I'll cut to the chase. Although I greatly enjoyed earlier books in this series, I did not enjoy BILLIONAIRE BLEND. After pondering this for a good period of time, I came to the conclusion Clare's involvement in this particular mystery seems a bit stretched. She has little to no emotional connection to the victim, he is merely a customer at the time of the bombing. She pokes her nose into the investigation long before she is asked to, because her coffeehouse is badly damaged in the explosion. I could perceive the authors' attempts to make this reason enough for her to throw herself in harm's way, but the way the scenes played out it felt more as if she was simply being an arrogant and nosy citizen, without any concern that her actions would impede the work of the investigators.

I also found the first 24 chapters a bit meandering, with side trails into Claire's relationships with the men in her life as well as with her daughter. For staunch fans of the series, this may be of interest, but to someone primarily concerned with enjoying a cozy mystery it did little more than bog down the story.

It is rare for me to be harsh in a review. What I think I found most disappointing is that in previous books, Cleo Coyle managed to pull off a terrific balance between the private life of Clare and the investigations she pursues, with realistic and understandable reasons for her involvement. Perhaps it is just my skewed perception, but with BILLIONAIRE BLEND, she missed the mark. I don't say the book is not worth reading, there are worse choices you could make, but, for me, it failed to meet my expectations.

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