I received an audiobook version from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I liked the narrator, at first, she was a bit perky for me, but her voice suits a cozy book with a main character in her early 30s.

The book is quite standard for the genre, young(ish) woman coming home after something goes wrong in her life (death of husband), potential love interest, cute animal, own start up business, interesting core group of friends, and increasingly, mention of characters with disabilities or other differences (homeless female vet and character with severe MS). There was so much going on in this first book in series that it was hard to keep track of some of the characters (I forgot who Don towards the end).

I enjoyed the listen and the fact that the author didn't make female cattiness a continuing issue. Seems like half the cozies I read have women that can't get along (like another I'm reading right now) because of a man.

This was adorable all the way around! I absolutely loved the characters. I found them to be so much fun. The plot as well flowed beautifully. Sometimes with cozy mysteries things can feel a bit all over the place but that was not the case here. I know several people who adore cozy mysteries that are going to adore this one!

This was a lovely start to a new cozy mystery series. I was attracted to this series because of the concept of a grilled cheese restaurant! Grilled cheese has always been one of my favorite comfort foods and Vermont makes great cheese so a grilled cheese restaurant in Vermont made a lot of sense to me. (This is a real restaurant concept; I actually ate in a grilled cheese restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida when we visited there a few years ago!) The varied grilled cheese sandwiches referenced in the book definitely had my mouth watering!

The main character, Carly, a young widow, the proprietor of the restaurant, starts her amateur sleuthing because one of her valued employees is under suspicion for the murder of a local man, found dead outside the restaurant’s building. It turns out that there are plenty of people around who couldn’t stand the guy, so that made for some interesting “side trips” and red herrings along the way. In addition to Carly, there are a lot of interesting characters in the town who I hope will make repeat appearances in future books: Grant, the 19-year-old who works part-time at the restaurant who wants to become a chef (and is also a fabulous cellist!), Becca, the homeless vet, Joyce, the neighbor with MS who loves to wear her Woodstock 50th Anniversary t-shirt, and Ari, a local electrician and all-around good guy who looks to be a future love interest for Carly. It was also nice to have some diverse characters, especially as Vermont doesn’t exactly have the most diverse population in the US!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. Narrator Mia Gaskin did a fine job with all the voices. All opinions are my own.

I received a free digital audiobook ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly follows Carly Hale who, following the death of her husband, moves back to her hometown in Vermont to take over the lease of a beloved store downtown and open her own grilled cheese eatery. Following a confrontation with her new landlord he is found dead and herself and many others are immediately considered suspects.

I was given this book to review on audio, I really enjoyed the narration style, the book is well paced, and I love the cover design. This story has all the elements of a great cozy mystery including being falsely accused of a crime, the main character pursuing their own investigations, and a touch of romance that lovers of the genre will eat right up (cheese puns are rife, I wanted to join in!).

The loss of her spouse and her grief is a large element of the story which, along with some other heavy subjects, was well handled and believable. The potential health issues of eating such a high dairy diet were even discussed in a fun way. The little dog, diverse cast of characters and developed back stories of the townspeople all made this book a memorable read.

This was an enjoyable audiobook and a very solid opener to a new series which I look forward to continuing.

I am a sucker for any book cover showing a little white dog. A new to me author, this clean, cozy mystery has just the right amount of build-up. The author did a fantastic job of keeping me guessing. I had no clue who the killer was. Signs pointed to multiple suspects. The storyline was original, entertaining and "mouth-watering". Who knew there were so many different types of grilled cheese sandwiches. I wanted to nibble my way through the entire book. Mia Gaskin was excellent as the narrator.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, LLC for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I recieved an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This was a good cozy mystery that kept me guessing to the end. Mysteries aren't really my thing, but I needed something to listen to.

The first in a new series. I enjoyed this book. I am looking forward to the next in the series. I listened to the book offered via Netgalley. I believe the narrator enhanced the story.

The book did a good job of introducing us to the future recurring characters and those that are just in this story. I found room for growth of the continuing characters without finding them lacking.

Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream―opening Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery in Balsam Dell, Wisconsin. She has returned to this town to heal after the death of her husband.
She’s been in business for 5 months and her new landlord wants to close down this location to renovate the building. We learn, the new landlord dated Carly in high school.

I liked how the author wrote Lyle Bagley so we could not like him. He was a sleazy operator.
There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the story. I was not expecting the villain to be the person identified until much later in the story.

I recommend this book if you are looking for a different twist on a cozy and diversity of characters.

I was given an audio copy of this book and am not required to leave a positive review.

There were a few things about this audiobook that caused me to request it and I am so glad that I did. First of all, I find the cover picture for the audiobook absolutely adorable. The little dog with the melted cheese on his paws, just makes you laugh. Secondly, I love the play on words for the title. Thirdly, I happen to love cheese, especially grilled cheese. Lastly, who doesn't love a combination of murder and cheese.

Linda Reilly did not disappoint in this audiobook. It is well written and I found that I was left wanting more. I was very happy to see that this is only the first in the series and will most definitely be looking for the next one. Linda Reilly's character Carly Hale is very relatable and difficult to not fall in love with. Carly opens up her dream restaurant of a grilled cheese eatery after her husband passes away. Business is booming and she appears very happy. That is until she realizes that she may lose her eatery because the building is being sold and the person who bought it wants her out. Then the unthinkable happens, and the buyer is found murdered. Carly sets out to find out what happens.

Linda Reilly is extremely creative in the way that she incorporates cheese throughout her story. She does a play on words be incorporating the name of cheeses throughout. For example, her title is "Up to No Gouda", which could have read as Up to no Good. I found this to be hilarious and I appreciated how much she was able to incorporate cheese into the story itself.

The narrator is Mia Gaskin and this is the first book that I have listened to of her narration. I thought that she did a splendid job. She was able to bring the story alive as she was reading it. I am hoping that she will be narrating the next book of Linda Reilly's.

Rating: 5 out of 5 because all I want is more of Carly and her grilled cheese eatery. I hope that Carly and the eatery appear in the next book. I will most definitely be keeping my eye out for the next one and will be buying it in a heartbeat.

While I might have doubts about the long-term viability of a grilled cheese restaurant, I really enjoyed the first book in the Grilled Cheese Mystery series and hope it continues. The mystery was good and the narrator had a pleasant voice. Like most cozy mysteries, the mystery is light and the characters carry the story. I hope to see more of them in future books.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I so enjoyed this book. I am new to this author, but the book sounded interesting. I found this to be delightfully "cheesy" and will read more from this author. I thought the mystery was interesting with plenty of twists that keep you engaged. The characters are interesting, and I look forward to seeing more of them. Well done!

Really cute first in a new series. I love clever title, love that the main character owns a grilled cheese shop even though I don't eat sandwiches, and love the small town feel. The mystery was also good and I didn't see the ending coming. Looking forward to more from this author!

This is a Cozy Mystery, and this is the first book in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, and I really loved the main character (Carly) in this book. I did see some of the twists coming before they where revealed, but I did not guess all of them. I really enjoyed the mystery in this book. I think the Grill Cheese shop is a fun setting for this series, and this small town sounds like it is cute and fun. This is a great start to a new Cozy Mystery series, and I cannot wait for the next book in this series. I really loved getting to know all of these character, and I really cannot wait until the second book comes out. I have read this book twice. The first time I read the kindle book on October 2021, and the second time I read this book I listen to the audiobook on January 2022. The audiobook was easy to understand the narrator, and I enjoyed and liked the narrator. I was kindly provided an e-copy and e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) or author (Linda Reilly) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Up to No Gouda AUDIO by Linda Reilly is the first in a new series, Grilled Cheese Mysteries. It has a cute premise: Carly is a young widow whose husband had been killed in a truck accident just 18 months earlier. She had grieved, and then taken his insurance money and returned to her hometown to open a restaurant, her dream. Since a little girl, Carly's favorite food had been grilled cheese sandwiches. Now she had a restaurant where only variations on that theme were served, with a small staff made up of Grant and Suzanne. One morning her upstairs tenant came running through the backdoor, screaming. It turns out her fiancé, Lyle Bagley, was dead in the back parking lot. Carly called the police and her nightmare started. They closed her restaurant, searched her car, and accused Suzanne of being the murderer. Fortunately they didn't have enough evidence so they sent her home, for now.

Carly is a sweet character. Happy to be home, but still missing Daniel, she is content in her apartment, upstairs from her landlady, who has MS, and her caregiver. She has a couple of good friends and lots of acquaintances since she went to high school here in Balsam Dell. She is happy until all this mess. She had dated Lyle in high school and he was a creep, but still . . . She kind of fell into investigating and then roared in full speed ahead. There was no shortage of suspects as Lyle was not a good guy. The plot was well conceived and only came together at the last minute. By the end there were a slew of important characters that will be appearing in future books. I am anxious to get to know them. This has the potential to be a fabulous new series.

Mia Gaskin was the reader and she had a sweet, hesitant voice, perfect for Carly. She did mispronounce a number of words, which I found distressed, but many listeners probably won't even notice.

I was invited to listen to a free audio version of Up to No Gouda by Dreamscape Media, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions were my own. #netgalley #dreamscapemedia #lindareilly #uptonogouda

This book would be perfect for a Book Club that likes Cozy Mysteries. It has likable characters, a few odd characters and lots of good suspects. Carly doesn't come out and ask questions that seem to pry into things that are not her business. She seems to have a way of talking around the question and usually getting the answers she needs. The solution had me guessing until the very end. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to listening to book 2.

This book was okay. It gave the overall impression that the author was almost trying to hard to write a textbook cozy mystery. The characters made overt attempts not to swear that took the reader out of the world, and the heroine's snooping was at a level completely out of character for, well, a normal human being. At one point, she and another character literally break into someone's house. Despite these incidents, I enjoyed the book overall. It's a solid cozy mystery, but probably not one I would recommend for uncommon readers of the genre.

Additionally, there was a moment where the heroine's neighbor was believed to have depression and the heroine thought she could cure it with a picnic. Like... what? This is a dangerous narrative and not the appropriate way to deal with mental health issues.

I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed the narration very much. I thought the narrator did a good job with all the voices, and probably added to the overall story.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for my ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 6/10

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance audio copy of this book. First in a series of cozy mysteries (Grilled Cheese Mysteries), Carly has moved back to her hometown after being widowed. She opens up a Grilled Cheese cafe, and seems to be doing well when her landlord is found dead in his car in her parking lot. Carly gets drawn into the search for his killer, and we meet some of the inhabitants of this quaint Vermont town. The killer is certainly a surprise, and I look forward to more books in this series.

Five stars! I absolutely love this cozy mystery. Carly is a super sweet main character but still has a sense of humor and is realistic. She opened a grilled cheese shop in her hometown after her husband's death. She has friends and loving family, which i appreciate (I hate when cozies feature characters where everything is wrong in their lives). The setting, Vermont, is lovely and I love the cast of characters of the small town. I also love that there are characters of diverse backgrounds. The mystery keeps you guessing. This is a perfect cozy. I would definitely recommend.

Ok so this book is, no pun intended, cheesy. I’m not kidding, every character in this book is super polite most of the time, even the bad guy. BUT despite the cheese factor, I really enjoyed the book. It is reminiscent of classic whodunnits, good red herrings and a likable cast of characters. This book is out of my normal wheelhouse, as it’s very tame. It sticks to the cozy genre well. No cussing, no sexy time, no grisly murder details, BUT the story was so good, and to be honest none of that would have fit with the book. I was TOTALLY WRONG about who the killer was, and I absolutely love when that happens! I was glad to see that it’s going to be a series of books, as this was a good opener. I can’t wait for the rest. And I’m always a fan of hearing cities I know and live in mentioned in books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook copy.

THIS was a really good read. I didn't know what to expect when I started it as this is a new to me author, but I was not even remotely disappointed; I mean, who doesn't love grilled cheese, soup, and a good murder? Carly is an excellent MC [who doesn't need a man to complete her, even when she was married, she was not one who needed her man to complete her and had her own career, yet had a wonderful and loving marriage], who is still grieving her much-loved husband, but is really trying to move on and live her best life. Add a slewful of really fun characters, a reconciliation, some amazing sounding sandwiches [from her quirky sandwich shop] and of course a murder, and you end up with one really good read.
I had the killer figured out early on, but there are enough red herrings that kept me just wondering if I was wrong [I was not] and there were some aspects that I didn't guess and that made the reveal fun. This was just really well-written and I am really looking forward to the next one in the series. Well done.

I was also able to get the audiobook ARC for this book and boy was I surprised there as well. I am really, really, particular about my audiobook narrators - I have had so many that were just awful and ruined the book experience for me to not be particular and so I was hesitant to request this, but thought I could at least try. I am so glad I did. Mia Gaskin is a terrific narrator [I am so glad that there are starting to be more really good narrators within the cozy genre - there are just so many that are just plain awful to the ones that use the same voices no matter which series they are reading so you get confused as to what place you are actually in. To have some new blood, that actually do an amazing job narrating is so refreshing] and I will be looking for other books that she has narrated in the future. She tells the story well, her character voices don't grate on your nerves and she truly made the story better for me by her reading style. Very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Linda Reilly, Mia Gaskin [narrator], Poisoned Pen Press and Dreamscape Media for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance audiobook of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a relative newcomer to the “cozy mystery” genre, but the title and cover of this book really sounded like fun. I wasn’t disappointed!

It started out like a Hallmark movie, right down to the name of the town, Balsam Dell. Carly Hale has recently lost her husband and returned home to follow her dream of opening a grilled cheese restaurant. Unfortunately, though the restaurant is doing well, the building has been sold and the new owner doesn’t want to renew her lease. Worse, he wants to gut the place to create a boutique for his fiancée! Carly and her staff don’t know what they’re going to do…still sounds like Hallmark, right? Right up til the moment the new owner is found…murdered behind the restaurant. When one of her employees becomes a suspect, Carly is determined to clear her name, but will she be able to keep the restaurant afloat at the same time?

A really entertaining cast of characters kept me guessing until the end. The narration was wonderful. The only thing missing for me was an actual grilled cheese recipe or two! Perhaps that will be available in the print version.

I see that the second book in the series is due out later in 2022. I will definitely be on the lookout for it!