VANILLA BEANED is Book 8 in Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake
Bakery
Mystery
cozy series. VANILLA BEANED opens with friends
and cupcake bakery business partners Mel Cooper, Tate
Harper, and Angie DeLaura on their way to Las Vegas.
They're looking to open a second location for their shop
in Sin City. VANILLA BEANED has showgirls, shady
businessmen, quirky entertainment types, and a few
familiar faces to lighten the mood.
Mel's mixed feelings about franchising leads to some
snarky comments by her, but for me that makes her a
more flawed and relatable character. Although VANILLA
BEANED is told strictly from Mel's perspective, I love
that she is not the only one tracking down clues. Mel's
two besties and laughable, lovable baking crew provide
charming and crucial help to the investigation. Things
take a turn for the deadly almost as soon as Mel gets to
Vegas, so her friends and elements like the hotel full of
Elvis impersonators really balance out the more sinister
aspects of the story.
Jenn McKinlay keeps readers guessing in VANILLA BEANED.
When danger stalks Mel and potential franchisee Holly
Hartzmark, not only is the villain's identity a mystery,
but it's also not immediately clear who the target is.
This extra layer of mystery makes things more exciting.
The more I grew to like Holly over the course of the
book, the more emotionally invested I became in finding
out who the bad guy was. There are so many devious and
likely suspects to puzzle readers and throw them off
balance. Jenn McKinlay builds the suspense until fear and
the constant threat of attack from any direction is a
very tangible thing.
VANILLA BEANED takes all the glitzy, cheesy Las Vegas
goodness combines it with comical characters and wraps
it all around an intriguing mystery. My second book into
this series, and I'm addicted. Jenn McKinlay expertly
weaves entertaining characters and circumstances into the
plot while still keeping the focus on the mystery. I
can't wait for the next cupcake-fueled, very funny
mystery by Jenn McKinlay!
In the eighth in the New York Times bestselling series by
the author
of Dark Chocolate Demise, the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew goes
double or
nothing in Vegas...
Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are taking a gamble by
opening their
first franchise of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes Bakery, so where
better to
hit the jackpot than in Vegas? Business manager Tate Harper
has lined
up a meeting with Holly Hartzmark, a former showgirl who’s
looking to
bring Mel and Angie’s sweet treats to Sin City, but Mel
isn’t so sure
she’s ready to hand her recipes over to a complete
stranger—especially
one as brash as Holly.
But after the potential bakery location gets blown up, Mel
begins
seeing another side to Holly—one that reminds her very much of
herself. Determined to help a kindred spirit, Mel sets out
to discover
who is trying to keep the bakery from cashing in. But with a
murderous
mischief maker on the loose, the odds are stacking up
against a happy
ending for Mel and her friends...
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy