A. Gardner (2)

Book 1 in a cozy mystery series starring Poppy Peters. Very light reading, but the characters were likeable even if the story line was unconvincing. Goodreads: From USA Today bestselling author A. Gardner comes a deliciously dangerous new series...After an injury derails Poppy Peters' ballet career, she gathers the courage to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and attend Calle Pastry Academy in a small-town in Georgia. Poppy has her work cut out for her not only fitting in with her charming (and not-so-charming ) Southern classmates but also proving her worth to her teachers after her first publicly humiliating attempt at making the school's famous peach pie. But Poppy's pastry problems go from bad to worse when she's suddenly accused of stealing expensive black truffles, and her attempt to clear her name goes awry...resulting in her finding a dead body instead! If Poppy's going to survive this culinary experience, she'll need to find the missing truffles and track down a killer, all while honing her baking skills to compete in the school's dessert competition for a coveted pastry internship in Paris. Can Poppy prove she's one tough cookie? Or is her life about to crumble?… (mehr)

Poppy Peters has decided to enter culinary school, but not everyone wants her there. Still, she's met a nice guy named Cole who seems to be on her side, and even after a cooking fiasco, she's still willing to take the chance. But then things are stolen and someone is killed, and she just might be suspected of murder. Poppy has to clear her name while keeping away from the real murderer...

Oh, my. There are so many things wrong with this book, the first beginning with the way it's written. I absolutely detest first person as-they-are-doing-it, as I refer to it. Such as: "I am going to the store now. I am parking my car and entering the store. I grab a cart and am putting tomatoes in it." I just hate it. I don't really care what the person is doing right now. I don't care if they're going to the bathroom or washing their hands. We know they do it; everyone does. But if you write in first person, it's so much nicer to read: "I went to the store and picked up a few things." So there's my rant on that.

Plus, has this person ever been to cooking school? Or even watched a cooking competition on television? You call anyone your superior 'chef.' You bring your own tools. You wear a uniform and a hat. These are simple things that could have been discovered by watching the Food Network. Do a little research and the book is better.

It got to the point that I could not finish the book, and I really didn't care who the murderer was. I did skim to the end and found that they were all making desserts they'd grown up on. Shouldn't competitions be making something new? Just sayin'...

Anyway, I wasn't impressed by this book and probably won't read another because of the narration. Sorry.… (mehr)

I enjoyed reading this cozy mystery. It took longer than I expected only because I fell ill while reading it and wasn’t able to read as much. I did want to get back to it so I knew I was hooked. I like the characters though it was a kind of slow warm up to them and the town for me. I think, for me, that was because there was tension among the sisters, Ember and Stevie. I needed to see who, if either, I was going to trust. In the end I liked both and was happy to see the relationship repairing. I do plan on continuing with this series. The mystery was written welll. I didn’t guess the killer until the big reveal. This is the first book in the series and the way the threads were woven, my recommendation is to read the series in the order in which it was written. There is a fairly easy wheat bread recipe included. If your a baker, it will be a tasty recipe for you.… (mehr)

Southern Peach Pie and a dead guy by A. Gardner
This story starts out with Poppy, almost 30 and she's enrolling in a culinary school down South. The arrangement is you live at the location and work in the bakery shop.
She takes many classes and before she knows it she's being accused of setting the oven too high causing evacuation and fire dept shows up to put the fire out. She then is accused of killing a teacher.
She gathers the clue along with Cole. She lies with Bree who loves to bake. They follow the leads to the clues they have and end up at a farm where they learn the beginning of the school and traditions.
She heads back to Oregon for a break where someone follows her.....
Love just when you think the story is over you have 10 more chapters to go and you wonder why. Great read, keeps you on your toes. Excited to see who wins the end showoff of a favorite recipe to make.
Recipes are included at the end along with listing of author's other works.
Free from the author and this is my honest opinion.… (mehr)