The Baby Box by Linda Palmer
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeCamryn Jacobs, direct descendant of witches persecuted at Salem, has a problem. Fireman Declan Walsh, a lycan, is standing on her front porch at two in the morning with an infant car seat hanging off his arm. Asleep inside it is a baby witch who was surrendered in accordance with the town’s “baby box” law, which states that infants may be left in a customized vault at the fire station—no questions, no blame, no repercussions—if the parent/s cannot care for it.
Declan isn’t about to hand over the baby to human foster parents, the reason he braved a winter storm to get to Camryn. He asks if she will consult her coven tomorrow and, until then, take in the baby. He even volunteers to stay over and help. Camryn can only agree that this magical baby can’t go to foster parents who aren’t preternatural. She also agrees to let Declan stay over, a happy surprise for him. He’s been careful not to confess the reason she popped into his head the moment he saw the baby–he’s had his eye on her for a while but wasn’t sure if she’d go for a witch-wolf relationship.
As the hours pass, they all get to know each other. A definite spark ignites between Camry and Declan, but the coven’s head witch has a shocking personal agenda that threatens not just their budding romance, but the baby and Camryn’s ancestral home, as well.
There’s a fine line between being busy and being overwhelmed.
Turning a baby box deposit into a mystery was what originally drew me to this title, and I thought this conflict was handled nicely. It’s difficult to go into much detail about why the baby was abandoned without giving away spoilers, but I enjoyed mulling over the possibilities as Camryn and Declan received a crash course in infant care and tried to figure out where that little one came from. I certainly wouldn’t know what to do if an infant showed up in my life, especially under such mysterious circumstances. This was a unique romantic mystery that relied on new life to keep the characters guessing instead of the usual homicide that I’d expect to find.
Due to how many different genres were included in this story, there were a few times when I felt as though that worked against the cohesiveness of the plot because of how much was going on simultaneously. Focusing on the romantic elements could have been a good way to tie everything together more securely. Love, both romantic and platonic, was what kept Camryn going when she was in a tight spot, so having a few additional scenes that explored her budding romance would have felt completely appropriate to me. With that being said, this was a minor criticism of something I thought was otherwise well done.
The strong world building here was a huge draw for this reader. There was never a good stopping point which meant that I was always eager to come back when I did need to take breaks. I especially enjoyed the scenes that explored the complicated historical relationships between witches like Camryn and lycans like Declan. It was something I could have kept reading about for dozens of pages due to how complex it was and how each community reacted to members who dated out.
The Baby Box was heartwarming.
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