Saturday, October 19, 2019

Cookies and Clairvoyance

In Bailey Cates's Cookies and Clairvoyance, the 8th installment in the Magical Bakery culinary cozy mystery series, this enticing caper would make you seek your teeth into this chilling novel. For Katie Lightfoot, she's not your ordinary baker. She's half-witch and half-Native American and have been endowed by two magical forces as her gift as a lightwitch. And when Kensington Bosworth stopped by her bakery, she paid a closer look on him. Later on, word had it that Randy Post, a local fireman had been arrested for his murder. And it's up to her and her coven of lightwitches to find out who's the real murder. While she's planning her wedding to Declan, a fireman who had a leprechaunic gift of his own, and building her dream home, she became the police's consultant on everything paranormal and magical in Bosworth's murder. She interviewed everyone who became close to him and everything that might be important to him to help her solve the case. But when she tried a spell to pinpoint the murder, someone threw a monkeywrench at her with an anti-magic spell of their own. She would do everything in her power to get her magic back and solve the mystery at the same time.

This was a great culinary mystery that has a hint of magic in it. I did care for Katie and how she dealt with wedding planning and working at the bakery while learning her craft. I did love how she was a bit diverse by being half-witch and half-Native American with a dollop of magical gifts. I've thought Declan was a hot piece of Irish eyecandy. I loved the location and the mesmerizing scenic settings in Savannah for the backdrop. This would make you intrigued and spellbound with non-stop action, plenty of spicy suspense, a scoop of drama, and lots of mystery on every page.

Will you check out Cookies and Clairvoyance today?


Friday, October 18, 2019

The Escape Room

In Megan Goldin's The Escape Room, this chilling thriller will leave you hooked and at the edge of the seat. It all started when Sara Hall landed a job with Stanhope and Sons, an investment banking firm, a dream job straight out from college in NYC. As the new girl, people treated her differently until she fast-learned the ropes in no time. Between her rise on the ladder of success, she had to deal with her parents' health issues and a new potential love interest. Things were up and up for her. For Vincent, Sylvie, Jules and Sam, they were stuck in an elevator for an escape-room team building for the firm.  Pretty soon, they're trapped and feeling the heat, when new clues shook things up when secrets and lies come out into the open and turn each other. For the past five years, everything was fine for Sara, when one of their co-workers Lucy died from a "suicide" and later her mother died in a "hit-and-run." It was up to Sara to put the pieces together and discovered what Lucy left behind for her to find in hidden clues. When she told this to her boss, Vincent, he denied everything. Things took a drastic turn for her when her co-workers didn't give her the time of day and harsh deadlines, and ruining things for her. And later, it landed her being fired, losing everything including her mother's death. But revenge is better served cold when Sara concocted the perfect plan behind the schemes to leave them in the cold, looking for answers, until she would have the better revenge after all in a shocking ending.

This thriller is the perfect one that emulates revenge in the best way. I did care for Sara and how she sought revenge for herself and for Lucy Marshall, a fellow coworker, and even for Lucy's mother too. I loved how she dealt with such hardships and a ton of drama, even when she "faked" her own death to get even in the best possible way. I thought Vincent and company had gotten what they had deserved in the end. I loved the various locations set in NYC and Chicago and even in the Caribbean in the end and the lovely settings for every scene. This would have you rooting for Sara all the way with non-stop drama, action, suspense, and plenty of intrigue to keep you fascinated to the end.

Will you be there to see how it unfolds in the Escape Room today?

https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Room-Novel-Megan-Goldin-ebook/dp/B07J4LQFK5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1571444664&sr=8-1

Saturday, October 5, 2019

A Nice Cup of Tea

In Celia Imrie's A Nice Cup of Tea, the third installment in the Nice cozy mystery series, this newest installment would send you traveling to France and some parts of London England. It all started with five retired ex-pat friends who chipped in and brought a divine French restaurant in Bellevue-sur-Mer. But they're having trouble making ends meet with not enough customers to keep their business afloat on the French Riviera waters. Sooner or later, they would have to deal with closing shop and taking the next offer from someone to take it off their hands. For Theresa, she has to deal with a stalker who's obsessed with her, while her granddaughter Chloe is missing and presumed to have runaway with her high school boyfriend. For Sally, she came across two old friends from her acting days and then landed a plum job to star in a movie in Monte Carlo.  While all of this is going on, they needed more customers to save their business. But when troublesome danger lurks ahead, they would deal with a difficult situation in a life-and-death matter in the end.

This was a nice installment in the cozy mystery that's set in rustic France and in part of London. I did care for Sally, Theresa and their three other friends, and how they would manage to try to keep their business alive. I did feel sorry for Sally who had to deal with her daughter and her acting career, while Theresa dealt with a stalker and helping her daughter find her granddaughter Chloe. They were some good humorous tidbits of humor interwoven to keep you in suspense with non-stop drama, action,  suspense, and intrigue. I did feel that the recipes aren't needed, since this isn't a culinary cozy that featured the French food in the story. And the post-script isn't really needed either.

Will you stop by for a nice cup of tea and enjoy this story?