Mini(ish) Review--A Haunting is Brewing by Juliet Blackwell

In this all-new novella, New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell’s popular characters from her Witchcraft Mysteries and Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries find themselves joining forces to solve a supernatural dilemma…

When Mel Turner is hired to rehab an old Victorian mansion to act as the eerie setting for a Halloween bash, she’s expecting the normal challenges—old wiring, bad plumbing, maybe a ghostly specter or two. But when a young man is killed after spending the night in the house, and the mannequins in the attic start to come to life, it’s clear that this is serious paranormal activity. Maybe this time, a real witch is needed.

Recommended by a mutual friend, vintage clothes expert Lily Ivory arrives to offer her help with the mannequins. Armed with Lily’s spells and Mel’s know-how, the two women must figure out the cause of all of the ghostly commotion—before Mel’s renovation project turns into even more of a deadly haunt…

Juliet Blackwell's A Haunting is Brewing is a short little Halloween read that brings her two series together! If you've read any of the books in her two series, you'll know that both Mel and Lily live in the San Fransisco area and I have been just waiting for these two to run into one another and it finally happens!

Mel has been roped into yet another volunteer project, this time it's to get an old Victorian mansion up to code so that college students can have their Halloween ball there. Maya, Lily's youngest employee at the store is one of said college students and is Mel's biggest help in getting the house ready. It's basically Mel doing her job in fixing things...and naturally talking to the ghost!

Though the ghost is not there at first. One of the college students turned up dead in the house after one night. It looks like an apparent suicide, but looks can always be deceiving. The guy's ghost hangs around the house and Mel tries to get him to tell her who murdered him, but he can't remember. There are some dark vibes coming from the house and a set of creepy life sized dolls that look like the family members who once lived there. It's not long before Lily is called in by Maya to have a look at the dolls' clothes to try to get a vibe off of them.

While a very short read, it was a highly enjoyable one! I loved seeing these two sets of characters colliding! It was a story moreso from Mel's point of view, but still third person. But crossovers like this are always fun! Especially when you love both the series! I wouldn't say you have to have read any of them before to understand what's going on here. It's a pure standalone, like all the mystery books are in their respective series. In fact, I'd say this would be a good one to read if you're curious about either or both of these series! You get a taste of what both Mel and Lily can do and what their life is like, minus their boyfriends. No romance in this one, but still a fast, fun little read!

The whodunit was quite a shocker too! The ladies had a short list of suspects, but I had one of my own that wasn't included...well I was wrong for sure! Though the twist was quite shocking. But I felt like the reveal was a little rushed, but had to remind myself this is a novella, so time is of the essence!

A fast, fun read! I loved it! And again, I highly recommend getting this one if you were curious about Juliet's two series! It will give you just the right amount from both heroines and then you can decide from there which one to start with! Not only that, but there is a sneak peek at each of the two series next novel as of its release date, so you'll get even more of a taste of the hauntingly, magical experience! (Heehee!)


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars