When Tate Harper tells his best friends and business partners that two football stars want to franchise one of their Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakeries, Mel DiLauria and Angie (who also happens to be Tate’s wife as well as Mel’s sister-in-law) think he's playing a prank on them. So when Arizona Scorpions Tyler Matthews and Keogh Graham, the quarterback Mel jokingly refers to as her football husband, actually show up on their doorstep, the women are both astounded and starstruck.

Turns out that Keogh and Tyler really are looking to invest in a cupcake bakery, with an eye towards their careers and lives post-football. Certain parties, however, are not at all happy that the pair already have retirement plans in mind. Chad Dayton, the owner of their football team, is one of these people, and has a very public altercation with Keogh at the new bakery's grand opening. He wants Keogh to be laser focused on training for a run at the Super Bowl, and thinks that anything else, including the bakery, is an unnecessary distraction.

So when Chad is found dead inside Keogh’s bakery soon afterwards, the victim of what was clearly a well-planned homicide, all eyes turn to Keogh as prime suspect. Suspicion isn't due to just the public blow-up though. It's no secret that Kendall, Chad's wife of a little over a year, was dating Keogh before she suddenly married Chad. Keogh says he's okay with it, but incriminating evidence keeps mounting against him.

Mel doesn't believe any of it, and not just because she's a fan. Since first meeting to discuss franchising, she and Keogh have struck up a friendship, and she knows that this thoughtful, kind man would never be capable of premeditated murder. But whom of Chad's many enemies hated him enough to kill him? And will Mel be able to figure it all out while also dealing with a very personal surprise?

I've been reading the Cupcake Bakery mysteries for a while now and firmly believe that this is my favorite installment of the series so far! The sixteenth book expertly combines mystery, a touch of sports glamor, family warmth and humor into one terrific package. The way that Mel foiled the killer in the end was led up to in a way that both grounded and enhanced what could have been a wholly absurd situation in the hands of a lesser writer. In fact, the only thing I would change about this book is the well-meaning but misguided commitment to color blindness. I think it's a disservice to the reader to not explicitly state that Keogh and his mom are Black, as they are quite obviously coded to be. Diversity and representation are important, especially since some readers assume that every character they read about is white unless stated otherwise. That aside, I was thoroughly entertained by this novel from start to finish.

There were four delectable cupcake recipes included here, of flavors all deliciously described in the book. I decided to try out this one, a specialty of Keogh’s mom:

QUOTE
Peach Cobbler Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
⅔ cup whole milk
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups peach cobbler filling, pureed

Cobbler Filling and Topping
3 15-ounce cans of peaches in light syrup
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put paper liners in the cupcake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the sour cream into the milk and set aside. Using a large bowl, mix the butter until creamy. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs until fluffy. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk mixture, do not over incorporate. Set aside and make the cobbler filling.

In a medium saucepan, add the peaches, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. On medium heat, cook for 10 minutes. Once the mixture starts to bubble, add the cornstarch. When the filling has thickened, remove 1 ½ cups of the mixture and puree it in a blender.

Mix the pureed peach filling into the cake batter until well convinced. Fill the cupcake liners half- full and bake for approximately 18 to 22 minutes until tops are golden brown. When completely cooled, first with a swirl of buttercream. Garnish with a cooked peach slice from the cobbler filling and drizzle the sauce over the cupcakes. Makes 24.

Buttercream Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream butter and vanilla. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed and adding milk as needed. Scrape sides of bowl often. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes in big swirls using a pastry bag.
END QUOTE

I have never had a bad cupcake from a Jenn McKinlay recipe, and this was no exception. It is a little labor intensive to make but the results are absolutely worth it. As usual, I cut back significantly on the sugar content, using about a quarter less than asked for in each step, and don't think the flavor was at all harmed as a result. The only thing I would consider changing is adding maybe two cups of the peach puree to the cupcake batter to give it a stronger peach flavor, or perhaps using peach extract instead of vanilla. Speaking of extract, I used regular vanilla extract instead of clear for the frosting and don't believe it affected the color at all.

I did have quite a bit of batter left over after half-filling 24 regular cupcake liners, so made a small round cake with the leftovers. Once baked, I topped the cake with the extra frosting and puree, then froze it to keep while the cupcakes were being eaten. It pleases me to know that I have that waiting to defrost when next I'm ready for more delicious peach cobbler cake flavors.

Next week, we travel all the way to the West Coast to investigate the death of an influencer, while baking up a savory treat. Do join me!

Fondant Fumble is the latest in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series by the talented Jenn McKinlay. I loved getting to visit with some of my favorite characters of all time. Reading the latest story featuring the Fairy Tale Cupcakes crew was like catching up with a long lost friend. Mel stumbles across a dead body once again in a Fondant Fumble. Will Mel figure out who the murderer is and clear her new franchise owners’ names before it is too late? Read Fondant Fumble to find out.
I loved reading Fondant Fumble and can’t wait to read what happens next for Mel and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes crew.

Yet another charming winner in this long-running cozy series. It keeps the characters growing and developing, and the mystery line with new football players opening a franchise of the bakery (and some dead bodies) makes for a completely fresh story. Keep them coming, please, Jenn!

A good mystery. When a couple of football players buy a bakery franchise, Mel and the crew are very excited as they are big fans. Once the store opens, it seems everything goes wrong. The owner of the football team is found dead in the bakery and, of course, the football player gets blamed. He knows that someone is setting him up, but why. Then when the coach is found dead, he really knows that he is being set up because the murderer used his gun. Can Mel and company find the killer and save the franchise? Along the way, Mel is given a big surprise.

In this latest installment of the Cupcake Bakery series, my favorite cupcake baker discovers more than a dead body. Join Melanie Cooper DeLaura as she deals with an unlikely new franchisee, a couple of murders, and a personal matter.

As always, Jenn McKinlay gives us an entertaining escape with Melanie and her crew. I always look forward to catching up with these "friends" from Arizona.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!! Big things are in store for Mel, Joe, Angie & Tate as well as the rest of the cupcake crew in this installment of the Cupcake Girls Mystery Series! The newest franchisee is turning out to be huge for promoting the business, but also brings huge opportunities for sabotage as someone is killing off perceived enemies to the newest franchise owner! Add in lots of personal drama and you have a hilarious afternoon of reading or in my case, listening! As always, wonderful characters fully developed to lure you in and make you care about the outcome of the story as well as a delightfully woven mystery to keep you guessing and turning page! A truly can't miss series and this book is an absolute must read!

Fondant Fumble Cupcake is the newest book in the Cupcake Bakery mysteries by Jenn McKinlay. Professional Football players Keogh and Tyler decide to buy a franchise of Fairy Tale Cupcakes. Both of them are on the Arizona Scorpions team. Some individuals are happy about this while others are not. Some of them are worried that Keogh and Tyler will leave football to run the bakery. Then the team’s owner is found dead in their bakery after he has an argument with Keogh. Soon both players are considered suspects in the case so Mel and her baking pals work on solving the murder.

Fondant Fumble Cupcake is a fun read with a few plot twists. There is even an interesting life changing event announced for Mel! Finally, there are a few delicious cupcake recipes at the end of the book.

When Mel is told that two professional football players from the Arizona Scorpions are interested in buying a franchise from Fairy Tale Cupcakes, she thinks it is a joke. Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews have decided it is the perfect retirement plan. Needless to say the curb appeal of two superstar pro athletes from the hometown team owning and operating bakery is off the charts.

Mel spends her days training these two ginormous men how to make her fluffy confections. The only problem is keeping them from eating all of their inventory. When the owner of the football team is found dead on the floor of the bakery only one day after having a public verbal dispute with Keogh, the future begins to look dim. Mel has spent enough time with Keogh to see that under all that brawn is a a wonderful young man who she believes is incapable of murder. She and her crew vow to help clear his name.

I always enjoy the books in this series, but I think this might be my favorite one so far. I love the game of football and the sport of eating delicious confections, so this might be why this one was special to me. There is a great mystery to solve as problems continue to arise, but there are many light-hearted moments as well involving these two players, plus Mel's rather rambunctious family. You can always count on the DeLaura family to provide a chuckle or two.

You can never go wrong reading a book in this series. The descriptions of the cupcakes will make your mouth water, and I love the shared recipes at the back. This is another winner for Fairy Tale Cupcakes.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really don’t know how Jenn McKinlay does it. Most series are pretty tired by book five, yet here we are at book SIXTEEN(!!!), and the Cupcake Bakery series is still a welcoming, fun, and intriguing read.

As always, you could sit right down with this book without having read the previous installations. I’d recommend reading them all, because it’s been fun to get to see the characters and relationships evolve through time. This iteration primarily focuses on Mel, and the new satellite bakery purchased and run by two local football stars. Tate pops up now and then, while Angie is mostly a background character here. I enjoyed the new characters, and I really liked this mystery.

Unlike most cozy mysteries where the murder happens within the first two chapters, the murder occurs about halfway through this book. I’ve seen some complaints about the fact that McKinlay continually delays the crime in this series, but I actually like it. It gives me some time to invest in the new characters, which adds a little bit more of a stake in the outcome.

I loathe spoilers, so I’ll leave you with a high recommendation to pick this one up if this is a genre you enjoy. I found it entertaining, and I’m definitely up for number seventeen!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for granting access to a digital ARC in
response to my request.

Great installment in the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries and it has recipes! So much fun catching up with series regulars and the new characters are endearing, hope to see them in future books. Any Jenn McKinlay book is a must-read for me but her series are my favorites!

Fondant Fumble

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“ Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. They’re spending the off-season in Scottsdale working in Mel’s bakery, learning about the business and how to bake show-stopping cupcakes. The popular athletes bring a boom of customers to the store as football fans flock to see the friends mixing batter and piping icing.”

This one was a cute overall story and I really liked the mystery. The scorpions creeped me out. The murder doesn’t happen until later which isn’t my personal preference I like when it happens in the first couple of chapters, so I feel like this caused the book to start slow. Overall I would recommend this book.

Fondant Fumble by Jenn McKinlay has Mel and Angle helping two professional football players open a franchise of Fairy Tale Cupcakes. What trouble could two handsome, well-known football players be? I liked the unique concept. Jenn McKinlay manages to be descriptive without being overly detailed. I could envision the big football players in the bakery kitchen wearing Fairy Tale Cupcake aprons and holding an icing bag in their large hands (in the case of one player, a cupcake or two that were being quickly devoured). It was great to catch up with Mel, Angie, Tate, Joe, Marty, Oz, and the DeLaura brothers. Ray continues to surprise me. Mel is a friendly, relatable character. The mystery was entertaining. I had an inkling as to the identity of the guilty party early on, but I needed confirmation. I joined Mel as she set out to prove Keough’s innocence by asking questions and following the sprinkling of clues. The reveal made sure I was not left with any lingering questions. There is happy news at the end for Mel and Joe. I love the humor dotted throughout the story. The scrumptious cupcake descriptions will have you heading for your nearest bakery. Fondant Fumble is the sixteenth A Cupcake Bakery Mystery and it can be read as a standalone. The author provides the necessary background details for new readers. Mel fangirling over the new franchise owners (she loves her husband, but a girl can ogle the eye candy) was cute. Fondant Fumble is a sweet treat with delectable cupcakes, football franchisees, a difficult fan, vanilla vomitus, window repairs, and a jovial family.

This book is so perfect like how does Jenn McKinlay do this? I'm serious, how does she just manage to cook up something so fresh (see what I did there?) after 15 books have already been published? This book is awesome. This book follows Melanie "Mel" DeLaura when she finds yet another dead person while opening up her new franchise location. One of her business partners is being accused of the crime so she decides that she must help him clear his name. What was really fun is that we get new characters as well as the antics of all the known players which is why I recommend reading the series but the book is so good that it would stand on its own if you don't want to do that. I found this book charming and honestly you can never go wrong with a Jenn McKinlay book, she's just an absolute legend when it comes to writing warm and cozy books. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley, and Jenn McKinlay for letting me read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book deserves 7 stars (6 + 1) because it is a touchdown with an extra point to win the game as time expires. You had me with the cover because I am a huge football fan and incidentally my name is Mel. Imagine my surprise as I read this book, I found myself both relating to Mel and wishing I was in her place meeting my “football husband.”
Fondant Fumble starts light with the fangirling that comes with meeting said “football husband” as he decides to own a franchise of your bakery. This scene was totally relatable, and the description of the football players was spot on. As I said above, I am a football fan, so I kept trying to picture the perfect NFL stars to cast as Keogh and Tyler in my head. They are described in the book as rarified talent and compared to GOATs of past. I did have a specific “T” tight end in mind for Tyler. With that enough fangirling for me. As I said, Mel is totally relatable and very well written. She has an inner strength that shines when she needs it most and she needs it in this book as she has a lot to balance. One of her greatest strengths is her ability to truly see people, after the fangirling she treated Keogh and Tyler and their teammates as friends and Keogh came through for her in a surprising way.
The mystery is well written and on the nose with the first apparent cause of death. That COD was further proof that the author was treating this book like the playoffs and bringing nothing but her “A” game. I suspected who the guilty person was but again, I share something with the other Mel that influenced both of our judgements. That said, even knowing or suspecting who was guilty the author had a lot of trick plays to make us look at other potential suspects like the runaway chef. We got some good news as the mystery wrapped and I hope that good news means we’ll see Mel and company in the future. I simply can’t say enough about how much I loved this book. It had fun, football, the feels when the team showed up, and family (oh and did I mention football.) Football season is months off and now that the draft is over, we have nothing to do but wait for it to begin so we can don our football regalia and cheer. This book was a nice reminder of what we all miss as it took us first on the field. Excellent book and totally recommended. I found a new author whose books I enjoy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I love this series. The characters feel like friends, the plot is solid and there is always a twist. The witty dialogue, the action is all superb. I can't wait for the next book in the series. And more in her Hat Shop Mysteries too please!

Two professional football players sign on as franchisees with the Fairy Tale Cupcakes gang and shortly after, the owner of the football team is found dead in the new bakery. As usual, Mel and the gang find themselves in the middle of the investigation. Absolutely loved the plotline with football players as bakery owners.

"Fondant Fumble" by Jenn McKinlay is a delightful romp through the world of cupcakes, football, and unexpected mysteries. Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews find themselves embarking on a new adventure as they pursue their dream of owning a bakery franchise. McKinlay expertly blends the excitement of sports with the sweetness of baking as Keogh and Tyler work alongside Mel in their new bakery, creating delectable treats that draw in hordes of eager customers.
As the tension rises with the suspicion surrounding the football stars, McKinlay keeps readers on the edge of their seats with twists and turns that keep the pages turning. With a charming cast of characters and a cleverly crafted plot, "Fondant Fumble" is a winning combination of humor, suspense, and mouthwatering desserts. (I received an advance reader copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.) Fans of cozy mysteries will devour this delightful treat of a novel."

When Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews, two star football players for the Arizona Scorpions, decide to open a cupcake franchise, what could possibly go wrong? A dead body in the franchise building, for starters. Can Mel and her team of fellow sleuths solve the crime before the franchise dies, too?

A fun whodunit!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Although this cozy series is totally outlandish, I've always loved it. Cupcakes, close friends, and murder--an excellent combo. Angie and Mel and Tate are such good friends, and their relationship is the bedrock of the series for me. Angie and Tate marrying didn't upset my applecart too much, but now that they have a baby, I feel like the whole series has changed. Angie is barely in this book at all. And Tate is only in it as much as usual, which is a minor amount.

Football player Keogh is really playing the male lead here, and it feels like this book is setting up a spin-off series or something, with Keogh's Fairy Tale Cupcake franchise introducing a whole new set of characters. I hope that's not the case, but that's the vibe I get.

I like the plot here, and I like the characters, including Keogh, Tyler, and Mama June. But it feels like the end of an era, now that Mel is pregnant too. (And that's not a spoiler because the reader will realize it long before Mel does. And the way everyone else instantly knows at a glance that she's pregnant...that gets old long before the book ends.)

It's a well-plotted mystery, and I want to eat every cupcake that is mentioned. But it also feels like the end of an era, which makes me sad.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun read involving food and sports. 2 almost retired football players are considering their options for the future, baking cupcakes ranks high on the list to the delight of Mel and all her co-workers. But who is trying to fun their future? A death withIn days of opening doesn't look good. Will the case get solved before the entire franchise gets burned?