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Love, Laughter, and Murder Ever After

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When cake kills…

Kitty Sinclair lives for love. A bold and bubbly woman just shy of thirty, Kitty has opened her own wedding planning business in elegant Greenwich, Connecticut where the blooming spring flowers and lusciously rolling hills are the perfect setting to tie the knot. If only Kitty herself could find love…

Her store Happily Ever After opens with a kick when the daughter of the notorious Duke von Winkle accepts a grand proposal from an equally wealthy suitor. It seems Kitty is in the throws of planning the wedding of the century. Finally her dream has come true.

But when the bride's father suddenly drops dead in her store, Kitty's true talents emerge. A lemon custard cake, a bottle of poison, and questions that seem to never end, Kitty follows the trail of clues, determined to solve the mystery before the bride and groom can say I do.

If she succeeds her store will thrive. If she falls short her business will be in peril. The choice is easy and her determination is strong, but one man stands in her way…

Detective Sterling Slaughter has a funny way with women. Resist though she does, his charm can be distracting…

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 2015

78 people are currently reading
379 people want to read

About the author

Jeanine Spooner

17 books12 followers

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Community Reviews

5 stars
104 (19%)
4 stars
143 (26%)
3 stars
176 (32%)
2 stars
85 (15%)
1 star
36 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Tracy Kellies.
135 reviews19 followers
October 14, 2015
I loved this book! The name really says it all.

The main character, Kitty is very likable, funny and quirky. And the terrible blind dates that she goes on are almost worst than the ones I have been on. Then there is the rugged and somewhat rude detective Sterling Slaughter who is secretly lusting after Kitty. Throw in a murder and Kitty playing detective and you have yourself a hilarious "detective" story. There are a lot of cheesy moments but those are the ones that made me laugh out loud.

I would recommend to anyone who interested is in a quick and witty read.
Profile Image for Marja.
694 reviews29 followers
May 3, 2016
Oh wow. This much stupidity just amazes me. Deserves a special mention for being completely unrealistic in every way.
1,051 reviews5 followers
December 12, 2015
i couldn't decide if Spooner was just trying to introduce her characters for the series or trying to write a mystery. On the former, she succeeded; on the latter, she failed, though not miserably. Just wasn't intriguing. Of course, it was just a short story, so maybe she felt she didn't have time to let the story evolve. Kitty is rather immature, which grated on my nerves, but Slaughter was ridiculous. Hope he doesn't stick around long.
As always, grammatical errors interfered with my enjoyment. At least twice, Spooner (or her editor?) misused the phrase pore over, as in peruse...she used POUR instead. Mere pages later, she described a blind date as stalky...now, he was creepy, so maybe she was creating an adjectival version of stalker, but I think she meant stocky.
Good enough that I'm willing to read another if I come across it sometime. Hopefully Kitty matures rapidly as her business grows.
Profile Image for Peg.
376 reviews1 follower
July 9, 2017
Cozy Mystery

Kitty opened her own wedding planner business. Trudy tried hooking Kitty up with blind dates, but all but one of them were over the top angry men. Contessa's wedding to Charles proved to be the ultimate making of a true bridezilla. In the midst of the planning the bride's father is poisoned. Now enters a homicide detective, Sterling Slaughter. Definitely a fun read, and would like to read the next book in the series. I recommend this book, it kept me interested to the very end. Definitely not expecting that ending. Good job Ms. Spooner
Profile Image for Ms. Ingrid.
41 reviews1 follower
November 29, 2018
Ok but not spectacular.

Okaaaay but not spectacular. I will read more of this series; if it is the same I'll know not to continue.
57 reviews
January 2, 2021
Lovely story, funny characters and perfect to get your mind of your own happy mess of a life.
Profile Image for Penny.
214 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2015
Love, Laughter, and Murder Ever After Great name for this book it really says it all.

This book was cute it has a great little story to tell. The charters are funny and witty. It keep's you guessing till the end who the murderer is and has several twist.

The blind dates are rude and strange...lol

The detective is rude deliberately. He is secretly lusting after the Wedding planner it's simply comical.

Ken and Barbie are...well Barbie is bridezilla and Kin must be insane to put up with her but in the end I guess it works for them.

It's a very quick read just a few hours and it's over. :(

I would recommend to anyone that love's a good laugh in a book. This is the first book I've read by Jeanine Spooner and I simply loved her wit and writing style. I will be reading more of her book's that for sure.
37 reviews
November 5, 2015
Not a good start...

I tried to like the book, but I just couldn't. I didn't like the characters. I'm glad I had the chance to read it for free, but I won't be purchasing the next book in the series. Kitty & Slaughter were too immature. What went on in the story was cringeworthy because I couldn't imagine this happening in real life. It's almost like the author wanted to make them as extreme as a character can be, but that's not always good in a story. I'm giving it two stars because I finished the book and some parts the writing itself was good, just not the story.
Profile Image for Marcia Witherspoon.
180 reviews1 follower
October 14, 2015
I truly enjoyed this book

It was humorous yet suspenseful and the characters were interesting as well. I liked the relationship between Kitty and detective Sterling and the interesting way they interacted during the investigation; each one doing it there own way but reaching the same conclusion at the very end. Good read for those who enjoy mysteries that are not long and drawn out.
Profile Image for Russell Atkinson.
Author 17 books40 followers
November 24, 2015
This terminally cute cozy mystery is not to be confused with an actual mystery. The crime and its solution are preposterous, but the author is not concerned with that. It's all about Kitty, a wedding planner, and her love life. The cover picture pretty much conveys the idea. She's holding a poisoned piece of cake, by the way. It's a quick, inoffensive read. I was in enough of a forgiving mood that I managed to enjoy it for what it was.
Profile Image for Ted Tayler.
Author 79 books299 followers
September 23, 2015
"Light, fluffy and delicious"

Another feel good book, with a simple story line and two main characters that dominate affairs. The sparks fly whenever wedding planner Kitty and rugged detective Sterling Slaughter bump into one another. The race is on to see which of them discovers the murderer first. This is a fun read and as harmless as a cupcake.
Profile Image for Elaine.
Author 29 books29 followers
November 6, 2015
The story wasn't so bad, a who dunnit, but the main characters were not very likable, especially Sterling. With his arrogant personality it was hard to believe that the heroine was attracted to him.
Although an easy reading story, I would have liked a little more suspense when the murderer was finally pointed out.
322 reviews4 followers
September 27, 2015
Love and Marriage

A pleasing read with interesting cast of characters. A quick read with a murder to solve. Our Wedding planner would really like a wedding of her own to plan which leads to some fun blind dates. I look forward to other books in this series.
Profile Image for Bonny Millard.
248 reviews5 followers
October 9, 2015
Cute, But No Cigar

This was lightly entertaining, but the love affair was similar to a 1940's movie. The story was clean and I appreciated this, but maybe at the risk of originality?
Profile Image for niallah burgess.
2 reviews
December 3, 2015
It was just ok

This book was like a soap opera which could be good or bad, but it was boring to the point I couldn't put it down if that makes sense. Not sure if I want to read the others. But the most interesting part about this book was the detective who only had a few scenes.
Profile Image for Renee Butler.
263 reviews9 followers
February 25, 2016
I couldn't even finish this book. The prose was clunky, the characters poorly developed, and the whole thing just felt off. I wouldn't be surprised if this writer becomes better... I would try a future book.. But this one just wasn't ready.
Profile Image for Yulande Lindsay.
290 reviews7 followers
April 24, 2016
This has to be the first book written by this author. Not good. This is meant to be one-and-a-half stars for the effort. Has read too many cheesy romances and not enough well constructed mysteries. Also needs to improve her descriptive vocabulary.
1 review
June 20, 2016
Strange but alluring

I liked the book overall. I was drawn in close at the start of the story. Some parts seemed unrealistic, but it's a story. It contained love, laughter, and murder!
Profile Image for Darcysmom.
1,513 reviews
February 26, 2018
This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. It was solid and entertaining. The relationship between Kitty and Detective Slaughter was fun to watch develop.
3 reviews
September 17, 2015
Repetative

Things like hair descriptions were repeated too often. I had most of the ending worked out half way through the book.
553 reviews1 follower
September 20, 2015
Silk

A nice cozy murder mystery. Very good story line. Like the heroine, hated most of the male characters. Maybe I'm too un- romantic.
Profile Image for Deborah Kesner.
58 reviews3 followers
September 30, 2015
Good read

I gave 5 star because I love funny can't put down cosy mysteries and this one had it all enjoy.
129 reviews1 follower
October 9, 2015
Love,laughter, and Murder ever After(The we....

Great story of love romance and murder. The butting of heads with the same destination in mind and story tail wedding to be made.
Profile Image for Robin.
156 reviews
October 27, 2015
The police detective calling her Doll is like some freaky throwback to Mickey Spillane.

NOT 'charming'.
Profile Image for Allie.
37 reviews5 followers
January 13, 2016
Quick and easy read. Main character was really likable! Kitty owns a wedding planning business and deals with the typically bridezilla and the not so typical murder mystery.
719 reviews4 followers
February 9, 2016
A fun read

Part romance, part mystery. I wanted more information about main characters although they were described well. It was a light, fun read.
Profile Image for m.
5 reviews2 followers
March 28, 2016
It's a short, but good read. Found it quite confusing to keep up with all the characters at first, but I got used to it in the end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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