June 30, 2018

Bad Time To Be In It by Blue Carraway - Spotlight and Giveaway

 

Book details
Mystery 2nd in Series 
Henery Press (July 10, 2018) 
Paperback 254 Pages 
ISBN 9781635113587
  

Book description
The past is never past. Sometimes it repeats itself. And sometimes it comes back to pay a visit. Blu Carraway, flush with cash and back in business, never had it so good. Or so he thought. The reality is his love life is in shambles, his business partner is spending too much time with women half his age and not enough time on the job, and someone close goes missing. Blu’s business partner goes off the rails, his friends show their true colors, and he realizes that getting closure sometimes means walking away from everything. With a case from the past gone wrong twice, a loved one in trouble, and an unanswered marriage proposal, it’s a bad time to be in it for Blu Carraway Investigations.

Meet the author - David Burnsworth
David Burnsworth became fascinated with the Deep South at a young age. After a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and fifteen years in the corporate world, he made the decision to write a novel. In It For The Money is his fourth mystery. Having lived in Charleston on Sullivan’s Island for five years, the setting was a foregone conclusion. He and his wife call South Carolina home.

Author Links Website Facebook Twitter GoodReads 
Purchase Links Amazon: amzn.to/2vrfZA3 
Barnes and Noble: bit.ly/2vpABZy 
iTunes: apple.co/2KiKGer 

Giveaway




TOUR PARTICIPANTS 
  June 25 – The Power of Words – REVIEW 
  June 25 – Socrates' Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 26 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 26 – Mallory Heart's Cozies – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 27 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – GUEST POST 
  June 27 – The Book's the Thing – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 28 – Readeropolis – CHARACTER INTERVIEW 
  June 28 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 29 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
June 29 – Rosepoint Publishing – SPOTLIGHT 
  June 30 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT 
  July 1 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST 
  July 2 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT 
  July 2 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews - SPOTLIGHT 
  July 3 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
  July 4 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT 
  July 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW 
  July 6 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW 
  July 7 – Island Confidential – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
  July 8 – The Montana Bookaholic - CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 28, 2018

Murder Made to Order by Lena Gregory - Spotlight and Giveaway


Book details
Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series 
Lyrical Underground (June 19, 2018) 
Paperback: 196 pages 
ISBN-13: 978-1516104666 
Digital ASIN: B075WBZH6L
  

Book description
To save her cozy Florida diner, Gia Morelli must choke down a heaping helping of murder . . . New York native Gia Morelli is just getting used to life in Florida when she gets word that the town government wants to shut down her pride and joy: the charming little diner known as the All-Day Breakfast Café. A forgotten zoning regulation means that the café was opened illegally, and hardboiled council president Marcia Steers refuses to budge. Gia is considering hanging up her apron and going back to New York, but before she gives up on her dream, she discovers something shocking in the local swamp: Marcia Steers, dead in the water. There’s a secret buried in the books at town hall, and someone killed to keep it hidden. To save her café and bring a killer to justice, Gia and her friends will have to figure out a killer’s recipe for murder . . .

Meet the author - Lena Gregory
Lena Gregory lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children. When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories. 

Author Links: Website: http://www.lenagregory.com/

Purchase Links 

Giveaway


TOUR PARTICIPANTS 
June 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW 
June 20 – Socrates' Book Reviews – REVIEW 
June 20 – The Self-Rescue Princess – CHARACTER INTERVIEW 
June 21 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW 
June 21 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT 
June 22 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW 
June 22 – Mallory Heart's Cozies – REVIEW 
June 22 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST 
June 23 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW 
June 23 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 24 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW 
June 24 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST 
June 25 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST 
June 25 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT 
June 26 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW 
June 26 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW 
June 27 – Readeropolis – CHARACTER INTERVIEW 
June 27 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT 
June 28 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 28 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT 
June 29 – My Reading Journeys - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST 
June 29 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW 
June 30 - A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW 
June 30 - StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT 
July 1 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW 
July 1 – Laura's Interests - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST 
July 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW 
July 2 – A Blue Million Books - AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
July 3 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW 
July 3 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

The Last Rodeo by Delores Fossen - Excerpt


Book details
Series: A Wrangler’s Creek Novel (Book 9)
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: HQN (June 26, 2018)

Book description
The most important two words for this Wrangler’s Creek rodeo cowboy? I do…

Lucian Granger isn’t winning any Mr. Cowboy Congeniality awards. Known in his small Texas town as “Lucifer” thanks to his surly nature and knack for scaring people away from getting too close, the handsome rancher has no trouble ignoring the gossip. But when he’s in danger of losing the land he’s put his blood, sweat and tears into maintaining, Lucian sets out to prove he’s a changed man—by claiming he’s about to settle down with his invaluable assistant, Karlee O’Malley.

Their pending nuptials may be just for show, but from the moment they kiss, the proverbial fireworks start going off in his head—and in his heart. Before long, the man who’s usually as emotional as a brick wall is tired of pretending and wants to share a real future with Karlee. With his world suddenly turned upside down, Lucian will risk losing the business and the ranch if it means holding on to the one woman worth becoming a better man for..


Purchase Links

Meet the author - Delores Fossen
USA Today bestselling author, Delores Fossen, has sold over 70 novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and was a finalist for the prestigious Rita ®. In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines.

Connect with Delores
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Excerpt
Be a cowboy, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.

Lucian Granger was doubting that fun part right about now.

One second his butt was firmly anchored in the sad­dle, and his hand was gripped on the thick braided rein. The next second, no part of him was touching any­thing but air.

The bronc gelding orchestrated the hardest buck in the history of hard bucks and sent Lucian flying. Even though Lucian had been thrown before, it’d never been this hard or this high and with this kind of force behind it. His life did indeed flash before his eyes, and Lucian was pissed off that he could possibly die from a horse with no balls.

Hell’s Texas Bells. What kind of cowboy did that make him?

Lucian instantly got the answer to that question. It made him a hurt cowboy, that’s what.

First his tailbone collided with the rock-hard ground in the corral, sending up a cloud of dust. Then his shoul­der hit, the jolt of it slamming all the way to his eye sockets and rattling his teeth. Every part of his body went to full-throttle pain, and his breath was still some­where on the back of the ball-less Appaloosa named Outlaw. The horse was now smirking at Lucian with a “guess we know who won that round, don’t we?”

If the horse had actually had balls, Lucian would have removed them there on the spot.

“Boss man, that was only four seconds,” Skeeter Muldoon called out to Lucian. The ranch hand was hold­ing a stopwatch while perched atop the corral fence. “You gotta stay in the saddle a mite longer if you’re gonna win a bronc-riding buckle in the rodeo.”

Skeeter was the oldest hand they had on the Granger Ranch and was as reliable as they came, but Lucian con­sidered neutering him, too, for pointing out the obvious.

“You all right?” he heard his brother Dylan ask.

It was a simple enough question, but Lucian figured Dylan was laughing his butt off. Lucian would have been doing the same had their positions been reversed. It was their form of brotherly affection.

“I’ll live,” Lucian assured him, but when he tried to sit up, he wasn’t 100 percent certain that was true. The pain shot through him again, and that’s when he real­ized he’d dislocated his shoulder.

Shit.

He didn’t have time for this. He had a meeting with a cattle buyer in an hour and appointments stacked up after that.

While Lucian was still sitting on the ground and fighting to drag in a decent breath, Dylan climbed over the corral fence and moseyed toward him. Emphasis on the moseying. Again, it was a sign of affection that Dylan wasn’t showing a whole bunch of concern.

Well, either it was affection or else Dylan was en­joying that Lucian had just had his butt busted—again.

When you were the big brother/boss, family and folks in their hometown of Wrangler’s Creek, Texas, liked tak­ing you down a notch. That was especially true when those folks—or rather, some of them, anyway—called him Lucifer. Not behind his back, either. To his face.


REVIEW TOUR:
Monday, June 25th: The Romance Dish
Tuesday, June 26th: From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, June 27th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Thursday, June 28th: A Holland Reads – excerpt
Friday, June 29th: Jathan & Heather
Monday, July 2nd: What is That Book About – excerpt
Tuesday, July 3rd: Books & Bindings
Thursday, July 5th: Moonlight Rendezvous
Friday, July 6th: Just One More Chapter – excerpt
Monday, July 9th: Books & Spoons
Tuesday, July 10th: Romantic Reads and Such
Wednesday, July 11th: Stranded in Chaos
Thursday, July 12th: A Chick Who Reads
Monday, July 16th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – excerpt
Tuesday, July 17th: Books and Blends
Tuesday, July 17th: Written Love Reviews – excerpt
Wednesday, July 18th: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Monday, July 23rd: Into the Hall of Books
Tuesday, July 24th: Written Love Reviews

June 26, 2018

Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha: Into the Woods by Erin Hunter - Review


Book details
Hardcover, 112 pages
Published September 1st 2008 by HarperCollins
Into the Woods (Manga Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha, #1)
ISBN
ISBN13: 9780061547928

Book description
A graphic novel adventure from the world of Erin Hunter’s #1 nationally bestselling Warriors series!

In the first book of the Tigerstar & Sasha manga arc, a kittypet named Sasha searches for a new home—and wonders if she might find it with ShadowClan and its leader, Tigerstar, during the events of the Warriors: The Prophecies Begin series.

When Sasha is forced to leave her kittypet home, she must forge a solitary new life in the forest. Life on her own is exciting at first but quickly gets lonely. Then Sasha meets Tigerstar, leader of ShadowClan, and wonders whether she would be better off joining the ranks of his forest Clan. But Tigerstar has many secrets, and Sasha isn’t sure she can trust him….

Meet the author - Erin Hunter
Erin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Phillips, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.

Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.

My thoughts
This was my first graphic novel and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was a little meatier than I thought it would be. I picked this one as I am doing a summer reading program and that was one of the challenges. This one caught my eye because of the cats and I am a cat lover. I liked how the author gave us a look about what happens to a house cat when it starts living outside as well as how outside cats think. I felt bad for Sasha and just wanted to take her in. I want to read the next book in this series to see what happens with Sasha and Tigerstar next. 

When We Found Home by Susan Mallery - Excerpt and Giveaway



Book details
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (July 10, 2018)

Book description
Life is meant to be savored, but that’s not easy with no family, limited prospects and a past you’d rather not talk about. Still, Callie Smith doesn’t know how to feel when she discovers she has a brother and a sister–Malcolm, who grew up with affection, wealth and privilege, and Keira, a streetwise twelve-year-old. Callie doesn’t love being alone, but at least it’s safe. Despite her trepidation, she moves into the grand family home with her siblings and grandfather on the shores of Lake Washington, hoping just maybe this will be the start of a whole new life.
But starting over can be messy. Callie and Keira fit in with each other, but not with their posh new lifestyle, leaving Malcolm feeling like the odd man out in his own home. He was clever enough to turn a sleepy Seattle mail-order food catalog into an online gourmet powerhouse, yet he can’t figure out how to help his new sisters feel secure. Becoming a family will take patience, humor, a little bit of wine and a whole lot of love. But love isn’t Malcolm’s strong suit…until a beautiful barista teaches him that an open heart, like the family table, can always make room for more.
In this emotional, funny and heartfelt story, Susan Mallery masterfully explores the definition of a modern family—blended by surprise, not by choice—and how those complicated relationships can add unexpected richness to life.


Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Meet the author - Susan Mallery

#1 NYT bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming, humorous novels about the relationships that define our lives-family, friendship, romance. She’s known for putting nuanced characters in emotional situations that surprise readers to laughter. Beloved by millions, her books have been translated into 28 languages.Susan lives in Washington with her husband, two cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Visit her at SusanMallery.com.
Connect with Susan
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Excerpt
She went over to one of the empty chairs by the window and pretended to read her library book, all the while secretly watching everyone else.

There was a young couple who couldn’t stop smiling at each other. Newlyweds, she decided, noting the modest diamond ring on the woman’s left hand. They were probably saving for their first house. There was a family in the corner. The kids were running around while the parents carefully avoided looking at each other.

Uh-oh. They were fighting big-time. Neither of them wanted to back down. That was never good. One thing she’d learned over the years was the power of saying I’m sorry. People didn’t say it nearly enough.

“Can you read to me?”

Callie looked at the pretty little girl standing in front of her. She was maybe three or four and held a big picture book in her hands. Callie’d seen her mom come in with two other kids and more laundry than she could manage. In the flurry of finding empty washers and loading clothes, the toddler had been forgotten.

“I can,” Callie said. “Is this a good story?”

The girl—with dark hair and eyes—nodded solemnly. “It’s about a mouse who gets lost.”

“Oh, no. Not a lost mouse. Now I have to know if he finds his way home.”

The girl gave her a smile. “It’s okay. He does.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I was really worried.” She slid to the front of her chair and held out her hand for the book. “Would you like me to start?”

The girl nodded and handed over her precious book. Callie opened it and began to read.

“‘Alistair Mouse loved his house. He loved the tall doors and big windows. He loved how soft the carpet was under his mouse feet. He liked the kitchen and the bathroom, but most of all, Alistair loved his bed.’”

Callie pointed to the picture of a very fancy mouse bed. “That’s really nice. I like all the colors in the bedspread.”

The girl inched closer. “Me, too.”

Callie continued to read the story. Just as she was finishing, the girl’s mother walked over and sank down into a nearby chair. She was in her midtwenties and looked as if she had spent the last couple of years exhausted. She waited until Callie was done to say, “Thanks for reading to her. I didn’t mean to dump her like that. It’s just the boys are hyper and there’s so much laundry and damn, it’s so hot in here.”

“It is hot,” Callie said. “No problem. I enjoyed reading about Alistair and his troubles.”

“Again,” the little girl said, gently tapping the book.

“Ryder, no. Leave the nice lady alone.”

“It’s fine,” Callie told her. She flipped back to the front of the book and began again. “‘Alistair Mouse loved his house.’”

This was nice, she thought as she continued with the story. A few minutes of normal with people she would never see again. A chance to be like everyone else.

She read the story two more times, then had to go move her laundry into a dryer. By then Ryder, her brothers and her mother had gone outside where it was slightly cooler and the boys could run on the grass. Callie watched and wondered about them. Where did they come from and why were they here now? Ryder’s mother must have gotten pregnant pretty young—her oldest looked to be seven or eight. So she’d been, what, seventeen?

Unexpected tears burned in Callie’s eyes. Force of habit had her blinking them away before they could be spotted. Tears were a weakness she wasn’t allowed. She’d learned that lesson pretty quick. Only the strong survived.

She and Ryder’s mother were probably the same age or at least within a year of each other, yet Callie felt decades older. Once she’d wanted normal things—to have a good man in her life, get married, have kids, some kind of a career. It had all been so vague back when she’d been eighteen, but it had never occurred to her it wouldn’t happen. That in a single, stupid night she would destroy her future and set herself up for a life of having to explain herself over and over again.

She got her clothes out of the dryer and quickly folded them into her tote before starting the walk back to her small room. Each step on the sidewalk sounded like a never-ending refrain. Convicted felon. Convicted felon. She’d served her time, had, in theory, paid her debt to society, but she was marked forever.

She couldn’t rent a decent apartment because no one wanted a convicted felon in their building. She couldn’t work at a kid’s party as part of the serving staff because no one wanted a convicted felon near their children. She couldn’t get a job in a restaurant, despite having learned all about the food service industry while serving her time, because no one wanted a convicted felon near their customers. She’d earned her GED and had started on her associates degree while behind bars and that didn’t matter, either.

One stupid, foolish, thoughtless act—robbing a liquor store with her loser boyfriend—and her eighteen-year-old self had destroyed her future.

Callie gave herself the entire walk home to mentally beat up on herself but once she walked into her room, she drew in a breath and changed the subject. She’d learned that, too. That a downward spiral was nearly impossible to stop, so she had to make sure she stayed positive as much as she could. She had a plan. It was going to take a while, but she had a plan.

She was saving every penny she could while working two jobs. When she had the money, she would buy a small condo that would be hers—no matter what. Right now having a home was priority one. She hadn’t figured out exactly what she wanted to do, career wise, but she was open to possibilities. As for the great guy and a couple of kids, well, that was unlikely. She was wary of men and not very trusting of anyone who was willing to accept her past, so she was mostly alone, which was fine. One day it would all be better. It had to be. It just had to be.
Giveaway

The Taste of Seattle Gift Bag includes:
An “I [Heart] Happy Books” tote bag
Starbucks Pike’s Place ground coffee
Seattle Chocolates gift set (3 truffle jars)
Cucina Fresca marinara sauce
Sahale Snacks (6 packs)
Maury Island Farms jam (2 jars)


Excerpt Tour:
Monday, June 18th: From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, June 19th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Wednesday, June 20th: Books & Spoons
Thursday, June 21st: Palmer’s Page Turners
Friday, June 22nd: The Sassy Bookster
Monday, June 25th: Reading Reality
Tuesday, June 26th: A Holland Reads
Wednesday, June 27th: Drey’s Library
Thursday, June 28th: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Friday, June 29th: Mama Reads Blog
Monday, July 2nd: The Sketchy Reader
Thursday, July 5th: OMG Reads
Friday, July 6th: What is That Book About

June 24, 2018

Mastering Online Genealogy by W. Daniel Quillen - Review


Book details
Paperback, 144 pages
Published July 12th 2011 by Cold Spring Press
ISBN13: 9781593601461
Series

Book description
First in the new Quillen’s Essentials of Genealogy series, this book covers the use of computers and the Internet to successfully do your own genealogical research. It teaches readers about the Internet as an effective genealogical research tool, explains what genealogy databases are, where they are, and how to use them, details pitfalls to watch out for, tells the value of message boards and blogs, and much more.

My thoughts
I really liked this book and thought it had a lot to offer. I liked all the websites it listed and that it gave descriptions of each and what type of information you could get from them. There are some hints that the author gave me to help get past some roadblocks I have. I also liked how the author used personal touches from his own family searches to show you how things worked. I will be going back to this book many times to help me in my own search for my ancestors.

June 21, 2018

Whiskey Sharp: Torn by Lauren Dane - Excerpt and Spotlight


Book details
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: HQN (June 26, 2018)

Book description
Sometimes what you find isn’t what you were searching for

Beau Petty has been searching his whole life. Searching for a place that fills all the empty spaces in him. Searching for a way to tame the restlessness. Searching for answers to the secret he’s never stopped trying to solve. What he wasn’t searching for was a woman to claim all of him, but when Cora Silvera walks back into his life, he’s ready to search out all the ways he can make her his.

Cora has spent her life as the family nurturer, taking care of others. But now she’s ready to pass that job on to someone else. It’s time to make some changes and live for herself. It’s in that moment that her former teenage crush reappears and the draw and the heat of their instant connection is like nothing either of them has experienced. He craves being around her. She accepts him, dark corners and all.

Beau thinks Cora’s had enough drama in her life. He wants to protect her from the secrets of his past, even if it means holding back the last pieces of himself. But Cora is no pushover and she means to claim all those pieces.


Meet the author - Lauren Dane
The story goes like this – While on pregnancy bed rest, Lauren Dane had plenty of down time so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.

Today Lauren is a New York Times bestselling author of over fifty novels and novellas across several genres.

Connect with Lauren
Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Excerpt
NOT TOO MANY hours after getting off an airplane, Cora approached Whiskey Sharp—a barbershop, and in the evenings, a bar. The lazily swirling red-and-white candy cane sign out front was illuminated and the interior lights cast a shine against the gold-toned flourish of the shop’s title on the front glass doors.

Inside, it smelled of sandalwood and amber, two of the more popular scents of the products used in hair and beards. Music played loud enough to feel like an embrace but it didn’t drown out the low hum of conversation from the people knotted around the bar area.

Alexsei Petrov, Maybe’s husband, but also Cora’s friend, owned and ran the place that had become another home for Cora. He saw her come in and smiled, tipping his chin to where Maybe stood, working at her station. Giving someone a shave by the looks of it.

Three months before, her friend’s hair had been platinum blonde, but currently the tips were a brilliant teal blue that bled into a wash of purple.

It would have looked absurd on most people, but Maybe managed to make it seem retro and futuristic at the same time when she coupled it with high-waisted gray pinstripe pants and a crisp white button-down shirt.

Rachel stood, her hip resting against the table, a smile on her face reserved for the client who Cora now recognized as Rachel’s man, Vic, sitting in Maybe’s chair getting that shave.

The weight of the familiar was lovely and bloomed through her belly. This was another one of her places. Full of her people.

“You bitches are still the hottest chicks I know,” she said as she approached.

Rachel looked over, her eyes widening in pleasure and recognition. “You’re here!”

“I told you I’d come by,” Cora said, swallowed up into a hug.

“I know but you’re here now. Yay!” Maybe took over the next hug, smacking a kiss right onto her lips before stepping back.

Laughing, she got hugs from the wild bearded Russians, as Rachel and Maybe referred to their dudes.

“Everyone missed you. Not more than us, naturally, but still,” Rachel said after Cora had been loved up on by all her friends. “Three months is way too long to go without seeing you.”

“It’s nice to be missed.” She was pretty sure she’d just finished her last extended trip with her mother. Yes, it was travel for work and she liked to go to new places. But these long stints meant she had avoided getting a dog or a cat. It wasn’t fair to have to leave them with someone for weeks and weeks. It also meant that aside from one long-distance relationship that had ended two years before, Cora hadn’t really seen anyone seriously. She wanted more roots. And a dog. And maybe someone to go on dates with.

She’d settle for a drink and some food as she hung out with her crew to start.

“Wren said she already invited you to dinner,” Maybe called out as she began to clean her station up.

“She informed me one of their friends is cooking and that there’d be cake. So naturally I’m in.”

Gregori—another wild bearded Russian—was Vic and Alexsei’s cousin. He also happened to be a hugely successful artist Cora had known for years through the local art scene. He and his wife Wren—an artist in her own right—lived in a loft space above Whiskey Sharp.

“There’s always cake at their place. It’s like a little bit of heaven right upstairs,” Maybe said.

“It’s like what I imagine heaven to be, that’s for sure,” Cora answered.


REVIEW TOUR:
Monday, June 18th: The Book Disciple and @thebookdisciple
Wednesday, June 20th: From the TBR Pile
Thursday, June 21st: A Holland Reads – spotlight or excerpt
Friday, June 22nd: Jathan & Heather
Monday, June 25th: Moonlight Rendezvous
Tuesday, June 26th: Books a la Mode – excerpt/giveaway
Wednesday, June 27th: Reading Reality
Thursday, June 28th: Why Girls are Weird
Thursday, June 28th: Books and Spoons – excerpt
Friday, June 29th: Stranded in Chaos
Monday, July 2nd: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – excerpt
Monday, July 2nd: Books and Blends
Tuesday, July 3rd: Read Love Blog – excerpt
Thursday, July 5th: A Chick Who Reads
Monday, July 9th: What is That Book
Tuesday, July 10th: OMGReads
Wednesday, July 11th: Romantic Reads and Such
Thursday, July 12th: Books & Bindings

June 20, 2018

Tail of the Dragon by Connie di Marco - Spotlight and Giveaway

 

Book details
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series 
Midnight Ink (August 8, 2018) 
Paperback: 336 pages 
ISBN-13: 978-0738751061 
Digital ASIN: B075W42GWP
  

Book description
San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti never thought murder would be part of her practice, but when her former boss and current client asks for help she agrees to go undercover at his law firm. Three people have received death threats and the only common denominator between them is a case long settled--the infamous Bank of San Francisco fire. Julia’s astrological expertise provides clues but no one wants to listen. Before she can solve the mystery, two people are dead and her own life is in danger. Julia must unmask the killer before he, or she, takes another life.

Meet the author - Connie di Marco
Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries from Midnight Ink, featuring San Francisco astrologer, Julia Bonatti. Tail of the Dragon, third in the series, will be released on August 8, 2018.

Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. Some of her favorite recipes can be found in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connie is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Author Links Website: http://www.conniedimarco.com/ 
Twitter: @askzodia 

Giveaway


TOUR PARTICIPANTS 
June 14 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW 
June 14 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT 
June 15 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW 
June 16 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT 
June 17 - Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW 
June 17 - Varietats – GUEST POST 
June 18 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 19 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW 
June 19 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – SPOTLIGHT 
June 20 – My Fiction Obsession – SPOTLIGHT 
June 20 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT 
June 21 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW 
June 22 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT 
June 23 – Island Confidential – GUEST POST
June 24 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW 
June 24 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 25 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW 
June 25 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST 
June 26 – Books Direct – SPOTLIGHT 
June 26 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST 
June 27 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST 
June 27 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 17, 2018

The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates - Spotlight and Giveaway


Book details
Cozy Mystery 4th in Series 
Crooked Lane Books (June 12, 2018) 
Hardcover: 250 Pages 
ISBN-13: 978-1683315803 
Digital ASIN: B075QJ59PX
  

Book description
Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?

With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.

Meet the author - Vicki Delany
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.

Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany @evagatesauthor Purchase Links Amazon B&N Kobo Google Play BookBub

Giveaway


TOUR PARTICIPANTS 
June 10 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW 
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June 15, 2018

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz - Review and Giveaway

Book details
Cozy Mystery 5th in Series 
Midnight Ink (June 8, 2018) 
Paperback: 288 pages 
ISBN-13: 978-0738752419 
Digital ASIN: B075W25FNF
  

Book description
Erin is one smart cookie, but can she keep the holiday spirit—and herself—alive till Christmas?

In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy's Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily has turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin.

When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he's been robbed, fingers point to Merrily—until she's found dead, a string of lights around her neck. The clues and danger snowball from there. Can Erin nab the killer—and keep herself in one piece—in time for a special Christmas Eve?

Includes delicious recipes!

Meet the author - Leslie Budewitz
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician, and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model, and avid bird-watcher.

Connect with her on her website, http://www.LeslieBudewitz.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter. Purchase Links Amazon B&N BookBub Kobo

My thoughts
I really enjoyed reading this holiday themed book. In this hot time of the year it was nice to read a book that took place in the coolest time of the year. I also liked the cookie touch in the story. This series has been fun to read and I thought this was a good addition. It was nice to get to connect with the characters again. I like how the author gives you just enough clues to make you think you know who murdered Merrily. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. 

Giveaway



TOUR PARTICIPANTS 
June 6 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – COZY WEDNESDAY 
June 7 – The Book's the Thing – REVIEW 
June 7 – Mallory Heart's Cozies – REVIEW 
June 7 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 8 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW 
June 8 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW 
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June 9 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW 
June 9 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW 
June 10 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW 
June 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – GUEST POST 
June 11 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW 
June 11 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT 
June 11 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT 
June 12 – The Power of Words – REVIEW 
June 12 – Island Confidential – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 12 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST 
June 13 – Valerie's Musings - REVIEW 
June 14 – cherylbbookblog – REVIEW 
June 14 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT 
June 15 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW 
June 15 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW 
June 16 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW 
June 17 - Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW 
June 18 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW 
June 19 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW 
June 19 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW 
June 19 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT 
June 20 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW 
June 20 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST