New York Magic

Sheep's Meadow in Central Park

 I'm the first person to complain about the city's noise, dirt and crowding. But there is one thing I love about this city. It has a magic about it.  The only way to experience it by stopping.

See you can't be racing here to there, making sure you get to the cleaners or make the train or catching your bus. To feel the magic you must sit somewhere quiet - those places exist besides Central Park - and sit there. Do nothing but let the city spin around you.

I swear you can actually feel a force, your heartbeat matching the city's steady thump. Then the view shifts and you sense the sweet smells you didn't think existed, the brush of the city breeze, the low hum of the city that exist off in the distance. Then you realize sights and details you never noticed before.

For me, it's more than watching the world going around. It feels like a merry-go-round in a snow globe but without the snow.

Hating Facebook

I admit it. I hate Facebook..

I was never a fan. Before the public was able to log on, my niece had signed on thanks to her being a college student. When she showed me her latest obsession, I felt as if this site was looking at someone's vacation photos and listening to the boring details.

I joined because my best friend demanded me to and I like that I can connect with family and friends that I hadn't sen in years and have missed. Lately though, it has been leaving cold and very disconnect to life and the world. That happens to be one of the reasons I've been hating my cell phone.

Am I the only one who feels this way? (Sheesh, I hope I don't sound crazy. But please, keep on reading my blog. Thanks!)

I know the remedy is to reconnect with the world, get outside and look around, talk to be people face to face. Not in a crazy way.

Do you need the same? Let's talk then.

Wednesday Review

Lily Ivory is not your average witch. Her spell-casting powers tend to draw mischievous spirits while keeping normal humans at a distance. But now her vintage store could give her a chance to make friends in San Francisco.

Lily hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack vintage fashion--she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry--her store becomes a big hit.

But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime. She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy--especially under the spells of sexy "myth buster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?

Lily is a character that I identified with, a caring "witch" (not that I'm a witch--too bad) who is trying to fit into the "normal" world, a world where she had no personal connections. However, she's trying to change that and it's not easy when she's still learning about her self and her magic.

As the story unfolds with La Llorona, the death of Mrs. Potts and a child missing, Lily knows that magic is involved however, she needs the assistance of Aidan, Bronwyn, the Wiccan, Maya--the vintage clothe finder--and Max Carmichael, the skeptic--and Oscar, her pressed upon familiar who covers his scaly self as a potbellied pig.

This first novel in the Witchcraft Mystery series is a fun read that had me flipping pages to learn everything. I've never been one of those readers who try to solve the mystery instead I allow myself to be taken on the journey. And this book is a perfect example of a cozy mystery.

Juliet blends the magic theme effortless and seamlessly as it touches every characters lives and helps in the characters development that will be expanded and explored in coming series, which is three books in.