Rating: 
Summary: Continued Gourmet Quality Reading
Review: I look forward to reading Diane Mott Davidson with great gusto. Tough Cookie once again meets up to her high standard. Her books are generally a casual read but not predictable and the villian is not easily determined. This is not a cookbook and I am not looking for Einstein receipes but good entertainment about a loving family sticking together thru it all. I wish there was another book by her now and anxiously await her next.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough to swallow
Review: This is the first book I have read by D. Mott and most likely the last. Unless a book is absolutely awful, I always make an attempt to finish it. I was determined to read Tough Cookie based on the positive reviews I had read. And I did finish it. But it took me more than 6 weeks! I think the reason why it took so long was because the book just rambled; in a nutshell, it was boring. For those of you who have run into the same problem, just hand in there. Around chapter 20 things start getting better. And by chapter 23, you can close the book and congratulate yourself for your perseverance.
Rating: 
Summary: Still tasty, but could use some different seasonings
Review: I, too, wish that Goldie's life were not in perpetual crisis. As a series progresses, it's nice to have the characters learn from experience. I get very impatient with Goldie for making the same mistakes from book to book even though, as a former victim of abuse [child, not spouse], I find her attitude believable. I was already middle-aged when I filed four EEO complaints in 14 months [those complaints are all public record in Arizona]. I kept making the same mistake in trusting the wrong persons, being nice and hoping that would help, and being ridiculously shocked at the next level of harassment escalation. Luckily, it was the same years of therapy that gave me the courage to fight back that enabled me to switch tactics and end the harassment. I recommend more therapy for Goldie, for Arch, and definitely for this book's overly-suspicious pregnant widow (or I fear for that baby's emotional health). That aside, I enjoyed the book. The disasters on the cooking show, the art gallery scene, the descriptions of people and places, that Marla is once again permitted to be stylish though fat and that Goldie is permitted to find her fat husband sexy, and the chilling chase scene at the climax. Speaking of Arch, it's rather a pity that Marla doesn't give Goldie a complete set of "Calvin & Hobbes" books. Reading them might enable Goldie to count her blessings. I'm not at all happy with the dust jacket, though. Yes, it's a cute visual pun on the title. However, I grew up with the covers of Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton; and science fiction and fantasy paperbacks. I got my parents to buy me my first Dana Girls book, *The Winking Ruby Mystery*, just because I loved the cover. I pulled the book out and looked at it again not so long ago, and it had the same power to compel my gaze as it did over 30 years ago. When I think of what a marvelous opportunity for a knockout cover this book's climax is, with Goldie's terrified run through that breathtaking scenery, a ruthless armed killer coming ever closer -- and we get a chef-shaped cookie jar with a gun. If I were my cat, I'd hiss!
Rating: 
Summary: Tough Cookie is a Limp Biscuit
Review: A faithful reader and re-reader of DMD's books, I eagerly awaited "Tough Cookie", as I have all of her "Goldy the Caterer" series. This one, though, failed to deliver.Many of her recipes seemed uninspired, the plot boring and the new characters very one-dimensional. This book seemed like it was written in a hurry, to meet a publisher's deadline, and with little imagination. I did enjoy the setting of a ski resort; I've never been to Colorado but DMD's descriptions are always wonderful and vivid. I feel like I would recognize that part of the country if I visited, just from reading her books. Normally I try to buy her books for the recipes; with this one, I wouldn't bother.
Rating:
Summary: a yummy read!
Review: This was the first book by this author that I have read. It will not be the last! For once a heroine who is not tall and thin (well okay, she is blonde!) What fun this mystery was to read. A chef fallen on hard times, finding a new way to pursue her talents, and try to keep her real dream career from going down the drain (if only she had drains!) The recipes were so tempting, which is one reason our book club (Bunny's Book Club) selected this for our end of year book. We have a dinner and use recipes and/or foods from some of the books we've read as a theme, and this book was just too mouth watering not too give it a "taste". A very fun read and the excellent recipes are a bonus!
Rating:
Summary: Bad Batch
Review: The recipies are better than the plot. Chocolate Coma Cookies are wonderful, good as a muffin batter too... does anyone miss the shrimp currry recipe? It sounds awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Diane Mott Davidson was at her best.
Review: I have read all the books in this series and have enjoyed each one. Tough Cookie was no exception. It had great character development, and I didn't figure out who the "bad guy" was until the end. Her recipes always sound good too.
Rating:
Summary: Tough to Swallow
Review: Although a recipe for successful cookies is a good act to follow, a recipe for a cookie cutter mystery is no mystery at all. I have enjoyed Ms. Davidson's previous novels with a healthy appetite, always looking to return to her good cooking. But neither her recipes (my, goodness, Velveta! I'd rather have her recipe for meatballs.) nor her writing are at all tasty in this hastily thrown together goulash. Characters pop in and out (Marla, Julian, Tom) with no explanation and no reason except some nod to her loyal readers. A newcomer to this venue would be baffled by their ties to this self-centered caterer. And you know, this COULD have been a killer recipe -- good villain, multiple suspects, a friend in trouble, good setting, and good descriptions. But the book is much too insubstantial and the characters mere meringue. I hope that next time the author goes for more solid fare with much improved character development and motivation, better dialogue, and some stick to your ribs recipes.
Rating:
Summary: Great News
Review: Ms. Davis kept to her recipe. She developed her characters with a dash of suspicion and a pinch of intrique. The ending turned out to be predictable but I moved through every word wondering if I was correct. I hope she keeps them coming.
Rating:
Summary: Enough already - come up with some new ideas!
Review: I have loved this series - from characters to plots to recipes (especially recipes!) But I felt this book was not her best. First of all, the same themes repeat themselves over and over again - Goldie's life is falling apart. In this case, the improbable issue of not being able to use her home kitchen for catering because of inadequate drains is just absurd. It's painted as a financial problem and then, miraculously, with no new influx of cash, husband Tom takes a couple of days off from work and fixes the problem! Why did he take so long - was he enjoying washing the dishes in the bathtub? And if Goldie is so short of cash, why not take out a loan from her best friend, Marla, who is loaded? Then, protective police husband Tom is not concerned that Goldie drives around Colorado in snow storms with bald tires - ? And then, after an accident, just says "be careful" when she goes out again? This is so unrealistic and unbelievable that I laughed out loud. The plot was silly and contrived - more than usual, and there is nothing new with Arch - same old stuff - and Goldie has no new ways of handling him either - and I'm confused about the time frame - they act like it's years since Arch's dad "The Jerk" got incarcerated but has Arch gotten any older in this time? Even the recipes didn't excite me as much. Come on, Diane, you can do better!
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