Billionaire Blend

I received this book from the LibraryThing Member Giveaway program and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Billionaire Blend is the 13th book in the series, but I don't feel like I lost anything from not reading the first 12. Clare Cosi is a coffeehouse manager with a penchant for sleuthing. When a billionaire's limo blows up in front of her Greenwich Village coffeehouse, Clare gets pulled into the app-making billionaire's foodie world.
I enjoyed following Clare around the world, but the story did feel a little drawn out and the ending felt forced. That being said, I have ordered the first book of A Coffeehouse Mystery and I cannot wait for it to arrive.

This was a treat to read!(Let's be honest, I usually read cozy mysteries to relax and not have to think too much, but this one felt like - well, yes a cozy mystery, but with the added touches of action and adventure as well. Fun!)

I loved the premise and experiencing how the "other half" lives, i.e. fabulous eats, private jets and all the other toys that come with the bank account.
The story focuses on a billionaire who is under attack, possibly financially (a takeover), but definitely physical – a bomb detonating outside of the Village Blend. Clare is pulled into the fray as she tries to help Eric Thorner (the billionaire) find out who is trying to kill him at the same time, trying to rebuild her coffeehouse. With trips to Paris and show more the Rainforest, this book covers the globe and touches on how the coffee trade operates.
Meanwhile Eric Thorner continually tries to romance Clare, while being the object of an assassin, or is he the real culprit? This book keeps you guessing till the end. There are several plotlines flowing through the rest of the story, about Clare’s love life, her daughter’s and even Thorner’s.

For full disclosure, I received this one as part of the goodreads first reads giveaway. show less

Being rather new to cozy mysteries, I was pleasantly surprised and effectively entertained in Billionaire Blend when I received an advanced reading copy through Goodreads. The author, Cleo Coyle, has immersed her extensive knowledge about coffee and gourmet foods throughout this intriguing tale about billionaire tech guru, Eric Thorner, who is beset with car bombings and lethal mishaps of those in his company. Clare Cosi, consummate barrista and co-owner of the Village Blend, comes to Thorner’s aid as a sleuth detective while she and her ex-husband Matt collaborate with Thorner to come up with the world’s most expensive coffee blend. As people in the Thorner organization begin falling away, Clare keeps her wits about her to solve show more the mystery. The intrigue in the story transports the reader to far reaching coffee plantations in Brazil, as well as to the Montmartre district of Paris where the author deftly describes a little café on cobblestone streets on the Place du Terre. I could almost smell the fragrant aroma of the coffee wafting out of steaming cups, as well as tasted the delicious petit canelés that were glazed with beeswax and butter after having been carmelized in an oven. Forever craving a flawless cup of brew and relishing in epicurean delicacies, I was totally enchanted with this story. With that said, I must admit that I was a little less engaged with the detective aspects of the novel at its conclusion, and I almost felt that the ending was forced because the author felt that the adventure had just gone on too long. Nevertheless, I’d recommend Billionaire Blend as a wonderful escape to a world that few of us might be able to experience in our everyday lives. The back of the novel also provides some of the recipes to those gastronomical delights that are mentioned in the book. show less

Love the opportunity Member Giveaway provides to sample a new author and series. Amateur sleuth Clare Cosi in a larger-than-life romp that jet-sets her from New York to Paris to South Beach to South America to untangle a million-dollar mystery that begins when a billionaire's limo explodes in front of her Village Blend Coffee Shop.

Throw in plenty of foodie and coffee-ie tidbits, a decent knowledge of police procedure, and a little romance, and you've got yourself a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Another plus: though this is well into the Coffee Shop Mystery series, backstory knowledge is not needed; what bits and bites one needs to know to catch up with the characters is provided skillfully without being blatantly pedantic. Well done, Cleo!

I received an advanced review copy of Billionaire Blend from the author Cleo Coyle. She is one of my favorite authors and she writes the coffeehouse cozy mystery series. This is her 13th coffeehouse mystery.

The story opens with Village Blend co-owner Clare Cosi at work in her coffeehouse when a car bomb goes off outside the shop and almost kills billionaire techie Eric Thorner. After coming to his aid, Thorner offers her a dream come true. He would like to buy her the top espresso machine but also hires her to create the world's most expensive coffee blend. Eric jets Clair and her ex-husband/co-owner Matt Allegro around the world in search for the best coffee. While the police arrest the alleged attacker, death continues to stalk show more Thorner, making Clair wonder of the accidents are mishaps or attempted murders.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy. Coyle, the husband-and-wife writing team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi, combines fascinating coffee lore, awsome culinary events, and lifestyles of the rich and famous in this installment of her series. It is one of her best and I highly recommend it. show less

When Clare saves the life of billionaire,Eric Thorner, he not only repays her with the most expensive espresso machine in the world, he also wants to go into business with her. But although Eric survived, his driver did not and when a friend of the family is accused of the murder, Clare is determined to find the real murderer. Could it be her benefactor and new partner, Eric Thorner?

I always enjoy these books but this one was particularly good. They travel around a lot in it, which was fun. I also enjoyed Clare's side-trip to Paris to meet with Joy, her daughter. I also liked watching Clare navigate the world of the super rich. Now I have to wait for the next one. (sighs)

This was a good mystery. Although it is the 13th book in the series, it was the first one I read. I could follow along without any problems. The characters are well defined. I loved Clare. I had no trouble following the relationships between the characters. I had the murderer being one of two people. Of course, I picked the wrong one. I will be reading the earlier books because I liked these characters and I want to know how they got together and how they exist peacefully with each other.