🌺🍳🥞🧇🍽️ "Breakfast at the Honey Creek Café" (2020) 🍽️🧇🥞🍳🌺 - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Series: Honey Creek (Book #1)
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Zebra (May 26, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1420151282
ISBN-13: 978-1420151282
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“Piper Jane Mackenzie, mayor of Honey Creek,
won’t let a major scandal rip her quirky hometown apart, or jeopardize her
dream of one day running for higher office. So she’s willing to welcome
undercover detective Colby McBride, hired to help solve the mystery behind her
wannabe fiancé’s disappearance. Colby’s cover? That he is an old boyfriend
now begging Piper for a second chance—always when there are plenty of townsfolk
around to witness his shenanigans.
Piper hardly knows whether to laugh or cry, especially when she finds herself drawn to the handsome rascal. He's not the only newcomer she has to deal with. There’s a new interim preacher in town, Sam Cassidy. Drifting from one assignment to another since his one love died, Sam isn’t sure he’s the right fit for Honey Creek. But as Piper knows, this is a place chock-full of surprises. And if she can keep her town—and her heart—from going completely off the rails, there may be a sweet, unexpected future in store . . .”
Piper hardly knows whether to laugh or cry, especially when she finds herself drawn to the handsome rascal. He's not the only newcomer she has to deal with. There’s a new interim preacher in town, Sam Cassidy. Drifting from one assignment to another since his one love died, Sam isn’t sure he’s the right fit for Honey Creek. But as Piper knows, this is a place chock-full of surprises. And if she can keep her town—and her heart—from going completely off the rails, there may be a sweet, unexpected future in store . . .”
Thank you in advance to the publisher,
Zebra/Kensington, for providing an advanced reader’s/review copy/edition
through Bookish First. A positive review was not required and all words are my
own.
First of all, this ARC/ARE was delayed due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, so I didn’t receive it until about a week ago. That is
why this review is a bit “delayed”.
This was one of those “gotta have it points
redemption” reads – or so I thought. This story is written by new-to-me, but
widely known author Jodi Thomas.
The premise sounded interesting and I was under
the impression that there was going to be a bit of a “triangle” with
Colby/Piper/Sam. That definitely turned out not to be the case. It was more
centered around Colby/Piper and Sam off on his own.
While the premise sounded adorable, a romance
with a mix of suspense – to me, it seemed to drag along quite a bit. I chose it
because I LOVE stories set in Texas since I am from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
I also love romantic suspense stories as well. This falls more under a “cozy”
type of mystery – there was very little romance to it. Or that I was able to
read. As I don’t read them very much, or titles from the publisher – this did
seem to fit the genre. I am sure this is definitely geared more for those who
enjoy a cozy mystery over romantic suspense so long as they don’t have too high
of expectations.
I’ll give this book an A+ for effort with the cute
and cozy cover. However, to me, it didn’t really seem to match the story which
was told in third person from four different POVs – Piper, Sam, Colby, and
Pecos.
This is more or less a character driven story,
as most of them are, but this focused more on the characters than having the
plot front and center, or even having it running secondary.
Don’t get me wrong, we do read books for the
characters – so I really wanted to give this a chance.
Since it is character driven, I have to admit
that I REALLY liked Colby. He just stood out to me and I fell in love at first
sight even if Piper didn’t. Sam’s sad past was kind of hard and I really hoped
he could find someone as well as understand his father better. Piper was okay,
but she seemed just too “tight” to even seem like a fun sort of fit for Colby.
Saving Pecos for last – I had a REAL disconnect
with his story line. It just didn’t fit the theme of this novel. The
Pecos/Kerrie dynamic (can’t even call it a relationship) really didn’t seem to
fit either and it felt forced. I think the story would’ve worked just as well,
if not better, without it. It seemed awkward and clunky as it moved along.
I was tempted to pass those chapters but didn’t
want to miss something. I didn’t like Pecos’ parents at all. While he wasn’t
abused per se, he was neglected. The teen pregnancy, marriage, and “job” were a
bit rushed, and I personally feel it detracted from the Colby/Piper and
Sam/Anna story lines.
The story starts off with the mystery and then
gets into Sam’s sad tale. While I thought he and Piper were supposed to have “something”,
turns out it was more him and Anna with Colby/Piper in the foreground.
That isn’t the only issue with the plot …
One plot hole was Boone. To me it seemed like a
gaping hole. There was NO motive given for what he did as well as the
disappearance. Also, the addition of Marcie and him being her “guy” along with
the “other woman might have to die” part needed something to hold it to the story.
His disappearance isn’t explained. And, it seems there is very little effort to
look for him.
The sheriff’s disappearance also seemed a bit
off. The whole “ran off and got married” part seemed like a way of trying to
decide whether he was a good guy or bad one. Though I did like seeing him offer
Pecos a chance at a good job.
Another clunky, awkward, and tad disturbing part
– some kids following poor drunken Daily Watts. His heartbreak was
understandable. Part of me wanted him to see the kids as angels trying to
comfort him and care for him; the other part wanted me to say “leave him alone”.
I was trying to figure how Daily’s story played into the main plot. And, it
didn’t, at least not to me.
The townspeople, for the most part, were seemingly
unconcerned with the drama surrounding Boone and Piper.
There is an issue that I hope is a typo. In
chapter seven, on the first page of the chapter it says something about Piper
having lunch with her mother “Lunch with her mother and the other ladies at
Widows Park at one o’clock”, very next page – “Though her mother died when
Piper was eight …”
The real action happened at the end with some
dual “intimate” scenes along with a major incident and a mediocre reveal. It
seemed the mystery got scrapped in exchange for the banter between the
characters.
This a “cleaner” read. While there is mention
of nudity, the language isn’t too foul; there is mild underage drinking, and
perhaps a teenage pregnancy. There are no explicit or mentioned sex scenes
though. Piper’s change of heart towards Colby seemed rapid due to the time
frame for the story. Yet according to the blurb she seemingly is attracted to
him.
The short chapters make this a quick read. The
story takes place between 5/23 Wednesday to Wednesday 5/30 – so about a week’s
time. While reading the book, it seems like it drags, chronologically it moves
far too fast to be believable. There are some good quips and moments though.
A hilarious part was when Colby is told,
referring to breaking Piper’s heart, “they’d likely murder you then dig you up
every year to kill you again”. Poor Colby seemed like a lost puppy. I laughed
out loud with his assessment that half of the town needed to be in line-up.
It isn’t so much the main characters that
support this, as much as it is the supporting characters – Sam and Colby. There
were too many characters to keep track of and at times seemed like a
distraction. I think it could’ve been narrowed to Piper, Sam, and Colby.
I’m thinking this is a typo, but on Chapter 16,
the heading was “Mayor Piper Mackenzie”. As this has already been established
in the beginning – it isn’t needed again. Other than the two issues, the
writing was solid and definitely transitioned well.
I didn’t dislike the book, but I didn’t enjoy
it as much as I thought I would. I might be interested in the next book of the
series, however that will have to wait until it is in a library or available as
a thrift purchase. Perhaps fans of the author and the genre might enjoy it.
RATING:
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New
York Times and USA Today's bestselling author Jodi Thomas has published
over 30 books in both the historical romance and contemporary genres, the
majority of which are set in her home state of Texas. Publishers Weekly calls
her novels "Distinctive...Memorable," and that in her stories
"[tension] rides high, mixed with humor and kisses more passionate than
most full-on love scenes." In 2006, Romance Writers of America (RITA)
inducted Thomas into the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA for THE
TEXAN'S REWARD. She also received the National Readers' Choice Award in 2009
for TWISTED CREEK (2008) and TALL, DARK, AND TEXAN (2008). While continuing to
work as a novelist, Thomas also functions as Writer in Residence at the West
Texas A&M University campus, where she inspires students and alumni in
their own writing pursuits.
You can
follow her on the following social media accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodithomas/
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