Mel and Angie would normally never provide cupcakes for a
beauty pageant, but Mel's mother asks them to as a special
favor. They just can't say no. Plus, there is the added
benefit of the additional publicity.
Everything is going along great. Their friend, Lupe, has
been roped into being a contestant. Lupe is a beautiful
young woman, but she feels uncomfortable with that fact and
does her best to hide it from the world. Only the
scholarship draws her into competing, and then Lupe gets
into an argument with another contestant and her mother. One
of the judges is out to get her as well. When the judge is
found dead, the police focus on Lupe as the most likely
suspect. Mel and Angie know she couldn't have done it and
they start their own investigation.
Once again, Mel and Angie will find themselves in danger as
their need to know overcomes common sense. When someone
throws a brick through the bakery window and Mel is injured,
she will come to realize that Joe means more to her than she
knew. The person throwing the brick doesn't realize that
threats don't sit well with Mel and Angie. They just make
them more determined.
Besides the delicious recipes, Jenn McKinlay delivers a top
notch story in SUGAR AND ICED. Her characters become like
friends, no matter which series you are reading. Mel and
Angie together make an unbeatable pair. SUGAR AND ICED fits
in nicely with the rest of the Cupcake Bakery
Mysteries.
Normally Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura wouldn’t be caught dead at a beauty pageant, but when Mel’s mom asks them to provide cupcakes for the seventy-fifth annual Sweet Tiara contest as a favor for her best friend, they can’t say no. Plus, between cooking up a daily display for the three-day event and sponsoring a cupcake creation challenge for the participants, Fairy Tale Cupcakes will get great publicity. But the world of pageants is even hotter than Mel’s kitchen. A high-strung judge and a pushy stage mom target Lupe, a young friend of Mel and Angie’s, at the competition and aim to take her out—by any means necessary. When the same judge shows up dead underneath Mel and Angie’s cupcake display, Lupe is crowned the lead suspect. Now Mel and Angie will have to find the real killer quickly or Lupe may be strutting the catwalk in prison pinstripes…