Psychic Sugar Rush

Psychic Sugar Rush Cozy Mystery #1

by Dee Cee Streams

Sage Mistwood has always dreamed of starting her own bakery to sell her quirky pastries with her best friend, Tempest Battington. But when a mysterious lawyer contacts her about coming to the reading of her estranged great-grandmother’s will, her life is turned upside down when she finds herself the proud owner of a psychic shop in small town called Psychic Falls. Mixing her pastries together with the psychic power she’s not even sure she has inside, Sage establishes her new psychic bakery called Psychic Sugar Rush. Before she and Tempest can even officially open the doors of their new shop, a local is found dead with one of their signature Crystal Ball Cakes in his mouth. As Sage somehow gets pulled in to being a detective along with a fortune-teller and baker, she finds herself digging into the secrets of Psychic Falls that leads her to a cherries jubilee cake, a bickering witch and enchantress, a pastry-eating cat, a waterfall that is not all it appears to be, and an actual guy from her dreams. As Sage learns the history of magical crystals called Falls Gems that are only found in Psychic Falls, her only wish is that she can find the murderer before a curse tears her own family apart and shuts Psychic Sugar Rush’s doors for good before they can even sell their first pastry.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Paranormal

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2021

About the author

Dee Cee Streams loves traveling, pastries, ice cream, and exploring small towns and mountain lakes to get ideas for mystery scenes and quirky characters. The author's current series are the Spellbinding Smoothies and Psychic Sugar Rush cozy mysteries.

Reviews

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one started off really slowly, and I didn't love it at first. It took more than halfway through the book to set up the mystery, although I admit the back story may have been necessary. However, once it truly got going, it was pretty good. 3.5 stars, 4 for Goodreads.

I enjoyed the premise with this one. It's the first cozy mystery I've read where the main character comes into unknown powers in an unknown town, although I've read plenty of both individually. I liked the setup behind Psychic Falls as well.

I couldn't stand Tempest, though. Being a skeptic is one thing; being a bossy, weight-policing, money-loving skeptic in a town where the evidence is clearly there is another. Sage loves her, but why? What does she get out of the relationship, aside from maybe a business partner who knows the business side of things. But this is the present day. Give me one good reason why Tempest can't just go back to Portland and manage the business side remotely.

The love interest was also done well. I like the way it signifies Sage coming into her power by seeing him in dreams, and you just know she's going to meet him in Psychic Falls. But I like that it isn't insta-love, and that he's not a police officer. Both of those aspects are a welcome break from the tropes of the genre. I also really appreciate that there's something off about him, and the way Sage can sense this based on her dream knowledge. I really appreciate the way that played out, and continues to play out.

The mystery itself was just okay. It was pushed to the side in favor of the overarching mystery of the plot, and it still seems as if it may be connected to the overall mystery, or at least that the Falls Gems might be. We're certainly not done with those yet, or Merrick at the bank. But all of the suspects in the specific mystery of this novel were boring, inconsequential, and nearly indistinguishable from one another.

Despite my lackluster feelings about the mystery itself, I really like the overarching mystery, and that there is one. So many of these cozy mysteries are one and done, so the happenings in Psychic Falls are a welcome change. I definitely want to know more about the family legacy and curse, as well as the world in general. I'll even put up with groaning every time Tempest does anything ever. I'm definitely going to put the second book on my list to buy at some point, and this one on my reread list potentially even before I read the next one.

[Cynthialdaily63gmail.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tempest ruins the whole book.

It would be a pretty awesome book if somehow irritating abusive Tempest wasn’t in the picture. I have looked at the next two books to see if maybe it was just a beginning thing and Tempest either grew up or moved away or even was a victim. Anything to get her out of the picture but no ,everyone is still complaining about her badly so this is as far as I go. Can’t do it. I know too many people that try to be like this IRL and don’t need to mess up my relaxing time reading about her. Sorry if you could just change that person then your books would be quirky yes but I love quirky and they would be enjoyable.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice premise, crap story. The best friend is a bitch and the main character is a doormat. Stopped at 50% as that is all the stupidity I could handle.

[Tess Ailshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre attempt at a culture creation. The novel is disjointed, with several subplots that are not resolved adequately, even though this is the start of a series. Interactions between major characters appear inconsistent, and some characters appear to be irrelevant.

Awkward phrasing, poor proofreading, and an apparent failure to understand readable sentence structure add to the confusion. In fact, with better editing, the plot points might have fit together better. The premise isn't bad - if cliché - unknown relative leaves going concern to naïve granddaughter, who somehow comes to town and, despite major mistakes, saves the day. However, the dialog is stilted, and somehow the attempt to balance the characters of Sage and Tempest simply doesn't work for me.

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crystal Ball

Love the psychic theme for baked goods. Sage and Tempest are an interesting duo. I hope Tempest eventually changes her tune regarding all the paranormal events and entities. You get a very brief HFN, but there is an immediate roll into a new mystery.

[monacia williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sage becomes psychic

Too many things happening at the same time, too few questions being answered led to a book of confusion. I liked the underlying concept but there were too many distractions. Sage started out being a nice character but ended up becoming too nice trying to accommodate any and everybody. Tempest lived up to her name, wildly irrational and money grabbing, Carl was borderline stupid. Walberga and friends were programmed to avoid the questions that the readers wanted answered. It was perfectly obvious what was wrong with Chester but even that could not get a straightforward answer in this book.
Nice premise for a book but too many stories rolled into one.

[Myra Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting cozy paranormal

The book is interesting with some unique characters but the main characters lack depth and warmth. Temptest acts like Sage is a child and Sage never argues. Sage just seems dumb and Temptest acts like a money chasing mean girl. These are not characters that I would want to know. The entire town lacks anyone with depth. The author seems to write a good mystery and the book has few grammatical errors but it's missing the parts that makes a good cozy mystery.

[Tchipakkan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters are annoying

And that's not just the names: Chester, Chauncey,Kirby... Tempest was probably the worst. She is bossy,greedy, and not supportive to Sage. The author makes too many things clear, while withholding information on everything else. Worst, she doesn't seem to know how baking works, so her time lines are more unbelievable than the magic parts of the story. Sadly the bones of the story are good.There is potential for a decent series, but it has a long way to go.

[Alisha Carderella · Rating 1 out of 5]

This sounded like it could have been good. Alas, it was not. The characters are horrible- especially the best friend Tempest. There are too many messy subplots. Oh, and the book ends after only wrapping up one of the subplots. So this doesn’t feel like a complete story. Unfortunately I don’t care to continue to see how any of the rest wraps up. This book was too hard to get through. It should have been a dnf.

[Sarai Dickerson-Hernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t remember most of this book because I spent it filled with rage. Sage seems like a wonderful person who’s best friend is awful. On top of belittling Sage and only supporting her when Sage’s ideas turn a profit, she makes it a point to keep an eye on Sage’s weight and tasting habits. I really wanted to like this book because it was interesting, but Tempest ruined it for me.

[Brenda Ellis]

Fun and quirky

Two friends opening a new business in a quirky town full of even quirkier citizens. What could possibly go wrong? Just about everything.

[Lucinda Messer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am about a third of the way through the book. I like the story line and the main character Sage. I gave this book a rating of 4 stars instead of 5, because the character Tempest ruins the story. No one needs a "friend" like her. She needs to be slapped. I hope the author makes this character better or gets rid of her.

I only read half of the book and I just couldn't take it anymore. I went down in the rating. I have never given a bad review and this is my first. Tempest was too obnoxious and rude. So, I do not recommend this series of books. I know for sure I won't read anything else from this author.

[Kim Loomer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder and mayhem reign supreme.

When Sage is left a Psychic Shop and ! place to live with it, she and her best friend Tempest decide that they will move to Psychic Falls and open a bakery they have been wanting to open for some time. They combine the bakery with the Physic Shop and it becomes a whirlwind of events that keep Sage baking, telling fortunes and trying to solve a murder to keep the town safe very busy. This book is a fast paced page turning read and there are many surprises along the way.

[Bernadette Hutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many questions

The parents did not ever mention the possibility of some otherworld gifts? No mention of other family members? No clear cut way of actually explaining anything except through what may have happened? The family curse? Which only befalls you in the family town? Why did this gift not come to Sage sooner? Do either of her siblings have the same gift? Why is her friend Tempest quite as fiery one minute and then OTT the next? Who is working for whom?

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little bit over the top. The plot was actually good. Several characters were great. The main character's friend totally ruined this read for me. She presented like she was the partner (spouse) of the MC instead of her bestie. The father's sugar intake disgusted me. At first it seemed humorous, but then visions of diabetes looming ahead killed any joy from reading this. I am not interested in reading any more from this series.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

PSYCHIC Sugar Rush

Such marvelous characters in a lighthearted witchy paranormal cozey mystery with a murder to bring in the intrigue. While the family drama spikes. This cozey is so well written you can't help but enjoy it from start to finish. Acquire "Psychic Sugar Rush "today so you yourself can enjoy it as much as I have 🙂 😊. Kat

[Mary Aquino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda fun read

With the exception of Sage's best friend and family members being incredibly annoying, this was a fun read. I feel as if Sage and Chester's story is left in the lurch and while book 2 in the series may contain more about them, the short blurb doesn't mention him so I think I will skip it.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy mystery with supernatural elements

This is a fun story about a young woman who discovers that she has a supernatural legacy that her parents have kept hidden from her. Add in the cozy mystery elements and you have a good read.

[Marie L. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light reading but entertaining

I just finished reading this book, found it light hearted and entertaining. Dad and his cake and sweets addiction reminded me of myself and others that I know well. The characters all kept my interest. I liked it.

[Barbara Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the best

This was the first book .I read from this author and was very impressed. The story was great had fantastic characters and I wanted to keep reading more. Can't wait to delve into more stories from this author.

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Best friend was horrible

I liked the idea of the story and the main character was easy to read. The best friend however was a mean horrible person and I had a really hard time staying with the book. Finally gave up half way through

[M Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome mystery book

I love the backstory and how Sage is discovering her family history getting to know her grandmother and saving the town
Great characters can't wait to read book 2

[Patricia Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book it is about sage a fabulous baker, who has never known her great grandmother but has been left her psychic shop and turns it in to a psychic bakery

[Ruth Tatara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first book was enjoyable

The characters and situations they found themselves in were well thought out. There are mysteries to solve both long term and short term. I look forward to reading book two.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tempest Must Go

I enjoyed the story. I loved the cat character and Sage. Absolutely hated Tempest. Shame that there’s such an unlikeable character in the story - so obnoxious in fact that I can’t read the rest of the series.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychic Sugar Rush

The first book in this series; the book was well-written, and the characters and town were well developed. The only thing I didn't like was that the book is a cliffhanger.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great story. Kept me turning pages. Enjoyed the characters.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have been a 5

But I can not STAND Tempest. She is not the kind of friend anyone should have to suffer through. She's a rude money HUNGRY BULLY.

[Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun cozy! I enjoyed the characters and mystery.

[Bitsy Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it.

No worth the time. I got so sick of Tempest's bad attitude I had to stop! She really added nothing to the story.