The Perfect Blend

It's the late 1800’s in a world where magic has existed but has been outlawed. The estranged Eastwood Sisters  find themselves  drawn back to each other in New Salem during the women’s suffrage movement and a growing force for strong labor unions.  Juniper, Agnes and Beatrice discover their powers and their choices lead to a witch's movement and a women’s rebellion.

Alix E Harrow

Shelly's tea: Goddess of War, Valhalla Teas

Candy's tea: Mystic Dragon Tea

Other things mentioned (and extra):

Uncanny Magazine

Oh we are so excited to share some of our summer favs and TBRs. Whether you like a light rom-com on the beach, a wacky mystery by the lake, a deep historical fiction, a dark thriller, or witches, time travel, and fantasy; We have a book for you. In this episode we share what's waiting on our shelves and of course, some sweet tea stories.

Welcome to The Perfect Blend and our first ever Book Superlatives!

Shelly and Candy answer each other's burning questions about the books they have featured for the first 6 months of 2023.

Which characters would you like to introduce to each other?

Best character(s) to take on a road trip.

Best recipes.

Which book/characters most  inspired you?

What have the books we read inspired you to do or try?

Book that took the longest to finish.

Most surprising book.

Most likely to reread.

Most tormented character.

Best dressed cover.

Book setting you’d like to visit.

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

Anna Kate has returned to Wicklow, Alabama to bury her beloved grandmother, Zee. Zee owned the Blackbird Cafe and her only request is that Anna Kate stay and run the cafe for two months before selling it. Anna Kate is reluctant as she is not used to small town southern life and doesn't want to get involved with her father's family or create friendships that she will not be able to sustain.

As much as she tries to stick to her plans, the blackbirds, the pie and the townspeople all work their magic on her and maybe, just maybe the best laid plans aren't always what's best.

Heather Webber

Shelly's tea: Trailhead Blackberry

Candy's tea: Blackberry Tea

Other things mentioned (and extra):

Blackbird by The Beatles

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

Our newest episode is all about The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Galaxy Alex Stern has been given a full ride at Yale University. Coming from a questionable past in Los Angeles and surrounded by intrigue as the only survivor of a multiple homicide, she is an unlikely candidate. But she has a skillset that is much needed at The Lethe House . Known as The Ninth House, Lethe is responsible for overseeing Yale secret societies and their rituals. Alex is trying to navigate her new role, as well as solve a local homicide that she believes is tied into the magic and rituals of the other eight houses.

Shelly's tea: Cyotea

Candy's tea: Plum Deluxe (Crystal Clarity Oolong (not available BUT the link is to other oolongs)

The Ninth House Fandom

The History of Yale Universities

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

Kate Parker is approaching 40 thinking her life is falling into place, but during her romantic vacation to France it all falls apart. She comes back with no boyfriend and no place to stay. Hurt and humiliated, she gives her boyfriend 2 months to make up his mind and moves in with her mother. Things seem to go from bad to worse until her friend sends her on a mission to get involved. This lands her at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets the formidable, exasperating 97 year old Cecily Finn. Cecily has no patience for the state of Kate's life, but she does offer her a self-help book in the guise of a cookbook.

Vicky Zimmerman

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

Katy is reeling from the death of her mother. Carol was not just her mother, but her best friend and she is lost without her. She decides to embark on the mother-daughter trip Carol had planned and is for the first time on her own. While taking in the beauty of Positano, Katy runs into the 30 year old version of her mother. Not sure what is happening, she follows Carol along and gets to see her and Positano as her mother knew and loved it.

Along the way, she finds some shocking truths and has to reconcile them as she comes to grips with her grief and what her life will become without her mom.

Shelly's tea: The Tea Spot's Keep Fit

Candy's tea: Twining's Lemon Delight

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

The Signature of All Things chronicles the epic saga of the Whittaker family. From Henry Whittaker's humble beginnings in England, his seeking fortune abroad and establishing himself as the wealthiest man in Philadelphia , to his daughter Alma. She is a curious, brilliant, well educated and disciplined in her study of plants. She inherits Henry's instincts and wealth and establishes herself as a botanist in her own right. When she meets Ambrose Pike, her world tilts unexpectantly and leads her on an epic journey throughout the rest of her life.

Shelly's tea: New English's English Breakfast Tea [if nothing else, go check out their amazing tea tins!|

Candy's tea: [coffee!] BUT I think Asheville Tea Company's Hibiscus Mojito would pair very nicely, too.

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

The Last Garden in England takes us back in time to the early 1900's, WWII, and back to present day to tell the story of the people and gardens of Highbury House. As Emma works to unravel the secrets and lost stories of the neglected gardens of the present day Highbury House to restore it to its former glory, the story travels back to WWII when the house was requisitioned as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers, to 1907 when the garden was designed and built.

Venetia Smith is an ambitious garden designer working to create the gardens of Highbury House estate. This project will establish her as a female horiculturalist, an unheard of honor in 1907, but both the garden work and the people involved will change her life forever.

Beth Pedley is assigned to a farm near Highbury House during WWII. She works alongside the farmers lending a hand as most of the men have gone off to war. She befriends Stella Adderton- the cook at Highbury House and eventually makes acquantance with the lady of the house, Mrs. Symonds.

All stories are tied together and Emma works to restore the grounds and unravel the secrets left behind.

Shelly's tea: Green tea and Jasmine from The Spot organic teas.

Welcome to The Perfect Blend.

Can you ever be freed from childhood trauma? It's a great question and one that may or may not be answered in The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

This book is a contemporary psychological thriller that tells the story of Alicia, who killed her husband, Gabriel, six years earlier—and hasn’t spoken since. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who is determined to help Alicia as he deals with events in his own life.

Shelly's tea: Dark Iris

Candy's tea: Coconut a la Creme

Other links mentioned:

Alcestis

The book cover!