Oh My God! Someone Just Tried To Kill Me! Think I'll Whip Up A Batch of Cookies

I finally finished Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson. Her Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery Series is one I've enjoyed for many years. However, the quality of these books has been on a rollercoaster ride. Some of them are pretty good. Some of them are not. This was the worst I've read. There were way too many characters, too many storylines, and too many absolutely ridiculous events. Goldy's TSTL moments were out of control. No one thought is was weird having one of the main murder suspects stay at the primary investigator's house? Goldy's son almost kills a guy, is holding a bloody weapon, and Goldy pretty much ignores him and starts baking? Hee hee! There are no transitions here between the murder plot and the cooking. One moment, Goldy is bloody and unconscious, the next she's whipping up a coffee cake. The best part of this book? The recipes at the end. Natty and I are going to make the Crunch Time Cookies this week.

Grade: C- or less (cringe)

This is my kids' week of winter break. I have a huge TBR pile for books. Let's see how many I get to!

* In the Flesh by Julia Barrett! (yay, Julia!)
* Prince Charming, Inc. by Jamie Brazil
* Prince of Hearts by Katy Cooper
* Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox
* Touch of a Rogue by Mia Marlowe

Hope everyone has a wonderful week,
Penelope

Tasty Mysteries and Hilarious Vamps: My Weekend

Here's my quickie weekend reading update. I realized recently that my long reviews turned into short reviews, which turned into one sentence summaries. Pretty soon I'll be writing in shorthand. Trying to get 40,000 words written in one month while still maintaining my regular reading schedule is getting tough. Needless to say, my kitchen is a mess and I can't see my husband past the pile of laundry on my bed!

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson (#15 of the Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery Series)

Before I became addicted to romance novels, I was addicted to mysteries. This series is right up my alley....no blood and guts, lots of humor, a cute curly haired heroine married to a big cuddly teddy bear-police officer, and a smidge of romance thrown in for good measure. Because the heroine is a caterer, there are recipes included in every book (love it!). Fatally Flaky was a fun addition to this series. I like the fact that Goldy has finally gotten some self-confidence after all these years. And, I can't wait to try the Nutcase Cranberry-Apricot Bread. Grade: B+

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper

Oh. My. God. I thought I had hit my limit with first person snarky vampire heroines, but evidently I was wrong. I loved this book. Loved. Loved. Loved. There are so many excellent one-liners in this book, I don't even know where to begin. I could not stop laughing out loud. Harper has done a fabulous job with the humor, pacing and hilarious characters in this story. Here is one of my favorite snippets...

"If you want to hurt me, fine. Take my books. Burn down my house. Shave my head while I'm sleeping. But nobody, nobody screws with my dog."

Hee hee hee. I couldn't agree more! Grade: A

Penelope