Revenge Is Sweet, Deadly Sweet Tooth and Into the Sweet Hereafter by Kaye George are the first three books of the cozy Vintage Sweets Mysteries series. Each book of the series does contain it’s own mystery to be solved so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. There is however some character development that carries over from book to book for those that read the series from the beginning.

The Vintage Sweets Mysteries series features Tally Holt who owns Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets in Fredericksburg, Texas where she recreates her grandmother’s old recipes. Tally is good friends with the owner of the shop next door, Bella’s Baskets, Yolanda Bella. Tally and Yolanda’s first adventure in nabbing a murderer came when Tally found a body in her kitchen that had been stabbed with Yolanda’s scissors so of course they need to cross themselves off the suspect list. From the on Tally and Bella have had to again and again track down murderers in the quaint town.

The Vintage Sweets Mysteries series is another cozy mystery series that really seems to have all the things I could ask for in a mystery series but yet I still found myself walking away thinking just that was alright. There was just a spark missing that really pulls me into loving cozy series and I thought perhaps it was just having more characters and shorter stories that didn’t give a lot of chance for depth but even after reading the first three I just wasn’t wowed and that the were just ok mysteries.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

In this cozy we are introduced to Tally, the owner of Tally's Olde Tyme Sweets. Yolanda owns the store next door, Bella's Baskets, The mayor's adopted son was murdered in Tally's kitchen with Yolanda's scissors. Tally sets out to find the real murderer before she and Yolanda lose their livelihoods. This is a cute story with likeable characters.

I enjoy books that are set in small cozy towns. And the small touristy shops are a plus. I love those types of towns and the people who live there. The mystery was handled well by the author. However, the dual POV was confusing. The main characters, Tally and Yolanda, were not that well developed. That prevented me from connecting well with them.

I really enjoyed the delicious items from Tally’s shop. Yum! Yum!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lyrical Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Revenge is Sweet was published by my favorite publisher and the story was a fun sweet mystery. The descriptions at the beginning of the book felt nostalgic and it set the mood of a good mystery. I am usually good at figuring out the killer in the mystery before it was revealed but I was surprised at the culprit. This is the first book in the series and I look forward to reading more from this author

I really enjoyed this cozy. It's a promising start to a new series. The author's descriptions of the town were charming, and I loved the characters.

I really enjoyed reading this book a great mystery full of twists and turns and recommend it for all readers of cozy mysteries

This book seems to be missing the last few chapters, do not know how many but the crooks are not caught. This needs to be corrected before book is published, for this reason only giving 1 star, if book complete would have been a 3.

I enjoyed reading about and would love to visit this vintage candy store. The characters were great and the plot was twisty with plenty of suspects to choose from.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ooohhh my favorite kind of cozy is one where the main character is living out my dreams- small town, cute business, and is smart and likeable. Revenge is Sweet is just that! The plot and storyline were very well done, the characters likeable, and the twists done right!

Revenge us Sweet is the beginning of a new cozy mystery series. The Vintage Sweets series is set in a quaint little community and centers around some lovely shops. I really liked this book, the characters, th we settinvg and the mystery. I recommend this book and the series to cozy mystery fans

The first book in the Vintage Sweets Mystery series by Kaye George is Revenge is Sweet. Tally has moved back to Texas and set up a sweet shop next door to her best friend Yolanda's gift basket store. When the fridge in her shop goes out, she has handyman Gene come over to take a look at it. It seems like Gene is dating half of the small Texas town so it is not a big surprise when he is murdered. Among the suspects is Yolanda which means Tally looks into the murder. I thought the mystery portion was stronger than the supporting story. Yolanda and Tally were constantly at odds and did not act like best friends at times. I also wanted Tally to get a backbone. She was dealing with an employee who was stealing. Even when she found out the identity of the thief, she had not plans to fire the person. If some character flaws are ironed out, this will be a good series.

This book had a few great things going for it and a couple of things that fell a little flat for me. The setting for the story was fantastic. Quaint small towns make a great cozy mystery setting and this one, plus the candy shop made for a great overall feel to the story. I didn't love having two narrators, or the way the story switched between them. I also thought quite a bit of character development was needed. Overall it was a pretty good start to a new series and I look forward to trying book two.

The beginning of a new cozy mystery series that was entertaining as well as being a good solid mystery. Kaye George has given us a community of people who have known each other for more than awhile. The two main characters are friends who open shops next to each other. When the handyman is killed in one shop with implements from the other, it leaves the police to wonder what really happened. So our intrepid shop owner starts her own investigation, just like we knew she would. The story is set in a community that could be any medium size town and populated with the usual cast of friends and family that keep the action hopping and our heroine digging until she finds the truth. And oh, her cat is really cool! This book has everything I read a cozy mystery for and I'm happy to know there will be more coming from this talented author.

Tally Holt is excited to open her new vintage candy store. To make it even more exciting, she’s opening it right next door to her best friend Yolanda Bella, who owns Bella’s Baskets. Then, disaster strikes both women when their handyman, Gene Faust, is found murdered in Tally’s shop with Yolanda’s scissors sticking out of him.

Gene had been the adopted son of the town’s mayor and was also a womanizer. He conned Yolanda out of money and now the police suspect her of the murder. However, Yolanda wasn’t his only enemy. Even Gene’s parents didn’t like him. Tally believes in her friend and intends to find the proof to clear her name.

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. I was drawn to this one since the setting is a vintage sweet shop and look at the cute kitty in the window. How could I resist?

Sorry to the humans in the book, but the Maine Coon cat, Nigel, is my favorite character by far. I wanted to cuddle him. Yes, I’m a cat lover and my focus leans towards the feline of the book, but there’s a whole mystery here that doesn’t really involve the cat, although he makes a good listener.

The story moves at a fast-pace with many possible suspects. I had my suspicions early on in the story, but that was fine. I was still intrigued to find out how it all played out.

It took me some time to warm up to the main characters. I still feel as if we need to learn more about Yolanda, Tally and their friendship. There are also two romantic possibilities for Tally to be explored.

The author used an interesting technique that I don’t see often in cozy mysteries. The story is told in the third person, but changing point of views between Tally and Yolanda. I liked how this is used as it gave me insight into both characters’ motivation. I do think Tally is our main amateur sleuth though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Let me tell you what I loved the most about this story. I loved Nigel, the Maine Coon Tally’s brother brings to her home. He helps Tally get through some trying times including two murders in her candy store, some serious staff problems, and getting carted away in cuffs when the police are tipped off evidence can be found in her office.
It all starts with a rather shifty but handsome young man, who happens to be the adopted son of the Mayor. This guy uses women and milks them for money and then moves on to his next victim. Needless to say, suspects are. not hard to find including Tally’s best friend who does some incredibly stupid things that exacerbates the bad situation. Since neither of them committed the crime, which one of the many people whom Gene used and abused did it.
I confess I twigged from the start to the killer although I had the motive wrong until one essential clue was revealed. I spent the rest of the story waiting to be proven right. Now that does not mean I did not enjoy it. In fact the final part of the story was pretty exciting. At least in this book, until the final scenes, our heroine was quite smart but then with a Maine Coon to assist, how could it be otherwise.
Four purrs and one paw up..

This is the first book in the debut cozy mystery series "Vintage Sweets" by author Kaye George. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. I found this book delightful and the author has incorporated all the cozy mystery elements here for a long standing successful series.

We are introduced to the charming town of Fredericksburg, Texas, Tally Holt has opened a new candy store called "Tally's Old Tyme Sweets". The store is her passion and she is using many of her family receipes for creating candy for her store. The store has a old time theme to it featuring many old fashioned candies that Tally hopes will be popular and loved by the town. The store next door to her shop is owned by her best friend Yolanda and is a specialty shop for baskets.

When a murder occurs in Tally's kitchen of her shop and the murder weapon is a pair of Yolanda's scissors both decide together they will work to solve this murder. The victim was a nefarious citizen and was known to Yolanda so she is one of the prime suspects. Together Tally and Yolanda work clue by clue to piece together this crime and clear Yolanda's name.

This was very well crafted to the plot, enjoyable to read and has great promise for a long term series. I loved the quaint small town and the charcters. The two friends working together are a great team. I look forward to the next in series.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Newly opened Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets in Fredericksburg, Texas is a popular place. The vintage shop uses Tally’s grandmother’s recipes to make treats from the past like Mallomars, Clark Bars, and Twinkies along with taffy and fudges. Her friend Yolanda Bella owns Bella’s Baskets right next door. They are in and out of each other’s shops several times each day. Tally has two part-time workers Mart and Andrea who tend to customers while Tally creates her delicious goodies. When the women need and handyman, Gene Faust is the man they call. Gene is the adopted son of the mayor. He is a real ladies’ man who has a penchant for borrowing money his girlfriends, usually right before he dumps them.

Tally left Gene repairing her refrigeration unit in the kitchen while she served customers at the front of the store. When she closed up and went into the kitchen she found Gene dead on the floor from an apparent stabbing. She’s confused because several people went through the kitchen before she did. There is no way they missed his body. Could one of them be the killer or did the murderer come and go through the back door without her knowing? Yolanda, Andrea, and Mart all seemed to have their issues with Gene, but she can’t believe they would kill him. How many other women has Gene hurt? Or could it be someone else he pushed too far?

The cover of this book grabbed me as soon as I saw it. I love the vintage candy store theme. It is always so much fun to visit one. The author has a nice descriptive writing style so it was very easy to visualize everything, especially Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets Shop and all the yummy treats.

Ms. George introduces a vast cast of characters. It was easy to keep everyone straight but we don’t get to know them well enough to truly get invested in them. Gene had quite a checkered past and by the end, it was pretty fleshed out but the rest of the characters are still one-dimensional for me. Since this is a series, I know we will learn more in future stories but wished they were more developed in this story. One character I did fall hard for is a big Maine Coon cat named Nigel. I do have a soft spot for those big kitties.

The mystery was well-plotted with plenty of suspects. I did hone in on the culprit early but the motive wasn’t clear until the end. I did enjoy that the story swapped points-of-view between Yolanda and Tally. Sometimes it was confusing because it switches mid-chapter, but I think my problem may be attributed to the digital advanced copy I was reading. I am hoping in the finished book there was better spacing without the paragraphs running together.

I was excited that the Twinkie recipe was included at the end of the story.

Ms. George has laid a nice foundation for her series in Revenge Is Sweet. I am looking to Deadly Sweet Tooth, which will be released on June 2, 2020.

This new series from Kaye George is off to a great start. The setting is the small tourist town of Fredericksburg, Texas and the main characters are best friends Tally Holt and Yolanda Bella. Each runs her own business - Tally has a candy shop named Tally's Olde Tyme Sweets were she sells candy from her grandmother's recipes. Yolanda had a basket shop named Bella's Baskets. Together they are trying to find a killer before one of the ends up in jail for murder.
Gene was famous for being a lady's man and he left a trail of broken hearts and bank accounts all over town.He was bad news to almost every woman in town. as the local handyman, who is also the mayor's adopted son, he is in and out of lots of places, including Tally's shop to work on a plumbing problem. When Tally and Yolanda find him dead in Tally's shop, well, that's bad for Tally and her business. On top of that? The murder weapon is a pair of scissors belonging to Yolanda. Both ladies had crossed paths with Gene but did either one of them hate him enough to do him in? Let the sleuthing begin.
I enjoyed everything about this new series. The setting and both Tally and Yolanda were well drawn and the mystery was very satisfying. I usually shy away from books written from multiple points of view because I find it confusing. Not at all an issue here. It was always easy to know who was speaking (and snooping) and it gave their sleuthing a wider range. The clues were there but I still didn't guess who dunnit and, for this reader, that's a good thing. I'm saving a place on my TBR list for the next book.
My thanks to the publisher Lyrical Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

My favorite part of this book was Nigel, the Maine Coon cat. He was a great fur character. I also really enjoyed the Fredericksburg, Texas setting, a place I've enjoyed visiting. The author did a good job of making the setting authentic.

The main character, Tally Holt, was mostly likable, and I enjoyed the backdrop of her shop, Old Thyme Sweets. At one point, Tally ran off and did something that only the worst of TSTL heroines would do, and that left me feeling very annoyed. Other than that, she was okay.

I was rather ambivalent about her friend, Yolanda, and maybe that's why I found the times the book switched for a very short time from Tally's point of view to Yolanda's incredibly jarring. I also believe this may be the first of the many cozy mysteries I've read that switched back and forth in that manner. In my view, it didn't work.

I liked the mystery itself, of the town mayor's troublesome adoptive adult son's murder and the quest to find the killer. Other than Nigel, the Maine Coon cat, my favorite character was Detective Rogers.

This book had some issues, but could be the start of a potentially good series. If another book follows, I'll try it to see if it's a little stronger than this one.

Tally Holt is a candy shop owner who finds herself in the middle of a double murder investigation. If Tally doesn't do some quick sleuthing, she may be the next victim.

What a fun cozy mystery setting - Fredericksburg, Texas - a real life tourist destination. I loved the descriptions of the town and it's citizens. Tally is a likable character who is smart, kind and loyal to her friends. When a young heartbreaker targets her best friend Yolanda as his next "target" and then is murdered, Tally has to find out "whodunit" before Yolanda is convicted of the crime. I liked Tally & Yolanda's bantering and their friendship.

Looking forward to going back to Texas soon!

I received an ARC from NetGalley. The opinions are my own.