The Diva Takes the Cake

Sophie Winston's sister, Hannah, is getting married (again) and Sophie is hosting a dinner at her home for the guests. Even though she doesn't like Hannah's fiancé Craig, she's willing to endure it anyway. When Sophie is returning home before setting everything up, a woman appears at her doorstep looking for Craig, Rather than give her name, she leaves telling Sophie she'll come back later.

Then, when Sophie goes to her rival Natasha's home to collect her dog, Daisy, the dog runs to the backyard where Sophie finds the body of the woman hanging from Natasha's new pergola. At first it's suspected the woman committed suicide, but Sophie's friend Humphrey, who is a mortician, tells Sophie the marks don't gibe, and that the woman was show more murdered. Now that the police are involved, the game is upped, and Sophie is doing her best to save her sister from a possible killer...

I read the first book in this series many years ago (2011), and I must have disliked it immensely to never read another one until now. I re-read my review. I was right. I dislike these characters. All of them.

Sophie is the worst excuse for a woman I can think of. She has no guts, and won't tell people to bug off - she's such a doormat she needs to have "Welcome" tattooed on her back. Her sister is mean and takes advantage of her; her mother likes Natasha much better than her own daughter; Natasha steamrolls over Sophie every chance she gets; etc.; etc. (Not to mention that not only did Natasha wind up with Sophie's ex-husband; she bought a home down the block from Sophie; she has the TV show that should have gone to Sophie; and she covets Sophie's home. Screw off, Nat).

These are horrible people. After Sophie has done a tremendous amount of work planning everything the way her sister wants, then Natasha waltzes in and changes everything to black and brown for a "modern" wedding. Gross. Ugly. And completely disrespectful to Sophie. What's up with Hannah that she would just allow this anyway?

But then it goes farther than that. Not only does everyone treat Sophie like she's a hired maid (and not a well-treated one, either), but Natasha tells Sophie's date - the homicide detective, Wolf - that he's not welcome at the dinner because he brings 'bad memories' to the guests about the murder. So what does this man do? HE DOESN'T GO. He leaves Sophie in the lurch. He's a homicide detective without a pair, if you know what I mean. I don't know of ANY detective in any book that would act this way. They'd tell Natasha to go stuff herself. Not this guy. He has a little a spine as Sophie.

What is wrong with this woman? She allows everyone to push her around, and she takes it. I couldn't stand being around these people at all. The best thing she can do is never invite any of them to her home ever again. Including the spineless detective.

Plus, are we supposed to take the advice at the beginning of every chapter? Most of it was laughable. 1) I'm not giving gift baskets to people who are invited to a wedding. My gift to them is the free food and drink. 2) An "A" list and a "B" list for a wedding? Must be nice to find out you were only invited as a seat filler. 3) You know what? I'm not a tour guide. If people show up early for a wedding and plan to stay a few days, they can go online just like everyone else and find out what the area has to offer. Also, maybe it's trending that a bride can buy two wedding gowns, but it's an extra cost that isn't needed, and is pretentious in the extreme. No thank you. Most of this 'advice' is really out there somewhere.

I couldn't stand any of these people to the extent that I really didn't care about the murders nor why they were committed. I only read the book because I wanted to see just how much abuse Sophie would take before she cracked. She never cracked. Draw your own conclusions. show less

Sophie’s sister Hannah is getting married - maybe. Will a dead body hanging from a pergola in her neighbor Natasha’s backyard stop it? Nope. How about another murder? Probably not. It’s a garden wedding unlike any other, complete with police tape. Sophie must solve this case before her sister ends up married to a murderer. Or maybe it’s just a relative. Anyway, some family secrets will have to be disclosed before anything is solved. Things always go wrong at a wedding, but no one could have predicted this! It’s a fine second installment to this series. The characters are entertaining and the plot is intriguing.

I loved it all! The nutty bride, the sister trying to rescue her from a bad marriage before it takes place, the rescued dog who was afraid of everyone!

Sophie Winston's rivalry with Natasha Smith over who is a better cook/party planner/advice columnist is still going strong so when Sophie's sister Hannah turns to Natasha about her wedding after Sophie has everything already in the works, things start to fire up with Sophie finding a dead body in Natasha's backyard (they're neighbors and share not only time with Sophie's ex-husband and the dog too!).

Natasha changes the venue, color scheme, and then starts in on the food as the investigation begins with the identification of the dead body being none other then Craig's, Hannah's fiancé, show more ex-wife. This puts a halt to Sophie's romance with the homicide detective and makes things a bit awkward as Craig's family unexpectedly appears from out-of-town for the wedding. Craig's not happy, Hannah's not happy, and the problems that arise from fireworks exploding (literally) at the rehearsal and the last minute relocation to Sophie's backyard have the wedding falling apart with cracked ice sculptures, melting cake, and another dead body.

The mystery was well-written, filled with quirky characters, unusual circumstances, and just plain fun. I can't wait for the next one. show less

In this second book of this delightful series, Sophie's younger sister is once again (3rd time) getting married . Sophie and her nemesis Natasha, are in charge of this wedding. But when the groom's *first wife* is found hanging in Natasha's yard, will this wedding even take place? The groom runs away the day before the wedding, another body is found, the romance between Sophie and Wolf (the police detective, Mars ( Sophie's ex husband) and a whole host of characters make this a great read.

Book two in the Domestic Diva series has event planner Sophie Wilson in charge of her sister, Hannah’s, wedding. Of course rival diva Natasha has to insert herself into the event, trashing Sophie’s decorations and color scheme for a “more modern” style. But when the groom’s ex-wife is found hanging in the brand new garden pergola, it seems that the wedding may not happen at all.

I kind of like the rivalry between Sophie and Natasha, including the competing advice given at the beginning of each chapter. But I read mysteries – even cozy mysteries – for the murder plot. And this one is just plain ridiculous. So many things made no sense whatsoever. (Why would a murderer bury a necklace rather than just pocket it?)
Oh well, it show more satisfied several challenges and it was a fast read. show less

The first in the Domestic Diva Series, The Diva Runs Out of Thyme was one of my favorite cozies of all time. I am not sure why I waited so long to pick up the second, but I am sorry that I did. I was at a clear disadvantage in the middle of this impending wedding and all of the guests. Along with the characters from the first installment, this was character overload and I struggled to keep everyone straight.
The advantage to welcoming in extra characters was that they were all connected in one way or another giving me no shortage of suspects. I so appreciated being left to the pleasure of my guesses until the end.
The Diva Takes the Cake by Krista Davis, has wedding disasters galore, interesting characters, quirky pets, a lovely show more homemaking theme, and recipes. If you are a fan of the genre, I most definitely suggest this series, but do yourself a favor and don’t wait a year in between installments. show less

Despite major misgivings, Sophie is putting on a happy face and helping with her sister, Hannah's third wedding. Everything seems to be going smoothly until the grooms ex-wife turns up. Dead of course. Then unexpected guests start appearing and the groom disappears the night before the wedding. Well, you get the picture. The only thing that can go wrong now is, yes, another murder.

This is the second book in the Domestic Diva mystery series. It is a very entertaining book and the mystery is pretty good. There are quite a few twists. But the real fun is the mania surrounding the on-again, off-again wedding and its aftermath. The book includes recipes that look really good but not being a domestic diva myself, I will never use any of them. show more I am already reading the next book in the series. show less