The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
randombookgrl's review against another edition
5.0
First book of the series, first time Iāve ever read anything by this author, and I absolutely loved it!
The characters are adorable (well, with the exception of a few, including the murder victim!). While I canāt imagine running a bakery- or any business- with my best friend, the relationship between Sally and her bestie, Josie, comes through as authentic and wonderful. Side characters such as Sallyās family (quirky, to say the least!) and a couple of the bakery patrons were wonderfully drawn and left me wanting to see more of them. Oh, and going back to relationships, the love triangle that develops between Sally, her high school sweetheart Mike, and āOfficer Hottieā Brian leaves the story on a cliffhanger that that I now have to grab the next book of the series to find out who Sally choosesā¦
Of course, Iād be grabbing that next book anyways. The mystery itself I found to be well-done. Yes, I thought I had it figured out, but I was not expecting what was actually revealed! Definite kudos for that little twist!
And finally, no culinary cozy would be complete without some recipes. Of course there are cookie recipes, but two of Grandma Rosaās recipes are also included. I donāt know if I can match this Italian grandmotherās cooking, but I think Iām going to have to try that cheesecake recipe...oh yum!
The characters are adorable (well, with the exception of a few, including the murder victim!). While I canāt imagine running a bakery- or any business- with my best friend, the relationship between Sally and her bestie, Josie, comes through as authentic and wonderful. Side characters such as Sallyās family (quirky, to say the least!) and a couple of the bakery patrons were wonderfully drawn and left me wanting to see more of them. Oh, and going back to relationships, the love triangle that develops between Sally, her high school sweetheart Mike, and āOfficer Hottieā Brian leaves the story on a cliffhanger that that I now have to grab the next book of the series to find out who Sally choosesā¦
Of course, Iād be grabbing that next book anyways. The mystery itself I found to be well-done. Yes, I thought I had it figured out, but I was not expecting what was actually revealed! Definite kudos for that little twist!
And finally, no culinary cozy would be complete without some recipes. Of course there are cookie recipes, but two of Grandma Rosaās recipes are also included. I donāt know if I can match this Italian grandmotherās cooking, but I think Iām going to have to try that cheesecake recipe...oh yum!
rincondejoss's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book of my own free will, for an honest review.
And it was so thrilling, I suspected everyone obviously not the ones responsible as always, I liked that it made you think and hard and it was pretty cool since it was pretty relaxed too at times and funny. I loved Josie she was so sassy and poor Sal she was too good but was so hurt too, hopefully she will find her happily ever after at the end.
the narrator was pretty good she immersed me in the book and her voices were so accurate for everyone, that's a keeper narrator right there.
the ending recipes were so cool, now I can do some food and impress everyone at my house since it had from cookies to italiab cuisine, liked that detail on the book.
And it was so thrilling, I suspected everyone obviously not the ones responsible as always, I liked that it made you think and hard and it was pretty cool since it was pretty relaxed too at times and funny. I loved Josie she was so sassy and poor Sal she was too good but was so hurt too, hopefully she will find her happily ever after at the end.
the narrator was pretty good she immersed me in the book and her voices were so accurate for everyone, that's a keeper narrator right there.
the ending recipes were so cool, now I can do some food and impress everyone at my house since it had from cookies to italiab cuisine, liked that detail on the book.
mercyblue's review against another edition
3.0
Star rating: 3 Stars
Sally Muccio is finally making her dreams come true by opening her brand new cookie shop, Sally's Samples, with her best friend Josie. But when the worst happens and the most disliked woman in town is found dead outside of her shop, Sally will have to use all of her wits to find out who the killer is before she gets thrown in jail.
I had a lot of ups and downs with this novel. While I found the writing solid and the book relatively well written, the characters were all over the place. Some of the characters I liked include; Josie, Brian, Mike and Grandma Rosa. Some of those I didn't like: Basically everybody else. Sally is a complete doormat. She's unwilling to be unkind to somebody even after they've called her a bitch. One of the characters calls her a bitch in her own shop and she does absolutely nothing about it. At least ban her from your place if she's going to be so nasty! What does one review matter when the person obviously hates you anyway!? I just couldn't understand her character. Her parents were written in the same vein as Stephanie Plum and that was a tad grating. The love triangle that Catherine Bruns introduces to the novel is irritating mainly due to the fact that it became impossible to choose who I liked more: Mike or Brian. In the end though I knew exactly who she was going to choose, it wasn't a very hard guess. What also wasn't a very hard guess was who the murderer was. That's another reason why I moved this novel down from a higher rating. It became crystal clear a little too quickly who could have done it. I probably won't continue on with this series, mainly because I have other better things to read.
Sally Muccio is finally making her dreams come true by opening her brand new cookie shop, Sally's Samples, with her best friend Josie. But when the worst happens and the most disliked woman in town is found dead outside of her shop, Sally will have to use all of her wits to find out who the killer is before she gets thrown in jail.
I had a lot of ups and downs with this novel. While I found the writing solid and the book relatively well written, the characters were all over the place. Some of the characters I liked include; Josie, Brian, Mike and Grandma Rosa. Some of those I didn't like: Basically everybody else. Sally is a complete doormat. She's unwilling to be unkind to somebody even after they've called her a bitch. One of the characters calls her a bitch in her own shop and she does absolutely nothing about it. At least ban her from your place if she's going to be so nasty! What does one review matter when the person obviously hates you anyway!? I just couldn't understand her character. Her parents were written in the same vein as Stephanie Plum and that was a tad grating. The love triangle that Catherine Bruns introduces to the novel is irritating mainly due to the fact that it became impossible to choose who I liked more: Mike or Brian. In the end though I knew exactly who she was going to choose, it wasn't a very hard guess. What also wasn't a very hard guess was who the murderer was. That's another reason why I moved this novel down from a higher rating. It became crystal clear a little too quickly who could have done it. I probably won't continue on with this series, mainly because I have other better things to read.
mystereity's review against another edition
A big, fat, resounding nope, I managed to get through 21% and gave up. As if it wasn't bad enough that the author managed to put down the Buffalo area by labeling it as, "bitter cold for most of the year" (it's not.) but the whining got old very quickly. Yeah, I get it, your husband cheated on you with the town bitch and you're a klutzy, chubby Italian girl that melts everyone's heart. But reiterating that on every damn page makes for a crap book. As if that wasn't bad enough, all of her friends and family constantly gave her pained looks and sympathetic pats because life is soooooo terrible because said no-good-louse-of-a-cheating-husband is a no good louse of a cheating husband and well, you get the point. Unfortunately, it was the town bitch who got bumped off. I'm surprised no one thought to poison the MC's cookies. (No, that's not a euphemism.)
DNF, zero stars and a PLUNK as it lands in the trash basket. If I could rate this lower than zero stars for mocking my beloved WNY, I would.
DNF, zero stars and a PLUNK as it lands in the trash basket. If I could rate this lower than zero stars for mocking my beloved WNY, I would.
mandcmom's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it! I had it figured out, but don't get cocky. There was a twist I didn't see coming.... and there is a cliffhanger with a subplot, but fortunately Book 2 is already available, so I'm moving on to see what happens to the gang next!
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