Well, that was not what I was expecting!

What was the book about?
Abbie Spencer lives a secluded life. She is painfully shy and is in no way happy about the executor of her family's estate employing mystery writer Foster Owen to write their family history. 
Foster needs the money before she loses her house so she agrees to the terms of the contract because writing a family history novel should be easy right? It might even help her writer's block. But it is far from easy, and as the story unfolds the biggest mystery to Spencer, is Abbie. 
Their connection is undeniable and the more time they spend together, the stronger it gets. But other forces are at play. Can their love conquer all? 

Missouri Vaun has this way of taking me into the word she has created and does not let me out until I'm finished the book. I read this book through the night and couldn't put it down. So unlike what I expected but then by the end, I knew the story couldn't have been told any other way. I just loved it from start to finish.

The run-up to the sex scene was so intense and alarmingly hot. Watch out for the library scene, and it was just the build-up... Wow! Missouri Vaun definitely knows how to write great sex scenes, but I think her major strength is the pre-sexual build-up that heightens the sex scene to a new level. 

I'd really love more from this story and these characters. Evan, in particular, needs his own story. I am 100% behind this story being the first in a magical series. If one believed in magic, then one may think this story was true. It darn well felt like it.  

Star Rating: 5 stars

A sweet romance with a dash of magic, Spencer's Cove was a quick and enjoyable read. The romance between the two lead characters, although verging on instalove (they decide they're soulmates seemingly over a couple of days, which, even with magical destiny, always rings a little false to me), is based on mutual support and trust, and the found family element is comforting too. Although the magic system felt a little underexplained, there was enough information given to carry the story, and the side characters all contributed something of their own too. Witches in love in a big house by the sea; I would reread this for a dose of autumnal witchery.

This was very far from the book I expected it to be, when I requested it.
To be honest, I didn't like that it contained a paranormal twist, and I wouldn't have picked it if I had known it before hand.

A bit different than the standard romance fare, the book has some paranormal twists that added an interesting dimension. The characters were well written and the chemistry between them was palpable.

I recommend this book. I have read all this authors books and have enjoyed them all. This book is very well written a liked all the characters. This is a paranormal adventure and love story.

Well written which is standard for Vaun. Sometimes with good authors, it doesn't really matter what the storyline is because they're so capable of weaving a good tale. In this one, the blurb is somewhat deliberately misleading about what's coming, but because of Vaun's writing, it's no big deal.

The pace was a little fast but also kept the reader quite busy, although perhaps it didn't really allow for relationships within the story to develop.

This is definitely pretty unique as far as Vaun's other novels go.

Interesting read and I enjoyed it. Was a shaky start but soon picked up and was enjoyable and easy to read

Combine romance, suspense and paranormal … that is what you will find in this novel. I have read all of Ms. Vaun’s books and I looked forward to reading this one. I was not disappointed!

Foster Owen is a mystery book author who is having writer’s block. She can’t get a handle on writing a new book while the financial and emotional pressure is mounting. Her agent calls and tells her that she has arranged a writing opportunity. Foster has been contracted to write the memoirs of a wealthy California heiress.

Abigail Spencer is the heiress to the California estate. She is beautiful, mysterious and very shy. In addition, she is starting to experience strange physical and emotional problems. Herein enters the paranormal element of this book.

Ms. Vaun writes a good story. After only reading a chapter or two, readers will find themselves wanting to turn each page to learn more about what is going to happen in the story. She has done a great job of developing Abigail and Foster’s characters. I also felt that the supporting characters added another dimension to the storyline.

The only complaint I had was that it ended too quickly. I was left with a few minor questions. However, this did not take away from the major plot.

I recommend this book and rate it 4-1/2 out of 5 stars. I look forward to her next book.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

I went into this book blind as I decided to not read the blurb about the book in advance. I had read good things about Missouri Vaun's work in the past and decided to try her newest work with no background.

The beginning of the book was a nice slow pace with good character development and vivid depictions of the Pacific coast area. As the story progressed, I found the romance parts a bit quicker paced than I personally like, but they were enjoyable. I prefer a long slow build instead. The end of the book was a very quick pace with a satisfying ending to the story.

I would recommend this to anyone that is not familiar with Vaun's prior works as a good entry point to her writing. I will definitely be looking at other books she has written.

I received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

There is an awful lot to like about Spencer's Cove. Being a fan of the author's work, I purposely didn't read the blurb. As a result, I got something very unexpected. Without rehashing the plot, this novel has many of the things I like - excellent writing that evokes the wildness and atmosphere of the location, interesting characters, an intriguing storyline, and romance.
However, I feel the pacing of the book is a little off. It's starts at a nice, slower pace which hooked me in, and the ending was fast and dramatic. The middle was too short though. A longer burn to the romance, more background on the secrets at the heart of the story, even more atmospheric description, and a bit more attention to the secondary characters would have added a lot to this reader's satisfaction. If the 235 pages was 275...
Overall a very solid 4 stars - I liked it a lot, and I'm still a fan of Missouri Vaun's writing.

I find it hard to write a review for this book.
I have little bad things to say about it. The setting of the small coastal town in the middle of nowhere was beautiful and atmospheric, the initial mystery of Abby's heritage was intriguing and enjoyed uncovering it more and more. Abby, in general, was a character I very much liked reading about her, I loved her quiet side and her being more of a passive but still engaging protagonist. I was also pleasantly happy by how female-centric not just the main but also the side characters were. And horses! Everything is almost better with horses.
But in the end, the overall story just didn't grip me. I won't go into spoilers but after the big reveal the second half passed way to fast for me. I thought the rules and magic were badly explained and often simply accepted without any further questions. The villain was lackluster at best, I never felt like she was an actual threat.
Foster was also not my favourite. She seemed to be our insert to simply follow the plot and have someone to indroduce us to everything; she added little else to the story.

So is this a bad book? Not at all. It simply didn't capture my interest as much as I had hoped. But if you interested in lesbians and witchy parananormal thieves, I would suggest it.

I was a little bit blindsided by this one. I started this book expecting one thing and got something completely different. Not in a bad way really though. I didn't really expect the paranormal aspect. The lore and history of the whole thing was interesting. I do wish some characters got a little more backstory as some of it felt a wee bit rushed.

My only really complaint would be the sex scene. There was a lot of build up and even a couple of really tense moments between the main characters that added to that tension. When the moment did finally happen I felt it fell a little flat. What started out being a hot and heavy encounter ended up feeling like an awkward teens first time. (I realize technically it was for one of them, but it didn't start out making me feel that way.)

Overall a fun read with enjoyable characters.

Ok, this book was not bad but also not what I expected. The synopsis is totally misleading, promising a ghost story in a haunted house when it is something totally different. Also it wasn’t easy for me to connect with the characters. They had a lot of potential but relationships were developing too fast (within two days from not knowing each other at all to full blown „I love you“ mode in some cases - not at all convincing). Mostly I enjoyed Foster being a writer of mystery novels while groundkeeper Evan turns out to be a badass warrior but it took a long time to get used to her and for Abby … well, she was sweet and pure and a bit boring. I don’t know… The Story was interesting but unable to grip me. Often things happened with no explanation and never solved mentionings of too many things that just seem irrelevant after finnishing the book. Why mention them at all if they have no impact or use on the story?
What I really did like was that this book centers on women caring for each other in their own unique ways. Also, Fosters cat is named „William Falkner“ and he is a total a**whole (as all cats are and of course I loved him).

So, well. Spencers Cove was an okayish read with a lot of questions left open. It could have been better if it didn’t feel so rushed. As it is I can’t really recommend this book even though there were things I enjoyed. On the other hand of you feel intrigued I would say just try, it is nice enough if you ar elooking for a light read.

After Proxima Five author Missouri Vaun pens down another big production number with Spencer’s Cove. After having done sci-fi we now delve into the world of fantasy and the paranormal. It was entertaining but just like Proxima Five, this too fell a bit short. Missouri Vaun is a very capable writer who is looking to expand her repertoire and that’s a good thing. I just think that these overly ambitious plots don’t really suit her.

As others have pointed out the blurb is downright misleading but I know why she did it and I won’t spoil the fun. I found Foster an adorable nerdy soft butch who gets a lot on her plate. I liked how Vaun keeps Evan’s actions somewhat ambiguous, so we don’t know what her real agenda is yet. Abigail, the most important character in the book, is sweet but also the weakest in design. Maybe it is because she goes through so many changes she is never fully ‘there’.

There is a lot going on from beginning to end and the 266 pages don’t seem enough to really make the plot shine. A bit more back story would have been nice for example because the mythology was very sparse. All in all an entertaining read if you don’t look too deeply but it’s not Vaun’s best work.

f/f semi explicit

Themes: I want to be alone, East coast West coast, rescue horses, his role was small but perpetual eating machine William Faulkner was the star cat of the story, ‘are you the keymaster?’, "Are you the gatekeeper?"

3.4 stars

* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc. for an honest review.

I agree with some other comments that have been made about this book that's a big deal - the fact that this is a supernatural book should be somewhere within the description. Now I personally love supernatural books, but many do not. I happen to be married to one. The reviews could be skewed negatively just solely based on this error, which isn't fair to the author nor the story.

With that being said, although I was interested in the concept/plot, I had a few issues that made me not enjoy this story as much as I had hoped. One main reason was the whole "souls bonding" idea. It made it so your two main characters didn't really need to get to know each other before falling in love. That's the fun of it for me! So when they are immediately in love because of something out of their control, I find it boring.

I also thought it was weird that Cora just accepted the whole witch thing so quickly. It felt glossed over, and I wanted more of a backstory as to why she wasn't freaked out or had more questions.

I had a few more plot points that I wanted expanded upon, but I won't go too into those. I'll just finish by saying that the concept and idea was solid, but the execution of a fully developed story and romance fell a little flat for me.

When I initially was given this book to review I just assumed it was going to be a cute romance so I was very surprised when the paranormal elements came into play. It was a very interesting combination of genres (especially in the way it was written), not to mention it took awhile for both to kick in but then seemed rushed once the swing of things started.

The characters were pretty interesting. They didn't go into as much depth as I would've liked, I felt like I didn't know them that well. Although they were interesting enough to make me want to keep reading and like them in the end.

The romance in this book didn't really catch me as I felt it was a bit rushed and forced kind of. One minute they hate each other, the next they can't get enough of one another. It was a bit too much for me, it could've been developed in a more natural way (although I understand there was a point for it to happen this way because of the plot.

Storyline wise, I thought it was a bit messy. I couldn't really get my grips on it and I was confused for a long time before I actually understood what was happening. Although in saying this, the writing was very good. I felt as though I was there because of the way the setting and scenes were described, it was quite good.

Although it was an interesting book, I didn't enjoy it thoroughly. It was a very good quick read though.

Lesfic romance mixed with supernatural theme isn’t really my thing. I wasn’t expecting that this book is one of them. But I continued reading because I like the author since reading Death by Cocktail Straw. I like the fun vibe of her main characters just like the one in this book. The supernatural thingy was bearable in the beginning but when the fight scenes came, it kind of turned of me off. It was kinda cheesy and a bit silly I should say. The romance was nice though. Overall I enjoyed it..

Not what I was expecting at all. The only reason I stuck with it was the author and how she told the story with smooth language and vivid scenes. The character description was well written and I wanted to see them succeed. While reading I felt I was in the field with the horses and in the beautiful old house. Not my cuppa tea, but such as it is.

Nothing at all like I expected, what a great story. Once I started i had to finish it, you could feel the chemistry as the story unfolds. my first from Missouri Vaun what an awesome writer. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I found it odd that the blurb for this book is rather vague and doesn’t hint at the paranormal central theme that eventually had hooked me in. Strange things have been happening around Abby all her life that has kept her aloof from making friends or dating. The suspense is built masterfully as Abby gradually learns of her connection to ancestors associated with Salem and their notorious witch trials. I really liked the premise of the story of a witch coming into her powers and the folklore that connected not only Foster and Abby, but many of the other characters as well. I became so entrenched that I really wished for more history and depth to this marvelous tale. Perhaps there will be more???