I really don’t like to give bad review, but outside of a few cute elements – the main character is called Marci Beaucoup, she runs a French Baker in Paris, Kentucky, and has two pets (who apparently can go anywhere in the bakery) with French names – there isn’t a lot that I liked about “Macarons Can Be Murder”. Marci is one of the worst characters I’ve come across in a cozy mystery series – suspending disbelief as an amateur detective solves murders that the local police can’t solve is part of reading a cozy but Marci is on a whole different level. Her reason for getting involved in solving the murder was shaky at best and she did so many stupid things and put herself in danger so many times that I was almost hoping that she would be the next murder victim. I tried hard to give this review three stars but she did something so stupid at the very end of the book that I had to knock it down to two stars.

This is a book that is fun, tasty, 'Oh, La, La' and of course has the murder, mystery and cosy aspects all wrapped up. I quickly devoured this book and enjoyed it fully for what it was!

It is such a quick and easy read but still gives you what you want from a murder mystery (a cosy one at that!). It is entertaining and the characters are fun and quirky. It is a book that you read when you want something light, easy and quick and just a bit of fun as well.

Normally I don't like anything Paris related, but the first book in the Paris Kentucky Bakery Mystery series was quite an enjoyable read.

Macaroons Can Be Murder, is cozy mystery about a baker who finds a dead body in front of her bakery on fine morning. This ensues drama, some kind of love triangle, brushes with death and thankfully lots of baked goods.

>Let me start with what I like in this book:


I really enjoyed her day to day dealings with the bakery and struggles of running a store. Along with that her relationship with her aunt was awesome, it was quirky and at the same time the aunt was more sensible when The MC went to play detective.
Now for the real review:

The MC of the book is downright annoying, she has that "I want it, I got it attitude" whilst doing her own investigations and it's beyond me why everyone would be talking to her and how is her way of questioning anywhere near casual.
Unfortunately, the murder was not in the limelight, ofcourse it was present and mentioned in everypage but I felt like it was more focused on her detective skills (which she severely lacks) rather than the murder itself. And she is so un-subtle (is that a word), she's obviously snooping around and people are okay with it.... more than once. It's downright awkward. It's like she's entitled to answers, it's this entitlement that annoyed me the most.
Moreover, the triangle, seemed forced and there's no attempt at resolving that at the end and I didn't particularly root for anyone.

In a nutshell, Macroon can be Murder, is a good attempt at a cozy mystery, it's definitely cozy and I loved the bakery aspect but I wasn't a big of the mystery or the MC'S meddling

first-in-series, new-series, culinary, cozy-mystery, relatives, relationships, amateur-sleuth, bakery, baker, small-business, small-town, punny, pets, sly-humor, romantic, recipes,****

Nice lighthearted cozy mystery with a whiff of magic (denied by the shop owner). Things are almost pleasant until a customer's dead body is found on the sidewalk in front of her bakery in Paris, Kentucky. While sorting out just which man she is attracted to (despite what her aunt says) Marci starts snooping and sleuthing.
The series needs some work but looks to be a fun excursion once it develops a little more.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I really wanted to like this book, but the plot was so trite and has been overused. Marci spends more time traipsing around than baking at her shop. Too bad. I this this book might have had potential but the plot was weak.

Marci Beaucorp is a pastry baker who owns La Belle Patisserie. She has a poodle named Fifi and a black cat named Pepe Le Pew, and loves all things French. Her Aunt Barb was a military cook and now helps run the bakery. The enticing cover drew me to this book and one can immediately imagine the mouthwatering pastries sold there.

I had high hopes for this series beginner of A Paris Kentucky Bakery Mystery series; however, the protagonist was no naive about real life and continuously made dumb choices making the book a frustration to read. Aunt Barb has a strong personality and bulldozes over everyone. Also, I don’t speak French; therefore, all the French words were lost on me. There are some humorous moments.

The murderer is apparent early on, although the author throws in another character who acts suspicious; otherwise, there aren’t that many suspects. From the beginning, a love triangle appears to be forming. Sadly, this cozy mystery was a struggle to keep reading until the end. I rated it 2.5 Stars rounded up to 3 Stars.

I honestly reviewed an unedited, digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own.

This was a very enjoyable cozy mystery. I love that this takes place in Paris. Oh, not Paris, France but Paris, Kentucky. When a dead body turns up on the sidewalk in front of the La Belle Patisserie m, everyone is a suspect and Marci Beaucoup wants to know who is responsible.

I liked this book, but I wanted to LOVE it. What's not to love about a bakery set in Paris, Kentucky? I've always enjoyed Rose Pressey Betancort 's work and tried to give it some grace as the first in a new series.

While it was a pleasant way to pass the time, the main character, Marci, just RAMBLED way too much in her head. Sure, I enjoy knowing what a character is thinking but this would go on and on and on. It because frustrating and distracting, especially as we neared the end.

As Elvis would say - a little less conversation and a LOT more action (and descriptions of the people and places) would have taken this book to the next level.

It was a solid mystery but the rambling took away from it. And, honestly, so did the love triangle. There are just way too many of those in Cozy mysteries and and it's a tired plot twist.

I have a few thoughts


first thing, it had a love triangle, i hate those, and it was between a businessman and police detective (at this point we know what i would choose, the detective).
second, the plot was predictable and the characters were bland.
third, i really wished I cloud have rated it higher and like it.




thank you to the author and netgalley for a eARC in exchange for honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. I love all things French and I live in Kentucky, so i was excited. The MC wasn’t very relatable and I found myself skimming over most of the story. All of the other characters felt so dry and un likable. Things just felt super rushed and there seemed to be an overload of conversations in every chapter but not a lot of descriptions of the people and places. There wasn’t much suspense and the actual storyline just didn’t seem well developed. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between the MC and the 2 men she ended up having feelings for. It just seemed to fall flat for me.

First in a new cozy mystery series featuring Marci Beacoup, bakery owner, Francophile, and amateur sleuth. Light, sweet, easy-breezey read with cute banter and baking.

The first in a new cozy series following Marci Beaucoup in Paris, Kentucky. I love cozy mysteries, but this was not my favorite. It was overly cheesy for me - cheesy is part of a cozy, but this was a bit too much. I also didn’t find Marci a very compelling protagonist for a first book. I would give a second book a chance because I think there is promise there!

Easy to figure out. Very light reading. I usually want alittle more of a challenge. The characters do have room for growth and were interesting so I am hoping for better in the next one. Thanks #netgalley and #Crookedlanebooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of Macarons Can Be Murder by Rose Betancourt.
Marked as a cozy mystery - this is the first I've attempted and assumed it would be a no-brainer since I already love mysteries and cozy fantasy. .
Unfortunately this first in a series failed to spark or hold my interest - as I found myself skimming through and hoping to get to the end for all the wrong reasons. Characters were bland. Wanted to like this more as kitsch cheese is indeed my guilty pleasure.

This first-in-series has the potential to become a cute and fun series beginning with its setting in Paris - Kentucky, that is, not France - and a French bakery run by proprietress Marci Beaucoup. Obviously, someone in her family had a wicked sense of humor, but faithful to her name, Marci loves all things French. The characters are likeable and just quirky enough to be interesting; and the mystery was reasonably puzzling. The problem arises with Marci's incessant monologues, questioning and second guessing her every step, jumping to conclusions, and acting like a middle-schooler around handsome men. I found myself barely skimming through pages of this nattering to get to something of substance. Adding insult to injury, are the ongoing TSTL moments and several plot holes. I truly believe that a good editor should have caught most, if not all, of these issues, or at least mitigated them. Nonetheless, I will give this series another try and hope for better editing.

Thank you to the publisher Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the eARC.

For me, this book was just okay. The premise was not particularly creative, and it also got a little boring at times. I had to skim through the book to get to the end. It was not particularly engrossing for me, like other cozy mysteries.

I failed to connect to the story or characters on any level and stopped reading less than halfway through.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an opportunity to read. I promised myself I would try new authors and series this year and this looked promising if a little cheesy, the whole Paris thing, French pastry and a character named Marci Beaucoup. This just fell so flat for me, it wasn't fun inspite of a cute bakery, adorable pets and a mysterious Frenchman. It had every stereotype I dislike in a cozy, no real police presence, a main character who thinks she is smarter than the whole police force, a main character who in this case, repeatedly, does dumb thing after dumb thing and to finish it off a budding love triangle. No, just not the way to start the New Year!

This has an adorable cover that I love. I was excited as I am a huge Rose Pressey Betancort fan. This one was cute for a debut. There are parts that I enjoyed and some I did not. Merci Beaucoup is not my favorite character that she has written. The mystery was great and I loved the writing style. That said it had some what the heck moments in the writing. I will give book two a try as I love the author however this may not be a series for me.
#MacaronsCanBeMurder #NetGalley.