A super quick listen – and a sweet little cozy mystery. Jane’s husband heads for greener pastures in the form of a 20-something girlfriend and has the horrible timing of letting his poor wife know on her 50th birthday (what a jerk!!) So she heads to the comfort of her sister’s arms and her hometown to lick her wounds and maybe solve a murder of something like that… Cupcakes and violence – sounds like a winner to me 😉 Thank you to Netgalley and Ruth Hartzler (with Dorothy Hollingsworth as the narrator) for an audio copy of this cute book. PS – the cover is precious

Charming and cozy, this quick read had me chucking from start to end! It was my first book by this author and it won't be my last! I love 'the mixture of Amish and no Amish people and also that it is an older generation .I'm eager t0 see what it's mystery ladies discover.

Quirky, fun and entertaining. I love cozy mysteries. This one was no exception. I had so much enjoyment out of watching Jane Delight go back to family, find new friends and a new passion for life. She becomes an amature detective. She returns to Pennsylvania after a failed marriage of 30 years. She ends up sharing an apartment with two feisty women and their cat.

I enjoyed the writing and the narration. I would most certainly find other books/audios with this author and the narrator.

True Confections by Ruth Hartzler is a fun little book with a good mystery that will keep you guessing. When Jane's husband leaves her after thirty years of marriage for his much younger mistress, and on her fiftieth birthday no less, she returns to her Amish family. She moves in above the cupcake shop her sister owns and helps her with the baking. While helping her, they are harassed by a man trying to turn the area into a development and he comes to the cupcake shop one day to up his offer and try to get her sister to sell. When he eats a cupcake and drops dead from poison moments later, and the cops suspect Jane, she and her sister and two elderly women must try to solve the case. Full of moments to make you giggle and keeping you guessing until the end, #TrueConfections is a delightful tale. I enjoyed the story and the narrator did a great job too! Lot of fun!
Thanks to #NetGalley for the chance to listen to it #Bookstagram #all_the_pages

True Confections (An Amish Cupcake Cozy Mystery #1) by Ruth Hartzler
Narrated by Dorothy Hollingsworth
Publisher: OrangeSky Audio
Genre: Women's Fiction, Cozy Mysteries
Release Date: February 23, 2021

True Confections is the first book in the new An Amish Cupcake Cozy Mystery series by Ruth Hartzler. This is the first book I've read by the author and I loved it! This was fast paced and a fun read (listen)!

The characters were great and well-written. I loved Jane Delight, the lead character. She was likable, quick on her feet, and funny. (Also, she married a total jerk and I keep hoping he'll make amends somehow.) The other characters were also funny and kept the story interesting. I really enjoyed reading about the Amish traditions and food.

The murder mystery was great! I loved how it all played out!

The narration by Dorothy Hollingsworth was excellent! She is easy to listen to and brought the characters to life!

I definitely recommend this to fans of cozy mysteries! This is a quick read with lots of fun parts! (Also, it's currently free on Kindle, so why not!) I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Book 6 will be releasing in April 2021, so I have a little time to get caught up!

I'm so grateful to Ruth Hartzler, OrangeSky Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I can see the value of audiobooks for someone who is visually impaired or simply wants to be hands free. I have tried a number of books in this format, in an attempt to broaden my scope. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion, this is not the format for me.

I have no objection to the story. In fact, I suspect I would enjoy it as an e-book. Being a stickler for accents, there is nothing more distracting than someone attempting an accent and missing the mark. Scottish accents are notoriously difficult. At least when the voice is on the page, my own imagination can fill in the blanks. And that, for me, is the biggest issue with audio books. My own imagination cannot flesh out the characters and often, instead of making them come alive, I am more attuned to the dischords.

I will not share this review on social media as it is unfair to disparage a book content for its presentation. I am convinced now I will stick to the printed page or an e-book.

True Confections has some really fun and quirky characters. The two elderly sisters, Matilda and Eleanor, are really quite fun. I enjoyed the addition of a cat, Mr. Crumbles. Jane Delight seems to be a character that will grow, which will be necessary, and her sister seems solid. I also expect Jane and Detective McLeod to have an eventual romance, which should be fun.

However, there were a few things that I didn’t care for in the story. I found the constant commentary about Eleanor and Matilda having seen every Miss Marple mystery got very redundant and annoying. There were scenes with the cat, such as Mr. Crumbles playing with keys, that didn’t amount to anything, but I was expecting it would. He plays first with the detective keys, which seemed really surprising that a detective would forget his keys, and then with Jane’s keys, but then it never was mentioned again. It seems like it was being set up for something that would happen at a critical moment for the third time. I also feel like Jane didn’t actually solve the mystery nor could the reader based on the information we were given. The murderer became stupid and makes a bad assumption and then confessed all.

Finally, I almost stopped immediately after what felt like a prologue when Jane's husband announces he was divorcing her in a restaurant because he has a pregnant mistress who is going to marry instead. Oh, and since there was a prenup, he's not going to give her any money. Bye. It was such a cold transaction that it got me quite mad, made Jane look like a doormat, and really was just a big infodump setup for the rest of the book. It wasn't a great start.

The overall story wasn't bad. It had its amusing parts. It had a fair bit of redundancy and the reader might have guessed who done it, but they wouldn't have any evidence. So, I feel the contract with the reader was broken. I do hope that future stories in the series get better.

I listened to the book on audio and the narrator did a great job!

I was provided with an advance copy through Netgalley courtesy of OrangeSky Audio.

Great series starter with some excellent character voicing by the narrator. I was intrigued by the idea of a former Amish member going back and being a part of an Amish community or as an active part of the family. Having read other Amish related cozies, that had aspect had not been introduced. I also like that the yummy recipes were included in the audio version, looking forward to some soft bottom shoefly pie. The older sisters, Matilda and Eleanor were a hoot and a half and nicely balance out Jane and Rebecca. Oh and what a perfect last name for Jane, bake store employee with the last name Delight! And everyone should remember by the end of the story that it is Miss Delight, thanks to her good for nothing ex-husband who broke her heart and essentially left her broke on her birthday. I can relate to Jane in a number of ways but thank goodness, that is not one of them! Looking forward to reading the remaining 5 novels since this one now has me hooked!

At first, I was not sure if I would enjoy this story because I felt that it mixed a lot of things, but it was a great reading. I loved Elanor and Matilda, they were refreshing and added a lot to the story, I liked a lot the references to Agatha Christie and you'll love the book if you are a fan.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well.  The narrator did a great job reading this book.  The author did a great job writing this book. This is a fun book to listen to. The characters are enjoyable. The pacing is great. It definitely made you wonder who did it. I can't wait to listen to the second book in the series. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is in stores today for $9.18 (USD). This is a fun cosy mystery. The writing style of this author, will make you laugh and smile because of how, enjoyable it is. The narrator was great. Her voice made the story come to life, as much as the author's writing style has. If you have not listened to this book you need to.

I really enjoyed this audio book, and I'd definitely listen to something by this narrator again. The story itself was really good too. The rest of the review is on the story itself.

Wow what a jerk Jane was married to! And hearing what a jerk he was by listening made him extra jerky! She was well rid of that guy, but it sure stunk how he told her he wanted a divorce. I just loved the older sisters that she ended up with roommates after moving to Pennsylvania to help her Amish twin sister with her bakery. Jane definitely never expected murder, intrigue and sleuthing out a murder with a couple of Miss Marple wannabes when she moved to her sister's town though.

I just loved the cat, Mr. Crumbles who belonged to the sisters. He was definitely handy to have around when meeting up with a killer! I'll be reading more in the series for sure and definitely looking for this narrator again. Two yummy-sounding Amish recipes were included at the end of the book.

NOTE: The title doesn't have the audio version listed, so I linked to my review of the book itself and added my comments above about narration being really good.

Ted tells his wife, Jane, of almost 30yrs that he is leaving her for his pregnant girlfriend, on Jane's birthday. Schmuck. Ted suggests that Jane return to her Amish life, since Ted and his girlfriend will need the family home. Schmuck. Jane goes to her twin sister, Rebecca, who's still Amish and begins to work in Rebecca's cupcake shop, living above the cupcake shop with two roommates. I'm a sucker for a book with kittens/cats on a cover, and I love cozy mystery books. This book is so good and I'll be sure to check out other title from this author. Cozy lovers will be over the moon with book.

This was a cute and quirky cozy mystery for me and I really enjoyed it. It was a quick read for me but exactly what I was looking for. Hope to see more in this series as we just got a glimpse of these characters and I’m interested in seeing how the author develops their stories. I really enjoyed the narrator as well.

“ When her husband of thirty years runs off with a college student named Cherri, Jane Delight returns to Pennsylvania to work in her Amish sister's cupcake store. Having lost everything in the divorce, Jane now finds herself sharing an apartment with two feisty octogenarians and their quirky cat. Mr. Crumbles.
But there is no time to despair. A man is murdered in the cupcake store, and now Jane is the prime suspect. Enter brooding detective Damon McCloud, a Scot with a tragic past and a desire for justice.
Can Jane solve the murder, wrangle her new roommates, and stop herself from falling for the detective?
Or will she never get her new life on track?“

This was a cute story! I loved how the author included a description of the Amish foods as part of the story! The author did a great job of making me despise the ex-husband of our heroine in that introductory chapter. I absolutely loved the elderly sisters as crime fighters!!!

I wish our heroine had more backbone. I like to see a stronger heroine, Jane just accepted what her husband told her and didn’t fight. The mystery solving could have also be more adventurous. The majority of the sleuthing was just guessing what “could” have happened.

The narrator was a good fit for this story. She was able to differentiate the voices well.

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good cozy mystery! Many can be super cheesy and annoying, however I found this one to be very enjoyable. The characters were fun and quirky and I enjoyed the author's writing style. (I do kind of wonder - why is it an Amish Cupcake Cozy Mystery when the main character is no longer Amish and makes sure to tell us 100 times??) The author did a nice job of build up and suspense as we were led to finding out who the killer was (and I didn't guess it!). Also, I really enjoyed the narrator on this! She did a great job! I'm looking forward to more in this series!

*THANK YOU to NetGalley, Ruth Hartzler, and Orange Sky Audio for my free audio book in exchange for my honest review*

**I received an ARC from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really good. A great book to read on a cold day and cuddle up under a warm blanket. It has a good story line and interesting characters. And I love the cat!

A cute cozy mystery.
Set in the Amish country.
Narrative was okay.
An easy read.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I received an audio copy of True Confections from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I think the narrator did I good job with a variety of male and female characters including one male character with a Scottish accent. There were two instances where the Scottish accent was "bobbled" and was just off (almost sounded Asian).

This is not truly an Amish mystery despite being set in a town with Amish background characters and the author sprinkling in a few details about Amish life. The story features a formerly (over 30 years) Amish main character and her two non-Amish roommates.

Characters: I almost gave up on the book in the first chapter because we have a doormat main character whose husband dumps her and takes her to the cleaners. She's left with nothing and despite having been college educated and lived with an attorney for 30 years, she doesn't do anything to get her share of their estate. I so don't need to read another series with a character like this, but I gave it a chance. Despite being younger than me, and, again, having been out of the Amish community for 34 years, she insists on being called MISS because she's divorced. Was the author trying to be funny because the characters last name is Delight, so Miss Delight??? I would really think any modern woman of 50 would lean toward Ms. Why is the lead detective Scottish??? We learn nothing about him. Why does one of the elderly roommates always have curlers in her hair? Someone in her 80's would have been raised in a time when a proper woman wouldn't go out in curlers. Plus, she's a world traveler, she's not some hick.

Repetition: OMG, so much was said over and over. Had to be baptized to be shunned was stated slightly differently three times in a row by the same character. It couldn't be Rebecca because she's Amish, the Miss thing and more.

I do not understand all the positive comments about the cat. Mr. Crumbles added nothing to the story for me.

Jane's encounters with the mysterious person and the killer was the final disappointment. She takes everything at face value, questions nothing and doesn't pay attention to her instincts.