Happy Pub Day to Bake, Borrow, or Steal! This is my first @ellie_alexander novel and it’s definitely not my last! Despite this novel being the 14th novel in the series, I didn’t miss much. I will definitely reading future books in the series and some earlier ones too!

Juliet is a baker in Oregon who is asked to help with a gala exhibit at the SOMA museum. The exhibit will be showing a lost manuscript from Shakespeare and Juliet’s team has been asked to make chocolate structures as well as authentic Elizabethan pastries. It’s an incredible amount of work and the team at Torte is able to pull it off. On the night of the event, it doesn’t go as planned. The lost manuscript goes missing, a janitor is hurt, and a security team member is killed. Juliet feels like she must help solve the mystery!

I loved this book! It was light and fun. There are many yummy descriptions for the bakery items and lunch menus, so this is a perfect story if you are a foodie! Thank you so much to @stmartinspress for my advanced copy. This book is out today!

Bake, Borrow and Steal is the 14th novel in Ellie Alexander’s Bakeshop Mystery cozy mystery series, but the first one I’ve read. It works perfectly as a standalone. Ashland, Oregon is the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is the setting for this book. Having visited Ashland a few years ago and attended a play at the OSF, I could picture everything easily. The town is almost a character itself! The mystery this time is the disappearance of a rare Shakespeare manuscript from the preview of a special traveling exhibit at the art museum at Southern Oregon University. The main character, Juliet, is in charge of catering for this exhibit opening, as well as her continuing work at her bakeshop, Torte. I really enjoyed all the side characters in the book, especially her star barista, Andy, who gets very excited about snow because he loves to ski and snowboard. Other favorites included Lance, the flamboyant artistic director of OSF, and some of the other Torte employees. As you might expect, there are detailed descriptions of the fabulous food being prepared for both the bakeshop and the special event. Unfortunately, I felt that the extensive descriptions slowed down the action of the book, so I wound up skimming some of them. The mystery was a good one and there were several possible suspects, which kept me guessing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This newest entry in the Bakeshop Mystery series is excellent and most enjoyable. The idea of a newly discovered manuscript by Shakespeare, and its theft, bring an interesting dimension to the story, as well as a nice list of potential suspects. There was an additional depth to the mystery since it was not only about murder.

As with previous books in the series, Bake, Borrow, and Steal can be read as a standalone. While having read previous books definitely adds to the enjoyment, newcomers to the series will be able to dive in and not feel confused or lost, not to mention that there are no spoilers for previous books. Once again, the food description will make you want to have the recipes so you can make it at home. Great storyline, nice character development, everything to make a mystery reader happy!

It shouldn't be necessary to say anything more about a book than that it is A Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander for readers to know that it will be excellent and fun. From the first Bakeshop Mystery I read, I fell in love with the characters and Bake, Borrow, and Steal, the 14th book in the series, carries on the tradition of bringing us outstanding characters acting like real, kind, and fun-loving people. The mystery is intriguing as always, and it is interesting watching Jules and Lance follow the many trails in hopes that one will lead them to help resolve a murder.
I like that over the last few book, Ms. Alexander has worked to help us understand why Jules sees Lance as a friend. In earlier books I found him to be irritating even though I could see he had some redeeming qualities. He is still irritating, humorously so, but he has a great heart.
My favorite part of any of the books is when the Torte team is interacting, and we get to see them working and playing together quite a bit in Bake, Borrow, and Steal. The relationships have been dynamic from the beginning and most changes have been positive. The amazing challenge of building a functioning desk out of chocolate adds to the interest in recipes introduced by different characters, and the supportive exchanges among the team.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of Bake, Borrow, and Steal. I loved and my friends and followers will be hearing how much immediately!

Another fun installment of this series. This time Jules and her team at Torte are tasked with catering a gala at the museum on campus. When the main exhibit goes missing and people turn up injured and dead, Jules helps out the Professor in solving the mystery. Fun and full of yummy descriptions of food and the beautiful Oregon scenery.

A Bakeshop Mystery #14

It’s November in Ashland, Oregon, and Jules is busy with a huge project for Torte. Creating Chocolate sculptures and a delicious feast for the fancy opening of the newest exhibit, Shakespeare’s Lost Pages at the museum.

Everyone is anxious as well as excited to see Double Falsehood and it is being guarded around the clock. Jules and the team will be making an authentic dinner with all the traditional foods of the period.

Everyone is stressed. The staff at the museum are fighting each other and the benefactor bringing in the piece is a royal pain! With everything finally in place and ready to go, Jules is told the manuscript has been stolen! Replaced by a forgery. But how in the world?

When the police arrest Javier, Rosa begs Jules to help her free her uncle. And of course, she jumps right in.

This was so well written that I suspected everyone except Jules! What a twisty read with some very sketchy characters. Loved it!

NetGalley/December 28, 2021, St. Martin’s Press

14th in the series. Even though I’m reading my first book in the series the author made it very easy to catch up. Great amount of characters and mystery. I will definitely be looking for the previous books to get caught up. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

ARC Kindle Copy from Review from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Jules and the Torte gang are in the middle of their biggest event to create chocolate creations for the opening gala of a new exhibit. Things do not go smoothly as a lot work needs to be done but with everyone pitching it things managed o get done.

But Jules short feeling of relief is soon short lived as it is discovered that Shakespeare lost manuscript is missing and the security guard who was supposed to keep it winds up dead. Is it a heist gone wrong as there is still a killer on the loose?

Jules will use her skills to track down a motive and killer in this charming addition to the series.

Thanks so much to the author, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All of my opinions are entirely my own. All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog.

TW: death (accidental death, murder), theft

Oh my gosh, this book was such a delight! I mean, let's be honest, I LOVE a cozy mystery, so I am pretty easy to please in that sense. Honestly it's kind of hard for a cozy mystery to go wrong, in my eyes. So I had no doubt that I would really enjoy this read, and I am glad to say that I was right.

Let's start with what really might be the most important part - the FOOD! Jules, our main character in this story, runs a bakeshop, a winery, and an ice cream parlor, so it comes as no surprise that there are some really tasty sounding recipes mentioned throughout the story. Talking about and thinking about the food basically dominated my 20% review for this book, that's how much it was on my mind as I was reading. And I've got to be honest, part of me is crushed that this isn't one of the many cozies that includes a handful of it's recipes in the back of the book. This is a story where the setting is definitely it's own character, but the food is really playing a character as well in a really delicious way. And now I want to eat my weight in baked goods.

Speaking of the setting, Ashland, OR made such a lovely setting for this story! Like I said earlier, the small town feel really plays an important role in the story. Plus, as a PNW girl myself, I always enjoy getting to read books set along the west coast! And something about finishing up this story about the snowy little west coast town while I'm sitting in Seattle and looking out the window at all of the snow falling, it felt like I was really a part of it for a little bit. Like I could go across the street and get one of Andy's cups of coffee.

Now getting back to more important things, like the colorful cast of characters. There were so many characters that played their roles in the story, that in the beginning I did have some trouble keeping everything and everyone straight in my head while reading. Now to be fair, this is book #14 in a serious of cozies. I always say that reading a series in order doesn't tend to matter quite as much with a series of cozies as much as it might for a different genre, but I'm betting that had I read the other books that lead up to this one then I wouldn't have had as many issues with remembering which character was which. So, you know, take that with a grain of salt. But overall I really loved the characters. Some of them were fairly cartoon-y, especially the two more villainous men who Jules is butting heads with throughout the story, but I didn't mind that too much. The almost campy aspects felt like they belonged in a really fun way. Maybe that comes from the very theatrical town of Ashland (home of the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival), but either way it worked for me.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book to my friends! I think that everyone needs a genre that they can read through easily without having to necessarily put their entire heart and soul into it, and (especially when it gets cold out) I think that a cozy mystery fits the bill perfectly! I think that the best way to read this book would be inside and under a blanket while you're listening to the rain, or watching the snow outside your window. And also with lots of baked goods. Obviously. No, seriously. Give me the cakes, the hand pies, the cookies, the pastries, everything!

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

This book is the 14th in the series, and the first one that I have read, but even so, I was able to slip into the story and world as if into a brand new pair of comfy sweat pants. From the first chapter, it's evident that there's a lot of back story between the characters, but that gave me no difficulties at all. The setting is Ashland, Oregon, in mid-November. There's a cold nip with a promise of snow, and the entire town is abuzz about the unveiling of a newly-found Shakespeare manuscript. This is a huge deal in a place that prides itself on its Shakespearean festival each year. Jules runs a local bakery (along with a winery and ice cream shop, apparently--she's doing well!) and is contracted to provide food for the opening gala. Soon enough, there's a missing manuscript, an injured man, and a dead security guard, and one of Jules's friends is set up as a suspect.

Oh, this book is a fun romp! Cozy town in the snow, fantastic cast of characters, detailed descriptions of baked goods--this is totally my jam. I have only a little experience in southern Oregon, but the author seems very familiar indeed, which adds even more realism to the book. Jules questions people and uncovers a lot of drama, leading up to the big reveal--which is when things became incredibly disappointing, as Jules doesn't play a pivotal role. That's one major blip in an otherwise great read. I'd love to read others in the series.

Having read the first book in this series, I went ahead and tried for this title and even though it’s the 14th in the series I felt just as at home. You could easily read this as a stand-alone, as well.

Jules Capshaw and her husband Carlos have a bake shop, vineyard restaurant and ice cream shop in Ashland, Oregon. Jules is tapped to cater a major event, the unveiling of a lost Shakespeare manuscript at the nearby SOMA museum and even though it’s something that would normally be way too large of a job for her she tackles it with aplomb with the help of Carlos and her team.

Unfortunately at the event, chaos ensues. A murder happens and one of Jules’ friends is caught in the middle. So Jules does what she does best: Bake and sleuth!

As always, I love Jules and her immediate circle of friends and family. The food she describes is mouth watering. The setting of the town makes me want to flee to the coast and become an Elizabethan actor. Overall, I enjoy this cozy series. Unfortunately, I think this episode is a little bit slow to start. I found myself kind of skimming ahead to see if it picked up because I got a little bored of the harried event coordinator and the hapless guard.

If you love cozies, definitely pick up this series! 3.5 stars

I have always been a fan of this series and I’m never disappointed.
Always a top notch whodunit, interwoven with the great characters.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

It is autumn in Ashland, Oregon and Jules who owns a café, bakery, and more in the city with her husband Carlos has been hired by the South Oregon Museum of Art to cater their biggest event yet the premiere showing of a previously unknown work by William Shakespeare.
She makes an elaborate chocolate sculpture and plans foods that are reminiscent of the era. Things seem to be going swimmingly well until someone says that the manuscript on display is a forgery. Is it a forgery? What happened to the real one?
The janitor has been attacked and left for dead in the basement could he have been involved in the theft? There is a dodgy slothful security guard. Could he have been involved although he didn’t seem bright enough to have pulled this off, and then there is the benefactor a multi-millionaire who is the museum’s largest donor could he have taken it just to have it as a trophy? Or could it be the director of the museum himself?
As in the best of mysteries, the perpetrator is a surprise.
The story is well written and the scenes in Ashland make it come alive and make one want to go to Torte and have coffee and a pastry. One only wishes that the author had included recipes for the delights the descriptions of which made my mouth water.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Paperback for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

So happy to be back at Torte! Jules and Carlos are happy as ever and all the crew is at Torte ready to work. There's a theft, attempted murder and murder at SOMA, which means Jules and Lance are on the case! The murderer is never who I think it is, which makes it a great story! Can't wait to see if Jules and Carlos start a family together.

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This is the fourteenth in the Bakeshop Mystery series. I should have written this review earlier as I finished it last month.

Juliet (Jules) Capshaw runs a bakery & java (Torte), ice cream shop (Scoops), & a winery/tasting room with her husband Carlos in Ashland, Oregon.
Torte agrees to provide catering for a special unveiling of Shakespeare’s Lost Pages in a local museum that will be a big deal on the international Shakespearean stage. The event is interrupted when the pages are stolen. While trying to find the pages, the find the guard murdered. Juliet and Lance, the local theater manager decide to help the police with their investigation.

I enjoyed learning more about Carlos and Jules and the staff relationships are blooming. Everyone at Torte gets along like family.

Really looking forward to the next installment.

I was given an advanced copy by Netgalley and am not required to leave a positive review.

Bake, Borrow, and Steal is the 14th book in the Bakeshop Mystery series. This is the first one I've read and I loved it! Fresh off a cruise ship, Jules returns to Torte, her bakery in Ashland, Oregon home of the annual Shakespeare Festival. This year, the Shakespeare Museum on the campus of Southern Oregon University is preparing to exhibit lost pages of Shakespeare's manuscripts. Jules and her crew are hired to create chocolate desserts for the opening of the exhibit. Once the chocolate is set up and on display, and Jules can finally enjoy herself, the lost pages turn up missing and the guard murdered. Jules and her friends must work quickly to solve the case before the season becomes a total disaster. Fans of Ellie Alexander will enjoy this book as well as readers new to the series. I appreciate the chance to read an ARC - many thanks to Net Galley!

I have been reading Bakeshop mysteries since the beginning of the series. I follow the author on social media, so I’ve seen some of the videos she has done about what things have been like in Ashland, Oregon with the pandemic and then the fires. This book felt like homage to the wonderful people in Ashland who have pulled together to help those in need.
As an addition to the series, I love it. Each book builds upon the relationships established in previous books. We get to see Jules and her crew grow and find their happy place using their talents and abilities. Even though there are problems it seems a bit like an ideal world. Each author has that option on creating their stories.
I enjoyed the mystery of the missing lost play - finding it and the culprit behind the murder. I suspected the culprit and the method for removing the play from the exhibit room. It was nice to be proved right even if I hadn’t determined the motive.
It was interesting that Jules managed to insert herself in to the action even with the FBI being in charge of the investigation. The book food all sounded delicious.
This book could be read as a stand-alone but I do recommend reading this series in order in a order to see the character development and really get to know the characters.

"Bake, Borrow, and Steal" the 12th instalment in the A Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander. It releases on December 28th

As the autumnal hues of November fall over the Shakespearean hamlet of Ashland, Oregon, Jules and her team at Torte are working on their biggest event ever. They’ve been invited to create chocolate showpieces for the gala opening of a new exhibit, Shakespeare’s Lost Pages at SOMA. The museum, located on the campus of Southern Oregon University, is getting ready to unveil the Bard’s lost manuscript, Double Falsehood, which is being touted as the greatest artistic discovery of modern times. In addition to molding luscious, silky chocolate into magnificent structures, Torte will be serving an authentic Elizabethan feast straight from the pages of a sixteenth century cookbook featuring Lardy cakes, Frangipane tarts, and jellies with chestnut cream.

I really enjoyed this story, with Thanksgiving looming, and a Shakespeare exhibit to get through beforehand then throw in a murder… what’s not to like! I also liked that we had a lot of tension among the museum board, and a lost manuscript to muddy the waters.

I’m happy that Carlos and Jules are making a go of their marriage. Torte seems like the ideal place to work and Ashland a perfect place to live. Jules has found her place, home and family of friends and now with Carlos there it’s perfect. Needless to say I cant wait for the next book.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and there were just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Don’t get me started on the descriptions of all the desserts, drinks and food , I think I gained weight just thinking about them. I like that recipes are included in back of the book too

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*3-3.5 stars.

Once again I'm jumping blind into a long-running cozy mystery series but since I have enjoyed another of Ellie Alexander's mystery series, I took a chance on this one when it was offered through NetGalley. The author fills in any important details from past books so it wasn't hard to read this as a standalone. In fact, the first chapter recaps what's been going on in the life of Juliet Montague Capshaw and her husband Carlos, owners of Torte bakeshop in Ashland, Oregon. The town has a charming Elizabethan style and is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the summer months. But now it's November and Jules has taken on a major project that stretches her creative skills.

Javier de la Garza, the director of the Southern Oregon Museum of Art has hired Capshaw and her crew of chefs and bakers to cater the opening night gala of a major event at the museum: a most coveted exhibit of 'Shakespeare's Lost Pages.' For the centerpiece, he has asked her to recreate the bard's desk and chair entirely out of chocolate!

All goes well until just before the big reveal when it is noticed that the rare manuscript has been switched and a fake is in its place. Chaos reigns and is followed quickly by injury and death. When a good friend is arrested, Jules feels she must try to find the real culprit.

The setting is lovely, the characters very charming, the mystery intriguing, but what really sets this book apart is the description of the food and drink that Jules, Carlos and their staff create! Oh my goodness, I'd love to have a shop like this where we live.

I received an arc of this new mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

Everything is going so well for Jules! Her husband Carlos is home and her business, Torte, has been hired to cater the big unveiling of a previously lost Shakespeare manuscript at the museum. It's a lot of work because the food is meant to be typical of or echo the period- but Jules loves this stuff. But wait- the manuscript is stolen and a security guard is murdered! The FBI might have been called in but that doesn't mean that Jules and her BFF Lance can't sleuth as well. I like this series not only for the characters and the mysteries but also for the wonderful descriptions of the treats (sadly there are no recipes) and for the way Alexander makes Ashland part of the story. While this the the latest in a long run, it will be fine as a standalone. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A classic cozy with a cool protagonist.