Good morning! And by good morning I mean, Happy Four AM when almost nobody else is awake.

I’m Piper.

My best friend Samantha, or Sam, and I co-own the Ooey Gooey Goodness Bakery so, our mornings start very early. Today though, I’m pretty thankful to be up before dawn and heading to work. Sam and I just spent an extended weekend catering a corporate wellness retreat and I’m plain exhausted. Working in a strange kitchen, shopping at new places, not to mention barely escaping a cabin fire and getting tangled up with the police, the weekend didn’t go as smoothly as planned. So today, it is back to a regular routine for me.

In the kitchen, I grab some leftover Dark Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins and toss them in the microwave. On mornings when I wake up before the alarm, I sometimes experiment with new combinations before going to the Ooey Gooey but today there’s barely time to wolf down four muffins – yes, four; don’t judge – and head out the door for work.

Besides the occasional garbage truck, the streets are pretty empty at this time of morning. Parking in back of the bakery, I’m happy to see Sam is already here.

“Hey!”

Sam smiles back at me. “How did you sleep?”

“Great. I’m not going to lie; I don’t plan to go camping in cabin bunk beds again anytime soon. Maybe ever. I love my bed.”

Sam laughed. “Same here. I’ll get the display case stocked. Have you heard from the girls?’

Victoria and Millie, two teenagers we hired part-time to help with the bakery while we were out of town, were a Godsend. Victoria had a brain brimming with cookie ideas and I was happy to help the girl gain some confidence with her baking. Millie, she spewed sunshine. The girls had taken the job to earn money for electric scooters but Sam and I intended to see if they wanted to continue the gig.

“They’ll be here shortly.”

Sam busied herself up front in the café while I stared baking the dough mixed yesterday and chilled in the walk-in fridge. Soon enough, yummy aromas filled the room. Vanilla extract. Mmmm. One of my favorite smells. I considered myself incredibly blessed to be doing what I loved every day. And if that weren’t enough, I lived a hop and a skip from the Ocean in Seashell Bay. The ocean relaxed me. After a crazy weekend like we just got back from, Sam and I planned to sit out on the deck of her house tonight over milkshakes and watch the waves.

The back door rattled and I moved to unlock the knob. Victoria and Millie shuffled inside. After a few quick questions, and giving up on me sharing more details, they got to work. We could tell them about the murders later; for now, I wanted to forget the catering event happened.

With Victoria taking over the baking, I left her mixing fresh cookies and went out front to help Sam open up. Unlocking the front door, I stepped back to allow our first customer of the day entrance. He scooped me up and spun me around. Laughter bubbled up from my insides, bursting out. This boyfriend thing was brand-new but I’m thinking I could get used to it.

“Gag. I may be sick. Cut it out.” Sam continued teasing from behind me but I could hear the smile in her voice. She was pleased as punch. When your day is overflowing with good friends and gooey cookies before eight in the morning, it’s hard to imagine life life gets any better than this.

You can read more about Piper in Pastries, Pies, & Poison, the second book in the “Ooey Gooey Bakery” mystery series, released June 1, 2019.

Lipstick and lies, pastries and pies, plus a little poison thrown in the mix.

Piper and Sam are excited to cater their first large event – breakfast and desserts for a corporation’s weekend wellness retreat being held in a nearby town.

You know what that means? Road trip!

Piper thought it sounded like the perfect opportunity to clear her head of men. With things left unresolved with Griff, plus her old friend Landon popping back into her life, her mind and heart are in worse shape than a batch of burnt cookies.

Unfortunately, the weekend goes pear-shaped in a hurry. A man is dead and everyone at the retreat is a suspect. Can Piper get out of this new pickle and solve the mystery in time to salvage the retreat and the catering job? Will Sam heed the warning to stay out of the police investigation? And will the Ooey Gooey Bakery survive the weekend without them?

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Meet the author
Katherine Brown is a Texas girl, a lover of books, and a weaver of words. Her first official publication was of two children’s books in 2017, which has now grown into five books of the School is Scary series; however, she likes to think her career as a writer started when she sold her parents newsletters of articles about school and poetry for fifty cents per copy as a pre-teen. Married to a wonderful husband and mom of a smart, spunky stepdaughter, Katherine enjoys spending time with family and reading as many new books as she can get her hands on. Her YA series, the Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery series, is ramping up in 2019 with book 1, Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life, released in March and book 2, Pastries, Pies, & Poison, released in June. Book 3 is scheduled for a July debut.

Fun facts: Favorite ice cream: Chocolate Chip. Favorite vacation: Beach.

To learn more about Katherine, visit her website at katherinebrownbooks.

You can also find her on social media: Facebook, or Amazon Author Page, or Instagram, or Goodreads, or on BookBub.

All comments are welcomed.