Wands, Waffles, and Whispers

Book 2: Southern Magical Bakery

by Tonya Kappes

Genres: Mystery; Craft & Hobby Cozy Mysteries; Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

Discover the Magic and Mystery of Lo Heal, the daughter of June and Oscar from the USA TODAY Bestselling Paranormal Mystery Series, A Magical Cures Mystery Series!

This is a spinoff that follows Lo on her sleuthing journey as she uses her skills like a chip off the ole block to sniff her way through murder mysteries.

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Release date: July 20, 2025

Publisher: Tonya Kappes Books

Print pages: 232

Reader says this book is...: heartwarming (1) satisfying ending (1)

Sample

Chapter One

Mayor Graham Rose had barely let the bakery door close behind him before the faint scent of honeysuckle hit the back of my throat.

That might not seem like much to some folks, but it sure did seem like a lot to me. In fact, that scent was what set off alarms to my intuition that something was brewing, and it wasn’t good.

As I tried to home in on the newly minted intuitive feeling I’d gotten from my mother’s side of the family, I stood at the counter, my towel still in hand, and watched Mayor Rose walk down Magnolia Street.

“Now, Miss Heal-Park,” he’d said, eyeing the bakery case like it might reveal state secrets, “what exactly do you put in those pecan praline waffles? They just taste so… rich. It’s like there’s something more in them. Something special.”

The way he’d lingered on the word made my fingers curl more tightly around the towel.

I’d heard those kinds of questions before in Whispering Falls, my small hometown, and they were always delivered with a smile and too many follow-ups. But Celestial Falls was supposed to be different. My parents had chosen it because it wasn’t like our magical town. They said Celestial Falls was a place where I could blend in. Start over. Bake real things, not charms.

At the time, they—we—had thought I didn’t have the magical powers my parents had. But once I moved to Celestial Falls, it was like I was a late bloomer, since I did have a gift. Only I was still trying to figure out what gift or gifts I truly had.

My mother had even given me Skylar as a parting gift, a dainty gray kitten with big eyes and a purr that could soothe just about anything. What my parents didn’t tell me was that she came with secrets of her own.

Secrets like talking.

With a southern accent.

“He’s got the curiosity of a hound on a fox’s trail,” Skylar said now, her voice like warm tea and manners, drifting across the room as she perched on the window seat. Her gray fur looked like brushed velvet. “And I don’t mean that kindly.” Her southern drawl dripped from her little mouth.

I didn’t flinch anymore when she spoke. I’d stopped doing that around our second month together. But I still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that she wasn’t just my cat. She was a fairy god-cat, apparently assigned to “keep an eye on me,” which really meant “critique everything I do and act like a genteel aunt with a fur coat.”

“She kept sniffing around like she expected me to hand over a spell book,” I said, glancing back toward the door. “Just asked flat out if I had a secret ingredient.”

“Well, didn’t she just bless us all with subtlety.” Skylar flicked her tail once, as elegantly as a swan would a feather. “That woman’s curiosity could outlast a cat’s nine lives.”

A breeze tickled the windows then—nothing dramatic but enough to make the glass hum. The air shifted. The honeysuckle taste sharpened at the back of my throat.

Only no honeysuckles were around.

It wasn’t the first time I’d felt something strange like that. Ever since I moved to Celestial Falls, little things had been stirring under the surface, tiny flickers of intuition, odd pulses in my gut when people were being less than honest. But this feeling was stronger.

Skylar raised her chin, golden eyes narrowing. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”

I nodded slowly. “Like something just… shifted.”

She gave a soft “mm,” then padded over to the counter with the kind of grace only cats and royalty could pull off.

“Even Fran Dodd would’ve noticed that, and she barely picks up on late returns at the library.” She paused then added, “And that’s saying somethin’, sugar.”

Fran Dodd, the town librarian, was sweet, but she missed things. Always had her nose buried in dusty books and forgot where she put her glasses more often than not. And most of the time, I had no idea what Skylar Blue was even talking about because while I was busy working at Heavenly Desserts, my bakery, she was off catting around town, obviously poking her nose into townsfolk’s conversations that were none of her business.

Skylar hopped up onto the counter and sat primly beside the jar of spell sugar Hazel insisted we triple-seal.

“Fran alphabetizes her spell books like it’s just part of good organization,” Skylar continued. “And Aggy Bishop down the street? That woman’s homemade dog biscuits glow under moonlight. You think that’s just an old recipe?”

I tilted my head. “Are you saying Celestial Falls isn’t as normal as it pretends to be?”

She leaned in close, her little gray whiskers trembling. “Lo, darling… this town ain’t ever been normal. It’s just been real good at pretendin’. But all that pretendin’? It’s startin’ to come undone.”

Before I could reply, the bakery door chimed again.

In swept Odessa Pike, dressed in a patchwork linen tunic, a wide-brimmed hat, and the kind of mismatched earrings only someone supremely confident or delightfully eccentric could pull off. Her long silver hair was twisted into a loose braid over one shoulder, and she carried a bag under one arm and a book under the other. Her glasses sat a little askew on her nose, like they’d been nudged by magic one too many times.

“I was tidyin’ up my house this morning,” she said, her voice all honey and honeybee chaos. “Don’t act shocked.” She reached over the counter and pushed my chin up with her finger to close my mouth. “I do it once a decade, whether it needs it or not, and I came across something I reckon you might like.”

She held the book out in front of her. It was small and leather-bound, embossed with a rising sun on the front. In her hands, the book shimmered faintly like it had its own breath, its own pulse. The cover rippled under her fingers, shifting color slightly as though it were alive.

I reached out to take it.

The second my fingers brushed the spine, the magic disappeared. Just like that. The shimmer stopped. The cover dulled to plain brown leather.

It was just a book.

At first, Odessa didn’t say anything. She looked down at the book then back at me with a furrowed brow that barely hid her worry.

Skylar Blue hopped down from the windowsill and trotted straight over to Odessa, her gray fur trailing wisps of light behind her. She formed a slow, graceful figure eight around Odessa’s ankles once, twice, then looked up with a blink of her glowing gold eyes.

Odessa’s expression softened again, but I caught her hesitation.

Then, clearly as a whisper from the back of my own head, I heard it.

“You sure?” Odessa’s thought brushed against mine. “Because she sure doesn’t have the magic right now.”

Skylar didn’t speak out loud, but the words landed anyway.

“She doesn’t need it yet. When she does, it’ll know her.”

Another pause.

“You mean the book?” Odessa’s tone was thick with doubt.

“No, darlin’. I mean the magic.”

The moment passed. Odessa let go fully and then tapped the book twice as though sealing a deal.

“You’ll get more out of it than I ever could, honey.” Odessa reached forward and patted my hand gently.

I nodded, unable to speak just yet.

We’d known each other for a while, both regular visitors of the grove behind my cottage where the spiritualists crossed through the portal. We’d shared tea near the traveling tree more times than I could count, talking about Whispering Falls, Unhidden Hall, and the strange little crossroads town we both now called home.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll take good care of it.”

Odessa cast a long look Skylar then at me. “See that you do. That one’s got more sugar and secrets than most cookbooks ever should.” She paused, gave me a hard look, opened her mouth, and then shut it as if she were about to say something. As hard as I tried to hear her thoughts, I perceived nothing but a sadness that overwhelmed me.

“Thank you,” I finally said, tucking the book under the counter and chalked up her sadness to her parting with a precious book. “I’ll take very good care of it.”

Then she breezed back out the door with the same whirlwind grace with which she had entered.

Odessa’s visit seemed to have brought with it many things that I could try to unpack, like how she appeared to know something or want to tell me something or even give me information about the recipe book, but I knew I needed to get the bakery closed and prepare for my big date.

“It’s almost time,” I said to Skylar Blue on my way over to the door to flip the Open sign to Closed. “Do you want me to ask Ace any cat questions?” I asked her, since I was going on a date with the local veterinarian.

When Skylar Blue didn’t answer me, I looked up to see where she’d gone. Instead of seeing her, I saw Grace Danbury.

“We’ve got a date to get ready for,” she said loudly enough that I could hear her through the closed door.

“We?” I asked as I opened the door to let her inside. I noticed the big backpack she was carrying and figured it contained her camera for her job as the journalist for the Daily Siftings, the local newspaper.

Before Grace could answer, Skylar was already off the counter. She landed with a soft thump, made a beeline for Grace, and rubbed her sleek gray fur against Grace’s legs like the picture of innocence.

“Hey there, fluff queen.” Grace bent down and scratched her behind her ears. “You keepin’ Lo company or just making sure the place doesn’t fall apart without you?”

Skylar responded with a purr so convincing I almost applauded her.

“I’m scared to see what’s in the backpack,” I said, tossing the towel over my shoulder and wiping my hands on my apron.

Grace’s cowboy boots clicked across the floor before she plopped onto the stool by the front counter, on which she put the backpack.

“Girl, you need a little zhuzhing up,” she said. “You scored a second date with Ace. A second date. He never has a second date.”

Did she have to say “second date” so many times?

“You have to be spiraling.” She leaned in, elbows on the counter.

“I’m not spiraling.” I shrugged and tossed one of my braids behind my shoulder. “But should I be?”

Grace rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a velvet jewelry pouch, a compact mirror, and what had to be every shade of lip gloss made in the continental U.S.

“Oh no,” I muttered, backing up a step. “Absolutely not. I’m not putting all of that on my face.”

“You’ll look so pretty. I mean, you’re already gorgeous, but it’s Ace,” she said, winking. “Now hush and let me work my magic.”

A small tingle sparked just behind my ears, the same way it always did when someone said magic and didn’t mean it. Grace didn’t know what she was saying, not really. She had no idea that magic could hum beneath your skin or taste like honeysuckle at the back of your throat. Her version of the word was metaphor, not manifestation. But I let it go.

Because as far as Grace knew, I didn’t have magic either.

“All right, well, lucky for you, I’ve got the Ace handbook right here.” She tapped the side of her head. “We went to school together. He’s sweet, hates talking about himself, is allergic to pineapple, loves rescue animals, and cannot for the life of him handle spicy food.”

“Spicy food?” I echoed.

“Yeah. Hot sauce makes him hiccup uncontrollably. It’s actually kind of adorable.” She dabbed the makeup brush into some sort of liquid before using the implement to paint my face like she would a canvas.

I replied with a laugh, a real one, the kind that lightened the weird knot in my chest Mayor Rose had left behind.

“I’m guessing he won’t take me somewhere spicy,” I said, tilting my head back as she placed her finger under my chin so I could raise my head.

“Nothin’ coconut.” Grace wagged a finger. “He loves sweets but not coconut.”

I nodded, mentally scrolling through my dessert rotation.

Skylar yawned, curled her tail around her paws, and said absolutely nothing, which was exactly the point. In front of Grace, she was all cat. No commentary. No warnings. No lectures.

Still, I could feel her watching me.

“And just so you know, I think he likes you.” Grace leaned more closely to me, suddenly conspiratorial. Then she used her finger to drag something along my eyelids. “Really likes you.”

My heart stuttered. “You think?”

“He asked about you the other day,” she said with a shrug. “Said you had the ‘calmest energy’ he’d ever seen. Which, honestly, is hilarious because I’ve seen you have a full-blown meltdown over frosting consistency over the last few months since we’ve become friends.”

I blushed. “That was one time.”

Grace raised an eyebrow. “You threw a spatula.”

“It bounced,” I muttered.

“True, and I’ve never seen a bouncing spatula.” She laughed again, and I couldn’t help but smile.

Skylar, still perfectly poised, let out a slow, deliberate purr.

Grace leaned back to admire her handiwork and brushed an invisible speck from my cheek. “Honestly, I should’ve gone into styling instead of journalism. You’re officially date-ready.”

I opened my mouth to protest—about what I saw in the mirror, not the date part—but the bakery door flew open before I could get a word out.

“You are not gonna believe…”

Orin Regiula froze in the doorway, one hand still on the knob, the other holding what looked like an ancient scroll and a legal pad. He wore his usual rumpled blazer over a T-shirt that probably hadn’t seen an iron since it left the store.

His gaze swept across the room and landed on me.

And then on Grace.

“I thought you locked that door behind me,” Grace said with a little question in her eyes, but they turned dark when she took in Orin.

“You, uh… You do not look great,” Orin said when he looked at me. “With all that makeup on.”

A full beat of stunned silence ensued.

Skylar’s head snapped toward him so fast I swore I heard her neck crack.

“Excuse me?” Grace stood slowly, her mouth parting as if the air had just gone sour.

Orin shifted awkwardly, trying to hide the scroll behind his back. “I just meant… it’s a lot. You know. Lip gloss. And sparkle.”

“There’s no sparkle,” Grace bit out.

“There’s a shimmer,” he muttered.

Grace grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder with a huff.

“Let me know how the date goes. Preferably after he’s wiped off his jealousy.” She stalked out and slammed the door so hard  the front window rattled.

“I’m not jealous.” Orin turned to me, guilt all over his face. “Okay, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“I know,” I said softly. “But she doesn’t know our history.”

We’d grown up together in Whispering Falls, and he had a crush on me as a teenager, but those days were long gone. He grew up with wizard abilities and went to school with me. Once I moved to Celestial Falls, I was hoping to be rid of him, but he showed up without his parents knowing. Long story short, he found his footing here and used his law degree to help both the mortal and the spiritualist communities, proving to his parents he could live in Celestial Falls.

“Well, wipe off that stuff and let’s get going.” He waved a hand. “There was a hex emergency out on Chestnut Ridge, near the old Sloan property.”

My stomach did a little flip. “A hex emergency?”

“Yeah. One of the coven kids was messing around and accidentally triggered something buried out there. Something old. It lit up like a magical flare, and I had to throw down a binding ring just to keep it from spreading.”

Skylar stiffened on the counter.

“Spreading?” I repeated.

He nodded, the panic creeping back into his expression. “Whatever it was, it pulsed through the ground like a heartbeat. The binding ring’s holding for now, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. I need you to come look at it.”

“Me?”

“You’ve got ESP, Lo. You can pick up on magical energy the rest of us can’t. And you’re the only other spiritualist I trust who isn’t half a continent away or currently banned by the Marys.”

I blinked. “What about the Marys themselves?”

“They’ll shut it all down before they ask questions. I want answers first. I need to know what this thing is, where it came from, and how to keep it from tearing a hole through half the town.”

Skylar stood, her paws tense, her golden eyes locked on me.

“You need to see it,” she said quietly.

Heart racing, I grabbed my keys from the hook beside the register.

But I didn’t even make it two steps before the bell over the bakery door jingled again.

“Whoa,” Ace said, stepping inside, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. “You runnin’ out on our date already?”

My heart did that awkward little twist again. I froze halfway toward the door, caught between crisis and candlelight.

“Date? You’ve got a date?” Orin asked.

Ace’s dark eyes flicked from me to Orin.

I didn’t have time to answer Orin before he stepped forward. “We’ve got some… business to take care of.”

“Business,” Ace repeated slowly, clearly not buying it. “Right.”

A tense, weighted pause followed before Ace’s gaze settled back on me. And I felt it. That sudden prickling behind my temples. His thoughts trickled through, unguarded.

Is she dating this guy? They seem close. Real close. That makeup’s a lot for her.

I blinked hard and shook the thoughts out of my head. That was the thing with ESP. It didn’t wait for an invitation.

I turned quickly, pasting on what I hoped was a calm smile. “No, I’m not bailing. I’m going on the date.”

Ace raised an eyebrow.

I tugged the apron string loose around my waist. “I just need… two seconds to get this crazy makeup off. That’s all.”

Before he could respond, I darted toward the kitchen and pushed the swinging door open with my hip.

The bakery kitchen was still warm from the morning’s rush, soft golden light spilling through the tall windows above the steel prep table. My baking station sat against the far wall marble-top, mixing bowls neatly stacked, and the worn towel still hanging from the handle of the proofing cabinet.

I grabbed a clean cloth from the drawer and started scrubbing at the makeup, smearing tinted balm and blush off my cheeks like I was wiping away a disguise.

Of course, Orin didn’t wait.

He pushed through the door behind me and let it swing closed with a soft thud. “Lo, you can’t put this off.”

“I’m not putting it off,” I insisted, patting the cloth under my eyes. “I’m delaying it. There’s a difference.”

He folded his arms. “A few hours could change everything.”

“If the binding ring holds, it’ll hold for a few hours,” I shot back, turning to face him. “You said it yourself—it’s contained. I need time, Orin. Just a little.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off.

“I’m going on the date,” I said, more softly this time. “And when I get back tonight, I’ll come meet you. I promise.”

He didn’t look thrilled, but he didn’t argue either.

Instead, he just gave a short nod. “If that hex stirs again, I’ll need you there fast.”

As the door swung shut behind him, I turned back to the mirror over the sink and wiped off the last streak of mascara.

Somehow, scrubbing away the makeup didn’t make me feel any less exposed.

 

end of excerpt