small town alabama – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Five Belles Too Many review

June 21, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the fifth book in the Sarah Blair Mysteries by Debra H. Goldstein. While the story being a reality show set wasn’t a favorite of mine, I did like the very last part probably best of all the books. I’ve followed the series from the beginning, and Sarah’s definitely come a long way, and she’s even respected enough by Officer Robinson that he had her helping out a little when the murder happened. I just wish she’d see the great guy right in front of her instead of needing a diversion (who thankfully wasn’t in the book lol.)

#KensingtonCozies #DebraHGoldstein

My Goodreads review:

Five Belles Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though I wasn’t crazy about the reality show theme of this book, it was a still a good mystery with all the usual Jane drama and Maybelle thrown in for a little comic relief. I’m just not a reality show fan, so this won’t be up there as a favorite from the series or anything.

I did enjoy the idea of Cliff being in the book and not Glenn. I’ve been Team Cliff since the beginning and sometimes I’d like to pound a little sense into Sarah for pulling away from him. But maybe the author might surprise us and get them back together, at least I hope so! They had some good scenes together, so that made me a little hopeful! The author did a great job of making readers miss Sarah’s cute pets as much as Sarah herself did since they weren’t allowed to be anywhere near the show set.

I wasn’t really sure whodunit and followed along until I had some suspicions as more information was available. The showdown was tense, but the cavalry came through. And the ending was just the sweetest ever! I absolutely loved what happened.

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

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Four Cuts Too Many review

May 25, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in the Sarah Blair series by Debra H. Goldstein. I just love Sarah’s cat RahRah and her rescue dog Fluffy. Fluffy belonged to Cliff’s uncle, her old neighbor across the street, George Rogers. Until he went into assisted living, that is. But he was doing really well at the assisted living place, especially now that he and Sarah’s mom seemed to be an item–even though Maybelle probably wouldn’t admit it, lol.

My Goodreads review:

Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Between paying attention to what Southwind nemesis Jane was up to and investigating a murder that Chief Gerard seemed satisfied to pin on Emily’s sous chef, Sarah was kept hopping this time. I love how cute her mom and George Rogers have become together. As I said after the last book, if someone told me in the first book or two that I’d end up liking Maybelle’s character, I would have thought they were nuts, lol. But she and George are two of my faves now. I like Grace’s character a lot too, so I was really pulling for her, and I knew as Sarah did that Grace wouldn’t kill anyone. Now Jane…if she ever turned up as a victim or the killer, I would never be heartbroken, lol. The turmoil she can cause for Sarah and her sister is just endless. The author did an excellent job of creating someone detestable, that’s for sure.

The showdown was pretty scary, and I hadn’t really guessed the killer until Sarah did. I wanted to shake Sarah for even going alone, but her heart was in the right place, since she heard someone vulnerable was with the killer. Sarah’s heart for others is gold, but she really needs to start thinking of her own safety once in awhile. It’s been so weird between her and Cliff and hard to tell where they were going in their relationship or if they either one even wanted said relationship. But I think they’ve ironed things out now in a good way.

It was great how the ending told all the little details of the wrap-up. Harlan is one of the kindest and most generous characters in any of the books I’ve read, and this book was no exception. He never does these good things for personal gain either, and I love that about him. You’ll see what I mean when you read the book. I’m eager to see what adventures face the crew of Southwind next.

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

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Two Bites Too Many review

September 24, 2019 Tari Hann

Today marked the release of quite a few cozy mysteries including this book which is the second in the Sarah Blair series by Debra H. Goldstein. I enjoyed getting to know Sarah, a complete failure in the kitchen and her twin sister Emily, an accomplished chef in the first book. This one continued about four months after the first story ended. I loved the addition of another pet and the fundraiser for the animal shelter in this story. Harlan seemed a little more open with his feelings toward Sarah, and I think she realized that maybe he likes her more than just a boss. If it comes to that, I’ll be Team Harlan.

I would really recommend reading the first book before diving into this one just to get an idea of the backstory and what all happened the last time. The author does a great job of keeping everything nice and secret as far as spoilers from the first book, and there is a good amount of explanation given for the characters that it could be read alone. But I always like to recommend starting at the first book. (Sometimes I don’t take my own advice if I grab a book #4 that looks interesting from NetGalley, but now I’m trying to curb that.) 😉

My Goodreads review:

Two Bites Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this second book for this newer series, maybe even more than the first book. Readers got to know Sarah and Emily’s mom, Maybelle, a lot better, especially since she was the prime suspect in the murder of the bank president she’d just argued with. There was a little more about George Rogers’ life in this book too, and how he’d been taken in by a sweet little white fuzzy dog. Despite everyone’s warnings, Sarah wouldn’t back down for a minute when it came to defending her mom and sister. She was worried that Emily had gotten into a bad deal with a hotel owner who promised her the moon, but Sarah smelled a rat, and it wasn’t the rat she’d been married to either.

Even though I had my eye on someone from the get-go as the killer, it actually turned out to be someone else. The original person wasn’t without guilt though, so at least that person was taken care of in the end. Sarah found herself with a fuzzy white boarder named Fluffy eventually while her neighbor recovered from an accident. The killer showdown and the last chapter summed everything up very neatly, and now I’m excited to see how Marcus and Emily’s new place will succeed. I was proud of Maybelle for seeming more like a normal person in this book and actually being sympathetic to Sarah’s neighbor.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher, and my opinions are my own.

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One Taste Too Many–review

March 15, 2019March 15, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the very first book in a new series that came out last December, Sarah Blair series by Debra H. Goldstein. I liked the different twist on sleuth and best friend. In this book, it’s twin sisters, Sarah, who married at 18 and divorced at 28; Emily, who went to CIA to become a chef due to her cooking talents. They weren’t alike in their talents, because Sarah barely got by cooking, but she was able to joke about it and it gave Emily something to do when she’d crash at her house. I can’t wait for the second book in September!

My Goodreads review:

One Taste Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this first book in a new series, so many cool twists and possible suspects! I definitely had the wrong person pegged as the killer and never saw it coming until the reveal. This book was so good that it had me doubting some people that I probably should trust. I loved that Sarah (like me) was a Perry Mason fan and based some of her sleuthing on what would Perry or Paul do, lol.

Sarah and her twin Emily were different as night and day when it came to personality and talents. But at least Sarah got to pinch-hit for Emily (who was main person of interest in the murder of her ex brother-in-law) by doing a pretty funny stand-up telling about recipes that the cooking-challenged in the world like to use.

If Bill hadn’t been dead from the get-go, he’d have been on my list of people I hoped would be offed. The author did a great job of painting him as real jerk. The other person mentioned who was already dead was actually a favorite character if that’s possible, Bill’s mom aka Mother Blair. Sarah talked about her so much and the great relationship they’d had, it was almost like she was right there. She’d originally adopted RahRah and when she died, she wanted her beloved cat to go to Sarah.

As far as living characters go, I liked Harlan a lot. He was such a nice boss and incredibly patient with Sarah and all the running off she seemed to do because of helping at the Food Expo. He was just a decent human being, since he was helping a cooking student as well as doing pro bono work without complaining. I’m kind of hoping there’s a future for Sarah and Harlan along the way as something more than boss and employee. Emily was a fun, free spirit and a seriously talented chef with great people skills. It was cool how each twin sister had her own separate qualities that made up their duo–I got a kick out of hearing some of their escapades as kids. I’m really anxious to read the next installment when it releases in September!

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