Tag: ashland oregon

Laying Down the Latte review

Tari Hann

This is the 21st book in the long-running Bakeshop Mysteries by Ellie Alexander, and it’s definitely  a good one featuring a trip to Costa Rica that Jules and Carlos wanted to make sure Andy got to go on with them. Poor guy had no idea what was in store, but neither did they as murder and mayhem was afoot.

#NetGalley #St.MartinPaperbacks #MinotaurBooks #EllieAlexander

My Goodreads review:

Laying Down the Latte (A Bakeshop Mystery, #21)Laying Down the Latte by Ellie Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was fun reading about Jules, Carlos and Andy being in Costa Rica and even cooler when I read Ellie Alexander’s newsletter the same day telling how she’d gone there last year. I figured she must’ve been there at some point since the coffee facts and everything was described like someone who’d actually seen all this firsthand. Obviously except for the murder, lol.

Jules found herself investigating a murder even while on vacation and getting a little help/encouragement from back home from her mom and Lance. Lance was a hoot without even being there while he was energetically searching for a wedding venue for him and Arlo, and bouncing ideas off Jules probably the same way he was bouncing on caffeine.

My final guess for the killer was right (after a couple fails and my suspects didn’t pan out), and it was awesome what Jules did to said killer. The ending was filled with food and fellowship as everyone was now at home celebrated Andy’s trip to Costa Rica with Jules and Carlos and their safe return. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by St. Martin/Minotaur Books via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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A Smoking Bun review

Tari Hann

This is the eighteenth book in the long-running Bakeshop Mysteries by Ellie Alexander who’s no stranger to the Ashland area which is why it’s described so well and vividly in her books. Jules and her friends/family are gonna steal your heart no matter where you start in the series. I always recommend the beginning, but I’ve broken that little guideline by not being able to resist these when they come up on NetGalley, so yeah, I’ve got a little catching up to do but it’s all good!

#NetGalley #StMartinsPaperbacks #EllieAlexander

My Goodreads review:

A Smoking Bun (A Bakeshop Mystery, #18)A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a wild case and I always love it when Jules and Lance go sleuthing together. If anything, he’s probably the best dressed sleuth around, lol. He’s not all show and stage though since sometimes he did have some valuable intel to share or ideas to sleuth out.

I wasn’t ever really sure until the actual reveal of whodunit and there were some great scenes working up to that. I loved the final scene with everyone who loved the ski lodge gathered together for food and fellowship. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next in Ashland!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book, and my opinions are my own.

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Meet Your Baker–review

Tari Hann

This is the first book in the long-running Bakeshop series by the talented Ellie Alexander who also writes as Kate Dyer-Seeley. I’ve enjoyed her other series as herself and two as Kate, so I figured it was high time I got started on this one seeing how I’ve been collecting the paperbacks for about a year or more. I was definitely not disappointed, and if this book is any indication, I know I’m going to love the rest of the series!

My Goodreads review:

Meet Your Baker (A Bakeshop Mystery, #1)Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can’t believe it took me this long to start this series! I love the author’s other series, Sloan Krause, and the series she writes under her pen name. Now I know why everyone loves this one!

Jules Capshaw came home to her Shakespeare themed town with a broken heart. She’d left the chef she was married to on a cruise ship where she was a pastry chef. Now she had to adjust to life on solidi ground for one thing, and soon she’d have a murder case she was busy investigating, somewhat with the go-ahead from her former high school boyfriend, now Deputy Thomas Adams. After a heart-stopping showdown with the killer, that person was safely hauled off and everything was solved.

It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the regular characters! Jules was a pretty strong lady for dealing with the complicated personal life she had right now. I really liked her mom a lot and thought the two had a fairly decent relationship, which grew even better as the book went on. I can only hope that she can ditch her former guy sometime and start over with Thomas–I’m probably dreaming, lol. I loved the detective in this book! He was so different from any other that I’ve read about so far. Doug aka the Professor was super nice, but very into Shakespeare, so he’d toss out a Shakespeare quote instead of answering Jules about the investigation or giving the always-heard, “I can’t talk about that.” Shakespeare quotes made it easier to take? Maybe lol.

I didn’t guess the killer and what a cool twist that was! I loved how things worked out with Torte and its employees–they even gained a new worker. After reading a little preview of the next book that came at the end, I’m anxious to read it! The recipes at the end sounded so yummy–I’d love to try that raspberry danish one.

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