Connie Shelton

I read this book during the final hours of the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon. I won a copy of it. It is part of a series, (I believe this is the 11th in the series). I have not read the series or anything else by this author.

Sam, married to Sheriff Beau, runs a successful sweet shop. In this book, she is looking to expand her shop. Her business has grown quite a bit and they are tripping over each other. She locates a wonderful Victorian home that her friend's husband can easily remodel to a small candy factory. During the reading of this book, I learned Sam uses a small bit of magic in her chocolate and that she has a magical box. Beau becomes embroiled in solving a robbery after a bag of found money is turned into him.

I truly enjoyed this book. The last part of the readathon was difficult. I was incredibly tired. It takes a strong book to keep you reading at that point. Once I started reading this book, I became invested and did not want to stop reading. I did figure out who was involved in the robbery fairly easily. Instead of being disappointed by that, I became intrigued to see how it would play out. I liked the characters. It did not take me long to feel at home with them. These two points are important because a lot of readers fall into a series out of order. I was able to enjoy this book as a stand alone though I now want to go back to the start and read them in order. I am curious about things in the past as much as wanting to see where the story goes in the future. Definite sign of a writer who knows how to write a series. A few of the characters are teens. I fell in love with one of them. I know her part is done but that storyline was so touching that I hope we get a glimpse of Sara and find out a bit how things turn out for her and her family in the future. Another character I loved was Bobul. He is a recurring character so I will definitely need to go back to see how he came into Sam's life. I am positive that is an interesting story.

For those who want to know. There is some cursing in this book and violence/threats of in this book. I thought both were mild. I can't recall any steamy, explicit sex scenes just as there was no graphic violence. There is a magical take on this so if you are offended by that, this isn't a series for you.

I would recommend this series to cozy mystery lovers. While I read, and loved, this book out of order, I would say it probably is best read in order. However, if like me, you never read this author and just happen to have this book, go ahead and read it. I was made curious about earlier books but it really had no impact on my enjoyment of this one.


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