Hard Dough Homicide Book Review

 

Hard Dough Homicide

A Spice Isle Bakery Mystery

By: Olivia Matthews

Publish Date: May 23, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Paperbacks

Mystery and Thrillers

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it took me so long. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This is the second book in a three-book series. I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. I would suggest that you read the first book before you read this book because there is a lot of reference's that you will need to know before.

In this book Lyndsay has reopened her bakery, and the customers are coming in which is good news since the closing of the bakery a few months earlier. They are looking into starting a catering business. For her first client she has agreed to host a retirement party for the principal of her mom's old school that she use to work at. The principal is a tyrant, and no one is able to get along with even Lyndsy's mom. 

The night of the retirement just before everyone is able to take a bite from the main course the principal starts to convulse and soon dies at the hospital. this is not good news for the bakery and Lyndsay's mom because the police of course get involved. Also, the newspaper doesn't help because it lists the bakery as the place of death even the principal didn't die there.

Come to find out the death wasn't caused by the bakery and they are not at fault, but the police are still looking into Lyndsay's as a suspect because of their history. This leads Lyndsay to investigate on her own to find the killer.

Also in the book is the fact that one of the officers is really into Lyndsay and wants to date her but she refuses until they release her mom as a suspect. This makes some interesting reading when you read the banter between the two.

Does Lyndsay find the killer? Will the police officer and Lyndsay get together? You will have to read the book to find out. 

The Cold Case and the Corpse Book Review

 

The Cold Case and the Corpse

By: Debra Sennefelder

Publish Date: December 9, 2025

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Cooking, Food and wine/mystery and thriller

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I gave this book 4 stars. If you like food and mystery this is the book for you. You get both for the price of one. In this book Hope is a food blogger and is just about to publish her first cookbook. To help her to get everything done she has subscribed to a life coach, and she is going to a retreat for the weekend for a life changing event. She has recruited a few friends to go with her. The day of the event the weather is horrible and not getting better as the day goes on. Hope is able to make it to the lodge before the weather gets any worse. The retreat is supposed to start around 6 pm. Unfortunately, Hope isn't too impressed with the coach and some of the other people are acting funny like they know who the coach is before they even met. As the event continues on the weather has turned into a blizzard and they have lost power, and a power line has been knocked down blocking the entrance to the lodge so even emergency crews will have a hard time. One of the guests has brought up a discovery about the coach and all hell breaks loose. Everyone wants to go home but aren't able because of the weather. They are hoping for a better day tomorrow, so decide to go to the library and relax. The problem is they can't find several members of the group, so they go searching. Hope ends up in the basement to check things out and she discovers the coach in the sauna which has been blocked by a beach. The coach is no longer alive of course. She has to tell everyone, so she goes back to the library to let people know. During this time Hope's fiancé is on the way and he has brought a police officer to clear the roads. It's a good thing because now they don't have to wait until morning to report the murder. As normal the main character is an amateur sleuth and gets her nose into things that shouldn't be. Does she figure out who killed the coach and why? Well, you have to read the book to find out.

True Crime Story Book Review

 

True Crime Story

A Novel

By: Joseph Knox

Publish Date: December 7, 2021

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark/Sourcebooks Landmark

Mysteries and Thrillers

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it has taken me so long to do so. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This book is a true crime story that has taken place in England in 2011. I gave this book 4 stars.

The book is written in interview style and emails. I like how the author has who is talking at the moment and the emails between himself and the original person who started the idea of the book. There are photos and news article as well. The author gives credit to the person who started this book project.

In this book the author takes through the before during and after the disappearance of Zoe Nolan. He also goes through how he really wasn't interested in the doing the story until his friend started sending him emails for him to read and give his opinion. As he got invested, he gave ideas and possible areas to look into. 

The book goes into details about Zoe's life, and you feel for her and can see what she was thinking and feeling at the time. You are invested, in her life and want to find out what happened to her. 

I won't tell you if they out what happened to her or not because that would be a spoiler and you should read the book.

Side notes if you listen to the audio, they don't give the name of who is talking so I recommend that you read along with the book.

Watch Us Fall Book Review

 

Watch Us Fall

By: Christina Kovac

Publish Date: December 2, 2025

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Mystery and Thrillers/Women's Fiction

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. To be honest I thought this book would be a cozy mystery boy was I wrong. This book is set in Washington DC during winter.

In this book you have four college friends who have been out of school for a little over a year. They all have jobs but only one has her dream job. Addie has her dream job of working at the American History Museum. Lucy is the narrator of the story. Pen is working at a clinic trying to get into med school. Eli is jumping from job to job. Addie has discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Josh has gone missing and she is worried, but this isn't normal for him. He has a high-profile job, and he is known for being on time. What could have happened to him. 

Josh discovers that Lucy isn't telling the truth about herself as he was trying to surprise Addie with a special gift. He confronts her but she doesn't reveal the full truth to him. He then tells Addie, and she doesn't believe him. This causes the break-up because he gets a little violent which scares her.

Addie is attacked during one of her runs and Lucy helps her get herself back together. The police show up at this time to ask about Josh and where he is. They are just looking for him know he hasn't been reported as missing yet but it will be soon.

Lucy helps by looking into the internet through her job because she knows Addie is worried and still has feelings for him. It hasn't been that long ago that they broke up. things are not what they seem to be because things are discovered that have been hidden.

Will Josh be found or is he gone forever and never to be found. You will have to read the book to find out.

I like how the chapters are laid out for the reader to follow.

Lights Out Book Review

 

Lights Out 

By: Natalie Walters

Publish Date: November 2, 2021

Publisher: Reveil

Christian Fiction

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I would like to thank both Reveil and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it took me so long. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I am glad to say that I really enjoyed this book. I gave it 4 stars. I liked the way the characters got along even though two of them had a history that wasn't great. I liked that the book was clean of foul language and sexual exploits. It was a great change.

In this book Brynn is working with an ex to figure out if one of her candidates is involved in terrorist plans. They learn somethings that wasn't even on their minds. They also learn to work together even though they have bad feelings towards each other or do they. The team works hard to uncover plans that are well hidden and come up with some unexpected events along the way. You learn quite a lot about Brynn and Jack's past both together and separate.   This is the first book in a trilogy, and I can't wait to read the other two books.

Christopher Hawkins and His Daring Escapes Book Review

 

Christopher Hawkins and His Daring Escapes (Young Readers Edition)

A Revolutionary War Novel

By: Jeanne Brownlee Becijos

Publish Date: December 9, 2025

Publisher: Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op

Children's Fiction/ Historical Fiction/ Middle Grade

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I would like to thank Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I so enjoy a book the revolutionary war. It doesn't matter to me if it is for young readers or for my age. I like to read stories so that I can understand the war the better and sometimes it is easier to take in when it is geared to the younger crowd. I gave this book 4 stars. I think the children will enjoy reading this story and feeling what Christopher felt towards this new beginning. I also like how the author put her heart into the story and then gave use the back story on why she wrote it.

In this book Christopher wants to be a sailor and to fight the King and his mean. He wants to be free not only in his real but from the crown. He is young but full of love for his new country and his family. He is able to escape several times due to his own wits or from the help of others. Along the way he learns things about himself.

I highly recommend this book not only for the younger people but also for the adults and it would be great if the adults would read along with their children to have a great discussion.

Artifacts of An Ex Book Review

 

Artifacts of An Ex

By: Jennifer Chen

Publish Date: November 14, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books

Teens and YA

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This was a cute book. I enjoyed it and gave it 4 stars. This is about a young lady who has moved from New York with her parents to live in LA to help take care of her grandma. They run a bakery that the grandma used to run but is no longer able to do so. Chloe, the young lady, boyfriend has broken up with her by sending her a box with her stuff back with note stating he can't do a long-distance relationship. She is heartbroken and is about to throw away the box, but a school friend runs into, and they get to talking which gives Chloe an idea. The idea is to have an exhibit with other boxes about break ups. She is able to get a few boxes, and the exhibit does well, not great but good enough. Chloe thinks she is a failure because it doesn't go well. At the exhibit she meets another young man and at first, they don't get along because he isn't following the rules of the exhibit because he is filming and that isn't allowed. They do end up working together to make the next exhibit better. Along the way Chloe starts to have feelings for him, but he only wants to be friends because he doesn't want to be the rebound guy. They both have things they need to get over and work through. Do they end up together well you will have to read the book.