"Miss Spelled" is a cozy mystery written by writer Morgana Best, and is the first tale this reader has read by her. While this reader typically enjoys reading new-to-me-writers, paranormal - there are witches, after all - and is a mystery, to boot, it seemed to be a blend for a perfect read. Unfortunately, the ingredients never gelled and left this reader flat. Amelia Spelled can't cook and inherits a cake shop from a relative she doesn't recall ever meeting; said relative was apparently a witch, herself. Protagonist Amelia has one incident after another showing her inability to cook and she constantly groans about it, as well... this reader felt as if Morgana Best was beating her over the head with a frying pan, concerning Amelia's lack of skill. This reader was never able to empathize or even like Amelia, finding her irritating to the extreme. Amelia's new friend Thyme was a warm and inviting character, but didn't seem fully developed, either. In fact, every character in the story seemed closer to one dimensional versus being partly or fully developed. The settings were puzzling, never allowing this reader enough detail to visualize where this fictitious town was or what it looked like. It wasn't until about halfway through the story, before this reader realized the town was apparently in Australia. This reader definitely prefers stories that draw on a readers sensory perceptions, allowing them to visualize, hear, smell, even taste what the writer is alluding to. That never happened in this tale. The oddity of the house Amelia inherited should have been entertaining but this reader had already found herself so annoyed by Amelia, that she was never able to trust the narrator and truly get involved in the story. There were few spelling, grammar - obviously, as Ms. Best once taught grammar - and punctuation errors found within the tale, certainly not enough to toss a reader from the world created. The scenes concerning a love potion did nothing to enhance or move the plot forward so this reader is unsure why they were even in the story, especially since the involved characters were merely backdrop characters. It should be noted, this reader did not download a copy with chapters out of order, as others apparently had. However, for a 'witchy' mystery, there was hardly any witchcraft going on, and the mystery itself was really bland and solved way too easily. All in all, this reader was greatly disappointed by the story and likely will not read any more of Morgana Best's stories. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on May 3, 2017 and on Goodreads on the same date. **
