him and dove right into keeping his Tolly and his coven safe. I really had fun with this book. It was lovely, and heartwarming to see two people, one shy and other bold but cautious, fall for each other despite the magical mishap. True love can conquer even magic.
Before you. begin, I would suggest reading the blurb before you get into the story. Since I’m familiar with the author’s previous work. I just read the blurb enough to know who the players are in the story. You are literally dropped right in the middle and might be a bit confusing at first.
Overall, It’s one of the author’s light story and for the most part, I enjoyed myself. The snark and sweet were present throughout the story. It was the right measurement of it that I didn’t die of sugar shock. A good book to read when just need to read a light story with very good characters all around.
I received this story for free in exchange for an honest review.
First, a disclaimer. I’m not a believer in wicca, nor do I believe that people can cast magic spells that actually affect the real world. I do like a good fantasy tale, though. And I loved this newest story from Amy Lane, the author who effortlessly shifts from dramatic angst in one book to a fluffy tale of young witches figuring out life together in the next.
Bartholomew “Barty” Baker is a shy young man with a day job in the IT field. His true vocation and love is baking, and toward that end he sells his wares at craft fairs and conventions. Barty’s best friends and neighbors all support his dream – and are all members of their cul-de-sac coven. For some time Barty has yearned for another craft fair regular, woodworker Lachlan.
A misdirected spell leads to hordes of people being drawn to Barty, for more than a taste of his sweet treats. A spectacular escape from a craft fair engineered by Lachlan leads to our main characters discovering their mutual affection for one another. There’s so much more, not least of which that the misdirected spell continues to wreak havoc in the cul-de-sac.
This book is a feel-good story that left me sighing with escapist pleasure; and it’s the first in the Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club series. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next one.
What I Think: This tale already has me hooked from page 1 and I can’t wait to see the good and bad devastation that ensues. Bart is gorgeous then I find out that his secret crush is also big and even broader. Ah! You know my love of size. Magic of epic proportions goes off because people, as usual, can’t be true to themselves and now Bart and his friends are scurrying to mend things. Not only are Bart and I shocked that Lach doesn’t blink an eye over magics, but the nickname Tolly has to be the sweetest thing ever. I awwed so bad I put my forehead on my bed just to recover from the heart clutch. But I have to say I just might have done the same thing because it gets harder and harder to put your heart out there in a world like ours but I’m too impatient to wait as long as Lach and Tolly have done. I don’t know who deserves my first smack because I’m also being distracted by the weirdest magic influences ever which have me vacillating between laughter and horror. The results would be a total nightmare for me but at the same time, I can’t stop laughing at the utter ridiculous yet realness of it. Only for that to be eclipsed by pure sugar as these 2 start coming straight to each other and please, can I smack them both again? They’ve got to be masochists to fall in love at the same time which feels (to me) like decades ago and they need the magic world to come undone to get to it? Double smack with great feeling. My respect for Lach rises in spades though when he says something that the world is beginning to see, albeit slowly (hopefully). A lady wearing a mini skirt or spaghetti top with bra straps showing is not an invitation to be harassed. Isn’t it about time we actually started raising men like Lach who know this, instead of teaching our daughters to hide their bodies which shames them without knowing and gives them all sorts of body issues? Then Tolly lays down the difference between fanatics and believers that say exactly what I think on the matter. This tale doesn’t only make me feel like magic is truly alive and in all of us, but makes me feel it’s as common as common sense if we could only trust our hearts to feel it. And then comes the casting. It’s detailed in a way that actually made me consider trying it if I wasn’t too lazy. It’s true in a way that makes the heart ache. And oh goddess, how can the right dirty word in the right sweet place cause so much heat? And yet, Mme. Amy knows just how to insert darkness into a tale that could have just been pure cotton candy but instead becomes so serious it’s scary. And you know how Africans are. We take our juju very seriously so I’m quite unnerved. 2 thirds into the novel and I pray to the goddess that we get the tales of all the others in the coven because I want them so bad! Then, when I thought I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, Lachlan’s parents’ reaction to his witch boyfriend killed me with laughter, only for me to sober at the same time his dad did when he realized that Tolly had some not so good history and I realized that so many LGBTQ kids will never know what it’s like to have parents who truly love you unconditionally. That the boy can still want to spread so much love and joy is a testament to how much love he truly has in his heart. While I’m not withdrawing my double smacks, it makes sense that things took time between these two. It’s like it had to happen under the right circumstances, showing that even mistakes can be the right decisions. All this ends in a flurry of a blistering end!
Verdict? A comfort keeper of a tale to remind you to dream, no matter how big because intentions are pure magic!