Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop by Jaimie Admans - Book Review - Blog Tour

Series: Ever After Street #5 (Standalone)

Publication Date: 26th May 2025

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/MagicalCuriosityShop

Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218164658-finding-love-at-the-magical-curiosity-shop

Genre: Contemporary Small Town Romance

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Sweet... somewhat!

Book Blurb:

In a shop full of stories, some magic isreal.

Mickey Teasdale loves her quaint curiosity shop,where every item feels magical to her. She loves imagining the past owners ofher knick-knacks and telling her made-up tales to customers, but lately, themagic has dimmed; the shop feels cluttered, and even her stories seem as wornas the items she sells.

Everything changes when the grumpiest customerMickey’s ever met—single dad Ren Montague—walks in with his surly teendaughter, Ava. Ren hates mess and clutter and prefers order and calm, but he'lldo anything to see Ava smile. Yet, something shifts in him when he meetsMickey, who seems like she stepped out of her very own fairy tale.

When Ava discovers a secret diary, hidden from yearslong ago, she and Mickey believe it must have once belonged to a real-lifemermaid! Ever sceptical, Ren tries to protect Ava from disappointment, but asthey unravel the mystery together, something special happens…

Ren learns that happy ever afters still exist ifyou're brave enough to look for them, and Mickey discovers that real life cansometimes be way more magical than anything she could have ever imagined.

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My Thoughts:

The story comes in Mickey’s first-person POV.

This is the fifth book in the standalone Ever AfterStreet Series. Though we see some couples from the previous books, this workswell as a standalone read. Of course, I recommend reading the other booksbecause they are all beautiful.

As a fan of the author's works, I tend to have highexpectations of her. Why not? I know she can write!

Like the other books, this one also deals withimportant topics. Here we have parental death, broken marriage, being a singledad, a young teen’s struggle with the changes in her life, a woman’s desire tosurround herself with material things to avoid reality, etc.

I could empathize with the FMC even when I knew hershop was a high-risk accident zone. No matter how much I de-clutter, theshelves tend to look the same, so yeah, it happens! She is a sweetheart, and Ilove her optimism and hope. Her determination to believe in magic isnoteworthy. I try too, though my cynical side doesn’t stay silent for long!

Naturally, I could easily understand the MMC’sperspective too. Yeah, he was rude and prickly, but he could be just as sweetif he allowed himself to be. Then, he had to go and make a mess of it (more onthis later).

Ava, the MMC’s thirteen-year-old, was a delight mostof the book. She is a teen, through and through, so I could see her outburstmaking sense to her. I didn’t mind it much as it aligned with her arc untilthen.

We get snippets from the diary, which read likeactual diary entries – thoughts, frantic scribbling, raw emotions, and randombits of information. Yay for this! However, the dialogues in this book feltlengthier somehow. Not a big deal, though.

As always, it’s heartwarming to read the lovey-doveyscenes between the main characters. It seems like the author thought much about my friend and fellow reviewer's reactions to the touchy-feely scenes; she used the same term twice inthe book! Haha… :P Of course, I loveeee these scenes the best, and those hugs!Find a partner who hugs you like you are their everything!

Now, we come to the dreaded third-act breakup. Iknew it would happen, but man, if I could punch him, I would have. I was ratherrooting for Lissa to do it for me… didn’t she? Read to find out.

The resolution came a bit too quickly, I think.While it still made me teary-eyed, I wanted a little more groveling. The FMCdoesn’t make it easy, which I appreciate. Still, make him repent more (Ihold grudges for a long time, if you haven’t figured out by now, lol).

I found it surprising that they don’t get muchdragon fruit in the UK. Thanks to social media, it became so famous in Indiathat we find it at the makeshift stalls on the street corners. Farmers havesuccessfully cultivated dragon fruit locally and are getting good results!Though I’m not a fan of it.

The ending is sweet, of course. There’s no epilogue,but there will be another (last… sniffle) book in the series, so we are likelyto get a wee update on them if nothing else.

To summarize, Finding Love at the Magical CuriosityShop is not as magical as the other books in the series, but it still creates a lovely, cozyfeeling in the heart. The romance is clean, comforting, warm, and like a heartycup of hot chocolate with extra sprinkles.

Thank you, Rachel's Random Resources andBoldwood Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honestopinion about the book. 

#NetGalley

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About the Author – Jaimie Admans

Jaimie Admans is the bestselling author of severalromantic comedies – including The Little Christmas Shop on Nutcracker Lane andThe Chateau of Happily-Ever-Afters. Her series for Boldwood, The Ever AfterStreet Series, is based on the magical world of fairytales.

Follow the Author:

Facebook: @JaimieAdmansBooks

Twitter: @be_the_spark

Instagram: @jaimieadmans1

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JaimieAdmansNews

Bookbub Profile: @jaimieadmans1

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This has been a stop on the#FindingLoveAtTheMagicalCuriosityShop blog tour by Rachel's RandomResources (@rararesources).Thanks for stopping by!