Author's guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2018/12/foodfic-please-welcome-gayle-trent.html

The wedding of Daphne Martin and Ben Jacobs is only a few weeks away and they couldn't be happier. Daphne is busy deciding how to design their wedding cake while still making cakes for her local customers and the grocery store. Daphne's niece and nephew are excited about being asked to be in the wedding party and her brother-in-law is handling Ben's bachelor party. Everything is going along smoothly until Todd Daphne's ex-husband shows up to profess his undying love for her. Daphne tries as hard as she can to make Todd leave town but he keeps hanging around to reconnect with those towns people he used to know. When Todd is found murdered, Daphne and Ben find themselves in the center of the of the investigation, while being the prime suspects. Now they have to track down the killer before Daphne is the next victim.

The book has a well plotted story line that captures the readers attention. The author perfectly blends humor, mystery, and murder into a great read. It was nice to see Daphne move forward with her relationship with Ben by putting her problems with Todd in the past where they belong. I wish there were more books in this series. I would like to to see what happens with the newlyweds and the other residents of Brea Ridge. ( )

I’ve read several of The Embroidery Shop Mystery books under this author’s pseudonym of Amanda Lee and really enjoyed them. So I couldn’t pass up a chance to try this series too.

I felt for Daphne. Her wedding to the man of her dreams is only weeks away. She’s an award-winning cake decorator and has lots of orders to fill. On top of that she has a lot of last minute issues to take care of before the big day.

What she doesn’t need is a surprise visit from her ex-husband, Todd. After seven years in prison for shooting at her, he surprises her at her doorstep, professing his undying love and begging for a second chance. He hustles her inside her house and when she sees her chance, she rushes out and over to the neighbors to call the police.

Upon their arrival, Todd is gone and the police do what they can, getting her a temporary restraining order and making sure she gets to a safe place for the night.

Worried he might come back, she’s stunned when the police come to her door, telling her they found Todd dead in his hotel room.

Why did Todd wait months after his release from prison to come to her door? Who wanted him dead? Was she next? Daphne needs answers quick or she just might be the next dead body found.

This was a super fast read for me. The author gave me so many fun characters to love. I’d like to share something about all of them with you, but that would take a lot of words. Young and old. Friend, neighbor, or family. All of them don’t hesitate to jump in and help Daphne with her wedding and the investigation.

There’s more than one murder and I had Todd’s figured out rather easily. What I didn’t see coming was who was behind all of it. The author was sparing with her clues and it came as a surprise.

I wish I could say what hooked me the most, but not being a writer, I’m stumbling here. Everything worked to keep me reading one more page, one more chapter, until I reached the end.

While this is the fifth book in the series, you don’t have to have read the other books to enjoy this one. It reads well as a stand alone.

Make sure you check out the recipes too. Some delicious ones. ( )