I had no idea Maymee Bell was a pen name for one of my favorite authors, Tonya Kappes. But no surprise when I did find out because I completely fell into this new series without looking back.

Pastry chef Sophia Cummings heads home to Rumford, Kentucky after finding her chef boyfriend exchanging more than recipes with one of their coworkers. While trying to ease her broken heart, Sophia reconnects with old friends and steps in to save the day of one her high school BFF’s when her baker quits right before her wedding.

Vowing to help Charlotte have her fairly tale wedding, Sophia finds hers of pulled into a murder investigation and filling in for the murdered chef at the local country club. But will Sophia keep the wedding on track and not let it be delayed? She will do her best to be the best friend she should have been over the past ten years since graduation.

The story has a great plot, well develop d characters, and just the right amount of romance and mystery. Tonya has done it again and now I have another series to add to my list of must read books!

Sophia Cummings, a pastry chef, returned home to Rumford, KY, after her head chef boyfriend, Noah, cheated on her with another woman. While home, she starts to date the local sheriff, Carter. Everyone loves her baking and ask her to prepare special desserts for their private events. Sophia planned on staying in Rumford for a couple weeks, but her plans change when Emile, the head chef at the Rumford country club, is murdered. The premier murder suspect is Evelyn, the manager of the country club. Sophia doesn’t believe it for a minute and begins her own investigation. In the meantime, her former boyfriend, Noah, shows up to coax her to return to NYC. Fast moving, enjoyable book. Sorrry when it ended.

I was instantly engaged in the life of Sophia Cummings in a new cozy mystery by Maymee Bell. I thought I recognized the charm of the writing and discovered this is a pen name for a favorite author of mine. I loved learning about the environs of Rumsford, Kentucky and the delightful characters who live there. The mystery was intriguing, and the touch of romance entrancing. I loved it and look forward to more!

After ten years away, pastry chef Sophia Cummings is back home nursing a broken heart after catching her chef live-in canoodling with another employee at the restaurant where they both work. Almost the first thing that happens when she returns home is the discovery of the body of the chef at the country club where she is meeting an old friend.

Since the old friend is in a panic about the loss of the baker who was making her cake and now the death of the chef doing the wedding dinner, Sophia jumps in to help. First, she'll be baking a wedding cake with only a couple of days before the wedding. Second, she needs to figure out who killed the chef and takes a temporary position as the new chef to let her investigate.

This cozy has great characters. Sophia's mother Bitsy is a hoot. New sheriff Carter is a hunk and catches heart-broken Sophia's eye. There are all sorts of suspects in Chef Emile's death from the manager of the country club to the dishwasher the chef bullied to the groom who doesn't want to eat or pay for the fancy French food the chef was to prepare for the wedding. Thrown into the mix are country club members who are rumored to have had affairs with the chef.

I loved the setting. I loved the descriptions (and recipes) for some of the delicious sounding treats that Sophia bakes. I thought the mystery was suspenseful and Sophia got into just as much danger as a cozy should have. I liked her realization that her dream job in New York City wasn't as fulfilling as a return to her roots would be. I liked her relationships with her old high school friends and her budding romance with Carter.

This was a cute Southern mystery and I enjoyed it very much. Sophia Cummings, a baker from Manhattan, goes back home for a friend's wedding and gets involved in a murder investigation. The characters were fun and the recipes sounded delicious! I definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book to read. It grabbed my attention early on and kept me guessing until then end. A very light, quick read.

A great start for a new series. It starts a bit slow and then you get hooked and cannot put it down till the end.
I appreciated the settings, the cast of characters, the humour and the mystery plot that kept me guessing and has no hole.
The descriptions of the cakes and cookies is mouthwatering and the characters are well designed and full of life.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books

What a fun read! Characters you want to meet, a fast-paced mystery, a little romance and just enough humor to provide laugh out loud moments. NYC pastry Chef Sofia Cummings visits home in Rumford, Kentucky, after finding the boyfriend cheating and is immediately swept up in preparing a wedding cake for high school friend Charlotte’s upcoming nuptial. Unfortunately, the local country club chef is murdered, and Sofia finds herself drafted to step in – not only to run the country club’s kitchen and prepare the cake but to solve the murder as well. Part of the murder investigation includes the local sheriff, Carter, an attractive young man who is quickly taken with Sofia. Then, another high school friend is a realtor, who wants Sofia to check out the town’s long-established bakery, which is closed and on the market.

Maymee Bell (aka Tonya Kappes) is a gifted storyteller. I read this in one joy filled sitting, finding myself completely immersed in the goings on in Rumford. Let’s hope the second Southern Cake Baker mystery is in the works, soon to be available.

Love the author and her books. This was the first in the series and I love the characters and the story line. Really looking forward to more in the series.

Who doesn't love cake with a murder thrown in! Absolutely loved this first book in the Southern Cake Baker series. Kappes descriptive writing style made the baker in me want to keep reading. Love the cast of characters and look forward to getting to know them more.

A delicious beginning to an enchanting new series. Broken hearts always seem to lead people back to their home and roots and its no different for Sophia. While licking her wounds, Sophia is thrust into a murder investigation of a chef.
This book was a dream from start to finish. I love how the author wrote all of the characters, they have so much life and heart. The mystery was well written and left you wanting more once you hit the end. I cannot wait to see what else the author has in store.

What an enjoyable start to a new series! How can you go wrong with the main character being a pastry chef whipping up delectable delights, fun town people, and mystery mixed with some romance. I’m excited to read more of this series and can’t wait to recommend to friends and library patrons be it cozy readers or not.

A fun, fast paced read which leaves you anxiously awaiting the next/second book in this series. The story was engaging, the characters fun, including those you love to hate, the recipes are delectable and it moves along a nice clip, maintaining your interest. The descriptions of everything allow you to put yourself in the moment, and imagine you actually know these people and places. No spoilers here and I'm not going to repeat the description, just suffice it to say this newest series in this author's repertoire is another wonderful cozy mystery escape that is entertaining and a good read! If this is your first book by this author (pen name Maymee Bell) also try ANY and all of the series' written by Tonya Kappes. You will wonder why it's taken you so long!

Now this is what a cozy mystery is!

The first book of an up and coming series, Southern Cake Baker Mystery, does not disappoint and I am ready for more!

I actually liked the characters- Sophia is likable and the descriptions of her desserts made my stomach growl and I am ready to try some of the recipes in the back part of the book. I liked the supporting characters and felt they all really complimented our heroine quite well and of course, the love interest, Carter was a nice addition.

I figured out the personal aspect (will she or won't she move back to NYC and Sophia and Carter?) pretty early on but I didn't figure out WHO the killer was until the last 1/4 of the book! Great job!

I received an early edition via NetGalley

This is an enjoyable start to a new series. Cake and Punishment is the debut book in A Southern Cake Baker Mystery series. Sophia, a pastry chef in NYC, discovers her boyfriend Noah has been cheating on her, so she heads home to bucolic Rumford, Kentucky. But things aren’t as peaceful as they appear to be. A chef turns up dead and there are quite a few people who wanted him that way. This book is perfect for readers who love quirky characters and thick southern charm. I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my rating. I have provided an unbiased and honest review.

It took me a couple of tries to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it.

Cake and Punishment is the debut of the A Southern Cake Baker Mystery series set in the small town of Rumford, Kentucky and featuring pastry chef Sophia Cummings. Sophia has been living in NYC and working at the job of her dreams alongside her boyfriend Chef Noah. On a day off she heads to the restaurant to surprise Noah and discovers him in a compromising position with the hostess, unable to cope with the embarrassment she heads back to her hometown of Rumford with her tail between her legs.

Sophia's mom has never been too happy with her daughter's choice of profession, having much preferred that she stay at home in Rumford and join the society set. With her daughter back in town she's determined to drag her to every club meeting she can. At a meeting of the Junior League Sophia runs into her old high school friend Charlotte. Charlotte is getting married in a few short days and her wedding cake baker has up and quit - she guilts Sophia into baking the cake for her and using the kitchen at the Rumford Country Club.

Arriving early at the club one morning, Sophia and Charlotte find Chef Emile bludgeoned to death with a frying pan. Knowing full well the skillet didn't belong to the Chef, Sophia offers her opinions to the hunky Sheriff Carter and before she knows it is caught up in the investigation of his murder.

A terrific start to a series - full of well developed quirky and fun characters, a bucolic Southern town full of charm, the hint of romance and plenty of suspects. The author has done a great job of transporting the reader right into the heart of Rumford. With plenty of possibilities on the horizon for Sophia, this series is sure to delight for a long time to come. Oh, the recipes are mouth watering too.

I received an advanced copy of Cake and Punishment from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a fun read and absolutely loved Maymee Bell.

Very enjoyable read! I know Tonya has written a lot of books and I look forward to not only reading more about Sophia and the gang in Rumford but several of her other series in general. Her writing is terrific. Mouthwatering descriptions of the food, colorful characters full of Southern charm, and a puzzling mystery add up to a fantastic, fun read. Can't wait to read more!

This book was a fun and delicious read! It has everything a light-hearted mystery should have: some romance, some mystery, and humor.

Sophia Cummings is a pastry chef in a upscale restaurant in New York. After finding her boyfriend in a compromising position with another woman, she decides to go back home to Rumford, Kentucky, just for a few days. Back home her friend Charlotte is getting married and Sophia agrees to bake her wedding cake, for this task she will use the Rumford Country Club's kitchen.

All is well until the main chef at the country club is found dead and Sophia decides she will do everything possible to find out who committed the murder.

The story is light-hearted and fast-paced. The author did an excellent job with the imagery and description of scenes. The main character in the novel is a chef and she explained some of the cooking and baking processes in a fictional setting, for those of us who love cooking this is great.

There are some recipes included at the end of the book, these delicious treats were mentioned throughout the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and recommend it to mystery lovers.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.