Mad for Max: Kitsch at Capacity

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Pink Petals Necklace

Bag: ModCloth; Sunglasses: Wild Fable, Target

Bow: Art Class, Target

Armed with charm(s).  

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Crafty Confection Necklace

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Cherry clip: Wild Fable, Target; Sunglasses: Kohl's

Nature's emeralds. 

Shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: Betsey Johnson

Puff Piece Necklace

Yellow necklace: So, Kohl's; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon

Bunched up buttercup.

Shoes: Sugar, Kohl's

Sunglasses: Amazon; My Little Pony clips: Dolls Kill

When it comes to super-sized style, maxi dresses and excessive accessories make for a kitsch-tastic combo.  I'm talking about maximalism, the aesthetic that flouts the old-school edict of taking one thing off before leaving the house and instead adding five more.  I remember being excited when I found out that it was a thing.  Deep down, I'd always known it was okay to look like a try-hard Christmas tree.  So, it's with unabashed enthusiasm that I share these fits.  Stacking the flair is not only fun but functional because I like to have things to look at throughout the day.  It's why the idea of a uniform -- by which I mean anything from a school-issued skirt and blouse to a pants suit -- sends me into, to quote Anne of Green Gables, "the depths of despair."

That said, Anne, with her love of whimsy and pretty things, would've been a maximalist of the first order.

Purple Hair, Don't Care: The Bully in the Library

As I work through Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers mystery series, I'm happy to find that each book is better than the last.  Still, I particularly enjoyed my most recent read, Death in the Stacks.

A plot twist turns Briar Creek Library into high school when Olive Boyle takes over as board president.  Intent on making a name for herself, Olive undermines the staff with her masterful manipulations.  Not only does she threaten to replace library director Lindsey Norris, she persecutes purple-haired newbie Paula to the point of tears.  Lindsey goes into protective mode, refusing to believe Olive's accusations that Paula is dangerous.  But things worsen when the middle-aged mean girl meets her end -- and Paula is caught with the knife.

Despite her vow to stop playing sleuth after nearly getting killed, Lindsey has no choice but to save one of her own.  But as she investigates, she ends up with more questions than answers, the most niggling of which is this: Did the queen bee have secrets?

That said, McKinlay's Olive is spot on, the kind of prissy and power-hungry tormentor that we've all run up against, if not in high school, then at some watershed.  Indeed, it's Olive's evilness that makes Lindsey's loyalty to Paula all the more meaningful.  I was very invested in clearing Paula's name, even if I couldn't discover whodunit due to the clever plot.

As chilling as it is charming, Death in the Stacks is more than worth checking out.

Tasty Tussles and the Old Cupcake Hustle: Of Prints and Princesses

Publish or perish.  Also, high school never ends.  These maxims came to mind as I read Jenn McKinlay's Going, Going, Ganache and Dying for Devil's Food.  Even if Going, Going, Ganache isn't about academia but a struggling magazine.  

After turning a photoshoot into a food fight, Mel and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes crew are sentenced to run a baking boot camp for the Southwest Style staffers.  But things really go south when one of the reporters is murdered.  As a writer who exposed Arizona's elite, the guy had a lot of enemies.  So it's up to Mel to find out which one silenced him for good.  

In Dying for Devil's Food, Mel is guilted into catering her fifteenth high school reunion despite being bullied as an overweight teen.  True to form, some of the popular kids, including the class mean queen, sling backhanded compliments about her now-svelte figure.  But the real trouble starts when said queen goes to powder her nose -- and never returns.  A poisoned cocktail points to murder -- and a lipstick-scrawled message makes Mel the prime suspect.

So there you have it in a pastry shell.  Copy and cattiness kill.

That said, the real crime would be if Fairy Tale Cupcakes used pastry shells.

Library Lovers and a Sleuth Undercover

They say that knowledge is power.  But sometimes it's a lifesaver too.  At least according to Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers mysteries.  Yes, she of the Cupcake Bakery and Hat Shop mysteries -- not to mention standalone romcoms -- also pens this cerebral-themed series.  Here's the 411 on what it's about:  

Lindsay Norris has reinvented herself.  After finding her fiancé in flagrante with his grad student, she ditched her Yale gig and relocated to coastal Briar Creek.  Now she's a library director, hosts weekly crafternoons (book club, crafting, and lunch, oh my!), and is devoted to her rescue dog Heathcliff.  Also, sometimes she solves mysteries.  Because being research savvy is one sure-fire way to find out whodunit.  And so with the help of her fellow crafternooners and hunky boat captain Mike "Sully" Sullivan, Lindsey proves that ignorance isn't bliss.  

Also, that mystery and romance go hand in hand. 🔎💖

Are You Ready for Some Cupcakes?

Always!  And not just the pretty pastries themselves, but Jenn McKinlay's cupcake-themed cozies.  Which means that I was more than game to read one of her latest, Fondant Fumble.  Although I don't follow football, I was hooked the moment the nefarious owner of the Arizona Scorpions (not a real team) turns up dead in his own QB Keogh's cupcake shop.  The owner didn't want Keogh selling cupcakes -- apparently it isn't a good look -- and that doesn't look good for Keogh.  Naturally, cupcake MVP Mel sets out to clear Keogh's name -- as well as prevent his punting partner from eating all the profits.  But then the killer kicks things up a notch.  With the goalposts constantly moving, the cupcake crew needs a Hail Mary more than ever in this, their flour of need.     

Fondant Fumble is a sweet treat touchdown.  Partly because the plot is clever, partly because it shows that football players are people too.

And sometimes people just want to bake cupcakes. 🏈🧁

Last Chance Romance, Storybook Style

Jenn McKinlay's Love at First Book is a modern fairy tale.  A sort-of-sequel to Summer Reading, it stars that novel's second banana heroine, librarian Emily Allen.  Anxiety-ridden after a lifetime on Martha's Vineyard with her cruel mother, Emily is looking to start over.  So when she gets an offer to work for her all-time favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, she moves to Ireland.  Siobhan's fantasy series was a lifeline for Emily in her formative years, so helping to shape the highly anticipated next installment -- a novel ten years in the making -- seems like destiny.

However, the gig isn't without issues.  It includes a stint at The Last Chapter, a bookshop that just happens to be run by Siobhan's gorgeous and curmudgeonly son.  Kieran makes no secret of his distaste for Emily and her mission to remedy his mother's writer's block.  Yet instead of letting herself be intimidated as she would've back home, Em challenges Kier's every objection, embracing the chance to reinvent herself.  The result is a fiery frenemy-ship that ignites into something more.  But as any book lover knows, no happy ending comes without its hardships.  That said, as Em ventures more deeply into editorial terrain with Siobhan, she learns that there are some things that not even the luck of the Irish can fix.

Charming and chock full of literary quotes to earn the respect of any bibliophile, Love at First Book is for anyone who loves books as much as they love love and vice versa.

In other words, modern fairy tale magic. 

Clued for Thought: Murder Mysteries on the Menu

Lately, I've been reading even more cozy murder mysteries than usual.  Maybe because some other genres left a slightly bad taste in my mouth.  Anyway, in doing so, it hit me that most of the series I follow are food-related.  Many even include recipes, which I never use but nevertheless enjoy.  I guess that's part of why I'm so drawn to these wholesome whodunits.  They consistently serve up a helping of happy.  Because although it's fun to figure out who did in the nibby neighbor or arrogant heiress, it's the comfort of home-baked cakes and casseroles that keeps me at the table.

So here's a quartet of titles I recently read, arranged on poster board like entrées on seen-from-space plates:

Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay, a Cupcake Bakery Mystery

Lemon Curd Killer by Laura Childs, a Tea Shop Mystery

Death of a Clam Digger by Lee Hollis, a Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery

Peking Duck and Cover by Vivien Chien, a Noodle Shop Mystery

Seeing them in all their quirky glory is like snuggling under a crazy quilt of culinary delights.  I even read some of Death of a Clam Digger to Charlotte (although not, I promise, the murder part!), and she was riveted, or, as the husband put it, on the edge of her blanket.

Now that I'm done writing this post, I realize that I haven't said anything I haven't said countless times before.  My love for cozies remains reliable, just like the mainstay stories themselves.  Suspense?  Sure. But no surprises.

And that's just how this creature of habit likes it. 🍰🔎🥘

Berries and Baubles: The Final Countdown

Sparkly Sky Necklace

Top: FCUK by French Connection for Sears

Bag: Amazon

Headband: INC, Macy's

Selfie Saturday with Geoffrey at Macy's.

Clip: Wild Fable, Target

Necklaces: Betsey Johnson

Top: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: Zulily; Top and clip: Marshalls

Tomorrow is D-Day.  "D" as in "delivery."  But also as in the actual D-Day, i.e., the World War II one.  Hopefully, mine won't be as violent.  

That means it's time to post my last pregnancy pics.  Also, a shot of the last book I read, Jenn McKinlay's Strawberried Alive.  A somewhat grittier-than-usual cozy, it's about a serial killer bumping off small business owners as well as, of course, strawberry cupcakes.  That said, I have four paperbacks stashed in my hospital bag, two romcoms and two mysteries.  I'm not naïve enough to think that I'll be able to read them, but I feel better just knowing they're there.

It's a weird feeling, this hurry-up-and-wait for the most important day of my life.  But I take comfort in knowing that countless women have felt the same way, and that most of them -- unlike those soldiers -- lived to tell the tale. 

So I don't think there's anything left to say except this:

See you on the other side. 

Cake Walk, Perp Walk: A Book Between Two Blouses

Top: Modcloth

Top: Hell Bunny, Modcloth

When Mel and Angie are invited to sell cupcakes at the Juniper Pass Rodeo, they're nervous and excited and all of the things.  Even though -- and surely you'll excuse the pun -- it's far from their first rodeo.  By which I mean that they discover yet another dead body.  Such is the sweetly sinister setup for Jenn McKinlay's Red Velvet Revenge.

But catching a rodeo clown of a killer isn't the dynamic duo's only challenge.  When their freezer goes on the fritz, they're faced with more thawed cupcakes than they can sell, forcing them to pivot to cake pops.  Ah yes, cake pops, that cutesy craze of the 2010s (this caper came out in 2012).  Needless to say, the cupcake catastrophe means that Mel and Angie's square dance card is full.  Particularly Angie's, as she juggles not only perps and pastries but the affections of two not-quite-gun-slinging suitors.  

But these two aren't the type to let men or mayhem get in the way.  And it's fun to find out just how they make -- no, bake -- their way out of this one.  

Speaking of twosomes, I couldn't help but post this pair of retro-licious blouses.  I wore the cherry one during a Zoom call, and I've never worn the heart one at all.  So I thought I'd show them off here.  Because murder mysteries remind me to make the most of the everyday.

Including always eating the cupcake. 

Cozy Christmas Crime Time

Christmas can be murder.  Wrapping, baking, and decorating are enough to make even Santa's helpers head for hibernation.  That's why it's so satisfying to leave it all behind and disappear into a Christmas-themed murder mystery.  There's something soothing about sitting back as the heroines deal with last-minute guests plus all manner of pests and put up their trees at the eleventh hour.  In other words, whatever stress fest you've got going on will seem peaceful in comparison to catching a killer.  Here are two Christmas cozies I enjoyed this week:    

In Jenn McKinlay's Sugar Plum Poisoned, cupcake queen Mel DeLaura née Cooper is already inundated with holiday orders when she takes on a baking gig for singer Shelby Vaughn.  But then Shelby's shifty manager bites the big one, and rumor has it that it might be because he bit into one of Mel's cupcakes.  What's a baker to do?  Investigate!  Well, that and prepare to host fifty-plus of her nearest and dearest for Christmas.  Both make for a nerve-wracking -- and entertaining -- Noel.  

In Lee Hollis's Death of a Christmas Caterer, food columnist Hayley Powell is in a pickle when the caterer she hired for the Island Times Christmas party is murdered.  Now the pressure's on to discover the killer before Santa slides down the chimney.  As if hunting down a homicidal maniac isn't hard enough, Hayley's also juggling not one, not two, but three suitors.  Will one of them turn out to be the wise man she wants, or just another elf to shelve?  Only time -- and mistletoe -- will tell.

Before I go, here's something else cozy: Christmas in Cape May.  This pic's from four years ago, but the magic remains.  

As far as I know, there were no murders.    

Cupcake Wake: Unwed and Undead

It's the day before Halloween, and you know what that means.  One more spooky story!  This one is Jenn McKinlay's Dark Chocolate Demise, in which Fairy Tale Cupcakes baker extraordinaire Mel Cooper faces off with, not fairies, but zombies.  Scottsdale is hosting its first-ever Zombie Walk, and Mel and company are serving Dark Chocolate Demise, Strawberry Brains, and Marshmallow Mummy cupcakes to the undead masses.  But, as they say, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye -- or, in this case, a life.  Because Mel discovers a dead undead bride in the photo op casket in front of her cupcake van.  Not only that, but the woman looks just like Angie, Mel's bestie and business partner.  Now Angie is freaked and Mel has no choice but to investigate who knocked off the corpse bride and why, an undertaking that involves mob bosses, rock stars, and not one but two love interests for Mel.  There's also a shopping spree-slash-makeover scene, which I, of course, adored.  So if you like scary and silly and sweet (but mostly silly!), then Dark Chocolate Demise is the pick of the trick or treat reads. 👻🎃

Pumpkin Spice and Things Not so Nice: Another Cute Cupcake Caper

As you know, I've read many a Jenn McKinlay romcom and hat shop mystery.  So when I was looking for fall books and found Pumpkin Spice Peril, I thought, why not start reading her cupcake shop mysteries too?

Bestie bakers Melanie Cooper and Angie Harper are busy at their beloved, Scottsdale-based Fairy Tale Cupcakes when they're met with a most unhappy ending.  Their dear friend, glass artist and pumpkin spice cupcake enthusiast Rene Fischer-Klein, has been murdered.  Never content to let the cops do their thing -- even when one of them is her uncle -- Mel delivers condolence cupcakes to Rene's studio in hopes of obtaining intel.  What follows is a mix of confections and complications as Mel works to separate the lies from the truth.

I enjoyed the arts angle in this book, especially McKinlay's descriptions of Rene's breathtaking work.  Also, unlike in most murder mysteries, Rene seemed genuinely missed as opposed to being a baddie who had it coming.  Finally, this cozy includes a tempting recipe for root beer float cupcakes that I'll probably never break my box-mix-only rule to attempt.  But I like that it's there if I get gutsy.

So it's safe to say that I'll be returning to Fairy Tale Cupcakes.  

Even if safe is the last word I'd use to describe an RIP bakery.

From Summer Fling to Year Round Thing: A Romance for the Books

The phrase "summer reading" usually evokes either an idyllic three months of beach books or a tedious list of classics to be crammed in before the next school year.  But for Samantha Gale, the nightmare isn't limited to Dickens and Tolstoy.  Because Sam is dyslexic and has struggled with reading her whole life.  Now twenty-eight and between chef gigs, she's returned to her childhood home on Martha's Vineyard to plan her second act.  On the ferry over, she escapes being hurled on by a frat boy thanks to the gallantry of one Bennett Reynolds.  Ben is a swoon-worthy librarian, and Sam would like nothing more than to distract herself with a summer fling.  So she lies about her dyslexia and pretends to be Stephen King's biggest fan.   

Welcome to Jenn McKinlay's latest, Summer Reading.  I've enjoyed many a McKinlay romcom and mystery, but from the foreword, I knew that this book would be special.  In it, McKinlay explains what inspired her to write a novel about dyslexia -- and print it in a neurodivergent-friendly font and format to boot:

"Having been an avid reader all my life, I can't imagine not having books and stories to escape into when life gets difficult.  But I'd watched up close as several of my family members did not find reading as enjoyable as I did and had to navigate a world that was incredibly unfriendly to those with dyslexia.  Books weren't the safe place for them that they were for me, and it made me much more aware of how many people find decoding the written word a challenge." (xi)

As someone who also finds comfort in books, I was instantly sympathetic to anyone who can't seek such refuge.  That said, Sam's dyslexia makes her life -- as well as her relationship with Ben -- take on another dimension.  A library card-carrying knight in shining armor, Ben accepts Sam for who she is.  He even shares his love of books by reading her a romcom that just happens to be McKinlay's own Paris is Always a Good Idea.  (How's that for mignon?)  But Ben has his own stumbling block: his eccentric artist mother refuses to tell him who his father is.  Because her family has lived on the island for generations, Sam is the ideal person to help Ben research his dad's identity.  As the two work and play, their bond grows even stronger, leading Sam to hope that it'll last long after Labor Day.      

Summer Reading is a refreshing and irresistible romance, all wrapped up in a classic opposites-attract trope.  

But then, maybe the reason that opposites attract is that they're not so opposite after all. 

Bad Guys and the Guise of Surprise: Staying Ahead of the Hat Game

If there's one thing I always say, then it's this: you can never have too many books or too many hats.  Or too many books about hats.  Yes, once again I'm chattering about my chapeau collection in the same breath as Jenn McKinlay's Hat Shop Mysteries.  Although I suppose the books will soon come to an end, as I have only two left in the series. 

Thankfully, Assault and Beret was a particularly fun one, with cousins Scarlett and Vivian swapping their home base of London for Paris.  The cause of their, ahem, wild hair?  Viv's teaching a hat-making class while Scarlett susses out a man from Viv's past.  (Try saying that five times fast.)  Intrigue -- and elegance -- abound.

I like to think that the same is true of my hat display.  Nestled among the fascinators is a new topper: the bow-bedecked, straw, LC Lauren Conrad cloche:       

Although it's quieter than its rainbow-plumed sisters, there's something simply sweet about it.  I can see myself wearing it with a long, flowy dress and carrying flowers.  Or maybe a nightstick.

You know.  Whatever brings out the bow.

Giving Pants and France a Chance

Top and jeans: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Enchanted Eiffel Necklace

Bow: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Socks: Amazon; Shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: New York & Company; Pants: Vylette, Kohl's

Shoes: Mix No. 6, DSW

Headband: INC, Macy's

Elephant Anchor Necklace

Sweater: Maison Jules, Amazon; Bag: Skinnydip London, Macy's

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, DSW

Everything But The Kitchen Pink Necklace

It's true.  I'm taking on trousers and the land of croissants.  My pink pants are even from the French-sounding brand Vylette -- although that label has gone the way of the guillotine.  No matter.  I went the extra mile for Francophile style with my Enchanted Eiffel Necklace (because what's the City of Lights sans unicorn?) and my micro review of Jenn McKinlay's Paris is Always a Good Idea. 

Oddly, this romcom can best be described by The Big Bang Theory (Season 5, Episode 9).  Leonard and Penny are on a platonic movie date when Leonard suggests that they see a documentary about building a dam on a river in South America because he's tired of Penny picking romcoms that are "an hour and a half of beach houses in the rain until the woman turns around and realizes that love was here all along."  Penny retorts that that's a great movie and it's starting in ten minutes.  The classic soulmate search trope that Leonard so callously mocks is Paris is Always a Good Idea in a nutshell -- or, more appropriately, a popcorn kernel.  Here are (some of the, remember this is micro) details:  

After hearing that her widowed dad is getting remarried to a woman who won him in a bachelor auction, super-serious-professional-woman-who-doesn't-have-time-for-fun Chelsea Martin (shoutout to Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?) gallivants across Europe to track down three old flames to reignite her belief in love.  But she can barely choke down a bite of baguette before her office nemesis Jason Knightley pops up and cock blocks her.  Sure, this plot's a little familiar.  But then again, so are the plots of those movies.  And sometimes the familiar is what you need.

I can't say the same for documentaries.  Unless they're about croissants or baguettes or why we love romcoms so much.