Book Review: Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop by Jaimie Admans

I’m very excited to be welcoming Jaimie Admans back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for the latest book in the Ever After Street series, Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop.

In a shop full of stories, some magic is real.

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

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

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

Ren learns that happy ever afters still exist if you’re brave enough to look for them, and Mickey discovers that real-life can sometimes be way more magical than anything she could have ever imagined.

*****

Mickey adores her shop on Ever After Street. Carrying on her father’s legacy is important to her and she loves making up stories for all the items within. 

However, when she meets Ren and his daughter, Ava, she begins to wonder if her life is on the right track after all. 

Yay, a new book in the Ever After series. Not only that, this one is influenced by The Little Mermaid – not only the first Disney film I owned but the first VHS tape I had. Yep, I’m that old. Haha. 

The tale of the Little Mermaid was potentially an awkward story to incorporate but the author has found a clever and believable way of doing so. 

Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others in the series as this can be read as a standalone. I recommend the other books though especially if you like romance, Disney, and/or magic. 

Mickey is my kind of girl. I also make up stories for old items I find and I wonder what history lies behind them. I’d want to be her friend. 

Like Ren, I have a love of history and I found the mystery in this book fascinating. I liked seeing how much the main characters influenced each other throughout. 

It was nice to see mentions of previous characters too and to revisit Ever After Street. I wish this street was real. New characters Ren and Ava were wonderful, even though Ren is a little prickly. As the story progresses, the reader finds out why. Don’t worry, I’m not going to say anything more about that and spoil it. 

The story unfolded well with its share of emotional rollercoaster feelings – just what I have come to expect from this author. There is a warmth to it that has you smiling and feeling happy by the end. 

Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop will have you falling in love, crying, laughing and believing in magic. Another beautiful addition to this marvellous series that’s full of hope and romance. 

About Jaimie Admans  –

Jaimie Admans is the bestselling author of several romantic comedies – including The Little Christmas Shop on Nutcracker Lane and The Chateau of Happily-Ever-Afters.

Her series for Boldwood, The Ever After Street Series, is based on the magical world of fairytales.

Say hello to Jaimie on Facebook, X, Instagram and Bookbub. Click here to sign up to her newsletter. 

Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop is book five in the Ever After Street series and was released by Boldwood Books on 26th May 2025. Click to buy on Amazon, Kobo, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.