Wedding Cake Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)

Fear not, fans of Hannah and Norman (or even Hannah and Mike!) While Hannah did not marry either of them in this installment of my personal favorite cozy mystery series, I did find a woman on Facebook who met Joanne Fluke during an autograph signing. When she expressed her disdain that Hannah chose Ross, Ms. Fluke replied, "Remember...new people don't last long in Lake Eden!" It gave me hope! ;)

I have really liked all of the books in this series, which I know is a rather unpopular opinion. I don't expect award-winning writing, which may be why I enjoy them so much. Are they unlikely scenarios? Sure. Are they fun to imagine what it would be like if they did happen? Absolutely!

This book sees Hannah and Michelle going to New York for a dessert competition for the Food Channel. When one of the judges ends up dead, Hannah works with the usual gang to solve the crime while her wedding is being planned. I had a lot of fun reading it, though I did miss Norman and Mike being with Hannah throughout the book. They were in there, but not as much as they were in previous books, so that was probably my biggest criticism. I think Ross is a good mix of Mike (with the looks) and Norman (with how he treats Hannah), but something about him still bugs me, so I am hoping Hannah comes to her senses and goes back to Norman. He is definitely my favorite main character!

I have reread all 18 previous Hannah Swenson books as well as the new one. Ms Fluke tells a good story and her characters mlare interesting. I very strongly object that her chapters are very short and the recipes are very long and interrupt the story every few pages. It is very nice to include recipes but they should be at the end!!!

I have reread all 18 previous Hannah Swenson books as well as the new one. Ms Fluke tells a good story and her characters mlare interesting. I very strongly object that her chapters are very short and the recipes are very long and interrupt the story every few pages. It is very nice to include recipes but they should be at the end!!!

As with all her other books it was wonderful. What makes me sad is that this may be her last Hannah book. When you read a whole series the characters become like family. Plus the recipes are always so good. I will miss all of them.

Hannah finds herself preparing for a quick wedding AND a televised baking competition in Joanne Fluke's Wedding Cake Murder. The 19th book in Fluke's ongoing series about a cookie maker/sleuth based in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah preps her youngest sister as her assistant and finds out a relative has some details about one of the celebrity chef judges that will help Hannah win the competition. She and her sister travel to New York City where Hannah wins the preliminary and gets the competition moved to Lake Eden. Business is now BOOMING at the town. But when that judge is found dead (not by Hannah THIS time), she starts to work on solving the murder while prepping to win the competition. Prepping for a wedding would be hard enough, but now all cameras are on Hannah and the killer is JUST behind her. Will she be able to solve the murder, win the competition AND get married? Only time will tell.

Who would read this: Fans of the series, cozy mystery fans, someone who wants to read a strong heroine and also have some yummy recipes, those who have seen the movies, or are just in the mood for a read that will occupy their minds for a while.
Time to Read: 4.0 hours (I kept having to go back to figure out whom was whom because there were over 10 books I was missing, LOL)
Rating: 4.0/5 stars--mostly because she FINALLY makes a decision, LOL.
Funny Story: I had no idea this was number 19--I thought it was supposed to be after the last one I read.
Final thoughts: I was happy that she finally made a decision, but I think I enjoyed this less because I was confused about the timing--this was all MY fault. Ideally, though, it wasn't bad for a Hannah Swenson mystery.

I enjoyed the book. I have really enjoyed the Hannah Swenson series over the years. However, in my opinion this book and the previous three or four have lost a whole lot of depth over the last few years. The characters and their interaction with each other seems to be getting a little stale and the stories don't seem to be as developed as they once were. It makes me sad to say so. Maybe that is to be expected in a series that has run so long. I look forward to the story that is coming out in September and will wait until then to decide if I will continue to read the books, provided there are any more books.

This book was charming and fit perfectly with the previous books in the series. Could be a bit longer, and more attention given to details. Seemed to lack a bit of depth which previous books did not.

This series has become unreadable. Ms. Fluke should just write cookbooks for the unhealthy because she fills so many pages with recipes and so few pages with actual story lines. I loved this series but now the books are laborious to read. I don't understand the readers that have given it 5 stars. We must not have read the same book. I had every book in the series and gave them all away. I'm done with Joanne Fluke. She didn't even do the movies on Hallmark Channel justice. Hannah looks nothing like the character in the book, neither does the cat or the home she lives in. It's bad when you bastardize your own books for movies. I think she's bored with this series and needs to put a period at the end.