A. Gardner (2)

An interesting start to a light paranormal series, although not much humor is present like you'd expect. The main character was a little one-dimensional, although she comes around eventually. Family tension was helpful in keeping it interesting, but police scenes were a bit lacking. Overall a decent start to a series.

I have usually found that the second book in a series is not as good. In this case, I read the books out of order, and found the third in the series pretty awful. This book, the second in the series, was really quite good, or would have been, had the author just written out the subplot of Essie and Patrick. Really, get over it! I don't care if Patrick was your idol in high school (middle school, even), by now you should be able to move on, dear.

3 stars, but would have been 3.5 without the show more unbearable teenage romance. Middle School crushes are not attractive in twenty-somethings. show less

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 show more 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? show less

This is the first entry in A. Gardner's new series "Bison Creek," and it's off to a great start. It has everything a great cozy should - a likeable and intrepid main character, several interesting secondary characters, a unique and mysterious plot and most important of all, a wonderful setting. The town of Bison Creek was made so real to me, that I felt I wanted to live there myself, especially above the wonderful bookshop where Essie Stratter lives. The author does such a wonderful job of show more describing Pinecliffe Mountain Resort and the wintry landscape, that I wanted to escape there immediately and curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and a doughnut. Luckily, there's already another entry in the series, so I plan to take up residence there for the duration of this series.

**I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review** show less