Synopsis

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister is about to see the ugly side of beauty expos…

Easter weekend on the Jersey Shore is hopping. Poppy’s Bed and Breakfast is busier than ever, but she needs to leave things in the hopefully capable hands of Aunt Ginny–and paws of Figaro the black smoke Persian. She’s selling her paleo muffins and keto cookies at the Health and Beauty Expo in Cape May’s Convention Hall. Normally sharing a booth with the love of her life would be a treat, but she’s recently discovered secrets that throw her new romance into chaos.

But more secrets are about to be exposed at the expo. In his keynote address, prominent cosmetic surgeon Dr. Lance Rubin reveals his breakthrough anti-aging technology. Unfortunately, someone has one-upped him with a truly foolproof anti-aging formula: murder. With the plastic surgeon dead under his own UV mask, and bedlam reigning in the hall and back at the B&B, Poppy needs to follow a twisted trail marked by glowing footprints to unmask a killer…

This book releases June 29th, 2021. Available for pre-order now!

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Review

This is such a fun series and I couldn’t wait until the next edition in Poppy’s story was available to us…ok, it hasn’t been released yet but many thanks to the author for sharing an early copy so I didn’t have to wait too long.

As we discovered at the end of the previous book, Wine Tastings are Murder, Poppy decided that Gia was the man for her over Tim. However, she was in for quite a surprise when she learned that Gia was still married and his wife has shown up to try and reconcile. This definitely creates tension between Gia and Poppy and we see that throughout the whole book and both parties aren’t 100% honest with each other and trust has to be earned. Thankfully, the situation is resolved in this book and doesn’t drag onto the next installment. You will have to read the book to find out how this comes to fruition and Gia and Poppy are able to truly move forward in their relationship.

To top things off, Gia and Poppy are running a booth within the Beauty Expo that has come to town featuring Poppy’s gluten-free items and Gia’s coffee beverages. However, even that does not run smoothly for him with Tim nursing hurt feelings over losing Poppy to Gia and Gigi trying to cast aspersions on Poppy’s Paleo items. Gigi is not a likable character and has never been but she seems to ratch it up a level in this book.

There is of course a murder or two to be solved. There are some twists I didn’t expect and just when you think you know who the bad guy is, a new clue or scenario appears which caused me to rethink my original thoughts. I didn’t figure out the killer and this person wasn’t on my radar. There are quite a few possibilities and all with legitimate reasons but not enough to kill anyone. To top it all off, Poppy works with a long-time rival, Amber, to help solve the crime. Amber is a police detective and has always been a thorn in Poppy’s side. The animosity between the two can be seen throughout the book, but Poppy rises above it to help her out of a jam. Will this change their “friendship?”

And then there is a side story regarding Poppy’s best friend, Sawyer. I wondered if she was getting into trouble but the truth came out and it was like a weight was lifted from Sawyer’s shoulders because she didn’t have to mislead Poppy. It is an awwww type of situation so don’t worry about it causing any rifts.

The snark is still there and Joanne is quite the character with a biting wit. Of course Aunt Ginny is still causing trouble and even Figaro (the cat) has a love interest in Portia, a show cat.

This is such a fun series and I recommend starting at the beginning to truly follow the personal stories of Poppy, Tim, Gia, Ginny, and the biddies.

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Libby Klein graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School sometime in the ’80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced her to remove gluten from her kitchen and adopt a Paleo Diet. Now her life revolves around coffee and bacon. When she’s not feeling sorry for herself that she can’t eat bread, she writes from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard. Most of her hobbies revolve around eating, and travel, and eating while traveling.

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