Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic is a fantastic example of how to not use epithets. To quote the dictionary: an epithets is a characterizing word or phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and often used in place of an actual name, title, or the like, as "man's best friend" for "dog.". I know there are people who abhor epithets with every fibre of their being, but honestly, I don't have a problem with them as long as they are used properly (referring to an unnamed character, like a guard or shopkeeper) or sparse (referring to a named character to break up the monotony maybe once a chapter). This book is loaded, and I mean loaded with epithets because Jade constantly refers to Kettil as "the vampire" and Desmond as "the werewolf", even after she learns their names. She also bounces between their names, nicknames, and epithets all book. At one point she refers to Desmond as Desmond, the werewolf, and McGrowly all in one paragraph, which makes it seem like she's talking about three people, not one. Aggravating! 
 At the beginning, I liked the idea of Jade. Independent woman who owned a bakery (cupcakes!!), was a responsible adult, yet still remained feminine and strong without having to be "like a dude" and badass (okay, maybe I've been reading too many books in the vein of Anita Blake or Kate Daniels)? Sounds good to me! Sadly, Jade turned out to be naive and a bit of a doofus as the book went on. The constant fourth wall breaking annoyed me as well (I'm Jade and I collect jade! Yeah, we got it). 
 The names of her cupcakes were lame and didn't properly convey exactly what the heck was in them. If I were making a chocolate cupcake with chocolate chunks and chocolate icing, drizzled with chocolate syrup, I would probably call it something like Death by Chocolate or Chocolate Explosion, not Heaven in a Cup. See the difference? 
 Overall, Cupcakes is fairly snooze worthy. Jade's constant lamenting over Hudson and how she could have loved him made no sense. The dance scene at the club was off-putting. The real kicker was when they had to breach a magical forcefield so three werewolves and Kettil wrapped themselves around Jade like boa constrictors and it aroused her to the point of ridiculousness. What, why? And if you couldn't guess who the villain was, I don't know what to tell you. I am the queen of missing the obvious and I got it very early on. 
 The only thing this book made me do was crave cupcakes. Mmm, cupcakes.