| Title | : | Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life (Ooey Gooey Bakery Mysteries, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 283 |
| Publication | : | First published March 1, 2019 |
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life (Ooey Gooey Bakery Mysteries, #1) Reviews
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I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Who is sending these weird notes?
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life by Katherine H. Brown is a different kind of cozy. We have our main sleuth, her friend, but not a crime except for these weird notes popping around. It was pretty entertaining though.
What I like:
Written in the first-person with Piper, our sleuth, being the narrator.
A different kind of cozy with not having a murder victim in it but a string of notes.
Piper co-owns the bakery called Ooey-Gooey Bakery and does most of the treats
What I don’t like:
The one thing that I didn’t like is that I am unsure of what the crime was until the climax of the story, but I am happy with the ending. It was a good book.
Five Star
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life by Katherine H. Brown is a cozy mystery with a different kind of a crime as it doesn’t deal with a dead body. It was good, and I was enthralled with the story and the mystery. I am giving it a five-star rating and recommending it to anyone that likes cozy mysteries.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by,
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove -
This was awesome read. I loved all the interesting characters that keep me reading . The storyline will put you in with all the twist and turns.
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To me, this is a unique cozy that addresses some heavy topics - mainly human trafficking. I have to give the author major points for coving a heavy issue in this book and I definitely appreciated the information that was shared in relation to a friend of Piper's from when she was younger. It was thoughtfully addressed and well explained. To top it off, it created quite a twist at the end, which I sort of expected but won't tell you what it is in case you don't guess! Then there is the spa, which I inferred was created by a church, and the employees are volunteers but are doing this all for a good cause. Hence the competition to raise money and Piper and Sam winning the spa weekend by raising the most funds for the charity.
Piper and Sam are each other's yin and yang when it comes to their friendship and their work environment. They make a great team in the bakery and many of their desserts sound delicious. Even the name of the bakery makes the desserts sound sinful. Piper is a chocolate fanatic and a woman after my own heart. She even brings chocolate to the spa just in case of an emergency. Definitely someone that I would want to be associated with in case I needed some of that emergency chocolate.
The mystery is a little different - Piper and Sam are trying to find out who is leaving these threatening notes and what do they really mean. They are threatening but vague and it takes some super sleuthing to get to the bottom of this mystery. I was surprised at the antagonist as it wasn't someone I suspected but some clues fell into place when everything was revealed.
As I mentioned, there is a twist at the end, a cliffhanger if you will, that wasn't surprising but I am curious to see how this plays out in the next book. I also read in the author's bio that this is a YA cozy and I don't think it fits in the YA category. It is very clean, as all cozies should be, but I am not sure where the YA comes into play since the characters are at least in their 20s.
We enjoyed this book and give it 4 paws up. -
This was a fun read. The characters are quirky, the bad person was unexpected and the storyline kept you reading. If you're a foodie with a sweet tooth you will love this book even more. I really loved that a very real world issue is addressed and placed into the forefront as human trafficking is mostly ignored in the mainstream news. Very good story-telling. I look forward to the next book in the series.
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Enjoyable....light, recommended......
I enjoyed the book, got tired of all the descriptions of all the fluff...skipped that part, but the story....it was good. -
First let me just say, cozy mysteries aren't usually what I read. If you enjoy that genre though, this is a book you should add to your TBR.
It's a fun, easy read that follows two friends as they try to uncover who is leaving behind suspicious notes. I enjoyed the two main characters, and Piper and Sam will keep you entertained as they search for the truth of what is happening.
There are lots of references to sweets in this read, so you might want to have a bag of cookies ready when you start reading. -
This book, which I received a copy of as part of the Cozy Mystery Tribe Reader Book Club in return for an honest review, was disappointing on multiple levels. I WANTED to enjoy it, and the title, the cover, and the bakery name made me expect that I would.
But I read cozy mysteries to be entertained and to escape from the seriousness of the world for a while. Not to be converted to the author's religion, not to be lectured on about social tragedies, and not to sit through long and drawn-out instructions on various topics such as yoga, food-based health tips, and more.
If you are going to include Christianity heavily throughout your book, say so in the description. I would not have read it had I known I was going to be hit over the head with prayer references, sometimes page-long ones. There is a genre for Christian cozies, that this should firmly fall into.
And while brief mentions of human trafficking as part of the background lead-up to the story would make sense, a long interview of the main character on it is tedious and takes the reader out of the story.
Add to these the fact that virtually nothing happens of consequence to any actual mystery until the 40% point of the book, and I found it to be frustrating to read. I only finished it to find out who was leaving the threatening messages. As it was, I ended up skimming much of the content of the last half of the book. -
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life is a cute, light cozy mystery by a new-to-me author that I will definitely continue to follow. Piper and Samantha are a dynamic duo, best friends & business partners who have each other’s backs, and I loved hanging out with them on the pages of this book. Their relationship is endearing, and so is their banter – and the yummy desserts they make at their Ooey Gooey Bakery had me hunting in the pantry for brownie mix. A poor substitute, but an emergency supply of chocolate requires desperate measures some times. Just ask Piper 🙂
No murder in this cozy mystery, but several attempted murders via cleverly timed ‘accidents’ which are enough to get the pulse racing & keep readers solidly invested in the outcome. The spa setting adds some interesting layers to the mood of the book, as well as a host of people who could be responsible for the threatening notes & situations Piper stumbles upon. Some may be friends, some may be foes, and some may be entirely neutral parties – figuring out who is who will keep you guessing.
I thought it started a bit abruptly, as though I were missing some backstories, so I felt a little adrift at first. But I quickly got involved in the story & the main players and couldn’t put it down until it was finished. And then I immediately bemoaned not having time to start reading book 2 right away lol.
I appreciated the subtle faith undercurrents to the story, as it’s always fun for me to find that connection to an author when I don’t expect to. But don’t worry, it never gets preachy or overpowers the book and may not even be noticed by most people because it’s so organic to the plot. I also admire the author for tackling the very important issue of human trafficking and, given some of the events toward the end of the book, I’m curious to see if it continues to play a role in the series.
Bottom Line: Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life is a fun read with engaging characters and surprising twists & turns. While it’s labeled a young adult cozy mystery, I would actually consider it geared for the new adult age group, given Piper & Sam’s ages and stage of life. Either way, though, ‘just plain adults’ like me (who haven’t been ‘young’ or ‘new’ for quite some time) will love this book, too! The mystery is well-crafted, and the setting nicely complements the plot. I personally also was quite happy with the sweet romance thread tucked into the story and definitely hope to see more of it in future books in the series.
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)
first seen at
Reading Is My SuperPower -
Read my review on NovelsAlive.com by clicking the link below. It is also posted in full.
https://novelsalive.com/2021/03/30/4-...
REST, RELAX, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE is the first book in the OOEY GOOEY BAKERY MYSTERY series and there was lots of delectable ooey gooeyness throughout since Samantha (Sam) and Piper own a bakery. When Piper’s stressed she bakes with whatever she has on hand and she loves to eat. I don’t think she’s ever seen a dessert that she doesn’t like! Sam’s brother, Griff, plays a nice part in the story and Piper always seems to get tongue-tied around him and says nonsensical things.
Gladys, a new elderly, widowed customer, becomes friendly with them and invites herself along when they win a stay at a local spa due to their fundraising for Breaking Chains, an organization through a local church for the prevention of human trafficking along with support for its victims. Human trafficking was woven throughout in an interesting way. Gladys adds another layer to the story and definitely has some quirks. The story has a nice flow to it with a lot of strange happenings and mysterious notes. Who’s sending them to Piper and why? There are twists and turns throughout that helped weave the different storylines together. I liked the scenes set at the spa but their three personal assistants and some of the other staff seemed a little creepy. There were vivid descriptions of the treatments and activities they could partake in while there and the addition of the non-food menus from the spa at the back of the book were a nice addition. The ending was abrupt and didn’t give closure but sets the stage for what could come next. At the back of the book, there was an excerpt from the next book in the series. I’m looking forward to reading it. I loved the title and series name along with the colorful cover.
Ms. Brown is a new to me author. I look forward to reading more of her books. -
This is the first book I have listened to or read by this author but it won't be the last. I enjoyed the quirkiness of the story and how the story unfolds and with a fun cast of characters it was very enjoyable, even with the absence of a dead body (very unusual for a cozy mystery). I hadn't worked out who was behind it, so was surprised when the mystery was unveiled, well done Katherine H. Brown. I think the book is a good start to a new series and look forward to the next book, especially as the author gave you a tease of what might be coming in the next book.
While trying to raise money for a worthy cause breaking chains, Piper and Sam raise the most money and In the process win an all expenses paid for trip to the local spa. The girls are excited but strange messages claiming Piper "can't have everything" are left lying around for her to find. It gets even weirder when strange accidents start happening and treatment go wrong but Piper believes they are no accidents and are actually connected to the letter. She keeps catching glimpses of a blonde woman. Is she behind it? And what are the messaged trying to tell her?
I liked the narrator she did a good job with lots of different voices for the characters. -
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life is book one in the Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery series and this was an enjoyable, fun read. Piper and her best friend Sam run the Ooey Gooey Bakery (how awesome is that that name by the way?) and have discovered they are the winners of a charity contest raising the most money for human trafficking awareness and prevention, and they find out they have won a long weekend stay at the O Heavenly Day Spa.
The mystery in the book was just that, a mystery. During their stay at the spa Piper starts to get threatening notes, she gets 'accidentally' locked in the steam room, and then kidnapped! Usually you have a murder in these types of books, so the plot line that the author went down was a great refreshing read. It held my attention and I had no idea who the culprit of the notes were or even why until the end, usually that would bug me but this story flowed well that you just had to keep reading to find out the 'why' of this mystery.
This is a wonderful clean cozy mystery that includes mystery, romance, humour and characters you can connect to, and I look forward to reading more form out baking duo Piper and Sam.
4 stars. -
How the other half lives
Piper and Sam have opened the bakery of their dreams. Things are going OK, but they need more people to know about their business. Be careful what you wish for.
Entering a town raffle for a good cause results in the girls winning a mini vacation at a local church run beauty spa. It also earns them a spot on the morning news.
Piper also spills a deep secret about her connection to and buried guilt on the topic of human trafficking.
Piper has never been to a spa before and Sam has moved a bit away from the circles in which she was raised, mainly due to an overbearing mother.
An elderly woman who comes into the bakery invites herself along on their spa vacation.
When "accidents" begin happening, who is behind them? What is the motive?
Between being fascinated by the ritzy opulence and over the top treatments at the spa and the kindness of the main characters, this was an interesting and fun read.
I look forward to seeing what adventures find them next. -
This was a fun start to the Ooey Gooey Bakery series, and a Cozy Mystery without a murder makes for a nice change!
When a local Spa runs a fundraiser to highlight Human Trafficking the new Ooey Gooey Bakery joins in (it is for local businesses, the one that raises the most will win), the book opens with a camera crew arriving at the bakery as they HAVE won, this means a long weekend of being pampered, something Samantha is used to but Piper isn't, as well as the two of them a new friend in the form of Gladys, a widow, is also going. Before they even get there though they start to get Poison Pen notes, and then things start to go wrong at the Spa, and it seems someone has it in for Piper.
Can Piper and Sam sort things out?, is Gladys really the fun loving widow she appears to be? and who has dared to ruin Piper's clothes with her precious chocolate?! -
Sometimes you need something relaxing after your spa
A great start to a new series. The characters are coming alive before our eyes and they show the interactions between various age groups and status. The plot is simple - jealousy in it's most primeval form. Wanting to eliminate anything that might stand between it's desires and what is real.
The two girls couldn't believe that they had won the spa break for raising the most in the charity run by the church. However someone isn't pleased and an unpleasant note is left in the bakery. The girls determine to enjoy themselves and together with a senior set off. Snakes, ruined dresses, more notes, smoke and an abduction follow. Why has she been abducted? Can she get free? Why is her BFF's brother being so attentive? Is she now going to have to fight? -
4 Star review Rest, Relax, Run For Your Life (Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery #1) by Katherine H Brown
Audio Review:
Both the author Katherine H Brown and the narrator Kati Schwaber are new to me. Piper and Sam are best friends who run a bakery together. Firstly, this book ends with a bit of a cliff hanger so you have been warned. I enjoyed this book; it’s a cozy mystery and one that I found entertaining.
Enjoying a weekend at the O Heavenly Day Spa Piper and Sam are perplexed when they start finding threatening messages and decide to investigate. Not only are there notes, but strange things start occurring and things start to get dangerous.
Told from Piper’s perspective, the characters are quirky and the southern drawl of the narrator was easy to listen too. There are some surprising twists and turns as Piper and Sam investigate.
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4 Star review Rest, Relax, Run For Your Life (Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery #1) by Katherine H Brown
Audio Review:
Both the author Katherine H Brown and the narrator Kati Schwaber are new to me. Piper and Sam are best friends who run a bakery together. Firstly, this book ends with a bit of a cliff hanger so you have been warned. I enjoyed this book; it’s a cozy mystery and one that I found entertaining.
Enjoying a weekend at the O Heavenly Day Spa Piper and Sam are perplexed when they start finding threatening messages and decide to investigate. Not only are there notes, but strange things start occurring and things start to get dangerous.
Told from Piper’s perspective, the characters are quirky and the southern drawl of the narrator was easy to listen too. There are some surprising twists and turns as Piper and Sam investigate.
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Enjoyable book, great narrator!
The narrator did great variation. The southern accent fits the book perfectly. And she sounds young, which fitted the main character perfectly also. And she did the emotions very well and even had me yawning along with her. She does speak a bit in an abrupt manner. And also fast, but not too fast, a nice pace with a good flow to it. A five star performance for sure.
The story was lovely! I loved Piper. Not a murder mystery, but a sabotage mystery. It does get suspenseful! In all honesty, I would have liked the story to focus more on the mystery, there was maybe too much about massages and nails and stuff, girly stuff, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it totally deserves 5 stars IMO.
Well wrapped up at the end. No loose ends. Lovely!!!
I am definitely going to be reading / listening more by this author and listening to more by this narrator! -
A moderately entertaining read focused more on the protagonist's brush with luxury than on the mystery. The major detractor, though, is word misuse. You know, those words that sound *mostly* the same but mean *different things*. "Scrolled" does not mean "scrawled"; "taut" and "taught" are not the same meaning; "pole" and "poll" have different uses.
The mystery is not much of a mystery. The Christianity is not overpowering, but is definitely there, and the anti-sex-trafficking message, while not unwelcome, is dropped like an iceberg in the middle of the story rather than being well integrated. Piper's relationship with Landon doesn't seem to justify the ending of the book. The sample chapter(s) from the next book don't seem to make Landon's appearance any smoother, and didn't make me want to go read the next installment. -
I guess I’m going about reading this backwards since I first read the Gladys adventures to get ready for the third book, then I really wanted to start this series after reading a little about Piper, Sam and their guys. It’s honestly not ruined anything by reading those books first and I absolutely loved this first book! What a wild adventure those ladies had at the spa with Piper having a weirdo stalker leaving crazy notes.
I could hardly stop reading as the adventure unfolded and loved how Piper handled herself in the showdown. Everyone had a hand in the rescue as well, but I think Gladys’s contribution was probably the most important. Then toward the end when all was peaceful and good…bam! Another surprise I sure wasn’t expecting…and another one at the end too! I’ll be borrowing the next book on KU as soon as I free up a slot! -
*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.
Fun from the very first page! Piper and Samantha make a dynamic duo as they run their bakery making wonderful goodies. We get a great cast of characters added to the mix as the book starts. The two women win a free spa package for a four day stay so they get excited for a break. At least until Piper starts finding weird little notes along with some weird accidents that start happening. Things start heating up as the story progresses until we got the big reveal. Well written, captivating, and fun what more can you want. Perfect for cozy fans. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars. -
Piper and Samantha co-own a bakery together. They donate money to a charity for Human Trafficking and win a 4-day spa weekend. The charity is a featured topic at times but doesn’t really detract from the wonderful characters and the cozy mystery. Piper starts to receive threatening notes before they leave for the spa and continues after they arrive. A new friend joins them for the spa weekend. There are a few “accidents” and that kept me engaged. I guessed who the culprit was but wasn’t sure until near the end. The characters, the humor, and the cozy mystery made this an enjoyable book! I had both the ebook and audiobook and the audiobook was well done!
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I just want to start by saying that I’ve read the paperback version of this book but I couldn’t find it here on Goodreads so had to put it down as an ebook. Good fun read with some serious matters in between making you aware of human trafficking going on in the US and in lots of other countries too. The story line is good and the book leaves you hanging and hankering for the next book so you can find out who’s knocking at the door... That’s mean!!!!
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MY BOOK REVIEW FOR YOU
Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life by Katherine Brown - Katie - Author
This was an enjoyable cozy mystery! I really enjoyed the characters and the story. Piper and Samantha are best friends. They take a break from their bakery for a weekend spa getaway. But soon strange things start to happen. The story was full of humor and fun. And the story also had drama and excitement in it. And there was a little romance too! -
Great story with a twist!
Love the three main characters, Piper, Sam and Gladys. Would love to go to that spa myself, without the mishaps though! A light and enjoyable read and looking forward to the next book in this series, hopefully another story with a twist! Kept me guessing all the way! Highly recommend!
