What Cozy Are You Reading? > Likes and Comments
I read An Ale of Two Cities and enjoyed it. As a southerner I was fascinated by the cold winter and the constant putting on winter gear.
Read A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder #2 in the Lady Harleigh series. Well-written series with fun characters and a good mystery - though some of the expressions sounded a little modern.
Nell wrote: "Read A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder #2 in the Lady Harleigh series. Well-written series with fun characters and a good mystery - though some of the expressions sounded a little..."That one is my favorite so far! I have an autographed paperback on my keeper shelf. I figured out the mystery early on but only because I'm aware of such things but if I were Fran I don't think I would have known enough to figure it out.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Nell wrote: "Read A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder #2 in the Lady Harleigh series. Well-written series with fun characters and a good mystery - though some of the expressions sou..."I figured out the mystery as well but still enjoyed reading as it unfolded. A Lady's Guide to ... showed how some were deceived by society's code for gentlemen and ladies and deeply invested in it.
I am currently reading Paige Sheltons book...ACracked Spine..first book in the series.
I have completed Murder and Marshmallows
by Lucinda D. Davis and will start The Sinister Secrets of Hanover Farm
today to complete my July Series Reading Challenge. The books are entertaining and intriguing. I would consider reading more books in this series.
Currently reading A Midsummer Night's Fudge by Nancy CoCo
and At the Scent of the Crime: Wicked Wick Mysteries # 1 by Melrose McFadden
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Nell wrote: "I figured out the mystery as well but still enjoyed reading as it unfolded. A Lady's Guide to ... showed how some were deceived by society's code for gentlemen and ladies and deeply invested in it."
Yes. People still fall for that today too. I enjoy the mysteries even if I figure it out. I especially enjoy the romance though. George is swoony. I am impatiently waiting for people to hurry up and finish the newest one and return it to the library so I can read it!
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**I just finished three books in the Killer Coffee series by Tonya Kappes, bringing me current with the series (to date).
** Frothy Foul Play
** Spoonful of Murder
** Barista Bump-Off
I really like the setting and most of the characters, but the editing is sloppy/careless, and it's not typos. Things in one scene are contradicted in another -- the protagonist rides her bike to work, but a scene later is driving her car (without going home); she closes the café early only for it to be open later; one character's son goes from being Elliott to Wyatt and back to Elliott...
I've read (am reading) several of Kappes' series; others are TBRed. I know I'll get good stories (whimsical, fun, funny, with good characters and pretty good mysteries), but the editing sometimes makes it hard to pick up her books when there are a lot of choices in front of me.
Jennifer wrote: "For Batter or Worse - 13th in the series. I just read one of the most ridicu..."
Did you read she's coming out with a two volume cookbook AND two more mysteries (so far)? She seems willing to take it as far as she can as long as the fans want her to and the publisher keeps ordering them.
- 13th in the seriesQNPoohBear wrote: "Did you read she's coming out with a two volume cookbook AND two more mysteries ..."
I'm looking forward to more! While I've enjoyed some entries more than others, I haven't been dissatisfied with any in the series. I miss her Josie Belle series Good Buy Girls. I enjoyed her three-and-done Lucy Lawrence series Decoupage, too. I would miss the Cupcake Bakery series if it went away -- at least at this point. I guess I haven't hit the "fluke" wall with it.
And, a cookbook would save me from looking through her books for those yummy frosting recipes! I'd love one from Cleo Coyle, too.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "For Batter or Worse - 13th in the series. I just read one of the most ridicu..."
Did you read she's coming out with a two volume cookbook AND two more mysteries ..."
I did not hear this. I will admit, as much as I have some problems with the Cupcake Bakery mysteries, I think I would miss them. I'm so glad I caught up because I think reading once a year will leave me feeling a little more satisfied and a little less nit-picky and incredibly annoyed. I absolutely adore the Hat Shop mysteries (and am SO glad that one is coming back!) and sometimes can't believe it's the same author. I don't intend to be mean but there are problems with the Cupcake mysteries...yet I do enjoy them and keep reading them! I think this is a series I shouldn't have read multiple books in a row.
I can't wait for the next Hat Shop one!!!!!
Karen wrote: " I miss her Josie Belle series Good Buy Girls. I enjoyed her three-and-done Lucy Lawrence series Decoupage, too. "Those were written for hire a long time ago. My friend said they were good though. I love the Cupcake Bakery series the most. I relate to Mel a lot and my friend is Angie LOL! The cupcake cookbook sounds like a nice, hardcover book with photos like The Magnolia Bakery Handbook: A Complete Guide for the Home Baker
.There are huge problems in the continuity of Buried to the Brim and I missed seeing (view spoiler) I adored the Corgi and his heart shaped bum though.
Karen wrote: "I would miss the Cupcake Bakery series if it went away -- at least at this point. I guess I haven't hit the "fluke" wall with it."I suspect that's because she didn't let the love triangle thing go on and on and on for sooooo many books :)
Catching up from a week away. Just one cozy to report on, but I enjoyed it.
The Pajama Frame by Diane Vallere https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
QNPoohBear wrote: "There are huge problems in the continuity of Buried to the Brim and I missed seeing (view spoiler). I adored the Corgi and his heart shaped bum though."McKinlay's Hat Shop series was the last of her series I read. In 2020 I got on a kick to clear her series "backlogs" off my TBR so all I had to do was keep up with new issues. I didn't do official reviews at the time (though I did list notes about the series on a challenge-tracking page). Because I binge-read, I noticed continuity errors between books. They didn't destroy my enjoyment of the series overall, just stuff I caught as I read.
I really like all of her mystery series, including those written under the pseudonyms noted above.
I haven't read her romances (as of yet??), but I love the romance parts of her cozies. I love the humor in her books and I imagine her romances will be a lot of fun. Anyone??
Barb wrote: "I suspect that's because she didn't let the love triangle thing go on and on and on for sooooo many books :)"It wasn't really the triangle that got me with Fluke's Hannah Swensen series. About book 17 or 18, the books went really light on mystery and I found it more and more annoying that there were pages of recipes interrupting the flow of the narrative. It was also around that time that the Hannah character began to really annoy me (and seemed to be acting out of character from the earlier books).
Then, there was a major change that had me hopeful it would breathe new life into the series, taking it (and Hannah and the action) in a new direction. Sadly, it didn't and a book or two later, everything was back to the way it was prior. It so annoyed me -- as a reader. I felt cheated by Fluke's seeming gimmick -- that I "fluked" the series to the lower end of my TBR. I will probably get back to it; I just don't know when.
I've been trying to read Charlaine Harris Grave Sight (Harper Connelly #1) but the weirdness and creepiness is making me not want to pick it back up. I am still hopijg I can finish it since I'm more than half way through.Grave Sight
Hannah Swensen got super annoying when Ross was introduced, randomly. The editor pushed for a wedding and babies and Joanne refused. Finally she agreed with one condition (view spoiler) Hannah has been extra annoying since then.The romances get dragged out according to how many books are picked up at a time. Jenn McKinlay says her books get picked up 2-3 at a time so she has to wrap things up and then oh no backtrack when they get picked up again and create drama. She HATES putting her romcom characters through the wringer. I enjoy the romances in her mysteries a lot more than her romcoms so far. They're certainly entertaining though.
While I didn't enjoy the Ross soap opera at all, my biggest issue with the series is that we will have scenes that are about nothing but the characters cooking and discussing the recipe they are making. Then we will get the actual recipe. Just tell us Hannah made something, how much everyone enjoyed it, and get back to the clues and red herrings. We don't need pages of discussion about the food!
Mark wrote: "While I didn't enjoy the Ross soap opera at all, my biggest issue with the series is that we will have scenes that are about nothing but the characters cooking and discussing the recipe they are ma..."Those scenes were why I bailed on the series.
Holly Hart Cozy Mysteries Books 1-6
Seems others enjoy these more than I did. I kept reading because I had set. For me they were a pastime read not series I found engaging enough to seek more.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Hannah Swensen got super annoying when Ross was introduced, randomly. The editor pushed for a wedding and babies and Joanne refused. Finally she agreed with one condition [spoilers removed]..."Interesting... I did not know that snippet! I liked Ross (actually introduced in book 8 and mentioned a couple of times later; e.g. a mention here or there that Hannah was meeting Ross at his hotel or for dinner... -- I only remember two, but couldn't tell you which books). Then, fully back in her life in book 18 thanks to her mother. This is what I thought would breathe new life into the series, ending the triangle and allowing Hannah to get out of Lake Eden now and then with her investigative reporter and still encounter murders.
I still wish the resolution had been plotted better. I hated the way the characters of Mike (whom I can't stand lately) and Norman acted when Ross was in the picture. There were so many creative ways to make Fluke happy while keeping integrity of the series without what turned out to be a gimmick to return things to the status quo, and to ruin the Ross character in the process. Just stupid. (Yes, I'm still angry!)
Mark wrote: "My biggest issue with the series is that we will have scenes that are about nothing but the characters cooking and discussing the recipe they are making. Then we will get the actual recipe."
I don't mind so much the scenes of cooking/baking and the discussions thereof. It's like reading the coffee and baking sections of Cleo Coyle's Coffehouse series, which I love. It's the getting of the recipe in the middle of the narrative and breaking the flow of reading that I have a problem with. Put the recipes at the END of the book! Not only will the reading flow easier, it'll make it easier to find a certain recipe. I don't want to have to leaf through page after page of narrative searching for something I might want to bake just as I don't want to leaf through pages of recipe(s) to get back to the story. Having the recipes in ONE place -- you know, like at the end -- would be so good.
I find that very funny. At the time, the biggest name in culinary cozies was Diane Mott Davidson, who put the recipes in the middle of the scene. Joanne actually fought hard to get them held to the end of the chapter.Of course, now, everyone else puts them at the end of the book, so that is most normal.
At least Joanne does have an index at the end of the book.
Mark wrote: "we will have scenes that are about nothing but the characters cooking and discussing the recipe they are making. Then we will get the actual recipe. Just tell us Hannah made something, how much everyone enjoyed it, and get back to the clues and red herrings."But then the books would be 100 pages shorter!! 😉
So true. Although, I skim those scenes when I read, so it probably wouldn't make any difference to me.
I am reading "A Fatal Feast" penned by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain. I plan on finishing it by the end of next week. Five chapters a day is my goal. Wish me luck everyone.
Starting off the week with
Murder Through the English Post by Jessica Ellicott https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mark wrote: "Starting off the week with Murder Through the English Post by Jessica Ellicott https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I TBRed this series after I read your review (thanks!). It sounds cute and fun (and fits a couple of challenge categories). Then, I went to see if you (or people I "know") had done reviews of the previous books in the series. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this exchange posted on the first book:
L T asked: Am I the only English teacher who thought the editing was dreadful? I found comma splices, sentence fragments and other punctuation errors scattered about with wild abandon. Additionally, the uses of "whoever" and "whomever" were used incorrectly. I did enjoy the story; it was just difficult not to grab up a pen and make corrections.
Answer this question
Melissa Hartfiel: I got this out from the library and whoever had it before me, did just this and then seemed to give up half way through. It definitely needed a good proof-read and a good edit.
There were four other replies, three of the same ilk and one who was glad she'd gone the audio route.
I left it TBRed and plan to read it, Just funny to be hit with the errors comment on the heels of our conversation. And, this was a hard copy! I think I'd laugh if I saw errors marked in a library book (any book, really) -- but I'd also be annoyed about the vandalism to the book.
Forewarned is forearmed! LOL.
And this is a perfect example of how that doesn't bother me because I don't remember noticing any errors (of very many) in any of the books in the series. :)Hope you enjoy when you do pick them up.
My other new release for the week was a fun
Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mark wrote: "My other new release for the week was a fun Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."Library doesn't have that one on order yet. Boo! I have A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder waiting for me at the library for next week though.
I'm currently reading A Side of Murder
It's Ok so far. A little too much foreshadowing
These are what I have been reading since the 24th of this month:I completed a cute & short story, AN ELF-ING MESS
by D.B. McNicol on the 25th.I completed Stamped Out
by Tonya Kappes on the 28th.I am reading Address For Murder
also by Tonya Kappes and should be completed tonight or tomorrow afternoon.Tomorrow I will start The Case of the Cupid Caper
by Kathi Daley.
Finishing out the week and month with
An Almost Purrfect Murder by Jacqueline Vick https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Side of Murder
was good. It seemed to go on too long but then there was a twist I didn't see coming. I'm not into the food though. It did feel more like Cape Cod than Tea & Treachery though.
QNPoohBear wrote: "A Side of Murder was good..."I've read all three of the books in that series and liked each one a little more than the previous book. There is a lot of food talk in all of them, though, so you may not enjoy them as much as I have :)
Starting off the week with the new Sally Solari Mystery,
The Fragrance of Death by Leslie Karst https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander #4 in the Lady Emily series. The MCs are on their honeymoon in Turkey when there's a murder in a harem. It was an OK read, but not as good as previous books in the series.
Next up with week was
Murder of a Mail-Order Bride by Mimi Granger https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
** My ReviewFinished Haunted Homicide by Lucy Ness from her Haunted Mansion series.
I've already started book 2, Phantoms and Felonies, and am looking forward for more!
This is a new-to-me, old-to-me author. Lucy Ness is a pseudonym for Constance Laux who writes romance, young adult, and mysteries under various pseudonyms. While I haven't read any of her romance or YA, I have ejoyed her mysteries. I've read or started most of her series under her various names. You can't go wrong with any of them.
* Miranda Bliss - Cooking Class
* Casey Daniels - Pepper Martin LOVED THIS SERIES!
* Mimi Granger - Love is Murder TBRed!
* Anastasia Hastings - Dear Miss Hermione coming in 2023, TBRed
* Kylie Logan - Button Box LOVED THIS SERIES -- Chili Cook-off -- Ethinic Eats -- Jazz Ramsey -- League of Literary Ladies I had a slow start with the first book in this series, but once I got into it, I wound up really enjoying it and the rest of the series (to date).
I am finishing up The Secret of Logan Pond
. I will complete the series with The Magic of Halloween Night
. These books are from the A Cat in the Attic series by Kathi Daley.
Finally got my hands on A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder
It sounds like the mystery is set up right in the first chapter and according to Dianne Freeman's blog, this is another one where the truth is as strange as fiction!
QNPoohBear wrote: "Finally got my hands on A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and MurderIt sounds like the mystery is set up right in the first cha..."
Still on the list for this one, inching up the line. Eventually I'll no doubt buy it, though.
A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder
This was another fun entry in the series. I didn't like that Fran and George don't get to be alone very much. I hope her family goes home SOON! The mystery was good but a little obvious. I wasn't sure but by the time Fran figured it out, it was super obvious who and why.
So I'm reading:
For Batter or Worse - 13th in the series. I just read one of the most ridiculous (not in a good way) scenes ever.
Live and Let Chai - I'm loving this first-in-a-series cozy mystery!
Body and Soul Food - I'm enjoying this first-in-a-series cozy, but it's a little wordy and the protagonist sounds more like a child rather than a 25-year-old.