Do you know the difference between a faerie and a pixie? Would you like to find out?

Felicia wonders if she’ll ever have a job she can keep, then comes across the opportunity of a lifetime.  When she becomes the local inventor’s new apprentice, she discovers more than she ever imagined in a magical book. But can she help her new friends and stop the threat to both their realms?

Enjoy this second story in the Enchanted Fairytale Series. Action, adventure, romance…and maybe a little magic. These stories are meant to be enjoyed by the entire family, so begin your adventure today.

Here’s the book trailer.

And you can read the first chapter now.

“Bound by a spell, what can one do?  Find the belief to know what is true.” ~ The Apprentice’s Handbook

Chapter 1

The vase crashed to the floor, glass shattering and water spreading across the tiles.  Felicia bent down to pick up the roses as the housekeeper hurried into the room.

“What have you done now?” she demanded.

Felicia dropped the flowers and tucked her dark hair back into place.  “I’ll get my things,” she said.

“I think that might be best,” the housekeeper replied.

This was Felicia’s third job in as many months.  Every time she thought she may have found her place in life, she managed to ruin it.   This had been her last hope after the disaster at the dressmaker’s shop and the misunderstanding with the birthday cake at the bakery.  Why would anyone put salt and sugar in similar containers and not label them?

“There must be something I can do to prove myself,” she muttered as she packed her few belongings.  “Everyone has to be good at something.”

In the orphanage, Felicia had spent most of her time reading to the other children.  She loved books and brought the characters to life as she told the stories.

“What I need is a way to be around books without dusting them,” Felicia whispered, passing the study on the first floor and nodding to the housekeeper on her way out.

As she walked out onto the square, she looked up and smiled.  It was beginning to snow.  Felicia loved winter, but she would need to find a place to stay.  This might be a good night to visit her friend Eva, who was always there if she needed a warm bed and a hot meal.  They had been like sisters since they met at the orphanage.

“I’m sorry to just show up on your doorstep,” Felicia said as Eva invited her in.

“You’re in time to help me with dinner,” Eva replied.  Glancing at her sideways, she added, “Do you want me to show you where we keep the salt?”

“Very funny.”  Felicia shook her head as she set down her things.  “At least, you label your kitchen ingredients.”

“True,” Eva replied.  She gave Felicia a quick hug, then took her to the fire.  “Sit down here and have a cup of tea.  You look like you’ve been out there for quite a while.”

“Thank you,” Felicia said.  She warmed her hands and took a sip.  “You always did make the best tea.”  She smiled as Eva offered her a plate.  “And cookies.”

“Enjoy them, then take your things upstairs.”  Eva went back to her cooking.  She was taller than Felicia and had light blonde hair that curled on its own but was now pinned out of the way.  “William left the baby at his mother’s today, so I could give the place a good cleaning.”  She smiled.  “I was very fortunate to find such a good man…with a very helpful family.”

Felicia nodded.  “He’s wonderful, but I don’t want him to think I’m taking advantage of you.  I’ll have another position within a day or two.”

“Stay as long as you need,” Eva said.  “I can always use help with the baby.”

“You know I’d love that, but I need to find a purpose and make my own way in the world.”  Felicia glanced around.  “You’ve made a very good life for yourself, and I need to do the same.  It may not include marriage and family, but I know there’s something out there for me.”

“I’m sure you could have any man you wanted,” Eva replied.  “All that long dark hair and big blue eyes, but I know you’ve always seen yourself doing more.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that this isn’t…” Felicia began.

“Save your apology,” Eva said.  “I’ve known you most of your life, and you’ve always had this need to prove yourself.”  She smiled.  “I’m sure once you do, you’ll find true love as well.”

Felicia shook her head.  “You and your fairytales.  They were always your favorite.”

“That’s because you made the characters seem so real,” Eva replied.  “Go ahead and get settled.  We’ll eat in about an hour.”

Click on the book cover to read or listen to the rest of the story!

And finally, a review of Spell Bound by Jeff Minick in the Smoky Mountain News:

Lorri Moulton’s Spell Bound (Lavender Lass Books, 2020, 139 pages) is a fairytale novella for everyone from adolescents to adults. Having lost three jobs in as many months, Felicia feels at the end of her rope when she learns of a position in the large, mysterious house of Mr. Oliver Bertrand. Felicia expects to be hired as a housekeeper, but instead serves as Bertrand’s apprentice — a sorcerer’s apprentice, as it were, because Bertrand is a wizard of sorts. 

As she becomes accustomed to the eccentricities of Bertrand, the household staff, and even the pets, Nora the cat and Hob the parrot, Felicia begins exploring the house, goes to the cellar, finds an old book, and with Nora the cat watchfully eyeing her, reads what turns out to be an old spell. When she wakens, Felicia discovers that Nora and Hob have returned to their natural state. They are pixies and are eager to return home to the magical realm in which they and otherworldly creatures live.

In this strange, new world, Felicia finds herself caught up in a power struggle featuring pixies, elves, fairies, and trolls, court intrigue, and an attempted coup. She also falls deeply in love with Hob, and they must decide whether to live as humans or as pixies.

Billed as a “Clean/Sweet Fairytale,” Spell Bound fulfills that promise. Because the fiction I usually review is rarely clean or sweet, this innocent and romantic tale took me back to books I read in my boyhood. 

A fine gift to a younger reader and one for older readers seeking some gentle amusement.
https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/30278-helpful-innocent-sweet-informative-four-reads