Life is sweet and business is booming at the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery–and the fact that Mel and Joe are getting married is the icing on the cake. Their reception will be held at the swanky resort where Oz works as the pastry chef. The wedding planning is all fun-fetti and games until Mel and Joe meet the head chef at the resort who has been making Oz’s life miserable. When the eccentric chef insults Mel’s bakery, Oz gets into a blowout argument with the culinary prima donna.
Things turn extra sour when the chef is murdered, and Oz is the police’s main suspect. As the countdown to the wedding day begins, Mel, Joe, and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew must sift through clues to catch the real killer and clear Oz’s name before their wedding plans are totally battered and baked.
Release Date: May 4, 2021
Series: Cupcake Bakery
Book: 13
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $7.99
Melanie Cooper has been in love with Joe DeLaura since she was twelve. Now her dreams are coming true and her wedding day to Joe is almost here. She and Joe are planning a small reception at the Sun Dial Resort where her friend and former employee, Oz, is now the master pastry chef. Mel goes to the resort to finalize some plans, but ends up involved in a murder investigation when the resort’s head chef is found dead. Oz had been seen having a very public altercation with the victim and now it’s up to Mel to help prove her friend’s innocence so she can enjoy her wedding and finally get her happily ever after.
For Batter or Worse is the thirteenth book in Cupcake Bakery series, set in the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. The bakery takes a back seat in this installment as Mel is busy putting the finishing touches on her wedding plans and her business partner, best friend, and matron-of-honor Angie DeLaura Harper is in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Mel bounces some ideas off her fiancé Joe and also her Uncle Stan, who is the homicide detective assigned to the case, but she is mainly investigating this crime single-handedly. There are plenty of suspects in the death of head chef Miles Gallway since his overbearing ways caused him to make several enemies in both his personal and professional life. Therefore, the investigation is interesting as Mel tries to get to the bottom of Gallway’s murder. However, I miss the days when Mel, Angie, Angie’s husband Tate used to investigate crimes together. As much as I like Oz and Mel and Angie’s current employee, Marty, things just aren’t the same. Angie still plays a large role in the book and her friendship with Mel is a highlight of the book and of the series as a whole. However, Tate barely appears and I miss him having a bigger part.
In addition to the seriousness of the murder investigation, there is plenty of humor that fans of the series have come to expect. New readers may want to start with earlier books since part of the fun in seeing Mel and Joe’s wedding drawing closer is experiencing some of the build-up that got them there. As a long time reader of the series, I enjoyed how everything comes together at the end in both a humorous and touching way. This is a quick, light read that cozy fans will love. The descriptions of the delectable desserts will have you longing for cupcakes as you read. Luckily for readers who enjoy baking. There are recipes for four different kinds of cupcakes at the end of the book.
~ Christine
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