{"id":31281,"date":"2024-06-28T09:07:18","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T13:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=31281"},"modified":"2024-06-28T09:07:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T13:07:25","slug":"review-fondant-fumble-by-jenn-mckinlay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/28\/review-fondant-fumble-by-jenn-mckinlay\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d Fondant Fumble by Jenn McKinlay"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-31281\" data-postid=\"31281\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-31281 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_wbig374 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-narrow tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_7vdq374 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_57q8374 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"1047\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?resize=640%2C1047&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-31274\" title=\"fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay\" alt=\"fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?w=917&amp;ssl=1 917w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?resize=183%2C300&amp;ssl=1 183w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?resize=626%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 626w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?resize=768%2C1256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay.jpg?resize=400%2C654&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_xwcf375 customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews\u00a0want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. They\u2019re spending the off-season in Scottsdale working in Mel\u2019s bakery, learning about the business and how to bake show-stopping cupcakes. The popular athletes bring a boom of customers to the store as football fans flock to see the friends mixing batter and piping icing.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Everyone\u2019s excited the athletes are pursuing their dream of owning a bakery\u2014except for those who fear the players will ditch football for fondant and retire early from professional sports. The angry naysayers include their team owner and Keogh&#8217;s sports agent, along with some very vocal fans.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_o8km375 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_p41m375  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25881 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jun 4, 2024<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Cupcake Bakery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>16<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Melanie DeLaura<\/strong> and her two best friends, <strong>Angie<\/strong> and <strong>Tate Harper<\/strong>, are partners in the Fairy Tale Bakery and have recently begun selling franchises. They are really excited when two members of the local NFL football team buy a franchise and plan to open a bakery close to the stadium. Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews see this as a good investment and a fun business to be in. The team owner is unhappy, though, because he wants all of his players to focus only on football, and has a very public argument with Keogh. When the outspoken owner is killed, Keogh becomes the prime suspect. Melanie refuses to let her new friend and business partner take the blame for a crime he didn\u2019t commit and launches an investigation of her own.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I have read most of the sixteen books in the <em>Cupcake Bakery <\/em>series. Fans of the series will want to read the book to catch up on Melanie and her husband Joe\u2019s personal lives, but this book also works fine as a standalone. In this case, that is both a good and a bad thing. It\u2019s good in that the author does a good job of providing important background information about the main characters for new readers. However, with the exception of Melanie, the other main characters take a backseat in this book to new characters. Tate, Angie, and Joe are all great main characters, and the rapport between Tate, Angie, and Melanie is part of what makes many of the earlier books in this series so good. There is a great moment between Angie and Melanie in the book, but Tate\u2019s role is unfortunately minimal. Keogh and his mom are likable, but it\u2019s a shame they have more important scenes than the regular characters we have grown to love.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The bakery scenes in the book are fun and, as usual, the cupcakes sound delicious! For home bakers, there are a few different cupcake recipes at the end of the book. The mystery itself is interesting, and the team owner is such an unpleasant person that there are plenty of suspects in his murder. The crime scene is creepy and unique, but I don\u2019t want to spoil it by giving more details. I kept changing my mind about who the killer was because clues pointed in a few different directions, and I fell for some red herrings. I know some people will laugh out loud at the scene in which the killer is foiled. I\u2019m not a fan of slapstick humor in books, so it fell flat for me. The overall ending of the book is good and I hope future books will concentrate on the four core main characters.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_7r4i375 customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W2b8Q0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3VZ8Y3U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay\/1144032047?ean=9780593549155\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/fondant-fumble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Jenn_McKinlay_Fondant_Fumble?id=FAHVEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews\u00a0want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. They\u2019re spending the off-season in Scottsdale working in Mel\u2019s bakery, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,48],"tags":[152,223,367,404,405],"class_list":["post-31281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-reviews","tag-4-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \ud83d\udd0d Fondant Fumble by Jenn McKinlay - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/28\/review-fondant-fumble-by-jenn-mckinlay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Fondant Fumble by Jenn McKinlay - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews\u00a0want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. 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They\u2019re spending the off-season in Scottsdale working in Mel\u2019s bakery, learning about the business and how to bake show-stopping cupcakes. The popular athletes bring a boom of customers to the store as football fans flock to see the friends mixing batter and piping icing.<br \/><br \/>Everyone\u2019s excited the athletes are pursuing their dream of owning a bakery\u2014except for those who fear the players will ditch football for fondant and retire early from professional sports. The angry naysayers include their team owner and Keogh's sports agent, along with some very vocal fans.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jun 4, 2024<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Cupcake Bakery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>16<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Melanie DeLaura<\/strong> and her two best friends, <strong>Angie<\/strong> and <strong>Tate Harper<\/strong>, are partners in the Fairy Tale Bakery and have recently begun selling franchises. They are really excited when two members of the local NFL football team buy a franchise and plan to open a bakery close to the stadium. Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews see this as a good investment and a fun business to be in. The team owner is unhappy, though, because he wants all of his players to focus only on football, and has a very public argument with Keogh. When the outspoken owner is killed, Keogh becomes the prime suspect. Melanie refuses to let her new friend and business partner take the blame for a crime he didn\u2019t commit and launches an investigation of her own.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I have read most of the sixteen books in the <em>Cupcake Bakery <\/em>series. Fans of the series will want to read the book to catch up on Melanie and her husband Joe\u2019s personal lives, but this book also works fine as a standalone. In this case, that is both a good and a bad thing. It\u2019s good in that the author does a good job of providing important background information about the main characters for new readers. However, with the exception of Melanie, the other main characters take a backseat in this book to new characters. Tate, Angie, and Joe are all great main characters, and the rapport between Tate, Angie, and Melanie is part of what makes many of the earlier books in this series so good. There is a great moment between Angie and Melanie in the book, but Tate\u2019s role is unfortunately minimal. Keogh and his mom are likable, but it\u2019s a shame they have more important scenes than the regular characters we have grown to love.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The bakery scenes in the book are fun and, as usual, the cupcakes sound delicious! For home bakers, there are a few different cupcake recipes at the end of the book. The mystery itself is interesting, and the team owner is such an unpleasant person that there are plenty of suspects in his murder. The crime scene is creepy and unique, but I don\u2019t want to spoil it by giving more details. I kept changing my mind about who the killer was because clues pointed in a few different directions, and I fell for some red herrings. I know some people will laugh out loud at the scene in which the killer is foiled. I\u2019m not a fan of slapstick humor in books, so it fell flat for me. The overall ending of the book is good and I hope future books will concentrate on the four core main characters.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W2b8Q0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3VZ8Y3U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/fondant-fumble-jenn-mckinlay\/1144032047?ean=9780593549155\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/fondant-fumble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Jenn_McKinlay_Fondant_Fumble?id=FAHVEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31281"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31288,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31281\/revisions\/31288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}