Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Cupcakes, football, murder. Melanie DeLaura, Angie Harper, and Tate Harper, all of them related by marriage and years of friendship, run Scottsdale, Arizona’s successful Fairy Tale Cupcakes. Mel and Angie are gobsmacked when Tate informs them that Tyler Matthews and Keogh Graham, two football stars on the Arizona Scorpions, are buying one of their cupcake franchises because Keogh has convinced Tyler that owning a small business provides good insurance against a precarious future. So the Fairy Tale team gets to work helping the men pick out a store, providing color schemes, and giving them baking lessons. The football stars are used to dealing with haters and crazed fans, but it’s not so easy to deal with the team’s owner, Chad Dayton, who married his gorgeous wife, Kendall, after Keogh dumped her. At the grand opening, the obnoxious Dayton pronounces the bakery insufficiently masculine and tries to bribe Mel to end the deal in the rudest possible way. At least Coach Pete Casella is on his players’ side. Arriving early at the new bakery to help out, Mel finds Dayton’s body covered in scorpions. Mel has had past experience solving murders, but the detective who catches the case, who’s never worked with her, is openly hostile to her and the star players. Keogh’s celebrity status and an excellent defense attorney keep him out of jail for the time being, but Mel realizes she’ll need to solve the case to preserve his freedom. Football lore and cupcake recipes combine for a sweet, manly treat. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.