Great read by a new author for me. The plot is well written and enticing to the reader. The author writes in a way that makes the reader feel like part of The story.

Dear netgalley,
please get better at letting your readers know if a book is first in a series or not. this is now the third time i was misinformed and cannot read the book because it’s a sequel. thank you.

Baking, chefs, and murder are the perfect recipe for this book! With the characters thrown into a tailspin trying to figure out whodunit, the reader is right there with them, almost walking along side them as they try to solve the murder themselves, before they are suspects or even yet, the next victims.

It is as if the author saw into y mind and wrote a cozy mystery that hit several of my favorites. It is a cozy mystery, it is food themed, ot is baking driven and it takes place within a fictional bake off show. I can I not love this story.

In this installment Courtney and crew are back for a second season despite a rough first season and a confession Courtney has had to make to her loyal fans. This years theme is weddings. The over budget over scheduled first season the producer is on set to make sure nothing goes wrong this season. However the best laid plans.........

Courtney's castmate and friend Skylar is found the first day covered in blood with a dead women dresses as a bride dead in his room. Déjà Vu, Courtney finds herself determined to solve this crime and clear an innocent person. Even if the local law enforcement is dead set against that.

Compounding her frustration with her investigation is her love life. She keeps getting mixed signals from her country girl cooking shows producer and the head of her security team. Both of whom she is interested in. The pressure of waiting to see the backlash from her fans over her confession. She may lose her show as well as a production deal she is in the works with a local knife manufacturer.

This is a stand alone novel. There are however several references to inside jokes amongst the characters and references to the previous novel. I often find those distracting. It is a wonderful story with well thought out characters and as i read the scenes on the baking challenge set i feel as if i a watching an episode of cake wars. I recommend this book for the story line, characters and descriptive writing. Enjoy.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is the second book in the Courtney Archer series, but the first I've read. I was intrigued from reading the summary about a host on a Great British Baking Show-type series. However, I felt that the show was merely a distant second character in the story. All of the cooking show parts felt rushed. The main character, Courtney seemed to waffle on her romantic feelings throughout the book like an early 20s college student and was super distracting to the plot. The mystery was a 1 star for me as we never actually meet the victim and it seems to happen in the background of Courtney's love life. I did like the setting and some of the characters, but doubt I would read the next in the series. If Courtney matures and the mystery is brought more to the forefront, I would check the series out again.

Enjoyed the characters and the story in this delightful cozy mystery. Well written and entertaining mystery that will allow the reader to forget themselves for a couple of hours.

This was a solid cozy mystery. I felt that the mystery took to long to start and then I had figured it out by like 60%. I did enjoy the setting on the baking competition and I did like most of the characters. The romance was interesting and I would continue just to see where that goes.

I was excited for Finished Off In Fondant. It’s been a while since I dived into a cozy mystery, and this one seemed like one I would like. Finished Off In Fondant was fine. I liked it. The characters were good, and the setting afforded for some interesting situations.

I liked the idea of Finished Off In Fondant, since it had a main character who was a host of a cooking competition as well as for her own show. It was a fun set up, and for the most part I did like the competition as well as the cooking aspects of the novel. I liked how much knowledge the character had about food, as it did come in handy. For the most part, I did like the cast of the characters. Courtney was interesting. Her situation was up-in-the-air for a while, as she had to come clean about her identity and the discrepancies of her on-air persona. So there was the possibility that her career could take a hit. So there was some tension in the story before the mystery began. I also liked the side characters. They were interesting in their own right.

Now when it came to the mystery—the very thing that hooked me from the start—at times it seemed to take a backseat to the filming of the competition, and the actual investigative portions seemed few and far in-between for much of the story. There was more speculation than anything else, and a lot of time was spent on other characters telling Courtney to mind her own business. That’s a common thing I’ve come across in most cozy mysteries I’ve read, and the characters always kind of disregarded that. However, Courtney did stumble onto some clues, but I wish the development of the mystery was more present than it was.

Overall, Finished Off In Fondant was fine.

Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Kensington) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!

I love most books that include food and this was not an exception. Plus, it had the extra bonus of being a wedding-themed baking competition.

It was easy for me to like Courntey in book one and now I feel like we've been 'friends' for a while. I also like the others that star with her in the show. I thought the mystery was well-done with enough twists and turns. Although I thought that I may have determined the killer, I had to keep reading to see if I was right.

Although I don't know how accurate her description of the baking competition is, I enjoyed learning a bit more behind the scenes information.

I really enjoyed this book. At first I worried that so many characters would be too much but the author handled them perfectly. Each character, major and minor, had a unique personality. The author did her homework on how a cooking show works and the story was great start to finish.

I wish I could say I liked this book, but to be honest, it was a struggle to read it to the end. It took me much linger than normal to read, which shows I just could not relate with Courtney, the main character and her whining drove me crazy.
Since cozy mysteries are my favorite to read, I find it hard to find a book I just don't like.
I hope other people can find enjoyment in this book.

Well, I had a totally different reaction to Fondant from its predecessor Cobblered. I think I let slide a few things with Cobblered because it was the first in a series, but I did enjoy it. Fondant was just OK, I could finish it, but like a salad without dressing it left me unsatisfied. I'm tired of the prejudism the characters show towards country people. Country people aren't all folksy and the daughters of city daughters aren't all sophisticated, couture wearing sophisticates (having worked in hospitals I can say this with certainty).

What disappointed me the most was the mystery. Courtney, the sheriff and Drake are terribly slow and ineffective. We readers don't even know what the Sheriff and Drake are doing aside from a couple of interviews we are privy to. I knew who did it immediately despite the half hearted attempts to give us one or two other suspects. If Courtney (who I don't expect perfection from as an amateur sleuth) had just checked out one or two details instead of asking people to do it for her and/or believing people right off the bat, she would have known too.

We never know what the sheriff and Drake are up to investigation wise, but weren't led to believe they are incompetent, so how poorly I felt they dealt with the investigation didn't ring true to me. The conflict of the story didn't work for me.

The romance is a dud. Why do these love triangles keep popping up in cozy mysteries??? If she was really interested in Drake, they'd speak more than once or twice to each other. You make the time when you're attracted to someone. If she's also thinking about Eric, again, she'd be more proactive. The whole thing is forced and unnatural.

I still enjoyed the show scenes and thing the hosts and judges are an engaging team, I just wished the mystery was as enjoyable.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Finished Off in Fondant is the second installment in the A Courtney Archer Mystery series featuring reality cooking show host and celebrity chef, Courtney Archer. Courtney and the gang have returned to Coal Castle Resort in the Pocono Mountains to film another season of The American Baking Battle, this one with a wedding theme. In addition to hosting the competition, Courtney is also filming episodes for her own show, Cooking with the Farmer's Daughter.

Having decided to publicly admit to her fans that she is not a farmer's daughter but instead was born and raised in Chicago, Courtney is worried about the fallout - will the network cancel her show? will the knife company pull their offer to create a knife set bearing Courtney's name? With the help of her costars Shannon Collins, Skylar Daily and Harrison Canfield and her producer, Eric Iverson she's trying to keep positive thoughts.

Without warning Skylar suddenly becomes ill and the cause is a mystery. Too further complicate things, the body of a woman is found dead in Skylar's hotel room. When Skylar admits that he knows the woman, she had been arrested for stalking him in the past, the local police immediately finger his as the main suspect. Determined not to let her friend take the fall for a crime he didn't commit, Courtney sets out to track down a killer.

Two subplots will keep your interest. The dreaded love triangle continues unfortunately and Courtney's constant dithering about the two men does distract from the mystery. An announcement at the end of the book leaves no doubt that Courtney and her friends will be back for another round of cooking competition.

I received an advanced copy of Finished Off in Fondant from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Courtney Archer host her own cooking show and co host another competition show. She admits and apologizes to her fans for calling her show the Farmers Daughter Table. She wasn’t a farmers daughter but actually a city girl that was a formally trained chef. While waiting to see if there would be a fall out she begins co hosting American Baking Battle Wedding Addition. When one of her co host is found covered in blood with a dead woman in his hotel room. Courtney waste no time jumping in to help clear his name. I enjoyed the characters and theme of this cozy.
#FinishedOffinFondant #NetGalley

Courtney Archer and the cast of The American Baking Battle are back filming the second season along with her own show, Cooking with the Farmers Daughter. When Courtney comes clean on her own show about not being the daughter of a farmer, she figures the worst is behind her. But when her co-host gets ill and a dead body is found in his hotel room, she is proven wrong. Now she and Shannon are doing their best to prove Skylar’s innocence and get them through the tapings before their careers and other lives are lost.

A solid second entry in this series. Not as quite as strong as the first one, but that could be that it is set in the same setting as the first one, which is not a studio, but a resort. All in all, it was good to see a new entry and I thoroughly enjoy the concept of cooking themes and surprise ingredients. Looking forward to the next entry in the series and seeing what the future has in store for Courtney and the gang.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of FINISHED OFF FONDANT (Book 2 of the Courtney Archer Mysteries) by Rosemarie Ross in exchange for an honest review. Chef Courtney Archer is thrilled and terrified about the changes in her life. First, Courtney’s finally telling the fans of her cooking show that she isn’t actually The Farmer’s Daughter. Second, Courtney’s planning to have a serious talk with her best friends about the status of their relationship. Third, Courtney and a fellow chef are pitching a new show to the network. Fourth, Courtney has moved from being a contestant on The American Baking Battle to being one of its hosts. The bright and shiny of new beginnings is soon dulled by the repetition of horrors past. There’s another murder connected the The American Baking Battle. This time, Courtney’s co-host Skylar is in the hot seat. Skylar fell ill and returned to his hotel room to rest. At the end of lunch, Skylar, barely coherent, calls Courtney for help. When Courtney goes to his room, she finds Skylar covered in blood and retching in the hallway. More alarming, there’s a dead bride serving as a macabre cake topper for a smashed wedding confection in Skylar’s room. Though local law enforcement seem content to identify Skylar as the killer based on a link between Skylar and the deceased, Courtney has some questions the police never bothered to ask. Courtney’s curiosity may get her killed, but, then again, it may set her co-host free.

I liked both this book and the previous one. I recommend this book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, food, competitions, and television shows.

#FinishedOffinFondant #NetGalley

I was granted an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for my honest opinions.
This may be harsh, but this novel is like week old cake slathered in overly sweet buttercream frosting with alternating layers of unbelievable situations, a whiny, indecisive protagonist, and simple dialogue, topped with rosettes of repetitive descriptions. I would have shelved this book had I purchased it, it was just too ridiculous. I found myself skimming large portions to move through the book quicker.
Courtney is unlikable; she is whiny and indecisive in both her professional and personal life. It was convenient that she kept forgetting to offer information she knew to the Sheriff from the very beginning. This forgetfulness got old quickly. None of the characters, in fact, had any depth or development. Their actions and dialogue were simplistic and forced; not how a natural conversation would take place, especially among the characters already acquainted with one another.
The descriptions of attire, what they wore before and after the show tapings was repetitive as was the phrase, “toes on the tape mark.”
The author set up a suspect too early in the story and focused so much time on that character, that it was beyond realistic that the Sheriff wouldn’t have investigated or known these details but a TV show chef was a more competent detective. That alone, was reason to know the character In question was innocent and made the actual murderer all the more obvious.
I was hoping for a light murder thriller with some develop twists and surprises with the added fun of a baking challenge as they are so popular on TV. Unfortunately, this fell far short and was highly disappointing.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. Courtney Archer is entering her second TV season as a co-host of ‘The American Baking Battle – Wedding Edition’. Filmed at the same resort as the first season where a murder occurred and Courtney was both under suspicion and almost killed unmasking the killer, she hopes this season will be better. Unfortunately, a new producer is on set and making time and money demands that challenge the four co-hosts and the contestants. Courtney’s co-host, Skylar, is taken ill and when she checks on him, he’s discovered in the hallway, covered in blood. A ‘bride’ corpse is found in his room and the new season seems to be falling apart. Courtney decides that Skylar is innocent and it’s up to her to prove it. Add in a town police chief, her mixed feelings for the on-site security chief, Drake, and for her producer, Eric, and Courtney has her hands full.
There are things appealing about this set up and it’s always fun to read cooking themed mysteries. The ARC did not contain recipes although many of the ones mentioned in the book sounded interesting. Unfortunately, Courtney comes across as indecisive about both her personal (Does she want Eric or Drake, Drake or Eric?) and professional (will a personal revelation mean the end of her on-air show or will it work out?) lives. I, as with other reviewers, got really tired of the ‘which man is the one for me and how does he feel about me, really?’ internal debate that kept coming up in the book. The mystery is decently plotted and there are several potential murderers. Here’s hoping the next book in the series allows Courtney to personally grow more.

I had read the first book in this series but I honestly could not remember if I liked it or not. I thought I would give this one a try. I felt irritated most of the way throughout the book. The main character was unlikeable. She is shallow, whiny and wish-washy. She keeps going on about a relationship between her and Drake or her and Eric. But she does nothing about it. Then as the hosts of the show, all these characters do is complain. Talk about snowflake problems. A story can really be helped by descriptions, however in this case the descriptions of the food, setting and the clothes were so extensive that they got tedious and often contradicted themselves. I pegged the murderer by halfway through the book; it was so obvious. I just really didn't like the people in the book enough.

Sadly, this book didn’t work for me on any level. The lead character is whiny and insipid, and the dialog is so simple it’s totally unreal.