Grasp Wedding Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #19) Penned By Joanne Fluke Classified In Brochure
was disappointing. I have read every book in the series and, as other reviewers have stated, it didn't seem like Joanne Fluke wrote it.
The dynamics of the wedding party were unbelievable who's this Ross guy anyway, I was actually annoyed by some of the awkward banter between the characters that was supposed to be humor, I think.
As a member of "team Norman", I am wishing Hannah a fond farewell, Hannah and her sister Michelle have been invited to a baking competition in New York City, Also, Hannahs wedding to Ross is coming up, tongues are wagging in Lake Eden, and its causing quite a bit of tension with former boyfriends Mike and Norman.
Hannah solves this by
This was one of those murder mysteries where the murder doesnt take place until halfway through the novel, which ordinarily is a trope I dont particularly care for, however since I was rather enjoying the other stuff going on in the novel mainly the baking competition, somewhat Hannahs man troubles, I thought it worked here.
The baking competition was lots of fun and I especially enjoyed the recipes this time around,
Please excuse typos/name misspellings, Entered on screen reader.
.stars. This has been my favorite cozy series but this installment was disappointing, It was pretty simplistic and in the end I didn't even care who did it, I still dislike Ross and the whole thing about Norman and Mike being happy to serve as groomsmen was ridiculous.
Team Norman! I loved this installment in the Hannah Swensen series, Hannah is chosen for the Food Network Dessert challenge and one of the judges is murdered.
Hannah and her sisters work to figure out who did it, . . before Hannah can get to the church for her wedding, Everyone in Lake Eden, Minnesota, may have had their doubts, but at long last, Hannah Swensen is getting married! Hannah is thrilled to be marrying Ross Barton, her college crush.
And her excitement only grows when she learns hell be able to join her on her trip to New York City for the Food Channels
dessert chef contest.
They get a taste of the Big Apple before Hannah wins the Hometown Challenge and the producers bring all the contestants to Lake Eden to tape the remainder of the show.
Its nervewracking enough being judged by Alain Duquesne, a celebrity chef with a nasty reputation, But its even more chilling to find him stabbed to death in the Lake Eden Inns walkin coolerbefore hes even had a chance to taste Hannahs Butterscotch Sugar Cookies! Now Hannah has not only lost her advantage, shell have to solve a mystery with more layers than a fivetiered wedding cake Having readof the books in the series, and then giving up due to the absolutely ridiculous love triangle, I went back to the series knowing that the love triangle had been done away with in the previous book.
I THOUGHT that was a positive, but no, The writing is so awful, It is almost as if the author is being paid by the word, At least the character of Tracy was MIA in this book, but Hannah's new love is now featured amp wow.
. . what a bore! Snooze alert, Here we have two independent people in their's who have no idea if they are compatible financially or sexually, because THAT would just be awkward to talk about something like that before you hitch you wagon to someone for the rest of your life! Do yourself a favor, and skip this yawner.
Warning, there will be mild spoilers
I tried to finish this book I really did.
But unfortunately, this didn't keep me invested enough to read more,
The mystery is better than Double Fudge Brownie Murder, I will say that. But it takes more thanof the book for the actual murder to take place, It worked fine in Cream Puff Murder it didn't here, I wasn't really invested at all in the daily life of Hannah Swensen as she strives to win the Food Channel dessert competition.
Those parts weren't as interesting as I thought they were going to be, because they were so dull, and we all know Hannah's going to win anyways.
Also, the writing was really choppy in this book more than it normally is, Things are repeated within a page, and some of the dialogue felt kind of forced, Also, there was indirect slut shaming of another competitor, Lovely.
I flipped to the end though to see who the culprit was, Like I expected, it was someone in the competition, but not the person who did it, That was also better than last book, as the culprit's name just popped up out of nowhere right before he officially claimed responsibility.
As it is, I'm not going to continue to follow this series, I am, however, going to read some previous books to see if the series has dulled as a whole in betweenand, or if its my interest that has gone away.
Good news is that the recipes that I'm interested in will always be good,
Before Reading
Did anyone think Ross was going to be the murder victim by first looking at the cover That would have been so awesome TBH.
Because I swear, the romance between Hannah and Ross:
Its just as bad as the worst instalove you can find in YA.
Well, let's hope this book is better than Double Fudge Brownie Murder, It only took me a full day to finish because I had to keep putting it down and walking away.
So, so bad,
Why do I keep reading this series After the last five or so books, I promise/threaten myself with 'I'm breaking up with Hannah', but I always take her back.
is it masochism I don't know,
Eight pages in and I was already regretting it,
At least we were spared the 'Moishe/Cuddles table chase' sequence this time, . .
Too much focus on some things, sudden, lastminute revelations about others and a general feeling of 'Yes, this is another poorlyplotted, rush job'.
Continuing sense of 'must meet word count so I'll overdescribe inanimate objects with four adjectives and modifiers'.
I love books and reading too much to give it a truly dismal rating, but there's no way I'm praising it, either.
Dollycass Thoughts
The last book in this series, Double Fudge Brownie Murder, was a little off for me, so I was a little nervous about reading this one, but I love these characters so I dove right in.
Sadly, Hannah has cast both Mike and Norman aside and it really going to marry Ross, Shockingly, both her past loves vow to remain friends and even become part of the wedding party.
I have always been Team Mike so I was heartbroken, Truthfully, Ross seems shady, I was hoping he was the victim or the killer,
Aside from the wedding, Hannah and Michelle are participating in the Food Channels Dessert Chef Contest and Ross is going along to New York to film interviews and background for the hometown station.
He uses his clout to upgrade the groups flights and hotel rooms, When Hannah wins the first round, the contest moves back to Lake Eden, a big event for the entire town.
That is until one of the judges is found dead in the walkin cooler at the Lake Eden Inn.
With the other judges and contestants on the suspect list, Hannah is sleuthing out a killer, while trying to win the biggest cooking contest of her life and still be standing to take her vows.
The first half of the book is introducing the chefs and the judges, prep through the first round of the contest, and Hannahs mother and grandmother taking over the wedding planning.
All Hannah had to do was pick out her dress and show up for the wedding, Of course, she did have her hands full with other things, I did enjoy several of the new characters, The judges were not as realistic as on the actual cooking shows we see on television but they fit in well with the plot as did the other contestants.
The cast regulars continue to gather to go over evidence and theories, but there still seems to be a strong connection between Hannah and her former loves.
The mystery portion is wellplotted with several twists have and after this many cases, everyone knows Hannah is investigating.
She does continue to leap into situations without a clear plan, which brings some tense moments, I did not sleuth out the killer myself until Hannah did, and it was kinds a surprise for both of us.
About a third of the book is yummy recipes for cookies and desserts that are featured in the story.
The author includes them at the end of chapters and I sometimes feel they should all be at the end to not mess with the flow of the story but I have become accustomed after this many books to skipping them over and reviewing them when I complete the book when I can scan the ones I want to try into my recipe folder on my computer.
This series continues to be one of my faves, I am anxious to get caught up and see what Hannah gets herself mixed up in next.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review, All thoughts and theories are my own,
I have been reading this series for at leastyears, give or take, I have read the opinions about her Norman/Mike romance, I have read all the negative opinions as well as the positive.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I think everyone is entitled to state their opinion as well.
This is mine:
I feel like I know all the Swenson sisters as I have read each book more than once.
I am happy with the marriage between Ross and Hannah, I believe Hannah deserves happiness and contentment and I don't think she would find it with Mike or Norman.
We all know Mike has a wandering eye and he can be very arrogant at times, Norman is sweet, kind, caring and he does love Hannah, however, I think the author would feel obligated to keep up that image if they were to marry, and to be honest, the book would go from mystery to romance in a flash.
With her marriage to Ross, her college friend, a man we know very little about, it can lead to all kinds of wild ideas for further books.
In this book, Hannah is preparing for the Dessert Chef Competition, as well as her up and coming wedding.
As nervous as she is, Hannah really wants to win the competition and with having her sister Michelle by her side, it could be a win win situation.
When the competition is moved to an earlier date, Hannah has no choice but to leave the wedding plans in Andrea and Delores' hands, and well, we know how that can be!
As Hannah prepares for the competition, she gets some insight on one of the judges and hopes her stunning desserts will land her a win.
Unfortunately, the judge Hannah hopes to impress is a nasty piece of work and someone decides to take him out, literally.
Now Hannah has a competition to win, a wedding to prepare for and a murder to solve, all in a few days!
Will she make it to the altar on time
I think the wonderfully talented Joanne Fluke did a marvelous job with this book.
The story was well developed and fast paced, There were times I actually suspected Ross as being the murderer, This story really blends the relationship of Hannah, Ross, Mike and Norman, It didn't feel overdone or too mushy, There are so many Hannah fans that will appreciate the smooth writing style as well as the story itself.
Well done and I can't wait for the next one, .