Happy National Dessert Day!
"Just Desserts" just happens to be the next movie in the "Murder, She Baked" series. It is based on the second in the books series, "Strawberry Shortcake Murder". This was the first time I read the book before watching the movie adaptation.
I enjoyed the book even more that its predecessor, "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder", but I can't say the same for the movie. "Just Desserts" is my least favorite in the movie series so far. The characters were a joy to watch. I even liked Detective Mike Kingston more in this movie than in the previous ones. He wasn't arrogant at all and he was finally more accepting of Hannah's help in solving the mysteries. However, the plot didn't vibe with me.
Unfortunately, strawberry shortcake, my favorite dessert, was non-existent in the movie. That's okay. It wasn't a a very sweet scene when it was mentioned in the book, so I'm okay with it's omission from the movie.
The story seemed clunky and not as "edge-of-your-seat" as the others were. Perhaps it was because I already knew who the killer was in this one since I read the book, although I was still interested in seeing how it would all unfold. The book had more twists and turns, though, which made it more interesting. The movie was much more "Hallmark-ified", which I guess is understandable.
There was a section of the book that described in detail how Norman was developing some photographs in his darkroom. I found this very interesting to read about and I was looking forward to seeing it in the movie. However, this scene and the entire scenario was not in the movie.
I was disappointed to see that Norman has apparently ended up with another woman. Even though I like his book character better than his on-screen character, I was still rooting for him and Hannah to maybe eventually get together in the movie series. But no. "Just Desserts" told more of the story of Hannah and Mike. Their relationship really started to develop and I eventually began rooting for them.
I am not sure how much time passed between the time they decided to take a chance on love and the final scene, but by the end of the movie they were already celebrating their engagement! Or rather, they were getting ready to celebrate their engagement when Mike received an urgent call and they had to run. I guess they missed their own party or were at least late for it. We didn't find out. Not yet anyway. In any case, they are engaged to be married.
It will be a while before I watch the next one in the movie series. It's based on the 10th book and I want to read it first. Hopefully I will get to it by the end of the year. I believe the book has a Christmas theme, so it will be perfect timing if I do get to it by the end of the year.
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