Christine Wenger

Good book. Laura Duke is visiting her neighbor and babysitter when she is stunned to see the girl's brother, Cody. Cody was sent to prison for murdering his abusive stepfather. Cody's early release was a surprise and left Laura in a quandary.

Cody's early release from prison was engineered by Laura's father, a prominent rancher who wants the land that Cody's family ranch sits on. As part of his parole, Cody must work for Mr. Duke, who is adamant that Cody toe the line, and also stay away from show more Laura.

Cody and Laura have a history together. In high school, he and Laura were secret sweethearts who believed that nothing could keep them apart. Then Cody ended up in jail, and Laura had a short-lived marriage that produced an adorable son. She never talks about the marriage, but her son is the center of her life. Cody is hurt at first, but quickly bonds with little Johnny, renewing his determination to get Laura back in his life.

I liked the rekindling of the relationship between Cody and Laura. The feelings between them had never died, and being near each other again simply fanned the flames. I ached for Cody because of the way everyone treated him. He had paid his debt and deserved a chance to live a normal life. I especially hurt for him at the church picnic and loved the way that Laura supported him. I also liked that Laura didn't keep the truth from Cody for very long, even though she wasn't ready to tell anyone else. Laura frustrated me during a large part of the book because of how she let the thought of other people's opinions keep her from fully accepting Cody back into her life. Her attitude broke Cody's heart and made me wonder how they would ever get past it. I enjoyed the scene at the barn with Cody's parole officer, and how Laura finally began to show a little spine. But it was the events later that night that brought everything to a head. I loved Cody's calm and collected attitude during the crisis and how he was the one to take charge. And I loved the flabbergasted reactions when Laura dropped her bombshell. I was happy to see that she finally realized what she had done and was able to move past it.

The epilogue was good. I liked seeing the changes in Laura's parents and their relationship with Cody's family. There was an interesting twist at the end of it, even though it wasn't too much of a surprise to me. show less

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Never a dull moment when Trixie is around. That woman get herself into all kinds of predicaments. This time too much snow collapses the roof of the local library. Everyone got out safe but it is going to take a lot of money to repair the building and replace the damaged books and equipment. Trixie’s mouth gets ahead of her brain and before she knows it she is planning a Macaroni and Cheese cook-off fundraiser. Things snowball and soon famous chef, Priscilla show more Finch-Smythe is on her way to Sandy Harbor to judge the competition and offering the winner a guest spot on her tv show. Trixie had no idea the woman was from Sandy Harbor. The woman has all kinds of demands and a big motor home. She also has her staff of two, one is her stepson, along for the ride and they sure don’t see eye to eye on anything. Trixie just hopes they can make enough money for the library and get a little bit of publicity for the diner.

The contest brings a slew of cooks to town including a couple of professional chefs looking to win and gain or regain a little fame with the grand prize. Soon after the winner is named, a stiff is found in the parking lot. Priscilla Finch-Smythe’s life has come to a chilly end and there are plenty of suspects. Who killed the tv cook and left her out in the cold? Trixie plans to find out but she may end up getting a deep freeze herself.

Reading this book during a cold snap here in Wisconsin I was literary feeling the “freeze” in this story and it was funny, my hubby had whipped up a batch of his homemade mac and cheese for supper. He saw the cover of the book and we had a little chuckle.

The cover of the book is wonderful but the Sandy Harbor Library sounds like it was a truly beautiful place, complete with some stained glass. I loved the way the town rallied together to make this fundraiser happen even when it was snowing and blowing and travel was a bit treacherous at times.

This time Trixie is one of the suspects, of course, hunky Sheriff Ty Briscoe doesn’t think she had anything to do with it but he basically puts her under house/diner arrest with Antoinette Chloe Brown (ACB) as her gatekeeper. He really just wants to keep Trixie safe and out of his investigation, like that is going to happen.

Christine Wenger has the perfect recipe for an absolutely delightful cozy mystery. The residents of Sandy Harbor are like old friends and the welcome us in with open arms and delicious food. The new characters make a nice offset to the gang we have come to love. The plot is tight and the twists are plentiful. The romantic tension is palpable. I can’t be the only one that wants to see Trixie grab Ty and just kiss him already :) I also want to get ACB a pair of boots with flips flops painted on them. Flip flops in the snow?? Girl you are going to lose some toes!!

This was a fun read from start to finish. I am glad I had some Mac & Cheese to snack because damn, a girl can get hungry when reading these stories! show less

A day after checking in to Trixie's cottage's a reclusive writer is murdered. Since a 25 year old murder was uncovered a week earlier Trixie wonders if they are connected. The earlier murder was of a 17 year old whom Trixie idolized when she was 10. Trixie starts looking for clues since both murders are impacting her business. This is pretty typical of the cozy genre with the heroine stirring things up despite being told to stay out of things. The setting is not far from me so it was show more interesting to figure out the locations. show less

Trixie Matkowski is recently divorced and has moved to a small town in upstate New York, where she's purchased her widowed aunt's diner, home, and vacation cottages. She plans on running the diner just as her family has done for generations, and renting out the cabins every summer to tourists.

But when she checks the mail, she sees a notice that states the health inspector is due that very day, and heads over to diner to see if she can fix the small infractions that were listed. But it seems show more as if the inspector has already arrived...and left permanently. He's dead, and it seems her daily special has killed him.

But Trixie notices that there are mushrooms in the mix, and her special doesn't contain mushrooms. Now it's up to Deputy Ty Brisco and the rest of the police department to figure out who poisoned the man and why. But Trixie knows if it isn't found out soon, her diner may close forever...

I really wanted to like this book, but Trixie - and Ty - grated on my nerves. Trixie is newly divorced and it seems had no problem walking away from her cheating husband while selling him every single thing that she owns. Really? The girlfriend got her husband, but she also gets the house and all the antiques she's acquired in ten years of marriage and, even though Trixie got paid nicely for it, she has no problem handing over her entire life - and husband - to another woman? This just doesn't ring true. There was nothing she wanted to keep? Nothing that mattered more than money? She didn't have any feelings about him cheating and just handed over everything? She seems odd right off the bat.

Then, her aunt sells her the diner and leaves. She doesn't spend any time with her showing her how everything works, who the employees are, how she pays the bills/employees, etc. Obviously her aunt doesn't care if the diner fails, because she doesn't care if Trixie knows how to run it. The cook is a hysterical nut job, the handymen royal jerks. The two waitresses make goo-goo eyes at Ty and ignore everyone else when he's around. (There must be a dearth of handsome men in this town). Her aunt and Juanita have things in common - when a new cook is hired, Juanita bails on her without showing her the ropes.

Then, because she's afraid of losing customers, she starts giving away coffee and food. I guess she has no idea what profits are, either. She must have gotten a lot of money from turning over her home and possessions to her ex-husband.

But I really lost interest when it was painfully obvious that Trixie had just been running the diner for about an hour and Ty accuses her of murder. Oh, sure. She had no idea who the health inspector was, had no feelings of hatred for him, but decided to kill him because he was going to give her a bad rating. Yeah, that's believable. I'm stunned that this man barely meets her and decides she's capable of murdering someone she's never met. I guess he figures because she's new in town she must be guilty.

At any rate, the book lost me at that point, and I really, really like mysteries and try to give them a chance. But these things caused me to lose enjoyment in the book, and therefore, in the entire series. Sorry, but I couldn't like it and see no reason to read any others in the series. show less