Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay

Buttercream Bump Off

Author: Jenn McKinlay
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2011
Genre: Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 212

Rating:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was our Cook the Books pick for February. Naturally I couldn't not read the first one & it has me hooked. I already got book #3 & I ordered #4 on ILL. The rest of the group really liked this book too. The woman that was our "host" made the moonlight madness cucakes & they were delicious, I'll include the recipe down below. This story had me laughing from start to finish, it was HILARIOUS! Just to give you some exampes the story opens with Angie calling Mel to come & witness their rival Olivia dancing in the street passing out flyers in a giant cupcake costume! Mel also goes shopping with her mom & tells her brother on the phone that if she walks past one more department store perfume girl people are going to think she is a ho. Then at one point Mel & her new sidekick Marty end up hiding in a dumpster. LOL!!!!!!!!!! The murder in this one was a mystery to me until the very end. I'm thinking I'll get better at figuring or who it is as I go along. Overall this book was very enjoyable & I think I might like it even more than the Hannah Swensen series. The two stories are similar but also different enough that you could read them both. This same author, Jenn McKinlay, also writes a library mystery series that I always see when I'm at work but have never tried. Based on her style of writing I think I'll add it to my TBR for sometime soon to at least try the first one. The romance in this book heats up a little bit when Angie starts dating a rock star that could be the murder & Mel starts to get more serious with Joe. There's also the slightly creepy Detective Martinez luking around, something is up with him. So we'll see what happens in the next book! Sorry the picture of the recipe isn't that great, it's a little bit difficult to hold the bok & take the picture with one hand.

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

First Frost

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Year: 2014
Genre: Magical Realism
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 291

Rating:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the sequel to Garden Spells, we read that book for our book club last month & I really enjoyed it. I picked this one up shortly after reading that so it took me a while to read it. Not because it wasn't good but because I've been in a little it of a slump the past few weeks. I'm happy that I read it after all & I'm hoping this author will do more books with this family in them in the future.

This book takes place about 10 years after "The Year That Everything Changed". Bay is 15 now, Mariah (Claire & Tyler's daughter) is in elementary school, Sydney owns The White Door Salon, even Evanelle is still hanging in there. Claire has recently taken up making candy after she got famous from a magazine article. But there is a mysterious man in town who is out to get the Waverley's for all they have. First frost is approaching fast & the family is convinced that once the magical apple tree blooms it will change everything. We get to see some classic Bascom drama unfold, espically when Bay's new love interest turns out to be a Matteson & Mariah says she has a new "imaginary" friend named M.

There's a recipe included in this book, one from Grandmother Mary, Fig & Pepper Bread. It sounds a little confusing to me but I would try it for sure. Cooking has always been Claire's gift & she starts cooking again in this book & it helps bring her back down to Earth. The one thing that confuses me about the recipe is there is no pepper listed in the ingredients but it says to add it in the directions, but how much? I guess we'll never know.

Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke

Peach Cobbler Murder

Author: Joanne Fluke
Publisher: Kensington Books
Year: 2005
Genre: Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 267 pages

Audio Publisher: Recorded Books
Audio Year: 2010
Audio Reader: Suzanne Toren
Audio Length: 8 hours & 47 mins

Rating:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is book #7 in the Hannah Swensen series. I have been listening to them on audio since we read the first one for our Cook the Books discussion late last year. I never thought when I started this new club that I would actually like this genre as much as I have. I do think I need to add some different genre's back into my reading list because lately it's all of these & not much else.

This book was both satisfying & confusing at the same time. In the last book Bill was in trouble with the law while running for Sheriff & Mike wasn't all that helpful since he put Bill at the top of the suspect list. Mike was also dating someone else in town even though he claimed to be in love with Hannah. That put Norman at the top for Hannah's heart. We also finally got to meet Delores's new boyfriend, the mysterious English Lord Winthrope Harrington. So the last book set up some pretty interesting storylines. Luckily we didn't have to wait long to see what was going to happen.

In this book Shawna Lee & her sister Vanessa open up a bakery right across the street from Hannah's cookie business! Hannah's also heavily suspects that Mike is still dating Shawna Lee & possibly her sister as well. Then Shawna Lee ends up dead & of course who do you think is first on the scene by accident again??? From there the story gets even worse, Vanessa might have killed her ex husband, Winthrope is definetly not who he says he is, & Hannah is trying to decide if Norman really is the one. By the end there is 2 proposals back to back & Hannah isn't sure what to do!

I cheated a little & found out what happens in Wedding Cake Murder (book #13) & now I don't understand with the way things ended in this story & how I know they turn out in that one what is going to happen in between, but I guess I'm going to find out. But this book was really funny, espically with 2 businesses being run by women right across the street from eachother & a town so full of gossip. One of the things that annoyed me while listening to the audio this time around was Vanessa's voice. I even tried listening to it slower & faster, I didn't like it in any speed so I'm happy she hopefully won't be making anymore appearances in future stories. On the plus side this audio had a few meows coming from Hannah's adorably annoying cat Moishe. Hannah is always trying to keep him happy & in this story he becomes a mouse killer & saviour of the town's people.

Once again there were some great recipes in this book, I'll include one down below. I'm always amazed at the things Hannah is able to come up with.

Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay

Sprinkle with Murder

Author: Jenn McKinlay
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin)
Year: 2010
Genre: Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 215

Rating:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm having some internet issues right now so I'm hoping this makes it up! I can't believe it's the 16th & this is the first book I've read this month, what is happening! Things have been crazy lately so I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.

This is the first book in the cupcake bakery mystery series. Our book club picked the second one as our book this month but if you know me you know I have to read things in order. So I got this book in on ILL. I'm planning on reading the book club book next & I think I'll continue with the series. I've gotten myself addicted to a new genre though so I have to add some YA or fantasy in this month or I might go crazy.

This book was really short which I liked, just above 200 pages which is great for one or two sittings. I haven't found the audio but the regular book is enjoyable. I thought the 2 main characters were really funny & the story is believable. There is a love triangle type thing happening that develops into something else by the end of the story. This story also takes place at a bakery in Scottsdale so somewhere that I kinda know about from growing up in the Phoenix area, so I think that is cool. The ending seemed to come up really quickly, you are thiking it is one person up until something changes about 3 chapters from the end. This seems to be a common thing in books like this. The Joanne Fluke stories aren't quite that bad, you can kinda tell what is up a little sooner. Overall this was a light & funny read, if you like this cook/baking mystery genre you'll enjoy this story.

There was 4 different recipes in this book, all of which sound great. I would love to make and/or eat all of them. Reading these stories makes me want to open a bakery myself & in a past life I might have, or maybe that's something I can possibly put on the bucket list.

February 2019 TBR

This month I'm hoping to read 10 books! I know thats crazy but 2 of them I'm already reading & almost done with, 2 of them are REALLY short, & svome of the others are on audio. We'll see how it goes. 

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21853633-first-frost?from_search=true 

This is book #2 in the Waverley series. We read the first one for our Cook the Books book this last month & I really liked it. I've already started this one so I should finish it this weekend. 

Peach Cobbler Murder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33438.Peach_Cobbler_Murder?ac=1&from_search=true 

Cherry Cheesecake Murder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33437.Cherry_Cheesecake_Murder?ac=1&from_search=true 

Key Lime Pie Murder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33436.Key_Lime_Pie_Murder?ac=1&from_search=true 

by Joanne Fluke

I can usually finish 2-3 of these a month. I'm almost done with Peach Cobbler Murder now, should finish it this weekend.

Sprinkle with Murder & Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6633516-sprinkle-with-murder?ac=1&from_search=true 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8302909-buttercream-bump-off 

Book #2 in this series is our Cook the Books book pick for this month. I had to read the 2nd one first though so I ordered it on ILL. They are REALLY short so they should go quick. 

Effortless & Reckless by S.C. Stephens

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15842441-effortless?ac=1&from_search=true 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13600318-reckless 

This series was recommended to me by a co-worker. I read the first one a few months ago & wasn't sure if I was gonna read these others but I'm gonna try.

The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5819756-the-murder-of-king-tut?from_search=true

This book got turned into the bookdrop this last week & I love all things Ancient Egypt so I picked it up. I've never read a James Patterson book so we'll see if it's any good.

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8788554-first-grave-on-the-right?from_search=true 

The same co-worker that recommended me the Thoughtless series said that this series was also really good. 

 

January 2019 Wrap-Up

This month I was able to read 5 books. I'm hoping to read twice that in February. Two of the books I'm reading now & almost done with , two other books are REALLY short. I'd say it's a pretty good start to the year so far. 

Merry & Bright by Debbie Macomber

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33928751-merry-and-bright 

My review is here.

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33440.Lemon_Meringue_Pie_Murder 

My review is here.

Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136862.Fudge_Cupcake_Murder 

My review is here. 

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1158967.Garden_Spells 

My review is here.

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33442.Sugar_Cookie_Murder 

My review is here.