A Chocolate is Announced Review Spotlight

 A Chocolate is Announced is the seventh book in author Amber Royer’s Bean to Bar mystery series. Felicity is back with family and friends in this page-turner mystery as a fun weekend takes a deadly turn. It’s supposed to be a murder-mystery weekend with fun role-playing, and the showing off of Logan’s own chocolate creations. But things will take a turn when someone turns up dead, and the body count just continues to climb.

A Chocolate isAnnounced holds firm to the style of the series with the cover of it appearing hand-drawn. On the cover Is the depiction of a hotel lobby, which accurately fits in with the storyline. In the right-hand corner, you’ll notice a table with stacks of chocolate bars, and then to the left is an adorable ferret peering out at the reader. The cover does a good job of piquing one’s interest in the story and also setting the stage for what is to come.

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A Chocolate is Announced begins innocently enough. Felicity, Chloe, and Felicity’s former nemesis, Ash are all working together to create a short video clip for the weekend announcement. Things seem to have hit a bit of a snag, but they manage to eventually get what will be the perfect cut.

The beginning of AChocolate is Announced is slow going. Author Royer is setting the stage by bringing in each of the potential victims and the killer into the hotel that Felicity’s aunt Naomi has been working on renovating. Some of the characters will be more interesting than others, but they are all harboring secrets that they wish to keep hidden. The big question will be – how are they all connected?

Piece by piece AChocolate is Announced begins to come together. The guests for the weekend have all arrived, but there is something strange going on. Several of them have asked Felicity the exact same question. Literally word for word. Does this sound rehearsed to you? Or was this a specific line that the soon-to-be killer informs them all to say?

Of course, there are a couple of flies in the chocolate...so to speak. LOL! A couple of the characters aren’t exactly going to fit in with the rest of the guests, but it all plays to something bigger. The bigger aspect of it all is that they each have secrets that they are all trying to keep as locked up tight as possible.

A Chocolate isAnnounced gives readers a “primary” murder and then...things just go south from there. Author Royer throws in quite a few twists, and keeps readers on their toes as the game is afoot. Who is the killer? What is their motive? How is Felicity going to get through this weekend with her soon-to-be in-laws and sister-in-law?

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Okay, okay. The sister-in-law angle of the story is quite the doozy. Dawn, Logan’s sister, is quite the brash character. She speaks her mind, which is all well and good, but she just comes off as...rude! It’s wild. It’s literally like she’s looking down her nose at Felicity because Felicity isn’t a “trained professional.”

Knightley, Felicity’s lop rabbit, gets a few moments in this story, but we’re getting a different animal “mascot” in this story. We get the adorable little critter featured on the cover. Just makes you want one, right? LOL! But that’s not the only adorable creature who will show up at the hotel over this fraught weekend. Nope, we get a former police beagle, too. His name is just too cute, and he more than earns a treat or two through his own hard work in this story.

The murder in thisbook is a true puzzle that will keep readers guessing as to how it went down and who the killer is. That is one of the fantastic elements concerning this book. You get a new book that is intended to give Felicity and her friends clues as to who the killer is. Then you have a seemingly impossible murder to solve.

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Of course, what fun would a straight-forward murder be? Well, it would still be fun piecing together the mystery of who committed the murder out of a number of guests, but when you throw in some extra drama? Well, it definitely takes things up a notch.

Author Royer throws out more than a few red herrings in this story, but that’s really true to this author’s form. So, no complaints there. While the pacing of the beginning is slow, things gradually pick up in pace. The more intense things get and the higher the drama builds the more drawn into the story you’re going to become.

A Chocolate isAnnounced is definitely a good addition to the series, and will absolutely leave you wanting more of Felicity and company. Why? Because the reveals are always unexpected. We love trying to accurately guess who the killer is. Unfortunately, we have yet to guess accurately, but that does not dull our enjoyment by any means necessary.

Readers who enjoy a fun cozy mystery novel will not want to miss out on A Chocolate isAnnounced. Packed with familiar characters, gripping mystery, delicious foods, and so much more this is sure to be a delight for many a reader who has enjoyed the series thus far.

4.5 out of 5 stars