Lily Roberts has been a baker ever since she could remember. Some of her first memories were standing in the kitchen with her family. She officially started baking on her own when she first helped her grandmother bake a yummy batch of chocolate chip cookies when she was 8 years old.
Now, her Bread & Barks Bakery is designed to look just like her grandmother's kitchen!
Excerpt from Spilling the Tea on Murder - A Bread & Barks Bakery Cozy Mystery:
Lily came up with all the recipes and picked out the décor for the shop herself. She’d patterned it to look like the kitchen in her Grams’ house. Yellow walls, blue-checkered window curtains, and white tables with cozy chairs made up the core of her design.
She smiled as she looked around and realized how much her shop felt like home. With a contented sigh, she walked around the shop and examined the collection of baked goods in the display cases. They looked like they were just waiting for people to take them home and enjoy them.
When she'd designed her menu for the Bread & Barks Bakery, Lily included all of her favorite treats. Chocolate-filled croissants, butterscotch brownies, banana bread, snickerdoodles, and the famous chocolate chip cookies.
Now, when you walk through the door of her bakery, you're immediately greeted with the comforting scent of baked bread. It's warm and inviting aroma wraps you like a familiar hug. Just like the hugs Lily used to get from her grandmother as a kid!
If you stick around long enough, you'll start to notice the irresistible scent of sweet treats. Butter, sugar, and flour dance together in perfect harmony. You can practically smell the flakiness of the croissants, the buttery richness of the danishes, and the sugary sweetness of the cookies and muffins.
And let's not fail to mention the rich, aromatic scents of the freshly brewed coffee that Lily has available. It's the perfect accompaniment to your indulgent treat!
Above all, the air inside the Bread & Barks Bakery is permeated with warmth and comfort. It's the kind of scent that brings back memories of home, family gatherings, and moments of simple indulgence.
Lily wants her guests to leave her bakery with a renewed sense of warmth and comfort and a reminder to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. But before you leave, you'll want to check out the other fun feature of Lily's Bread & Barks Bakery - The Dachshund Den. That's where you can meet our fun little mascots, Casey and Copper.
About the Dachshund Den:
The Dachshund Den is a room Lily had specially made for her two pups off to the side of the bakery. It has a fully screened door where her diners can watch the dogs play. It has plenty of space for them to run around and relax in their comfy beds.
The screen allows Lily to open the doors so her customers can greet her dogs without them running around the bakery (or trying to steal extra treats.)
As much as Lily loves her bakery, there is one thing she never expected to include on the menu when she first opened her doors - mystery and murder. Unfortunately, these days, it seems her little hometown of Misty Meadows, Vermont, is filled with it.
First, Lily had to deal with someone who was trying to sabotage her friend's pet store grand opening. Lily nearly became a murder victim herself in "Cats, Cookies, and Capers!"
Then, she was accused of murder in "Spilling the Tea on Murder" when she happened across the dead body of a rival shop owner. Poor Lily! Surely things will settle down soon and she can get back to making wedding cakes and cookies for the spring shoppers.
I have a feeling things aren't going to quieten down for her for quite some time, though.
In fact, I'm currently baking up a brand-new cozy mystery for Lily, her mascots, and the rest of the crew from the Bread & Barks Bakery Cozy Mystery Series! This one takes place in the spring, right when all the flowers are starting to bloom.
Unfortunately, there's also a murder blooming!
What starts out as a peaceful trip to the farmer's market quickly turns into something more sinister when two of the town's residents start a fist fight in the middle of the downtown square.
Soon, one of the two has been found murdered, and all eyes turn toward the local beekeeper who instigated the fight! Try as she might to stay out of the investigation, Lily is again thrown right back into the middle of things.
I can't wait for you to continue the journey with Lily Roberts, Casey and Copper (the official mascots of the Bread & Barks Bakery Cozy Mystery Series), and the rest of these unforgettable characters. Stay tuned for more details!