Book Review: Death by the Dozen by Jenn McKinlay (Cupcake Bakery #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Good mystery and sub-plots populated by great characters

Cons: Pacing a little off at one point, but minor

The Bottom Line:

A killer contest

Mel, Angie baking for lives

Mouthwatering read

Enjoyable as a Dozen Cupcakes

With so many wonderful series out there, I know a few slip through the cracks.  I’m working hard on catching up on Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery mysteries.  With each book I read, I can see why I hear such good things about it.  Death by the Dozen was another great read.

It’s time for the annual food festival in Scottsdale, and that includes the chef’s challenges.  This year, Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura have entered in the pastry division.  Their competition includes their rival, Olivia Puckett, who has won for the past few years.  Among the judges are several people that Mel knew from culinary school.  The egos on the judging panel remind Mel why she didn’t like these people back when she was taking classes from them or with them.  The exception is Vic Mazzotta.  True, he is a demanding man, but he also helped Mel through a difficult time, and she is willing to put up with him because of that softer side.

The morning of the first round of the competition, Vic is nowhere to be found.  When he does turn up, he’s dead in an ice truck.  How did he get in there?  Which of his enemies killed him?  Or was it even murder?

The murder took place a little later in the book than normal for the books I’ve been reading lately, but I didn’t mind in the least.  The time was used to set up suspects and motives, and I actually liked the change in formula.  Once Vic’s body was found, we were able to jump in and work on figuring out which of the suspects actually did it.  I did feel the pacing was a little off in the middle with the competition slowing things down, but a late twist ramped things up again for the great climax.  Because of Olivia, I actually cared more about the outcome of the chef contest than I might have otherwise.  I think I’m going to have to skim that first book again to remember why she hates Mel and Angie so much.

The characters in this series are quite fun.  In another break from formula, the main character’s romance is not the most complicated.  Instead, it’s her best friend Angie and their mutual friend Tate who cause most of the romantic sub-plot issues.  And yes, it is kept to a sub-plot.  While I had hoped that Marty, a character we met in the last book, would be back, instead we got Oz, a great new character.  Now I want both of them back in future books.

There is a delightful sense of humor in the series that I love it so much.  And I was thrilled to get a couple of the movie quotes that Mel, Angie, and Tate are always trading.

All the unique recipes that Mel creates for the contest are in the back of the book.  While I never thought I’d hear myself say this considering the ingredients involved, a couple of them actually sound good enough to try.  Now, I just need to get motivated to actually bake again.

I’m already looking forward to my next stop by Mel and Angie’s bakery.  If they are all as enjoyable as Death by the Dozen, I have a lot more great reading in my future.

Once you get started, you'll want to read the rest of the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries in order.

Second Winner of the Week

Yes, I didn't get the winner of One Foot in the Grape posted last night.  I had too much else going on to get it done.  But I have a winner now.

And the lucky recipient is...

Brooke!

I'm off to send you an e-mail, so please be checking your inbox for it.

Weekly TV Thoughts - May 16th

Phew, I made it.  Between season finale and The Disney Channel's week long season premier of Girl Meets World, there was a lot of TV to be watched this week.  Glad I got it all in.  But seriously, why couldn't they have scheduled the all week premier for next week?  Consult me next time, okay?

Once Upon a Time – That was just as much fun as I’d hoped it would be.  Seeing everyone switched was great, and the actors obviously had fun playing against type.  I also enjoyed watching where the characters we already knew were going to pop up.  But that ending!  Wasn’t expecting that at all.  It will be interesting to see where they go with this next season.  You can read my full recap here.

Dancing with the Stars – Wow, all of those performances were incredible.  Seriously, anyone could win it.  I expected Noah to be the one to leave, so I was surprised that he stuck around.  Instead it was Derek and his partner.  While I love them, it’s actually nice not to see Derek in the finals for a change.  I don’t know who I’m rooting for to win.  They’re just all so good.

Girl Meets World (5/11) – The best part of that may have been the opening scene talking about Mr. Feeny.  The first scene was pretty funny as well.  Not as impressed with the bakery scenes, although the last scene was very touching.  And I like that Maya’s mom is working there now, too.  I hope we see more of her character.

Castle – I would have been okay with that as a series finale.  Of course, I’m thrilled the show is coming back, however.  And we got a little Castle backstory, which was interesting.  You can read my full recap here.

Girl Meets World (5/12) – Much funnier episode.  I think Maya stole the show with her reaction to the diamond ring, although Riley and Lucas’s awkward date was pretty funny as well.  And what is with Auggie and his weird friends?

The Flash – I’m surprised by what they did with that episode.  What does it mean for next week’s season finale?  And what kind of consequences is Barry about to unleash by trying to save his mom?  So we have the metahumans back out and two people rode in to save the day with Barry.  I’m curious where they will go with this next season and next week.

Agents of SHIELD – Yeah, they have too many characters.  I found myself caring about what happened about half of the time.  I’ll give the show a few episode next season to see if it improves, but I might not stick around.  After all, I’ve got plenty of shows to watch next year. It’s not that the show is bad, it’s just not that great either.

Arrow – So how are they going to come back next year?  Because I could almost feel that being a series finale.  What happened to Ray at the end there?  And how is that going to play into the spin off series?  Can’t wait to hear more about all of that.

Young and Hungry – I’m sorry, but I can’t get over the name of the guy.  Rueben, who makes his living as a sandwich.  Cheesy, but I like it.

Girl Meets World (5/13) – Best episode of the season so far.  Hilarious, and they give Lucas an interesting backstory.  Not completely sure how that fits in with what we learned about him last season.  They really appear to be working on making him an interesting character this season, and I’m very glad to see it.  Still, my favorite scene were the ones at the house.  Everyone had me in stitches.

Survivor – Yes, I feel a little bad for Dan, but only a little.  Mike is a lot more powerful than anyone is giving him credit for being.  Okay, he’s also getting luckier, but still.  And Carolyn definitely knows which side she stands on at this point.  But really, I want whiney Rodney to go next.  Pretty please with a reward on top?

The Odd Couple – So where is Felix going to go from here?  It would be interesting to see him in a relationship.  Was not expecting that this soon into the series.  I’m surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed this show.  Definitely looking forward to it coming back in 2016.

Girl Meets World (5/14) – Oh the tears.  I’m interested to see what they do with Shawn this season since I know Angela is coming back.  They’d better not break Maya’s heart.  That’s all I’m saying.

The Amazing Race – I’m so glad the right team won.  Actually, I would have been okay with the Truck Drivers as well, although they had to keep the streak of the saved team still getting eliminated.  Not that it was there fault at all.  They just had horrid luck with cab drivers.  But the other teams sniped at each other so much, okay, the women did the sniping.  So glad it was Hayley who lost them the race, too.  She so deserved that.

Girl Meets World (5/15) – How could I not see the point they were going for in that episode earlier?  Maybe because I was too busy laughing.  Eric was over the top stupid (I don’t remember him being that stupid before, even in season seven), but it was still so funny.

May 15th's Book Beginnings and Friday 56

Welcome again to Friday, which means Book Beginnings and Friday 56.

I've got to admit, I'm in a bit of a quandery this week.  While both books I could have pulled from had great openings, their pages 56 were only okay from a teaser quote perspective.  I decided to go with my current read, As Gouda as Dead by Avery Aames, which I hope to finish up today.

The book jumps right in:

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.  "And don't 'Hush, Charlotte' me again."

That's definitely an attention grabber, right?

Page 56 is the beginning of Chapter 9, and I'm going to use the first couple of lines from that chapter:

"What?" Tyanne and Rebecca shrieked in unison.
I held my hands in a T for timeout while glancing around the shop.

So, tell me, how does that second quote grab you?

Book Review: The Final Reveille by Amanda Flower (Living History Museum Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun setting for a complex mystery

Cons: A tad slow to start; Kelsey’s early reaction to one character

The Bottom Line:

The heir gets murdered

With battlefield of suspects

Promising debut

Current Death in Living History

I’ve always enjoyed history, so I always enjoyed the various living history museums that my family visited over the years while I was growing up.  A new mystery series set at one seemed like a perfect series to tempt me, and The Final Reveille was as fun as I’d hoped it would be.

Kelsey Cambridge run the Barton Farm in northern Ohio.  Normally, the museum is a collection of houses and shops with various interpreters who demonstrate what life was like during the early 1800’s.  However this weekend, the museum is hosting a Civil War reenactment on the empty fields adjacent to the museum’s town as an added draw.

While all this is happening, Cynthia Cherry and her nephew Maxwell come for a visit.  She’s a patron of many things in the area, but her generosity has helped Kelsey make many needed improvements to the museum.  During the visit, Maxwell pulls Kelsey aside and tells her that he is taking over Cynthia’s charitable foundation, and he intends to cut back on many of the causes that Cynthia has supported over the years, including the museum.

When the reveille coming from the reenactor’s came awakens Kelsey the next morning, she quickly discovers one of the soldiers bending over the dead body of Maxwell.  Just as quickly, the police zero in on Kelsey as a suspect.  With her freedom on the line, she must find out what really happened to Maxwell.  Can she do it?

I felt like the book started a little slowly, but that was needed time to introduce us to the museum and the characters.  Things were definitely happening, however, and it wasn’t too long before the plot picked up the pace, giving us some nice clues and motives for the murder.  While I did suspect the killer before the end, I wasn’t completely sure until everything was revealed.  Even so, there were a couple of details that weren’t explained, but it took me almost 24 hours after finishing the book to realize that.  That’s how small they are.

I’m so used to young single protagonists that it was a nice change of pace to follow Kelsey around.  She’s divorced with a five-year-old son, and that added a new layer to the book and some interesting sub-plots.  The story was filled with great people who came fully to life as the book progressed, and I can’t wait to see many of them again in future books.  I did feel that Kelsey was too harsh toward a new potential love interest early on in the book.  I get that she didn’t trust him at that point, but her reactions still seemed too harsh.  That didn’t last long, and it is my only complaint where characters are concerned.

This is not Amanda Flower’s first book, and it shows.  The writing was great at setting the scene and making Kelsey’s love of history contagious.  In fact, I’m wishing I had a historical fiction book lined up next on my To Be Read pile (another favorite way to experience history).

Any issues I had with this book are truly small.  Overall, I enjoyed this first book with a great new protagonist.  The Final Reveille will not be the final book I read in this series.

NOTE: I was sent an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ornament Review: Goofy the Graduate

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Classy looking graduate ornament with unlikely character

Cons: Twists when put in display

The Bottom Line:

Goofy, diploma

Mark this spring rite of passage

Goofy against type

Goofy Graduates!

Goofy is my favorite of Mickey and his friends, so my biggest complaint has been that he only makes one appearance in the Year of Disney Magic series from Hallmark.  But he’s finally here and I can now enjoy Goofy The Graduate.

For this ornament, Goofy is dressed in graduation gown and hat.  It’s a dark blue – almost purple – in color, and you can see a gold stripe down the middle.  He’s holding a rolled up scroll and standing on some large but thin books.

My biggest question is why Goofy is involved in a graduation ornament.  But considering we have Donald being thankful and lucky in this series, we’ll just add Goofy to the list of those playing against type, right?

I definitely do like this ornament.  Even though it is Goofy, he brings a level of class to the ornament.  Possibly because, being the tallest character, this ornament looks taller than many of the others.  Tall means classy, right?  Just ask all those Greek columns.  There’s also a little white tassel hanging down the left side of the hat.  Actually, it’s mostly on the top of the hat and just barely sticking down below.  Either way, I just love that added touch.

Since Goofy is standing on flat books, the ornament is not going to tip over, so you can set it out anywhere you want to add a nice touch to a grad party decoration or some other display.

Which might be a good thing.  At least on mine, the hook on the top of Goofy’s hat is turned so that I can’t hang him straight in my ornament display stand.  Still not quite sure what I am going to do about that, but having him look to the right of the rest of the ornaments is a disappointment.  There is no tipping when you hang the ornament, which is a good thing.  I just wish he faced forward.

We’re almost done with this series, which means you can find an 11 in a Christmas tree on the bottom of the books Goofy is standing on.

The disappointing twist is the only flaw I can find with Goofy The Graduate.  Or maybe that’s not a flaw but Goofy just being, well, goofy.

What could be more magical than the entire Year of Disney Magic?

Original Price: $12.95

Announcing a Winner

We have a winner in the contest I was doing for Musseled Out by Barbara Ross.  And that winner is...

Katherine P!

Congrats!  I just sent you an e-mail, so please get in touch with me so I can connect you with your prize.

Don't forget, there are still a few more days to enter the giveaway for One Foot in the Grape.

Book Review: 14th Deadly Sin by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Women's Murder Club #14)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Action and twists to strong stories

Cons: Two characters underserved; weaker characters overall

The Bottom Line:

Hang on for fun plot

As plot based thrills continue

All fans will enjoy

Deadly Game of Cops and Robbers

I’ve gotten so I really look forward to my annual visit with the ladies of the Women’s Murder Club.  While these aren’t the best books I read, they are always fun and fast paced.  14th Deadly Sin is the latest, and a great example of strengths and weaknesses of the series.

There have recently been a couple of robberies in San Francisco where the robbers were wearing masks and SFPD jackets.  However, the case gains momentum when the owner of the latest store hit is killed.  Lindsay Boxer lands the case and must work with robbery to find these men.  Are they really cops or just disguising themselves as such?

 Meanwhile, Lindsay’s husband Joe becomes obsessed with a string of murders that take place every year in broad daylight on Claire’s birthday.  With no witnesses, all but the most recent of these murders have grown cold.  And Yuki has left her job with the DA to work for a non-profit organization.  Her first case for them finds her going up again her old boss as she sues the SFPD for wrongful arrest and death.  Can she win?

There are four main characters in this series, but sadly, the book underserves two of them.  Claire, after getting the ball rolling on the annual murders plot with a casual remark, pretty much disappears again.  But honestly, how long as it been since she had any kind of a good plot?  Likewise, Cindy is sent off on a book tour for much of the book and is irrelevant, although I did love those scenes because of the bookstores that got cameos in the book.  Not all the women getting storylines is a chief complaint of mine in the series time and time again, so fans of the series won’t find it new.

However, the stories we do get are fast paces as always.  There are plenty of twists that kept me turning pages, and the further into the book I got, the less I wanted to put it down.  The story does end with a bit of a cliffhanger, and it makes me want to visit the next in the series soon.  If only it were out already.

While I complained a moment ago that some of the characters are underserved, the characters we do see are perfectly in character.  The emphasis is on the plot, but we are given just enough about the characters to truly come to care for them and root for them to solve the cases and come out alive.

After listening to most of Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer novels in the last year, I found Yuki’s courtroom scenes especially interesting.  They are definitely legal thriller light when compared to Connelly’s books but that makes sense because they only take up part of the book.  Still, I could identify a bit more what was going on and appreciate some of the strategy that wasn’t discussed but obvious to me now.

As always, about two thirds of the book is narrated by Lindsay in first person with other chunks being told in third person by various characters, both good and bad.  The short chapters help the 350 pages fly by thanks to the added white space it provides.

While the series can be uneven, this is definitely one of the better books in the series.  If you are a fan, you’ll be glad you picked up 14th Deadly Sin.

Here are the Women's Murder Club Mysteries in order.

TV Recap: Castle 7-23 - Hollander's Woods

Don’t get me wrong – I’m thrilled Castle is coming back next season.  I’ve actually enjoyed this season over the last few, although I know many people were turned off by the Castle Disappearance storyline and dropped the show.  But, if the show were to end right here, I wouldn’t have minded at all.  That was a lovely final episode, and I could walk away happy.

Not that I’m planning to stop watching the show.  More quips and clues?  Sign me up!

Earlier this season, we’d gotten a mention of Hollander’s Woods as something from Castle’s past, and tonight, we learn what that was.  When he was an 11-year-old boy, he went into the woods during President’s Day weekend and found a dead body.  Then a man in a creepy mask warned him to run and stay silent about what he’d found.  He did report it to the police, but no body or proof was ever found.  Castle was beginning to think he’d made it all up, until a victim is found outside some woods in New York.  The markings on her face are the same as Castle remembers, and the truck driver who accidentally hit the victim as she was fleeing describes the same mask.

TV Recap: Once Upon a Time 4-21 - Operation Mongoose

Wow.  That was as much fun as I expected, but that ending was wild (if not quite the series changer we were promised).  Is it next season yet?

Before we get there, let’s recap what we saw in this alternative universe.

We start with the Author, aka Isaac, in our world in the 1960’s.  He’s a frustrated writer selling TV’s for a living until the day he gets an offer from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice to write down fairy tales.  Of course, we all know how that turned out.

In our world in the present day, everyone is trying to figure out how to stop him.  They’re looking through the books in the Sorcerer’s house, but those books are all empty.  August shows up and explains that the Apprentice might be able to stop him, and Hook recognizes the picture of the man, so the Apprentice finally gets to come out of the Hat.  Unfortunately, by the time he comes out of the Hat, it’s too late, and Isaac has finished his rewrite, taking everyone to the alternative world.

Everyone, that is, but Isaac and Henry.  Henry finds himself the only one is Storybrooke, and he soon leaves town searching for his family.  As he’s searching, he finds Isaac’s book (now in paperback!) entitles Heroes and Villains.  Henry tracks Isaac to a book signing (where he is signing hardcovers - explain that one to me).  A confrontation leads to the original Heroes and Villains book where Isaac wrote down the story.  Henry uses the key, and he and Isaac are sucked in to that copy of the book.