Felicity moves back home to be near family after the death of her husband. She decides to go ahead with their dream and open a shop. Unfortunately one of her employees is murdered.
I enjoyed the mystery some parts were slow or repeated. Overall a good fast read.

#GrandOpeningsCanBeMurder #NetGalley

I received this ARC via Netgalley and BooksGoSocial, in return for an honest review. As this first book in this series, this is a promising start to a new series. Felicity Koerber, unexpectedly widowed, returns to Galveston, Texas, to open the bean to bar specialty chocolate shop that she and her late husband conceived. This goal allows her to move toward something new even as she’s still grappling with his death. When the grand opening is marred by an unexpected death, it jeopardizes everything that Felicity and her team worked to achieve. Add in a looming hurricane barreling toward the area and things might sink before they have a chance to swim.
The premise of this book is fun and combines mystery and chocolate. The book dragged a bit in the middle for me as I worked through the descriptions of the chocolate growing, harvesting, purchasing, and making. All very informative but the balance can be tricky when trying to move a mystery plot forward. Ms. Royer ties things up well at the end and future books will have a strong cast of characters to draw upon.

Thanks to Netgalley, I have given an honest unbiased review of Grand Openings Can Be Murder (Bean to Bar Mystery #1) by Amber Royer.
Felicity Koeber is a chocolate baker, Jane Austen fan who lives on the island with a rabbit named Knightley (A literary bunny, guess his name). Felicity returns to Galveston, Texas, to start a new life, open a new chocolate shop. She and her late husband dreamed about having a bean to bar to make the chocolate. She tried hard to make this dream came true AND
BOOM!
Is murdering an employee on the opening day good for business?
It's not the worst part, Felicity’s high school ex-boyfriend is a detective now, he sure about Felicity’s guilt.
There are many things in this cozy mystery that makes it interesting to read. An engaging storyline with twists, unexpected suspects, and a hot guy name Logan which not Wolverine.
I liked the background detail on chocolate making. Every time I was reading it, I fetched a coffee with chocolate, I used more caffeine and sugar more than having needed. I look forward to the next bean to bar and recommended it if you like a delightful mystery.

I received an e-copy of this novel by NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased and honest opinion.

The novel introduces the main character Felicity as she is starting over in her hometown following the death of her husband. Felicity decided to leave her professional career to open her own bean-to-bar chocolate store, which was her and her late husband's dream. Unfortunately for Felicity, things start going wrong when one of her employees is murdered during the grand opening, and her former boyfriend now police detective believes she is the main suspect.

I liked this series but it wasn't my favorite. The beginning captures the reader and gets right into the plot and the action. Then, it starts to slow and becomes rather repetitious. Felicity spends most of the time accusing a person and then another. The rest of the time, she ignores what Logan (her bodygaurd) and Arlo (the cop) tell her about crimes and criminals.

I have nothing against anyone wanting to start over, especially after losing a love one. However, it becomes clear from the beginning that Felicity has not properly grieved for her husband. She likes Logan but fights it because "he's not her type." She also still feels an attraction to Arlo, but knows that she has to fight it. For someone beginning a new start, I was expecting a healthy mental state.

Overall, there was nothing wrong with the series. I rate this as 3 out of 5 stars. I am planning to read the second in this series when it comes out, because I would like to see the development.

A good storyline with lots of background detail on chocolate making (maybe a bit too much if you would rather get on with the story). The characters were not too annoying as people interfering in Police investigations can sometimes be!

This story had a lot of positives - the location, the bean-to-bar concept, the threat of an impending hurricane - all things that should have made it move a lot faster than it did. It started out well but then the book dragged a lot in the middle which made it difficult to want to continue to read it. The ending tied everything together well but I am not a fan of amateur sleuths who just keep pointing the finger at someone until they stumble upon the killer. All in all, I thought it was a good start to a series and I will try the next one.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

#GrandOpeningsCanBeMurder #NetGalley

I craved more of this story when it ended. I was tantalized by all the talk of chocolate and wanted more, more, more!

The Galveston, TX setting attracted me to this story as I’m a Texas girl myself. Ms. Royer captures the essence of Galveston in her lovely descriptions of the Seawall, the yummy dining choices, the Strand area, and the weather, of course. The reader is introduced to Felicity Koerher, a widow, who is a bean to bar chocolate maker just about to open a new shop, Greetings and Felicitation in the Strand shopping district. Besides chocolate, Felicity plans to carry a few special books for her customers to peruse.

An unexpected betrayal and murder sets the grand opening back. Who is the killer in this popular beach town? Author Royer, a new writer to me, pens a fascinating plot that hynotizes your interest! I was fully engaged in the story and with the excellent characters, and my mind was working away trying to figure out the perpetrator.

This cozy story has such a nifty plot that I never lost interest or felt like the pace was slow. I did pick a person of interest as the possible killer and was pleased to discover I was correct at the author reveal. I hope other cozy reader’s enjoy this novel as much as I did! I eagerly look forward to the next story.

I posted an honest review of a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Golden Tip Press. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

I must confess that the cover for Grand Openings Can be Murder was not to my liking. However, the book itself was quite a delight.

I especially liked Felicity's character. The book has all the ingredients for a truly great read. This new author to me had me hooked from the very beginning.

Highly recommend this book!

This book is a great read it covers two of my favourite things chocolate and murder mysteries.

Felicity Koerber is a widow who returns to Galveston and is in the process of opening a bean to bar chocolate store. At the opening party for the store one of her employees is murdered, which is not a great start to Felicity’s new venture. Her high school sweetheart Arlo is the detective investigating the case and he has Felicity down has his number one suspect . So she tries to investigate the murder herself to try and clear her name . An ex cop , body guard and pilot enters the story and joins Felicity in the investigation and offers her personal protection..

The book describes the process of making chocolate which I found fascinating also recounting Felicity’s travels to buy the beans to make the chocolate I found this an added dimension to the story and very appealing.

I found the story engaging and enjoyable with plenty of twists and turns keeping you guessing who the murderer is.
Overall a great cozy mystery read , can’t wait for the next in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc copy

Nothing is more exciting then opening your own chocolate shop, and that’s exact what happens in this cute story.
Of course, no cozy mystery and a complete without a murder and investigation, which of course takes place in this new book.
I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of GRAND OPENINGS CAN BE MURDER (Book 1 of the Bean to Bar Mysteries) by Amber Royer in exchange for an honest review. Felicity Koerber feels like she’s finally leveling out and getting a life. After suddenly being widowed, Felicity returned to Galveston, Texas, and spent the year working toward opening the bean to bar chocolate shop of which she and her husband dreamed. The grand opening party is scheduled around the same time as the anniversaries of both her wedding and her husband’s death. When one of her employees is murdered at the party, Felicity has very little time to dwell on her grief. Felicity’s high school ex-boyfriend, now a homicide detective, seems determined to pin the murder on her no matter what evidence is provided to prove the contrary. Felicity must dodge media attacks by an inimical blogger, reputation attacks by the police, and physical attacks by the actual killer until she can figure out who actually dunit. All of this is set in the midst of a burgeoning natural disaster. Can Felicity survive long enough to save her reputation and her business?

I enjoyed this book and thought it was a great start to a new series. I liked that the author spent some time on the dangers of living on an island during storm season. I recommend this book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, sweet shops, confidence games, theft, widows, family, ex-boyfriends, and mysterious heroes.

#GrandOpeningsCanBeMurder #NetGalley