"In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chef Lou Johnson works tirelessly to build her beloved yet struggling restaurant, Luella's, into a success. She cheerfully balances business, friends, and fiance...until fate intervenes. She's just baked her fiance a rich, delectable coconut cake, but when she drops by his apartment with the birthday surprise, she discovers him in the buff--with an intern. Sardonic British transplant Al writes pseudonymous, scathing...

Hayley Snow, fiery food critic for Key Zest magazine, has just landed a ticket to one of the most prestigious events in Key West: a high-brow three-day conference at the Harry Truman Little White House. Even though she'll be working the event helping her mother's fledgling catering business, there's plenty of spicy gossip to go around. But just before her mother's decadent flan is put to the test, Key West's most prized possession, Hemingway's Nobel...

When Hayley's idol, cookbook author and TV personality Penelope Janice, invites her to participate in a Fourth of July celebrity cook-off at her seaside estate in Seal Harbor, Maine, Hayley couldn't be more flattered. She just hopes she can measure up. With a who's who of famous chefs whipping up their signature dishes, this holiday weekend has all the ingredients for a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience.

"Peace and quiet are hard to find in bustling Key West, so Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, is taking the afternoon off for a tranquil lunch with a friend outside of town. As they are enjoying the wild beach and the lunch, she realizes that her husband Nathan's dog, Ziggy, has disappeared. She follows his barking, to find him furiously digging at a shallow grave with a man's body in it. Davis Jager, a local birdwatcher, identifies him...

"Food critic Hayley Snow and her pal Miss Gloria are overjoyed to welcome Violet and Bettina Booth, aka the Scottish Scone Sisters, to Key West. The sisters will host The UK Bakes!--Key West Edition. But the same day they arrive, the bed-and-breakfast the sisters are staying in gets torched. The contest begins the next morning featuring three local bakers. One is the inn owner's wife, Rayna, who is not only the most talented chef of the group but...

Sidney Strauss is writing for the local food market's weekly newsletter when she gets the opportunity at a story that could make her career as a food journalist or permanently end it.

"As the food and cocktails columnist for the Island Times, Hayley Powell attends a lot of events--but this one will be murder. . . On the eve of her high school reunion, Hayley dreads seeing the trio of mean girls who used to torment her: Sabrina Merryweather, Nykki Temple, and former prom queen Ivy Foster. These days Ivy wears a different crown as the cupcake queen--and flaunting her success is just the icing on the cake. But maybe the prom queen...

"Bar Harbor, Maine, is quieter in the off-season, but the population has just increased a bit with the arrival of Ted and Trudy Lancaster. Ted's taking over for a retiring minister, and Trudy runs a food truck called Wicked 'Wiches. When she stops in at the Island Times office to place an ad, Hayley happily devours the sample sub Trudy offers -- and the two become fast friends. When Trudy tragically dies in her truck while catering a Halloween party,...

When Chef Romeo, who just opened up a new restaurant in town, dies from complications after having a heart attack, Hayley Powell, whose hospitalized brother swears it was murder, must find the person who had no reservations about killing the chef.

"This novel, written in the form of a memoir, follows the members of a search committee as they seek a new pastor for their church congregation. The narrator is a restaurant-review writer; meals at local restaurants and in committee members' homes occur in the course of the story. Recipes for twenty-five of the dishes are included"--