This is a compilation of two earlier Lucy Stone books, one of which is so early (book #5) that I was surprised to find I hadn’t read it yet. Both are centered around Valentine’s Day and each show two sides of Lucy’s life- one when her kids are quite young and another when they are grown. I really enjoyed the books- they are as cozy as cozy mysteries get!

Leslie Meier's themed books always make me forget my everyday blues for awhile. The two novella length stories in this book revolve around Lucy Stone and Valentine's day. Although they were not new stories, I enjoyed the escape for awhile. Lucy can always be counted on to get herself in a pickle, then get herself out again. I'm passing these on to me fellow readers with a box of candy.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading other books by this great author.

Two Lycy Stone stories in one book. i have read all the books in this series and these two I had read peeviously. I have lived reading about Lucy and ger family. Watchung them grow up almost as though they were my family or neighbors. Leslie Meier has given us great characters and a decent mystery to solve. If you are new to the series or an old fan this book is a goid one ro add to your collection. Tganks netgalley for gifting me with the arc. The review is my honest opinion

I had read both of these before, (Valentine Murder and Chocolate Covered Murder) but they were both excellent additions to the series and it was nice to revisit them.

This includes two stories by Leslie Meier. The first one is Valentine Murder and Lucy Stone going to the library where she has been selected to be on the board. Her first meeting doesn't go well because the librarian gets killed. Everyone on the board is a suspect and no one has a good thing to say about the librarian Bitsy.
The second story is Chocolate Covered Murder, a guy gets killed on the frozen lake and Lucy wants to find the killer. Everyone in town thinks he died from an accident.
Two good murder mysteries to read before Valentine's Day.

Valentine Candy Murder and Chocolate Covered Murder by Leslie Meier.
Even though these two books are far a part in publication 5 and 18 . I enjoyed both reads.
Love Lucy Stone and her family.
Would definitely recommend the Lucy Stone series .
Many thanks to Kensington books and nettgalley for a advance copy for a honest review.

This book includes two older stories in the Lucy Stone series combined into one volume. Each book takes place around Valentine’s Day. The first book is Valentine Murder which was first published almost twenty years ago. Lucy Stone is a busy mom and writer for the local newspaper in Tinker’s Cove, Maine. She has recently taken on another commitment, serving on the board of directors for the library. At her first board meeting, Lucy goes to the lower level of the library searching for the new librarian, Bitsy Howell, who is late for a children’s storytime activity. Lucy is horrified when she discovers Bitsy’s dead body. The lead investigator on the case suspects one of the library board members, so against his orders, Lucy starts questioning suspects on her own to find the murderer.

I have read a few of the newer books in this series and enjoyed them more than this story. The story feels very dated between Lucy struggling with using the Internet and the town attitudes towards some of their residents, including a same-sex couple. The story doesn’t put Lucy in the best light, as she leaves her young daughter alone in the car a few times and ignores deadlines for her reporting job to do her detecting.

In spite of these flaws, the central mystery in the book is entertaining. Lucy liked Bitsy and can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm her. The more she talks to both board members and patrons of the library, she learns that Bitsy wasn’t always as nice as she appeared and there are actually several people who may have wanted to see Bitsy dead. Lucy’s questions put several many Tinker’s Cove residents on the defensive and ends up putting herself and youngest daughter in danger. Lucy is determined to get to the truth and the investigation concludes with a dramatic ending. Fans of the series who haven’t read the earlier books will like reading one of Lucy’s first cases.

The second story in this book is Chocolate Covered Murder, first published in 2012. Several years have passed since the first story in this volume. Lucy’s preschooler is now in eighth grade, her son is married and has a young child of his own. Lucy still writes for the local newspaper and is preparing for her next story. Before she can interview Trey Meacham and his store manager, Tamzin Graves, from Chanticleer’s Chocolates, tragedy strikes Tinker’s Cove. Max Fraser falls through the ice while drinking and ice fishing, and Lucy is on the scene when the body is discovered. The police are ruling it an accident but a grotesque detail of the crime has Lucy thinking it’s foul play. When another bizarre death occurs soon afterwards, Lucy launches her own investigation to find a killer.

I like seeing the changes in Lucy’s life, but the plot in this story isn’t as enjoyable as that of the first story. The reader isn’t given a chance to get to know the first victim and the second victim is a one-dimensional, stereotypical femme fatale who not surprisingly made many enemies throughout the town. In addition, Lucy spends way too much of the book worrying about her weight and a couple men in the town make comments about overweight women in the town and not blaming husbands for being attracted to the new woman in town who considers any man available, whether he married or not.

I was surprised to see that some of the story’s content is a bit much for a typical cozy. Reading about high school girls giggling about “naughty chocolates” being sold at the candy shop where they’re working, and a woman being left handcuffed naked to her bed against her will and the cops shrugging it off as consensual didn’t appeal to me. The part of the story dealing with opioid and heroin use is unfortunately still very relevant and Lucy’s distress over increased drug use in her town is realistic and understandable. More focus on this aspect of the book and less over Lucy’s weight and on a side plot about an older couple in town who may not be all that they seem would have made this a more meaningful book. As always, Lucy won’t give up until she solves the crimes and earns some grudging respect from the police officer leading the official investigation.

I have read other books in this series that I really enjoyed. The two stories have their positives and will appeal to some readers looking for quick reads with a Valentine’s Day theme, but aren’t the best in this series.

~ Christine

3 stars

It was alright. I was really pulled into from page one, it just quickly became too long. Good writing yet just too many random subplots and characters.
The premise was good, yet the overall story just could.not hold my Interest. I think this is one of those books that some will either really like it or not like at all. UN, I am I. The latter category.

This is 2 in 1 kinda book, 2 previously published book brought together as one.

I have not read the series in line and I think I would have enjoyed the book more had I been following Lucy from book 1...

The stories had their own cosy charm as Leslie Meier's books do. There is amateur sleuthing along with vivid characters. The stories were well written and they kind of zap you into it.

Both the books are from different years of publication and different time frames, hence felt a wee bit odd.

On the whole, I enjoyed both the books, it was a 2 hour well spent.

This is a delightful contemplation of two previously released valentines theme stories by Leslie Meier. i have read both before but enjoyed revisiting them prior to valentines day. i enjoy the author's writing and the way she crafts a good sleuth with substantial clues . The author writes here of Maine in winter time so descriptively you feel as if your visiting Maine. Lucy Stone is a favorite cozy protagonist who solves crimes while raising four kids and working. she is adapt well on her own as a savvy investigator. The supporting charcters are likable and i love the small town . This is a fun read I highly recommend.
Thank you for the ARC . My opinion is my own.

There are 2 Valentine's Day murder mysteries included in this book. I loved them! Both mysteries were really, really good. The first book went back in time to when the kids were small and I always love the flashbacks. The second one was back in present day when the kids were older. Do not hesitate to get this book!

Valentine Candy Murder by Leslie Meier is the 5th book, Valentine Murder, and 18th book, Chocolate Cover Murder, in the Lucy Stone mystery series. I have been reading Lucy Stone books for years, and the books are like visiting old friends, I love this series. Both books are Valentine tales, first one about a murdered librarian, second one about a murder and suicide and a chocolate shop. I found these books to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. There are a lot of fun twists and turns. I enjoy the way Ms. Meier relates to everyday life and people. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, as always. If you love cozy mysteries, I recommend this book and the whole series.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Two Lucy Stone novels, Valentine Murder #5 originally published in 1998 and Chocolate Covered Murder #18 originally published in 2012, are combined in Valentine Candy Murder.

Two weeks before Valentine’s Day, Lucy is attending her first library board meeting. When she goes to the basement looking for Bitsy, the librarian, she finds her shot dead. The police suspect the board members and Lucy investigates to remove her own name from suspicion in Valentine Murder.

Nine years later in Chocolate Covered Murder, Lucy is once again thrust into a murder investigation. Max is found drowned in an iced over lake surrounded by fishing line. He has a head bruise but the coroner rules it an accident. Lucy disagrees and investigates.”

Valentine Murder seems incredibly dated now. It spends a lot of time talking about a newfangled contraption called a computer. The book never mentions a timeframe but I would assume early 1990s. The second is set so much later that her pre-school age daughter in the first book in now in eighth grade. I think it would have better to put an introduction to each of the books to set the stage. However, both cozy mysteries are well worth the reader’s time. 4 stars!

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining look at the recent past. So many changes in phone usage, computers, etc. A delightful family with Lucy leading the way to putting her family in peril while solving a murder mystery or two. I have enjoyed the author's more recent works and this was also quite enjoyable.

These books have good plots, very well written stories and great characters. They are very down-to-earth, like solving murder is on the daily to-do list, and they are a little too elaborate about the daily life. There are some logical flaws as well, but this is still good fiction.

In these two beloved mysteries that have been previously published and now collected in one volume for the very first time, it’s Valentine’s Day in Tinker’s Cove, Maine—but when it comes to foul play, Pennysaver reporter Lucy Stone can’t sugar-coat the truth . . .

VALENTINE MURDER

Lucy has barely arrived at her first library board meeting when the new librarian is found dead in the basement. The agitated group assumes Bitsy Howell was killed by an outsider—until Detective Lt. Horowitz announces that the killer is among them. Lucy knew that Bitsy rubbed some people the wrong way. But she has a hunch the murderous motives run a lot deeper. And as she snoops into the curious lifestyles and shocking secrets of Tinker’s Cove’s most solid citizens, what she finds is far from hearts and flowers . . .

CHOCOLATE COVERED MURDER

Despite the frigid winter temperatures, to boost the economy, Tinker’s Cove is launching a travel promotion for Valentine’s Day. Lucy is assigned a puff piece on upscale Chanticleer Chocolate—and its deliciously handsome owner. But there’s another tantalizing tart behind the counter—sultry store manager Tamzin Graves. Leaving a throng of jealous women in her wake, it’s almost no surprise when Tamzin turns up dead, her body covered in chocolate. And as Lucy closes in on the culprit, she may find herself locked in the clutches of a half-baked killer

My thoughts:
rating :4.5
First time I've ever read anything by this author and i'm glad I did , a friend's been telling me how good this series is and she's right , its funny and the action doesn't stop , and if you want a fast read this series is for you, now i want to read the rest of this series . With That said I want to say thinks to Netgalley for letting me and review it .

This was a wonderful combination of two mysteries, in the first one you are taken back to when Lucy's children were quite young. Lucy has just become a member of the library board and is looking forward to giving feedback. During her first meeting with the board, at the library, she discovers the body of the librarian. It looks like she was shot but who would do such a thing and why? The police are looking into all the board members and Lucy can't help but dig deeper into each of their backgrounds too. When accidents start occurring to Lucy and her family she is determined to find a killer before something truly bad happens. Follow along as she asks questions and tries to figure out just who the killer could be. In the second story we jump ahead to Lucy's children almost all out of the house. In this mystery a local man is found dead but the police have determined it was an accident but Lucy doesn't agree. The dead man helped her out and told her to pay it forward and she means to do so by finding out just what happened to him. When another person is murdered Lucy begins to wonder if the two deaths have something to do with each other. Will she be able to find a killer before there is another victim? Dive in and find out. This is a fun series that I have read from the beginning and you can see the wonderful growth of the characters throughout. I enjoyed returning to when Lucy had small children and then to who she is now. She's a wonderful character who I've enjoyed getting to know and I can't wait to see where the future takes her, especially when all her children are out of the house.

Lucy Stone and her sleuthing abilities are one of my favorite backyard investigators. These two stories may have been previously released but they make a good read for Valentine's Day. In the first, Valentine's Murder, Lucy has been newly elected to the Library board. Her first meeting turns deadly when she finds the librarian dead at the bottom of the stairs. Who hated her enough to kill? Why was she killed? Lucy must find the murderer and clear her own name.
Chocolate Covered Murder finds Tinker's Cove trying to boost their economy despite the frigid temperatures. When Lucy is tasked to write a story about the new sweet shop, finding the beautiful store manager dead was not in her assignment. Now she must find the killer. Will Lucy's sleuthing reveal who killed Tamzin?
Both stories are great reads for Valentine's Day or any day. So if you are snowed in or just want to enjoy some great cozy mysteries, pour yourself a cozy beverage and enjoy. I received a copy through Netgalley. I review was not required.

It's the first Leslie Meier's book I read and i can say it was a great discovery.
I loved this two mysteries! They're well written, entertaining and engaging.
Even if it's a cozy mystery the setting is not the usual postcard perfect little town: there're issues, poors and it's great to read a more realistic depiction.
The cast of characters was interesting: some were lovely but other were less than perfect, with a lot of quirks.
The plot were goods and kept me guessing till the end. I couldn't put this book down and I read it in one setting.
I look forward to reading other books by this writer.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC