I don't care much for cozies or books that are filled with recipes but this series has some promise and I may try for another go at it. There was a bit too much animosity among the two store owners. They didn't put much effort into trying to work things out or come to any compromise. But hey...I read it for the cat...Quincy...who was a real charmer. He even was allowed a point of view, which often was...as is the case with all cats...more interesting that that of the human's. Cute story and if anyone wants to bake any of those recipes...I'll email you my address:) ( )

First in a new series by Janet Cantrell (pen name for Kaye George) introducing Charity (Chase) Oliver and her feline rescue, a butterscotch tabby named Quincy who is quite an escape artist. Quincy reminds me of another feline, Maine Coon cat, Diesel, that I adore as introduced to the world in the "Cat in the Stacks" series by Miranda James.

Chase and Anna Larson are co-owners of Bar None, the dessert bar shop located in Dinkytown, near the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The descriptions of the dessert bars might put you in "sweet-tooth" mode or at least entire those with baking aspirations to try the Hula Bars recipe provided at the end of the novel. The recipe for the Kitty Patties is also provided.

Delightful beginning of a new series with multiple entertaining and delicious attributes for a cozy mystery reader.

If you'd like to hear from Quincy directly, don't miss his guest blog at http://drusbookmusing.com/2014/09/02/quincy-oliver/. ( )

I adore Quincy. This is my second reading and I enjoyed it the first time enough to buy book two in the series. ( )

Oh, my. Here's the second book in a row that I've read that has glaring errors in it. Glaring. Errors. Things that should never be, but are.

First, her name is Charity, so why on earth is her nickname Chase? Maybe if her name was Chastity, but Char would be a better choice. Anyway...she owns a bakery that only sells dessert bars. That's it. Bars. For some odd reason, they sell out every single day. They must be the best in town, because dessert bars are okay once in a while, but I wouldn't buy them every day. Or bake them every day. Enough of that...

She lives above the bakery in an apartment but brings Quincy down and shuts him in the office while she's working. Every single day. A little bitty office instead of leaving him upstairs where he can look out a window and sleep anywhere he wants. Is she that lonely? Because that's just a very cruel thing to do to a cat. It's like taking him up to the apartment and shutting him in the bathroom all night. Not to mention it's probably a pretty big health violation.

Then, they have someone stealing from them but they don't know who it is. Why? Because they don't have security cameras, which is odd. Chase opens a bakery, but doesn't think security cameras would be a good idea? I wonder why that is? Perhaps because she's dumber than a box of rocks?

I'm also guessing the author has never actually been to Minneapolis except maybe for a day or two on vacation, because she mentions how it's August and she'll have to dig her sweaters out soon. I grew up in Minneapolis. You need those sweaters now. My sister still lives there, and it's July, and they're having days in the 70's right now. So the nights will definitely be chillier. I went there several years ago in August and wore sweatshirts and a light jacket. It also rains. A lot. I'm also thinking it's probably not a good idea to walk out alone at night in Dinkytown. This isn't a small town.

Then, someone puts rats in their business which they discover before the health inspector shows up. Which, unless the health inspector is dumber than a box of rocks also, would know that these are rats that have come from a pet shop, since they're tame and don't look anything like feral rats. These are white rats that you can pick up. Yeah, the inspector would have to be pretty stupid not to be able to tell the difference.

Then - and this is the big one - after the health inspector visits, Chase is talking with her friend Julie and she actually says this: "We had a violation on the health inspection, but it's an easy fix - just the sign missing that tells us to wash our hands. Stupid regulation anyway." Excuse me? She thinks it's stupid for employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom? Ewww...you want to buy food where the employees don’t wash their hands? Now I wonder if she washes her hands at home. Gross!

Here's an FYI for the author: Gabe's prints would have been on the knife, considering that even if the knife had been washed, he would have had to touch it to put it back in the butcher block. So the fact that only Chase's prints were on the knife should have alerted them that the killer must have wiped the knife clean and she was telling the truth.

Then there's the hint of the ubiquitous love triangle. No thanks. I absolutely abhor them. They're never interesting and always annoying. I say it like this: if it were a guy who was stringing along two women, you'd think he was a dog, or worse. So why is it okay when a woman does it?

But the worst is poor Quincy: cats don't eat constantly, they're not dogs. So you can leave their food down all day and they'll only eat when they're hungry. But it's irresponsible for Anna to keep shoving sugar-laden foods in his face. Especially since cats can't taste sweets. At all. They are the only mammal unable to do so. They don't have that protein gene. Which has me wondering why he's eating them. Get your facts before you write. It helps.

So needless to say, I won't be reading any more in this series, even though I've bought the other two books. I have better things to do with my time than be annoyed. ( )

From the book jacket: When she’s not dreaming up irresistible dessert bars for her Minneapolis treatery, Bar None Charity “Chase” Oliver is running after her cat, Quincy – a tubby tabby with a gift for sniffing out edibles. But what happens when this cat burglar leads Chase to the scene of a real crime?

My Reactions:
Great premise, set in a city I love, with a lovely cat. But this amateur sleuth is just too stupid to live. My stars but Chase got on my nerves. She is whiny and a terrible businesswoman. The supporting cast is anything but. Her business partner is keeping secrets from her and even suspects her of stealing. Her employees are at each other’s throats (literally having a “cat fight” in the front of the store before storming out), and the “hot” vet seems a little creepy to me.

Oh, well, it was a fast read and it satisfied a challenge, but I’m in no hurry to continue to series. ( )