I wanted to like this series. I'm glad that she is not a fairy. ( )

This was a much better book that the first volume. Jade is a baker and owner of a cupcake bakery in Vancouver, B.C. She is also a half-witch Dowser. She can see and identify magic in others, which is what unusual among the other Adepts. ***Spoiler*** She currently has a werewolf greenhaired bodyguard name Kandy who lives next door and a vampire mentor named Kett. Recently her foster sister/best friend was killed by an incident involving a magical portal and murder of several werewolves and a boyfriend in a grab for power. After encountering a group of First Nation skinwakers, Jade leaves her studies to settle back into running her bakery. However, a curse making young sorcerer shows up at her door with an invitation from Portland, Oregon’s most powerful sorcerer to see his magical collection. Jade agrees to go, but she really wants to find out if her sister is truly dead as well as figure out who her father is. . Lots of action and paranormal mayhem ensue. I found Jade to be a more interesting less vacuous character. She actually thinks about her actions and behaves in a less childish manner. A rather fun UF novel. ( )

In the first book of this series Jade, half-witch half-something else; thought she has killed her foster sister. Guilt is eating her up, along with the frustration that she's different but doesn't know what the difference is and she's not sure she wants to know more. So when a very powerful sorcerer sends an invitation asking her to use her magic and look at his collection she says no. But her grandmother and Kett, her vampire mentor; want her to go. She should have listened to her instincts.

Loving this series. The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that I wish Jade wasn't such a "dumb blond". It would be nice if the author didn't focus on that as much.

( )

If you haven’t read Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (The Dowser Series) WHY NOT??? IT IS WONDERFUL! So, read Cupcakes and then dive right into Trinkets.

It’s like chocolate – you can’t STOP

Looking back at my review of Cupcakes, the first in The Dowser Series, I realize that I talked more about the cupcake recipes that Meagan came up with. Well, the cupcakes sound awesome so who can blame me? But I never really said anything about the story other than how much I enjoyed it. And I should have, because the story is wonderful.

Jade is the daughter of a witch (father unknown), granddaughter of one of the strongest witches on the West Coast, and foster sister of yet another witch. Best friends all their lives, Jade trusts and loves her sister Sienna with all her heart. Happy in her life, running her bakery, “Cake In A Cup” and making ‘trinkets’ from bits and bobs infused with the magic of their former owners, Jade has a happy, calm, and peaceful life. Well, until the vampire shows up staring through her bakery window. And then, her whole life changes. Dead werewolves, blood magic, and other horrors change and twist Jade’s life. Yes, some of the changes are good, as she begins to grow into her strength, to become what she is meant to be. However, there is deep and cutting pain that must be absorbed, betrayals and hatred and horrors. Jade’s life will never be the same. But she grows, adapts, and begins the journey to her new life as an unknown power in the magical world.

You want to believe that there’s one relationship in life that’s beyond betrayal. A relationship that’s beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn’t.- Caleb Carr

There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now, in the second edition, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (The Dowser Series 2). Jade continues to grow into her new Dowser powers. A magical ‘finder’ much like a water dowser, Jade tracks and finds magical objects – and apparently, also magical people. The story opens in the incredible Squamish forest of the Northwest outside of Vancouver as Jade enjoys her second to last piece of single-origin Madagascar chocolate and contemplates which of her two teachers, Kett the ancient vampire, or Kandy, the werewolf, will try to jump her this time as they teach her how to protect herself from the world of magic creatures. What they find in the forest is strange and new (to Jade) and proves her powers are even more than she first believed. Here starts a tale of yet more growth and change for Jade. And pain that she had only recently thought could not be more overwhelming.

More betrayal overwhelms her life in this edition, and yet there is also hope and new friendships, new discoveries about herself and her powers. Doidge weaves a tale with layers and depths not found in many of the other urban fantasy series on the market today. The beliefs that Jade has built her life upon are ripped out from under her feet, and nothing will ever be quite the same again. But as been said, and proven, over millennia, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – and Jade is coming into her strength.

There were some things I didn’t like about the book – Jade is much too forgiving of people who would dismiss and demean her, both as a person and a magic user. But that seems to be a theme with ‘family’ issues, where those who you thought loved you and believed in you truly don’t believe you are strong at all, who have no faith in your abilities . . . I wouldn’t be as forgiving as Jade was. However, I have a feeling that Jade will show that person that she is stronger, and “more” than anyone ever could have believed.

The end was shocking, and wonderful, and heartfelt. It has me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next volume. I highly recommend that you read Cupcakes first, then Trinkets. They can be read stand-alone, but you will enjoy it more if you read both. Then, when you are done and waiting for the next, I highly recommend that you read Meghan’s other works, especially Spirit Binder (The Cascadian Chronicles #1). The second of that series is another book I am drooling to get my hands on.

Again, highly recommended to anyone who loves Urban Fantasy, strong women characters, and beautiful writing. ( )