If I’m being perfectly honest, I have to admit my life is not usually nearly as hectic and out of control as it is right at this moment. Not only am I trying to get ready for the holidays while working full-time as a waitress at my best friend Gia Morelli’s All-Day Breakfast Café, but I’m also planning my wedding, which will take place just about one week from now. Oh, right, perfectly honest. . . So, Trevor Barnes is actually doing most of the preparations for my wedding, which will be held in his mansion on Christmas Eve. But, even so, there’s still a lot for me to do.

At the top of my to-do list was the last-minute tasting so I could decide once and for all what dishes I’m going to have at the wedding. I know I must be driving the caterer crazy, even though she’s been wonderfully patient, but I’m having a tough time deciding.

Actually, I’ve been kind of on edge about everything since I was kidnapped a few months ago. Making decisions used to come easy, but now, well, not so much. One of the decisions I’ve been avoiding like the plague is where I’m going to live once Leo and I get married. I’ve been bunking with Gia, even though I didn’t officially move out of my dad’s house because I knew it would break his heart, but it’s time for Leo and I to find a place of our own. Unfortunately, the thought of house hunting after being kidnapped from a house I was showing back in the day when I was a real estate agent brings more anxiety than I can deal with. Plus, I’m going to miss Gia. So, I figure I’ll just ignore it for now and face it when I’m feeling better. But, those are problems for another time.

At the moment, I have a bigger problem. When Gia and I arrived at the caterer for the final tasting, another bridal party was there. Their petty arguing and constant bickering ended with the death of the bride, after she was poisoned by the very cake, I was planning to serve my guests, the same cake I sampled while we were there. Now, with the caterers high on the suspect list, everything is falling apart, and if Gia and I can’t find Robin’s killer, my wedding may not take place at all. Needless to say, finding a killer just shot to the top of my to-do list. Talk about wedding jitters!

Mistletoe Cake Murder, An All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery #6
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2021
Purchase Link

’Tis the season for celebrating when Gia Morelli’s holidays include both a wedding and yuletide festivities. Until someone naughty delivers a most unwanted Christmas gift—murder. . .

For a native New Yorker, palm trees and warm temperatures don’t equal winter, much less Christmastime. Nevertheless, Gia Morelli’s friends have decked the halls and trimmed the trees to truly welcome her into their “family” with an old-fashioned Boggy Creek, Florida holiday season. Even more joyous, Savannah Mills is getting married on Christmas Eve—the greatest gift Gia could ever wish for her best friend.

But when Gia and Savannah stop by the caterer for a final tasting a week before the wedding, they overhear another bride arguing with her son about her husband-to-be. Moments later, the woman is sampling a piece of wedding cake—gorgeously decorated with mistletoe frosting—then suddenly dies.

Now Gia’s caterer friends are the prime suspects in what appears to be murder by poisoning. To clear their names and ensure Savannah has a merry matrimony will require Gia to conjure up a Christmas miracle . . .

Includes recipes from the All-Day Breakfast Café!

About the author
Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

All comments are welcomed.