Title: A Cuppa Trouble
Series: The CafFUNated Mysteries #2
Author: Angela Ruth Strong
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink
Release Date: July 1, 2019
Genre: Inspirational Cozy Mystery

Can a couple of baristas chase down a car thief without spilling a drop of their favorite drinks?

Plans for a Valentine’s Day grand opening of a small town coffee shop go awry when the first customer is killed. Evidence points toward the victim being mixed up in a car theft ring, but shop owners Tandy and Marissa have reason to believe he was framed.

An assortment of suspects–from a pink-haired heir to Tandy’s charming ex–all seem to know a little too much about grand theft auto.

Without approval from either their boyfriends or the gum-chewing FBI agent in charge, the shop owners go on stakeouts, plan stings, and pursue justice in a high-speed car chase. If they don’t find the killer soon, it might be more than their love lives in trouble.

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This is the second book in The CafFunated Mystery series, but the first I read. It can be read as a standalone, but I will go back and read the first to get all the backstory and character development that I missed. This is a light-hearted, fun little cozy mystery, with some inspiration about relationships and communication. I enjoyed the small-town setting with the tea shop/coffee shop as a meeting place for the residents of this small town in Ohio. The main characters, Tandy and Marissa, are quirky, competitive, opposites and loyal friends. Both are dealing with issues in there personal relationships, but they were real problems that could happen to anyone. This added the character driven part of the story. The mystery was interesting and had me guessing through part of the book. There were a few different storylines happening, a murder, car thefts, and some romance, but Angela Ruth Strong did a good job tying them all together. I was pretty sure I had the culprit figured out, and I did, but that did not deter my enjoyment of the book. The issues of trust and communication between couples was a part of the story that started off subtly, but became a big issue to be sorted out by the end of the story. I liked the way this was addressed. The story was well-written with a combination of humor, mystery, suspense and faith. There were a few twists, and the ending was quite unexpected and suspenseful. A fun, yet inspirational story. The author generously provided me with a copy of this book at my request. The ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about.

Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.

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