J A Whiting

Bereft of the silliness so often found in this cozy genre — and suggested by the cover — I found this to be a pleasant and very readable first entry in this series. I had picked this up quite some time ago, along with a later entry, and after finishing this one, I’m certain that the next time I want to read something light and friendly between more substantive reads, I’ll check out the other one I own.

Angie Roseland owns the Sweet Dreams Bake Shop in Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. Due to the building she’s been working out of being restructured, she’s about to be out on her ear, with no other place in the small town good for relocating. Because this is the first book in the series, we get to know a few of Angie’s regular customers, and some of the Sweet Cove residents who will most likely be ongoing characters in the series. These include a real estate gossip named Betty Hayes, Angie’s sixty-something employee Lisa, somewhat shifty attorney Jack Ford, the Williams brothers, who are the reason Angie’s shop is in limbo, Professor Linden, and Euclid, the professor’s orange and white cat who might be a little more…

When the professor drops dead, and it is discovered she was poisoned, it appears as though someone at the bake shop did it, casting suspicion on several people. But when it is learned that the professor left Angie her Victorian mansion, plus seventy-five grand for renovations, that dream come true for Angie and her three sisters points the finger of suspicion directly at Angie. Why does the attorney act so odd, and why does Angie like Josh Williams so much, while his brother seems to be anything but friendly? Not to worry, this is a very light cozy, so nothing too bad is going to happen to Angie or her sisters, and the murder is certain to be resolved somehow.

Angie’s sisters were fairly well defined in this; Courtney, Ellie and Jenna of varying ages and interests. Inheriting the Victorian in Sweet Cove so that they could all live together, while not getting in each other’s way, not to mention making a place for the Sweet Dreams Bake Shop to relocate, is a nice touch which promises to play out in future stories. There is a very soft — almost gossamer — paranormal element as Angie gradually realizes she has a heightened awareness about matters at hand, especially when she is near the Point, where her grandmother lived. By the end, the younger sister, Courtney, informs them that she has always been aware of it, having spoken to their nana about it. This was handled in a low-key way, and didn’t become silly or weird. In fact it is just another somewhat charming element to a nice cozy.

While the light mystery of who murdered the professor is solved, it is obvious more things will be revealed gradually as the series goes forward. Even the stuff with Euclid, who seems to know more than any cat should know, is handled nicely, suggesting this may have something to do with the sisters’ — though not all of them are aware of it yet — special intuition. In Angie’s case, that intuition, along with Euclid, saves her from joining the professor.

A breezy pace and a warmth far too many cozies are missing, make this one rank high for me, even if the mystery portion is very light indeed. This one was novella length, so I’ll have to see if the longer entries which follow it feel padded, but after reading this one, it will almost certainly be my next read when I’m in the mood for something of this nature. A warm and utterly charming light cozy highly recommended for fans of the genre.… (meer)

“If you want normal, Sis, you’re in the wrong family.” — Courtney to Jenna


This is the tenth entry in this warm and comfortable cozy mystery series, but only the second I’ve read. I began with the first entry, The Sweet Dreams Bake Shop, and really loved the beginning to the Sweet Cove series. Once I had the basic set-up, I decided to skip around and picked this one, frankly, because of the cover. It has turned out to be a little gem.

The first one set up the premise, as likable Angie Roseland inherited a Victorian mansion in Sweet Cove, Massachusetts, which allowed her to move her Sweet Dreams Bake Shop — the title of the first book — to a section of the home. It also allowed her three sisters, Courtney, Ellie and Jenna, to move in and live out their dreams. While the initial entry was almost gossamer on mystery, it hinted at a gift the sisters were only beginning to realize they possessed. They had inherited this gift from their Nana, which is more a special intuition about people and events than anything else. The paranormal aspect is very light and friendly, and it allows honey-blonde Angie and her sisters to aid Chief Martin when things happen in Sweet Cove.

Between the first entry and this one, a kindly Mr. Finch has become a part of the series, and in essence, a part of the family. He owns the candy store with Courtney in Sweet Cove, and also has an intuitive gift. Again, nothing about this aspect of the narrative is serious or too dark, just an enjoyable cozy-type aside. The gifted also includes two intuitive cats, Circe, and a big orange Maine, Coon cat named Euclid. Sometimes these intuitions can be annoying to the sisters, as Ellie, the most reluctant of the sisters to listen to it — or use it — makes clear:

“I know you’re trying to keep me from worrying, but we all know very well something is about to happen. This is how it starts. Someone gets a f e e l i n g. And then, off we go.”

And something has happened. Nana’s old friend Katrina — a friendly ghost who resides in Tom and Jenna’s house — has been trying to tell Jenna something, and it escalates to stealing a wedding necklace and hiding it in the house. Rachel Marstan has moved into Sweet Cove, but a dog refuses to go down a path in the woods, leading Chief Martin to enlist the sisters’ help in figuring out if there’s a paranormal reason for it. Soon a mummified body has been found in a garage. A real mystery which explains all those vibes Angie and Jenna have been getting. There are connected tentacles as the sisters and Chief Martin, along with Mr. Finch and the cats, attempt to discover just what happened there all so long ago, and how it connects with the present.

While all this is going on, Jenna and Tom are planning their wedding, and Josh, whom readers met in the first book, may want his romance with Angie to move forward. It’s all very nice and charming and friendly; in other words, exactly what you want in a cozy. The conclusion to the mystery is sudden but satisfying, with a tiny bit of action to satisfy the reader. It is well done, and the wedding is pulled off just as nicely by the author. This series is warm and friendly, a good palate cleanser between darker or grittier, more substantive reads. When you’d just like to spend a little time in a nice place, with some nice people, and not get into anything too deep, this series is terrific. It won’t blow you away, or rock your world, but it is enjoyable and nice in the best sense of both words.

Because of its novella length, it’s a lean, quick read. Sweet Vows & Promises is not without its charms, however, and it is remarkably bereft of all the eye-rolling fluff you so often get in this genre. I’ll definitely be going back and reading more of these. The nice cover on this one is actually a scene from the end of the book, and I rate this as top-drawer for this type of cozy novella. As a bonus, there are four recipes at the end, all from the Sweet Dreams Bake Shop. The reader gets recipes and directions for making chocolate caramel muffins, blueberry cobbler, vegetable lasagne, and macarons. A nice series in the soft cozy, mystery sub-genre.… (meer)

“Some people might think we’re kind of strange to believe that cats can be helpful finding clues to a murder.” — Courtney

“Not long ago, I was one of those people.” — Angie

“You know what? So was I.” — Courtney


This is the third book in the Sweet Cove mystery series I’ve enjoyed, having read the first one, then skipping forward to the tenth, both of which I really enjoyed. I decided to go back to the second, and read them in order when I’m in the mood. It is the continuing story of the Roseland sisters: Angie, her twin sister, Jenna, Courtney, and Ellie. In the inaugural entry, along with their cat, Euclid, the sisters helped solve a murder in the small town of Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. It seems the sisters, like their grandmother, have a certain gift, a supernatural intuitiveness, and a connection to places and things which allow them to perceive danger, both present and past. Their cat, Euclid, also has an uncanny gift. It’s very light where the supernatural element is concerned, however, nothing dark or unpleasant, as you might extrapolate from the covers of these warm cozy mysteries.

In the second entry, Angie is waiting on the deed to the Victorian house she inherited in the first entry, and the check for $75,000 which will allow them to start renovating. Angie is moving her Sweet Dreams Bake Shop into part of the Victorian, while her sisters have been able to move in with her, to pursue their own dreams. Ellie is still reluctant to embrace or explore her gift, as the other sisters, especially Angie, has begun to. Josh Williams is back in this one, and a romance is blooming with Angie. Tom is stopping by for coffee as often as possible to see Jenna. It’s all nice and sweet, and bereft of the over the top silliness so often found on the pages of similar series.

The series, in fact, is sort of a leaned out version of this sub-genre, retaining the sweetness, and a light, bloodless, easily solved mystery. It is refreshingly bereft of the eye-rolling moments so associated with this all too often mind-numbingly frivolous sub-genre. That’s not to say there is a meaty mystery here, or meat at all. But it’s unfair to apply the standards for a conventional mystery to these things, as too many readers do, in my opinion. They’re more a nice place to visit. When they’re good, as I think this one is, they’re populated by nice people we like visiting once in a while, and there is some sort of premise — here it’s the girls’ inherited gift — which coupled with the setting, make them as enjoyable as the covers suggest.

Ellie is dealing with the Foley’s allergy to cats in her first week having the B&B open, while Courtney has been working at the Candy shop for Thaddeus Finch, a cantankerous man who soon finds a knife — or rather it finds him. Chief Martin knew the girls’ grandmother, who had a reputation for helping police as far away as Boston, so he asks the girls to help by tagging along. Yeah, it’s like that, but you have to roll with it, because as previously stated, logic and reality are not what you’re looking for in the first place, when you’re reading a series where cats have an almost sixth sense, and a light dusting of the paranormal exists.

When Victor Finch arrives, he seems to be the opposite of his grumpy brother, and it turns out he has a bit in common with the sisters. There is some nice backstory concerning the recipe book his brother has which had made him a world class confectioner. There was also a violent incident between the brothers, and some business about some very valuable paintings. Angie’s baking skills, and what gets infused in them, provide a some very funny moments between the mystery solving. Robin’s Point comes into play again in the second entry, and the girls’ find a new cat who may also have some vague magical abilities. But what about Thaddeus Finch? Who wanted him dead and why?

There is some excitement involving a car trunk, and a rescue in the nick of time at the end before everything is solved. Angie’s suspicions about attorney Jack Ford from the first book take a detour, and promises that the series will now settle in, just as Angie and her sisters are settling into the Victorian and their respective futures. It’s a nice atmosphere, not overdone, with a little romance, also not overdone. A very light mystery in a very charming setting. I enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to tackling the third at some point. The Sweet Cove Mysteries are quick, easy reads and make a nice break from meatier books. When a book is attempting to fill a certain niche, and succeeds as well as this, it ranks high for me. As long as you know what you’re getting into, and know what not to expect, these are really pleasant and tremendously enjoyable. A nice niche filled to near perfection.… (meer)