I did enjoy this first in series. I liked the allusions to certain fairy tales - these are subtle and I am really interested to see how the narrative progresses in later books. If you watched Once Upon a Time, this is for you.,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the ARC.

Deviously Delicious is a murder mystery set in a small, mysterious town where appearances can be deceiving. I went into this expecting a cozy mystery, but it has a lot more fantasy elements than I realized. Perhaps I am not the audience for this book, since it took me a while to get into the story. I had a hard time connecting to the characters, and at times in the beginning, it was hard to tell them apart.

However, I think this will appeal to most fans of cozy mystery and cozy fantasy, since it has a lot of the same elements. I may continue with the series, just to see what happens next.

I didn’t expect this book to get under my skin like it did. There’s something so atmospheric about Sueños del Mar .it feels cozy and haunted all at once. I loved watching Allison and Dorseigh figure things out together, not just the mystery, but themselves too. Their friendship felt real and steady even when everything around them was falling apart. By the end, I was holding my breath. This one surprised me in the best way. #bookstagram #books #reading #reader #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #bookrecs #bookreviewer #bookreview #bookrecommendations

Book Review: Deviously Delicious by T.J. Deschamps and Beth Whiteman

Rating: ★★★★☆

I recently finished Deviously Delicious, this cozy mystery set in the fog-shrouded Northern California coastal town of Sueños del Mar was a genuinely fun read. The town itself comes across as charming on the surface—with its bakeries, repair shops, and friendly neighbors—but as you dig deeper, it’s clear everyone is hiding some kind of secret. And those secrets? They’re as deliciously twisted as the title suggests.

The story follows Allison and Dorseigh, best friends and roommates who run a business together. Dorseigh is your down-to-earth girl-next-door type, trying to earn a decent living and break free from her people-pleasing ways. Allison, on the other hand, is eager to leave her past behind and explore the world in style. Their plans get seriously derailed when they find an unconscious boy on their doorstep, which kicks off a series of strange events including kids going missing around town.

Accused of kidnapping, Allison and Dorseigh—dubbed “The Jills of all Trades”—have to step up as amateur detectives. Along the way, they're joined by friends and led down a few red herrings, uncovering just how much darkness lurks beneath Sueños del Mar’s quaint exterior.

One thing that immediately caught my eye was the gorgeous cover—so fitting for a story that blends cozy mystery vibes with hints of fantasy and creepiness. The narrative switches points of view pretty quickly, which took a bit of getting used to, but with a little focus it didn’t disrupt the flow too much. The pacing is light and breezy, yet the plot manages to keep you guessing with its layers of secrets—from shady neighbors and quirky landlady antics to complicated pasts and potential love interests all carrying their own hidden baggage.

Overall, Deviously Delicious is a quick, enjoyable read that blends fantasy and mystery in a sometimes bizarre way. It’s perfect for anyone looking for a cozy mystery with a little extra weirdness and plenty of unexpected twists.

I’d recommend it to fans of lighthearted mysteries with an offbeat edge, though it’s not without its quirks. Definitely a book I had fun reading!

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️

I didn’t get hooked enough by the plot enough. The setting was fun and quirky and it has really good potential. The number of characters and povs did feel a bit too much especially for such a short book and I wished it just focused more on how to develop certain characters only

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This book definitely didn’t go in the direction I thought it would. I did feel like it started good but then got a bit slow. And if course,I feel like there’s load more questions that need to be answered and hope will get answered in the next book or books.

This was a pretty good book, the plot was a little bit unclear at times and also would have really benefitted from POV headers on chapters (which may be an out of date criticism as I read the ARC). Good for fans of the Chocolate Chip Cookie murders, but with a fantasy twist.

Thank you NetGalley and BookBuzz for the ARC!

Deviously Delicious is a spicy, clever ride full of charm, sass, and just the right touch of magic. T.J. Deschamps and Beth Whiteman serve up a story that’s both fun and feisty, with characters who feel like trouble in the best possible way. The dialogue snaps, the plot keeps you on your toes, and the chemistry? Off the charts. It’s a bit over-the-top at times, but honestly, that’s part of the appeal. A wickedly fun read you’ll devour in one sitting.

This definitely felt more like a manuscript to me than close to the finished book. The pacing was off, which I assume is due to the two different authors writing different parts as it is obvious that this was a collaboration. It could have definitely used more time and effort to get the pacing the same and to get things flowing smoothly and to add in a bit of world building. It certainly has potential, but I think the second book in the series would be rated higher if the authors managed to get the book to read like it had been written by one author and not two.

So, while it was an interesting read, it defintiely could have benefited from a lot more work on it.

Hmmm this has potential as a series, so it has me there. It felt somewhat all too fast and also like it wasn’t enough? Again, good points in a way!
I felt that I could get a bit mixed up through POV’s so readers might want to make sure they’re well aware of who’s talking 😅 or you might end up thinking there was a twist at a random spot.
But it’s def cute! It’s an easy read and I would happily read the next installment, depending on book 2 I might even do this a 4 star. It wasn’t bad at all, just lacked a liiiittle more packed in it.

This book is a quick and easy read but a lot of things were either missing or not fleshed out which made it hard to finish. There wasn't much character development or world building, pace was uneven, and there was a lack of elements to pull the reader in. The book shows promise so maybe the author could rework it a bit.

Deviously Delicious had a lot going for it—the small town of Sueños del Mar was super charming, and I loved the quirky vibe of the community. It gave me cozy mystery feels, even if the story leaned more toward a traditional mystery.

There were a lot of characters and POVs, which sometimes felt a bit much. I wish we got to know Allison and Dorseigh better—they felt a little underdeveloped. Still, the mystery kept me curious, and there were some fun twists along the way.

Overall, it was a light, easy read—great as a break between heavier books. I’m not sure I’m fully sold on continuing the series yet, but I might give book two a shot if I’m in the mood for something breezy.

The cover look good, the synopsis was interesting so I read it. There were times where I really struggled with a few things as I was reading it and other times I just couldn’t put it down. Given that this was the first in the series, I am definitely down for the next century. There are so much of the author can do with the setting and the characters that I believe this series has nowhere to go but up!.

There's a lot of potential and I enjoyed the story even if the pace was a bit uneven at times.
I hope to read other books featuring these characters
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A quiet and mysterious town, a cozy mystery vibe, and missing children — that’s what Deviously Delicious promised.

With a clever title and a charming cover, the first book in the Jills of All Trades series caught my eye and made me want to read it instantly (much to the disapproval of my growing pile of unread books). Overall, it was a quick and easy read, nothing too emotional. It delivered what it promised, but somehow, each “ingredient” felt a little undercooked.

It’s tricky to talk about a book that you didn’t hate, but also didn’t love... and yet saying you “didn’t like it” feels a bit too harsh. Maybe I read it at the wrong time, I had just finished a 5star read (well, a listen actually, since it was an audiobook).

For me, the main reasons this book fell into a weird “Liked it? Didn’t like it? Not sure how I feel” zone were:
- A lack of stronger world-building or introduction to the universe (hopefully something to be developed further in the next books);

- Main characters that didn’t win me over. Although some secondary characters did;

- And something I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere: the fast switching of points of view. That does happen, but with a bit more attention, it’s not overly disruptive.

That said... yes, I do plan to read the sequel. I might regret it, but I’m going in with far less enthusiasm than I had before starting this one.

I really couldn’t get into this book so I really can’t give an experience with it but I wanted to love it, but it just wasn’t something that I could get into

Thanks #netgalley for the review copy.

I really wanted to like this more, cozy mystery with classic fairy tale ties was a compelling hook for me, but unfortunately the character development and world building just felt lacking. It doesn’t help that one of the protagonists, Allison is insufferable. Perhaps the world will be built out better in book 2? I didn’t loathe this book, just expected a more enjoyable reading experience and less eye rolling.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.
This book is a cozy thriller book which is so new to me and I did enjoy the premise and the beginning however towards the middle, it kind of fell flat for me and did not pick up towards the end. It made the shock value very redundant and hard to place with the plot. A nice short cozy read I will admit anyways.

This was such a fun mystery and very unlike any mystery I have read before. I absolutely love the art work on the cover and the cover now makes a lot more sense after reading the book. I suppose Dorseigh and Allison are the most out of place and strange people in the town despite seeming the most normal. I loved learning about all of the characters and digging deeper into their stories.

A little after the half way point the story got really strange and hooked me in even more. I was not expecting anything along those lines and the magic element was so much fun. I thought the charm bracelet was so unique and I loved how everyone saw something different amongst the charms. I can't wait to read more by this author! Thank you to Netgalley, Witch Works Publishing, LLC, and Beth Whiteman for an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

Deviously Delicious by T.J. Deschamps & Beth Whiteman is such a good book. I loved this story so much I rated it 5 stars. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.