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Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes–Christmas wedding
Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes
by Jessica Redland
A sweet holiday tale with some sibling troubles, an upcoming wedding, PTSD, and friends who could be so much more. Those are the threads found in Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes by Jessica Redland, Carly started a cupcake business four years ago. Her much younger sister Bethany has been working for her, but she is klutzy and prone to mistakes that are costly. Carly and Bethany are both wondering if the cupcake shop is a good place for Bethany, but Carly is driven to take care of her sister who is also second-guessing her upcoming marriage. Meanwhile, Carly starts to realize that her very long-term best friend, Liam, on a tour in Afghanistan, is possibly the love she has been denying herself.
There are several unexpected twists as the countdown to the wedding and Christmas draw closer. You’ll enjoy watching the tangled threads unravel as you read this charming story and root for the likable characters to solve their problems.
I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Women’s Fiction
Publication: August 13, 2020—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
And there it was—the exact moment I realised I’d been in love with my best friend for years. Nobody else I’d met had held my interest because Liam already held my heart and I’d never even realised it.
As I stepped out of the front door, I inhaled the delicious aroma of chimney smoke. I loved that smell. There was something about real fires that was so intrinsically Christmassy. I paused for a moment to look up at the white lights strung between the shops, like stars in the inky sky. It was the beautiful simplicity that made them so enchanting to look at.
I felt a pang of guilt again that I’d worked beside her for months and had been too busy to notice when the laughter had ceased until it became too late.
Southern Discomfort–murder in the kitchen
Southern Discomfort
by Caroline Fardig
Southern Discomfort introduces the sweet and naive Quinn Ballandini, who was raised by her grandmother to have impeccable Southern manners. She and her more rebellious sister help their grandfather manage a successful bed and breakfast in Savannah, Georgia, where Quinn does most of the cooking.
Quinn discovers the dead body of a friend’s brother. This too trusting B & B manager tries to transform herself into an amateur sleuth to get her friend and potentially herself cleared. She is pretty bad at it, but she is persistent. There are lots of interesting characters including her magician grandfather, Papa Sal, her mother who is into drugs and auras, her older sister Delilah, and her Uncle Frank’s ghost who appears to Delilah and Papa Sal. Additionally, former high school football star Tyler re-enters her life with a love-hate relationship. There are also a lot of suspects Quinn has to interview to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Southern Discomfort was a satisfactory read but not as well written as the one other book by Caroline Fardig that I have read from a different series. I would be willing to read the next book in the series, but the extent of the paranormal in the next book will determine further readings in this series.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Random House (Alibi) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #1 in the Southern B&B Mystery Series.
2. There are some paranormal elements that I found more amusing than offensive.
3. A few delicious sounding recipes are included at the end of the book.
Publication: March 6, 2018—Random House (Alibi)
Memorable Lines:
Well, I’d had a fleeting moment of calm, thinking it might not be so bad to tell my sad story to my old friend Rufus. But with Detective Angrypants staring me down, my nerves frazzled again.
I’d always thought culinary reviewers were highfalutin foodies who savored their food morsel by morsel so as to taste every note and nuance of whatever they were eating. This guy was a inhaling his food. There was a no way he was savoring anything at that pace.
Her words stung me and brought tears to my eyes. Why did she have to be so stinking mean all the time? It was like I was back in high school again, getting picked on by the cool kids.
education pathways 