Against the Currant review

This is the first book in a brand new series by Olivia Matthews who’s known for her Sister Lou and Peach Coast Library cozy mysteries. If you want to take a peek at her actual picture and info, her main bio can be found at Patricia Sargeant. Unfortunately, the way the book listing was done on Goodreads, somehow the series name wasn’t included as a link, but Amazon’s showing the second book for this series which comes out in May. Here’s Hard Dough Homicide in its Amazon listing. I’m not an affiliate and this is just the product link.

#St.MartinsPaperbacks #OliviaMatthews

My Goodreads review:

Against the Currant: A Spice Isle Bakery MysteryAgainst the Currant: A Spice Isle Bakery Mystery by Olivia Matthews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved meeting Lyndsay and her big, awesome family. Her Granny just cracked me up–she was definitely my fave character! All the characters and descriptions really helped me feel like I was there in that section of Brooklyn even though I’ve never been shopping there. (My only quick Brooklyn experience included eating at Junior’s and seeing the house used for the exterior of Blue Bloods lol). Aside from the mean guy who was dead, most of these people were so amazing in how they protected each other and came together as family/good friends to support Lyndsay.

I was definitely surprised by the whodunit since I had someone else in mind all together. That was a great showdown and I was cheering the whole time as Lyndsay kicked some serious behind. She was more grateful than ever for the kickboxing she’d done since age thirteen. The ending was my favorite type with food, family and friends along with everything being explained completely. I’m eager to see what other kinds of adventures my new book friends come up with in the next book!

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

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A Tale of Two Cookies review

This is the third book in the Cookie House series that started in 2019 by Eve Calder who lives in Florida and does a fabulous job of describing her home state and all its awesomeness to readers. I fell in love with the setting and the characters from the very first book and am always glad when another book follows. Now I’m anxiously waiting for the next book which if it follows the current pattern will be probably next year at this time (but we can always hope for sooner!)

My Goodreads review:

A Tale of Two Cookies: A Cookie House MysteryA Tale of Two Cookies: A Cookie House Mystery by Eve Calder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A missing person mystery that’ll have readers guessing the whole time “Is this person dead or not?” It was an interesting case as Kate and her friends sleuthed along with Ben and the police. One of her good friends was in town and her fiance disappeared right before their wedding, so Kate felt like this woman had taken her under her wing in a previous career, and being the awesome friend Kate is, she didn’t want to let Desiree down. I really like all Kate’s friends (especially that fun and crazy Maxi!) and it’s so cool how Sam’s character changed for the better from the very first book. He always does a little something in each book to let Kate know he completely trusts her now.

I love how the whole town always works together during a case. The cookie lessons at the Cookie House turned into a sleuthing session or a session where Ben would give them the lowdown on the case progress. The perp was a very sneaky and convoluted planner that was for sure, but there were a lot of someones who were equally smart and able to figure things out. The showdown was great!

The very ending of the book was really good, because it did the complete wrap-up of anything that wasn’t explained along the way. I’m always looking forward to the next in this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own. This book releases tomorrow, April 27, 2021.

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