Cozy Review: Soft-Serve Sleighing

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book tours for the chance to read and review this fun mystery.

Soft Serve Sleighing (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) by Lena Gregory

About Soft Serve Sleighing

 

Soft Serve Sleighing (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) 

Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Setting – Long Island, NY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (January 28, 2025)
Number of Pages - 226
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DLHPWDNT

From author Lena Gregory comes a delightfully delicious cozy mystery...

With most of Eastern Long Island closed down for a blizzard, Danika Delaney and her friends are holed up in her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, with ice cream and hot chocolate. However, their plans to wait out the storm in cozy company are interrupted when a popular YouTuber and her two companions show up at the door—they've been trapped by the storm, and Dani generously offers to serve them breakfast. But her generosity isn't rewarded in kind, as the reviewer then tries to extort money from Dani in exchange for a good review! When the storm finally clears, Dani is happy to have seen the last of them.

Or so she thought.

Dani and her friends decide to go sleigh riding the morning after the storm clears, but instead of a winter wonderland, they find the extorting YouTuber...dead! To make matters worse, Dani suddenly finds herself accused of the woman's murder. Intent on restoring her reputation, Dani sets out to prove she didn’t do it. This is one storm she's not sure she can weather...

My Review:

This really was a fun mystery. Dani is great at rationalizations, from why she should eat ice cream for breakfast to how her investigations aren't really breaking her promise to sort-of boyfriend and cop Jake. As a responsible adult I can't approve, but as a reader I enjoyed seeing how her mind worked! She has a great set of side-kicks who might occasionally try to rein her in, but mostly egg her on, and a family that alternately drives her crazy and keeps her whole and sane.

The mystery is pretty well developed. I had some ideas about who might be behind the killings--there are no out-of-the-blue surprises--but there was no certainty until the killer tipped their hand. There were plenty of deliciously detestable suspects to hang it on! But the author found something a little more subtle than just that, which pleased me.

The shallow You-Tubers might be more than a little over the top, but that just adds to the fun, and there are some signs of humanity in them before the end. I love the setting, and will be happy to read more in the series.

About Lena Gregory

Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, the Mini-Meadows Mysteries, set in a community of tiny homes in Central Florida, and the Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, which take place in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, New York.

Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full-time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

Author Links

• Newsletter: http://lenagregory.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9765d0711ed4fab4fa31b16ac&id=49d42335d1.
• Website: http://www.lenagregory.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lena.gregory.986
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lena.Gregory.Author/?fref=ts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LenaGregory03
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14956514.Lena_Gregory?from_search=true
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lenagregoryauth/

Purchase Links
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TOUR PARTICIPANTS
January 28 – Jody's Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
January 28 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic - AUTHOR GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
January 28 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
January 29 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
January 29 – Reading Is My SuperPower - REVIEW
January 30 – Christy's Cozy Corners - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
January 31 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
January 31 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 1 – Frugal Freelancer - CHARACTER INTERVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
February 1 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT
February 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
February 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
February 3 – Angel's Book Nook – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 3 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
February 4 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
February 4 – Cassidy's Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
February 5 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
February 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
February 6 – Rebecca M. Douglass, Author – REVIEW
February 6 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
February 7 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
February 7 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 8 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT
February 9 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – REVIEW
February 10 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 10 – Sarah Can't Stop Reading Books – REVIEW

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FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC of Soft Serve Sleighings from Great Escapes Free Virtual Book Tours, and received nothing further from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025
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