Posted in 5 paws, Cozy, excerpt, Giveaway, mystery, Review on May 21, 2016

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Sleuthing Women

By Lois Winston, Jonnie Jacobs, Judy Alter, Maggie Toussaint, Camille Minichino, RP Dahlke, Susan Santangelo, Mary Kennedy, Heather Haven, and Vinnie Hansen

Synopsis

Sleuthing Women is a collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem by 10 critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors. Each novel in this set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth, caper, and cozy mysteries.

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery by Lois Winston—Working mom Anastasia is clueless about her husband’s gambling addiction until he permanently cashes in his chips and her comfortable middle-class life craps out. He leaves her with staggering debt, his communist mother, and a loan shark demanding $50,000. Then she’s accused of murder…

MURDER AMONG NEIGHBORS, a Kate Austen Suburban Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs — When Kate Austen’s socialite neighbor, Pepper Livingston, is murdered, Kate becomes involved in a sea of steamy secrets that bring her face to face with shocking truths—and handsome detective Michael Stone.

SKELETON IN A DEAD SPACE, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery by Judy Alter—Real estate isn’t a dangerous profession until Kelly O’Connell stumbles over a skeleton and runs into serial killers and cold-blooded murderers in a home being renovated in Fort Worth. Kelly barges through life trying to keep from angering her policeman boyfriend Mike and protect her two young daughters.

IN FOR A PENNY, a Cleopatra Jones Mystery by Maggie Toussaint—Accountant Cleo faces an unwanted hazard when her golf ball lands on a dead banker. The cops think her BFF shot him, so Cleo sets out to prove them wrong. She ventures into the dating world, wrangles her teens, adopts the victim’s dog, and tries to rein in her mom…until the killer puts a target on Cleo’s back.

THE HYDROGEN MURDER, a Periodic Table Mystery by Camille Minichino—A retired physicist returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts and moves into an apartment above her friends’ funeral home. When she signs on to help the Police Department with a science-related homicide, she doesn’t realize she may have hundreds of cases ahead of her.

RETIREMENT CAN BE MURDER—A Baby Boomer Mystery by Susan Santangelo—Carol Andrews dreads her husband Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than having an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it—until Jim is suspected of murdering his retirement coach.

DEAD AIR, A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy—Psychologist Maggie Walsh moves from NY to Florida to become the host of WYME’s On the Couch with Maggie Walsh. When her guest, New Age prophet Guru Sanjay Gingii, turns up dead, her new roommate Lark becomes the prime suspect. Maggie must prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than just therapy.

A DEAD RED CADILLAC, A Dead Red Mystery by RP Dahlke—When her vintage Cadillac is found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask aero-ag pilot Lalla Bains why an elderly widowed piano teacher is found strapped in the driver’s seat. Lalla confronts suspects, informants, cross-dressers, drug-running crop dusters, and a crazy Chihuahua on her quest to find the killer.

MURDER IS A FAMILY BUSINESS, an Alvarez Family Murder Mystery by Heather Haven—Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve.

MURDER, HONEY, a Carol Sabala Mystery by Vinnie Hansen—When the head chef collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.

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Excerpt

A Book Excerpt (from Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun by Lois Winston)

I hate whiners. Always have. So I was doing my damnedest not to become one, in spite of the lollapalooza of a quadruple whammy that had broadsided me last week. Not an easy task, given that one of those lollapalooza whammies had barged into my bedroom and was presently hammering her cane against my bathroom door.

“Damn it, Anastasia! Hot water doesn’t grow on trees, you know!”

Some people can’t start the day without a cigarette. Lucille Pollack, Monster-in-Law from the Stygian Swamp, can’t start hers without a sludge load of complaints. As much as I detest cigarettes, I’d much prefer a nicotine-puffing mother-in-law, as long as she came with an occasional kind word and a semi-pleasant disposition. Unfortunately, marriage is a package deal. Husbands come with family. And mine came with a doozie to end all doozies.

My mother-in-law is a card-carrying, circa 1930s communist. When she met me, it was hate at first sight. I bear the name of a dead Russian princess, thanks to my mother’s unsubstantiated Romanov link—a great-grandmother with the maiden name of Romanoff. With Mama, the connection is more like sixty, not six, degrees of separation, and the links are coated with a thick layer of rust. But that’s never stopped Mama from bragging about our royal ancestry, and it set the tone for my relationship—or lack of it—with my mother-in-law from Day One.

I suppose I didn’t help the situation by naming one of my sons Nicholas and the other Alexander, even if they were named after my grandfathers—Alexander Periwinkle and Nicholas Sudberry.

“My kingdom for a bedroom door lock,” I muttered. Not that I had much of a kingdom left. So it would have to be a really cheap lock.

“About time,” said Lucille as I exited the bathroom amidst a cloud of warm steam. “Some people have no consideration of others.” Raising one of her Sequoia-like arms, she waved her cane in my face. “Those boys of yours have been camped out in the other bathroom for half an hour doing what, I can’t imagine.”

Lucille always referred to Nick and Alex as those boys, refusing to use their given names. Like it might corrupt her political sensibilities or something.

“Three minutes,” she continued ranting. “That’s all it takes me to shower and all it should take any of you. I’m the only person in this house who gives one iota of concern for the earth’s depleting resources.”

She landed an elbow to my ribs to push me aside. Manifesto, her runt-of-the-litter French bulldog—or Mephisto, the Devil Dog, as the rest of the family had dubbed the Satan-incarnate canine—followed close on her heels. As he squeezed past me, he raised his wrinkled head and growled.

As soon as they’d both muscled their way into the bathroom, my mother-in-law slammed the door in my face and locked it. God only knows why she needs her dog in the bathroom with her. And if he does know, I hope he continues to spare the rest of us the knowledge.

My Grandma Periwinkle used to say that honeyed words conquered waspish dispositions. However, I doubted all the beehives in North America could produce enough honey to mollify the likes of Lucille. After eighteen years as her daughter-in-law, I still hadn’t succeeded in extracting a single pleasantry from her.

Of all the shocks I sustained over the past week, knowing I was now stuck with Lucille topped the list. Two months ago, she shattered her hip in a hit-and-run accident when an SUV mowed her down while she jaywalked across Queens Boulevard. Her apartment building burned to the ground while she was in the hospital.

Comrade Lucille put her political beliefs above everyone and everything, including common sense. Since she didn’t trust banks, her life savings, along with all her possessions, had gone up in flames. And of course, she didn’t have insurance.

Homeless and penniless, Lucille came to live with us. “It won’t be for long,” my husband Karl (Lucille had named him after Karl Marx) had assured me. “Only until she gets back on her feet.”

“Literally or figuratively?” I asked.

“Literally.” Karl liked his mother best when two rivers and an hour’s drive separated them. “I promise, we’ll find somewhere for her to live, even if we have to pay for it ourselves.”

Trusting person that I am—was—I believed him. We had a moderately sized nest egg set aside, and I would have been more than happy to tap into it to settle Lucille into a retirement community. Lucille had recovered from her injuries, although the chances of her now leaving any time soon were as nonexistent as the eggs in that same nest.

Unbeknownst to me—formerly known as Trusting Wife—Karl, who handled the family finances, had not only cracked open, fried, and devoured our nest egg, he’d maxed out our home equity line of credit, borrowed against his life insurance policy, cashed in his 401(k), and drained the kids’ college accounts.

I discovered this financial quagmire within twenty-four hours of learning that my husband, who was supposed to be at a sales meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had dropped dead on a roulette table at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. The love of my life was a closet gambling addict. He left me and his sons totally broke, up the yin-yang in debt, and saddled with his mother.

If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him.

Without a doubt, a jury of my peers would rule it justifiable homicide.

With Ralph, our African Grey parrot, keeping a voyeuristic eye on me from his perch atop the armoire, I dried myself off and began to dress for work.

They say the wife is always the last to know. For the past week I’d wracked my brain for signs I might have missed, niggling doubts I may have brushed aside. Even in retrospect, I had no clue of impending cataclysm. Karl was that good. Or maybe I had played my role of Trusting Wife too well. Either way, the result was the same.

Karl and I hadn’t had the best of marriages, but we hadn’t had the worst, either. We might not have had the can’t-wait-to-jump-your-bones hots for each other after so many years, but how many couples did? That sort of love only exists in chick flicks and romance novels. Along with the myth of multiple orgasms. Or so I’d convinced myself years ago.

Besides, after working all day, plus taking care of the kids, the shopping, the carpooling, the cooking and the cleaning, who had the energy to put into even one orgasm most nights? Even for a drop-dead-gorgeous-although-balding-and-slightly-overweight-yet-still-a-hunk husband? Faking it was a lot quicker and easier. And gave me a few extra precious minutes of snooze time.

Still, I thought we’d had a pretty good marriage compared to most other couples we knew, a marriage built on trust and communication. In reality what we had was more like blind trust on my part and a whopping lack of communication on his. Most of all, though, I thought my husband loved me. Apparently he loved Roxie Roulette more.

Could I have been more clueless if I’d tried?

The theme from Rocky sang out from inside the armoire. Dead is dead only for the deceased. The widow, I’m learning, becomes a multitasking juggler of a thousand and one details. Our phone hadn’t stopped ringing since the call from the hotel in Las Vegas.

But this wasn’t the home phone. I opened the armoire and reached for the box of Karl’s personal items the funeral director had given me. No one had bothered to turn off his phone. The display read Private Call. “Hello?”

“Put Karl on.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play games with me, Sweet Cheeks. Hand the phone to that slippery weasel. Now.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“Make it possible. You tell him Ricardo’s run out of patience, and he’s run out of time.”

As an auto parts salesman for a national wholesaler, Karl dealt with his share of lowlife Neanderthals, but Ricardo sounded lower than most of the run-of-the mill Neanderthals in the auto industry.

I wasn’t in the mood for any macho-posturing Soprano wannabe. “If this concerns an order you placed, you’ll have to get in touch with the main office in Secaucus. Karl passed away last week.”

Silence greeted my statement. At first I thought Ricardo had hung up. When he finally spoke, I wished he had. “No kidding?”

“Your sense of humor might be that warped, but I can assure you, mine isn’t.”

“This his missus?” He sounded suspicious.

“Yes.”

“Look, I’m sorry about your loss,” he said, although his tone suggested otherwise, “but I got my own problems. That schmuck was into me for fifty G’s. We had a deal, and dead or not, he’s gotta pay up. Capisce?

Hardly. But I now sensed that Ricardo was no body shop owner. “Who are you?”

“Let’s just say I’m a former business associate of the deceased. One you just inherited, Sweet Cheeks. Along with his debt.”

I glanced at the bathroom door. Thankfully, Lucille’s three-minute shower was running overtime. I lowered my voice. “I don’t know anything about a debt, and I certainly don’t have fifty thousand dollars.”

Although both statements were true, after what I had recently learned about my husband’s secret life, he probably did owe Ricardo fifty thousand dollars, the same fifty thousand dollars the casino manager in Las Vegas said Karl gambled away shortly before cashing in his chips—literally—at that roulette table.

But what really freaked me out as I stood half-naked in nothing more than my black panties and matching bra, was the thought that there could be other Ricardos waiting to pounce. Lots of other Ricardos. Behind my husband’s upstanding, church-going, family-oriented façade, he had apparently hidden a shitload of secrets. What next?

Ricardo wasn’t buying into my ignorance. “I happen to know otherwise, Sweet Cheeks, so don’t try to con me. I’ll be over in an hour to collect.”

There are five stages of grief. I’d gone through the first stage, denial, so fast, I hardly remembered being there. For most of the past week, I’d silently seethed over Karl’s duplicity. With each new deceit I’d uncovered, my anger grew exponentially. I knew Stage Two, anger, would be sticking around for a long time to come, sucking dry all the love I once had for my husband.

Ricardo became that proverbial last straw on my overburdened camel’s back. “You’ll do no such thing,” I screamed into the phone. “I don’t know who you are or what kind of sick game you’re playing, but if you bother me again, I’m calling the police. Capisce?

Ricardo’s voice lowered to a menacing timbre. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Sweet Cheeks.” The phone went dead. Along with every nerve in my body.

And I thought I had problems before?

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now,” squawked Ralph. “Julius Caesar. Act Three, Scene Two.”

No Polly wants a cracker for this bird. Ralph spouts Shakespeare and only Shakespeare, thanks to several decades of listening to Great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle’s classroom lectures. When Aunt Penelope died two years ago, I inherited the parrot with the uncanny knack for squawking circumstance-appropriate quotes.

Could have been worse. At least Aunt Penelope wasn’t a closet rap queen with a bird who squawked about pimpin’ the hos in the ‘hood. I’m also grateful Ralph is housebroken, considering his ability to pick the lock on his cage.

“I’ve already cried enough to replenish New Jersey’s drought-lowered reservoirs, Ralph. So unless you know of some way to transform tears into twenties, I’ve got to move on and figure a way out of this mess.”

He ignored me. Ralph speaks only when he wants to, and right now his attention had turned to grooming himself. Like I said, I hate whiners, but jeez! How much simpler life would be if my only concern was molting feathers.

(from Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun by Lois Winston)

 

Review

I love reading books like this – 10 first in a series, that somehow always manage creating a longer TBR list!  I had not heard of some of these authors and others I have been wanting to read but just had not had time to get to their books.

I liked all of the books but probably the one that stands out the most is Skeleton in a Dead Space.  Not because it was any better than the other stories, but because it is set in Fort Worth Texas and in the Fairmount district.  I live almost in Fort Worth and have many friends that live in the the Fairmount district, so I was very familiar with the locations she mentioned and I felt like it was an accurate depiction.  I was totally surprised by the killer at the end, but did think there was something wrong with that character but nothing I could put my finger on!

I have also had The Hydrogen Murder on my shelf for many years and finally got a chance to read it in this anthology.  In another anthology I had read a short story about these characters so it was nice to go back and start at the beginning and get the history of all the characters.

In Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, I felt for Anastasia and the crazy family dynamic going on in her household.  But it did make for some funny scenes and I should have suspected the killer but didn’t until the very end.

All of the books were fun to read, and as I mentioned before, there are many new series going on my TBR list!

We give this book 5 paws up and think that anyone will find at least 1-2 new series to continue reading.

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About Lois Winston

lois-winstonUSA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

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The Sixth Event

by Kristen Morie Osisek

Sci-Fi/Time Travel/Romance/Suspense/Dystopian
Evernight Teen Publishing/ 74K words

Synopsis

Eighteen-year-old Raquel isn’t eighteen anymore…

During Raquel’s first semester of college, she witnesses the end of the world, only to wake up in her old room at her parents’ house two years in the past. Even worse, it seems she’s the only one who remembers—until Chris Lyley, a boy Raquel always thought was a loser, tells her he remembers the catastrophe.

Before long, they both discover new abilities. They’re able to understand any language and teleport through time and space.  If Raquel and Chris can figure out what caused the end of their world, maybe they can stop it.

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Excerpt

My heart pounded as my white ceiling greeted me when I opened my eyes.

I blinked frantically, the vision of the rock hitting me still fresh in my mind, the instantaneous crushing sensation throughout my body fading to a dull, residual mental ache. Fear crashed and faded in a wave of relief when it all resolved into the deep blackness of my dorm room.

That had been one hell of a dream.

I narrowed my eyes, still staring up at the ceiling. My dorm ceiling was gray, not white.

I sat up and turned to the left expecting the glaring green glow of my digital clock. Instead, I was greeted with the dim shape of a dresser, outlined in the rosy hue of a rising sun.

My pink and white dresser at my parent’s house.

Shock spread through me, sending tingles down to my toes. My bedroom was coming into view, not my dorm room.

A stuffed dog sat at the foot of my bed. Instead of the giant glass window over the football field, my lace pink curtains fluttered in a warm California breeze, a copy of Teen Vogue sitting on the sill.

I rolled over and stood, grabbing the magazine. Justin Bieber smiled at me from the October 2010 cover.

Impossible. This was impossible.

“Elsie!” I shouted my roommate’s name. The magazine hit the floor with a ruffle of pages. The plush, carpeted floor, not the hard tiles of my room at college.

My comfy bed, complete with a feather mattress, took up the same side of the room it always had. My computer desk sat at the far side of the bed, the blocky Dell PC taking up most of the space. A life sciences textbook lay next to it, the image of a tiger on the front coming into focus as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. On the floor, my giant shoulder bag from high school lay with papers strewn around it. I took a step closer, peering at the letters, my heart pounding so hard I didn’t think to turn on the light.

High school biology notes. I had taken biology in my junior year.

I fled, my door banging against the wall as I ran to the bathroom, flicking on the light.

Elsie wasn’t here. I stared into the mirror of my parent’s bathroom, at my frizzy brown hair. I didn’t look so different. A little bit shorter, a little bit ganglier. No freshmen fifteen. I still had that annoying pattern of three pimples that kept coming back on my chin.

But I was still younger. Not eighteen, not a college student.

A girl in high school. High school. Again.

I stared in shock. This couldn’t be true. It must still be part of the dream, part of the green sky and rocks hitting me. I blinked hard, touching my nightgown, pinching my arm until I winced with pain.

“Mom!” I shrieked so loud I thought the mirror would shatter. “Mom, Mom, Mom!”

My mother came rushing in, her robe pulled tightly around her. “Raquel, what is it?” Her hair framed her face in an unruly brown cloud, her eyes wide and face pale. “What’s wrong?” She was as scared as I was.

“What happened?” I shouted as I grabbed her. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?” She pulled me out of the hug, looking into my eyes. “Raquel, what is wrong? Are you sick?”

In the glaring bathroom light, I stared into her wide eyes. She stared back at me, full of concern, full of worry for her daughter.

“The…I died. There were birds dying, and a rock hit me, and I should be in college…” I babbled, and she shook her head, gripping me tight.

“Raquel, it was a nightmare. That’s all.”

“What’s going on?” My dad’s voice shouted from the dark hallway.

“Nothing, dear,” my mother shouted back. “Raquel just had a little night terror.”

“At sixteen?” Disbelief and exhaustion edged his voice. “Go to sleep, Raquel,” he added, mumbling.

My heart pounded harder, even as I shut my mouth, looking back into the mirror. The mirror in my parent’s house, where a sixteen-year-old me stared back. My stomach flipped, then sank into my feet.

I was two years younger. The world was two years younger.

And no one else remembered anything.

 

About the Author

Kristen Morie-Osisek has always had a fascination with the natural world. She is an academic by trade who specializes in addiction research, but also has a healthy interest in geology and the history of the planet. She focuses on writing science fiction and fantasy. The Sixth Event is Kristen’s debut book.

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Posted in 5 paws, BEA, Children, Review on May 20, 2016

I loved going to BEA and picking up all these books for my great-niece.  She may be a bit young for some of them, but I know her parents will read the books to her and eventually she will be able to read them herself.  The author, Marianne Richmond, wrote and illustrated this book.  She is not new to the children’s publishing world and has many other books out there that are available now.

This book is due out in January 2017 (may be October 2016 but not 100% sure).  It is available on Amazon for pre-order.

bedtime blessings

Synopsis

Dear God,

It’s the end of the day and time for my prayer to say thanks for your blessings  and heavenly care.

Bedtime Blessings offers a peaceful way to end the day with a special child through this heartfelt prayer of gratitude and wish for God’s blessings on others, too.

Create to help grow a joyful spirit of contentment in even the youngest child, this sweet blessing will guide them into dreamland with a heart full of thanks and love.

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Review

I was able to meet the author at BEA and pick up a copy of this book.

This is a great book to read to young children to teach them the meaning of being thankful for all that they have and those around them.  It also is a way for parents to institute nightly prayers with their children, something that seems to have disappeared in many homes.

The graphics are simple but the words can have a powerful impact on impressionable children which is what we would want to create a kinder society for the future.

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Posted in Cozy, Giveaway, mystery, Spotlight on May 20, 2016

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KILLER COCKTAIL

Killer Cocktail
(A Nic & Nigel Mystery)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Midnight Ink (May 8, 2016)
Paperback: 240 pages

Synopsis

Walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards with a bow-tied Bullmastiff draws Nic and Nigel Martini plenty of attention from the press. But that’s nothing compared to the attention they receive at the A-list after party, when Hollywood royalty learn that Nic and Nigel have discovered behind the scenes footage from A Winter’s Night, an acclaimed film known for backstage love triangles and the tragic death of its original star, Melanie Summers.

Returning home after the party, Nic and Nigel find their house in shambles and their employee DeDee Evans beaten within an inch of her life. And when the weapon used to pummel DeDee implicates beloved actress Christina Franklin, Nic and Nigel drink and banter their way into a modern-day version of a golden-era crime caper.

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About the Author

tracy kileyTracy Kiely is a self-proclaimed Anglophile (a fact which distresses certain members of her Irish Catholic family). She grew up reading Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and watching Hitchcock movies. She fell in love with Austen’s wit, Christie’s clever plots, and Hitchcock’s recurrent theme of “the average man caught in extraordinary circumstances.”

After spending years of trying to find a proper job that would enable her to use her skills garnered as an English major, she decided to write a book. It would, of course, have to be a mystery; it would have to be funny; and it would have to feature an average person caught up in extraordinary circumstances. She began to wonder how the characters in Pride and Prejudice might fit into a mystery. What, if after years of living with unbearably rude and condescending behavior, old Mrs. Jenkins up and strangled Lady Catherine? What if Charlotte snapped one day and poisoned Mr. Collins’ toast and jam? Skip ahead several years, and several different plot ideas, and you have her first mystery Murder at Longbourn.

While she does not claim to be Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, or Hitchcock (one big reason being that they’re all dead), she has tried to combine the elements of all three in her books.

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Posted in 5 paws, BEA, Children, Review on May 19, 2016

Today’s children’s book from BEA is Busy, Busy by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Eliana Ellis.  This is a board book so perfect for my great-niece right now.

busy busy

Synopsis

Sometimes, when life gets hectic and schedules get crowded, children may feel a little lost in the shuffle. In this new board book, the animals are all quite occupied. Beaver is busy; squirrel is busy; frog is busy. Mole is digging, bear is fishing, and cat is pouncing. And like many parents, Mama is busy too. But she’s not too busy for a hug! Children will love the busy animals and the warm conclusion. This lighthearted, lyrical book will gently reassure children that, in spite of how busy their families are, there is always time to share love.

Ages 2-5

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Review

This is a board book and so not very long, but let’s the child know that even though everyone is busy through the day, mom isn’t too busy to cuddle with her child. It sends a good message to children that lets them know that they are loved.

5 paws up for this book!

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Posted in Cozy, excerpt, mystery, Spotlight on May 19, 2016

Murder By George Cover

Synopsis

Retired soap actress Veronica Walsh leads a fulfilling second act in her Adirondack hometown of Barton. With a new business and thriving romance, she has no time for amateur sleuthing. Then architect Scott Culverson buys a vintage box at a flea market and discovers a valuable painting inside a locked drawer. An argument over the painting’s ownership ensues, with Scott battling both the artist’s family and Ella and Madeline Griffin, whose mother received the painting as a wedding gift. When Scott is stabbed to death and the painting stolen, the Griffins ask Veronica to help clear suspicion from their hot-tempered great-niece.

Veronica’s sleuthing introduces her to a colorful cast of characters. Whom can Veronica trust, and who will lead her to the brink of death?

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Excerpt

We stared at each other for an awkward moment of silence before Madeline spoke. “We have a request, Veronica.”

“Yes?”

“Officer Brody was just here,” Ella said.

“She was?”

“Yes. She had a few questions for Regina.”

“She did?”

Ella gave me an exasperated frown. “Must you parrot our every statement?”

I shrank back against the couch. “No, ma’am.”

“Officer Brody inquired as to Regina’s whereabouts yesterday evening,” Madeline said.

I kept my mouth shut.

“Regina told her she was out of town on business during the day,” Ella said. “She paid a visit to a food supplier in Saratoga Springs. After she left Saratoga, Regina said she stopped at the Lake George outlet stores.”

“She arrived home around five thirty and drove us to Dotsie’s for dinner and a movie,” Madeline said. “We watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Judi Dench is marvelous.”

“I suppose Regina didn’t join you?”

Madeline shook her head as Ella said, “No. Regina said she took a short nap when she got home, had dinner, and then went to The Hearth around eight thirty. She picked us up at Dotsie’s at ten o’clock.”

“We are concerned about those three hours when no one saw her,” Madeline said. Her fingers played at a button on her pink cardigan.

Thinking Regina might be right outside the room, listening to our conversation, I said in a hushed voice, “You certainly don’t think she killed Scott?”

“We certainly do not,” Madeline said with a proud rise of her chin. “But her behavior, we fear, will raise others’ suspicions.”

“And we understand you witnessed her argument with Mr. Culverson at The Hearth,” Ella said.

“It was more of an argument with Scott’s girlfriend. Leona Kendall and her children argued with Isabel, too. Is Regina here now?” I whispered.

“No, she’s at The Hearth,” said Madeline.

We sat in silence for a few moments.

“And why did you ask me here?” I finally asked.

Both Ella and Madeline shifted in their places before Madeline answered. “We need you to find out who murdered Mr. Culverson.”

“The police will do that. Soon, I’m sure.”

“We are concerned the investigation won’t be thorough,” Ella said.

“Why wouldn’t it be? The Barton police are top-notch professionals.”

“Yes, but the Kendall family has a great deal of influence in this county. And money to pay people to overlook evidence, if necessary. Or create evidence, as the case may be.”

“So you think one of the Kendalls murdered Scott?”

Ella shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Leona’s children have been spoiled rotten. They think they can get away with anything. But I think it more likely they hired someone to handle the matter.”

“And you think they may try to frame Regina?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Regina is new in town,” Madeline said. “People don’t know how sweet and kind she is. After Saturday’s display, she has the reputation of being a hothead. She’ll be railroaded!”

“And you want me to find the murderer?”

“Yes. You can do it!” Madeline declared, as if solving a murder case was as easy as snapping a finger.

“You really think so?”

“You solved Anna Langdon’s murder.”

“By accident.”

“In the end, yes,” Ella said. “But you did snoop around and no one knew you were doing so. You did learn a good deal of information.”

“Remember, you told us everything at canasta,” Madeline said. She smiled; she sounded like a mother boasting about her genius child.

“Just to make conversation. Not for future reference. Why don’t you hire a private investigator?” I asked.

Ella made a face as if she were simultaneously sucking a lemon, stepping in dog poop, and smelling said poop.

“Sleazy,” she pronounced.

“And expensive,” said Madeline.

“We think you can do this quietly. Or at least Madeline does.”

“People like to get close to you, because of your fame.”

“And we hear you are having lunch at Leona’s home tomorrow,” Ella said.

The two alternated like tag-team wrestlers. “How do you know that?”

“Sandy.”

As in Sandy Jenkins, my canasta partner and the Griffins’ housekeeper. The woman knew everything that happened between the forty-second and forty-fourth parallels. Madeline and Ella should be asking her to find the murderer, I griped to myself.

“Oh. Do you expect me to do a search of her home while I’m there?”

Ella groaned at my flippant inquiry. “Of course not. Get creative. Keep your eyes and ears open. You seem to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Or the wrong place at the right time.”

“You can give us an update at the canasta game,” Madeline said.

I looked from Madeline to Ella and sighed.

I had promised my mother, Mark, a police officer, my employees, and my best friend that I would not involve myself in the murder investigation.

“All right. I’ll see what I can find out.”

About the Author

Jeanne Quigley grew up reading mysteries, watching soap operas, and vacationing in the Adirondacks, never imagining these pleasures would inspire the Veronica Walsh cozy mystery series. Jeanne’s love of characters—real and fictional—led her to study Sociology and English at the University of Notre Dame. Jeanne has never been a soap star, but she has worked in the music industry and for an education publisher. She resides in Rockland County, New York and is a member of the Sisters in Crime.

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Posted in excerpt, Fantasy, Giveaway, Spotlight, Young Adult on May 18, 2016

Narine of Noe

Narine of Noe (Faerie Tales from the White Forest Book Four)

Narine of Noe should have had her whole life to train to take her father’s place as High Sage. But when a mysterious force falls from the skies, sending the world into elemental chaos and her father into mortal danger, the fate of every living creature lands on her shoulders . . . including that of the Eternal Dragon. Without the Dragon it is impossible to regain the Balance of All Things. An elaborate plan to save the world must be hatched, and Narine is forced to take charge in a world gone mad.

Before the White Forest was born, before the Great World Cry, the story that started it all. . .

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Praise for Narine of Noe and the White Forest series

A charming, magical journey…  ~Cassandra Rose Clarke, Author, The Assassin’s Curse series

Dinsmore weaves a coming of age story through a world that is both fantastic and believable.  ~Rise Reviews

I was hooked before I finished the first chapter . . . I fell in love with Narine and you will, too.  ~Brenna D’Amico, actor, Disney’s Descendants

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Excerpt

 

Narine dropped to the sand from the force of the Eternal Dragon’s energy. Never could she have imagined the power of Its presence. There was no resisting or competing with that power; the Dragon commanded the elements like no other. Each bit of earth, air, fire, water inside of Narine blew open, mere seeds popping over a fire.

The Dragon glanced at her with Its eternal eyes, no more than a flick, but in that flick she plummeted deeper inside herself than she had ever known. Her existence in that eternity lasted less than a moonsbreath before she was back, gasping for breath.

Her father, perched at the edge of the dock, caught her eye, a look as eternal as the Dragon’s. He smiled at her, gestured with open hands, and then fell from the pier. Before she had time to react, to digest what had just happened, the Dragon opened Its mouth and inhaled. The world froze. She felt the Dragon’s great inhale pulling at her heart, but she could do nothing as It drew that breath and absorbed Thorze’s corporeal energies as Its own.

As It exhaled, Narine felt her own cells fill back up with her Father’s Knowing. His Transitioning of himself into her. She could feel it rooting, thin tendrils weaving themselves through the miniscule spaces within her being.

But it was too fast; it was too much. There was no way she could contain it all.

She wasn’t ready! It wasn’t her time!

“No!” she cried and grasped at the wet sand. “Father, no!”

The world popped back into place, her cries became those of Vendra’s, reaching her great flipperpaw after Thorze’s body as it plummeted into the water’s darkness.

Vendra leapt to the side of the pier, the waves shook the world, and she slammed into a silver pillar.

The great Dragon huffed and knocked Thorze’s scepter away with Its thick sea green tail. The scepter flew across the water and landed on the shore before Narine with a

heavy, wet thud. No! It couldn’t be!

“Father!” she cried, searching the waters, tears streaking her cheeks. “Father!”

The Dragon dipped Its head back into the lake, and, in one fluid motion, arced Its massive body after it. The tail of the great serpent flicked out from the water like a tongue, and the serpent was gone. The World Sages stared at the water in silent shock. Waves lapped at Narine’s feet, dragon-sized ripples.

She looked down in her daze. The scepter. She picked it up from the sand, and her body immediately seized up. A white light tortured her vision, and then streaks of blue and silver blended within the reassuring voice of her father, Yes, Narine. Take the Dragon’s Gift.

 

 

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DanikaAbout the Author

Danika Dinsmore is an award-winning author, performance artist, and educator. Over the past 25 years she has developed content for the page, stage, screen, and web. Danika currently works in literary and speculative fiction with an emphasis on juvenile & young adult literature. Author of children’s fantasy adventure series FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST, she often takes her interactive Imaginary Worlds Tour on the road, performing and teaching world-building & creative writing at schools, conferences, and festivals across North America.

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$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 5/30/16

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

 

 

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Posted in 5 paws, Cozy, mystery, Review on May 18, 2016

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Death at a Fixer-Upper: A Home Sweet Home Mystery
Publisher: Alibi (May 17, 2016)

Synopsis

In Sarah T. Hobart’s wickedly funny and fast-paced Home Sweet Home mystery series, small-town real estate agent Sam Turner discovers it’s bad for business when her clients keep dropping dead.

Newly armed with her real estate license, Sam Turner loves Arlinda, her quirky seaside hometown in Northern California. But life by the beach isn’t exactly a breeze: She and her teenage son, Max, are being evicted from their apartment, her long absent ex-husband unexpectedly resurfaces, and her possibly romantic relationship with sexy Chief of Police Bernie Aguilar is, well . . . complicated. All Sam wants is a quick and easy sale. What she gets instead is a killer headache—or three.

Sam’s trying to drum up interest in 13 Aster Lane, a rambling Victorian fixer-upper that’s more than a little neglected—and possibly haunted—so when a trio of offers arrive out of the blue, she can’t help thinking it’s too good to be true. But after a new client drops dead on the property, she fears she’s lost more than a commission. Before Sam’s out of house and home, she must unmask a killer targeting her clients, or the only property she’ll be moving will be plots—at the local cemetery.

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Review

This is a fantastic new cozy series about a real estate agent (which sort of hits home since hubby is in that business).  It was interesting to read how they processed contracts since it is a bit more old school compared to all the electronic capabilities that are actually used to process a transaction these days.  But that isn’t germane to the book, just something that caught my eye.

The mystery itself isn’t solely focused on who is murdered and why.  Yes it is tied to the story but there is so much more to it than that, it is the history of the owners of 13 Asher Lane – a falling down home – and what happened to a missing heir and why are there now multiple offers on this house?

Sam is an intriguing character and is not a cut-throat real estate agent which turns out to be a good thing in the end…you will have to read it to find out why that is the case.  She is a single parent because her ex is MIA, until he resurfaces in town.  She is interested in her sister’s ex-husband, but that is a whole ‘nother story that is explained as well.

Good pace and kept me hanging on until the end so we had to give it 5 paws up!

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About the Author

SARAH HOBARTSarah Hobart is a real estate agent and former newspaper reporter in Northern California, where she lives with her husband and two children in a majestic fixer-upper overlooking State Highway 101.

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Posted in BEA, Children, Review on May 17, 2016

Today I am featuring another book I received at Book Expo America, Also an Octopus written by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrated by Benji Davies.  Like the book I highlighted on Sunday, this book is not due out until October, but you can also pre-order it on Amazon.

octopus

Synopsis

Even the most totally awesome story starts with a little bit of nothing. What happens next is up to you! A delightfully meta picture book that will set imaginations soaring.

It begins with an octopus who plays the ukulele. Since this is a story, the octopus has to want something—maybe to travel to faraway galaxies in a totally awesome purple spaceship. Then the octopus sets out to build a spaceship out of soda cans, glue, umbrellas, glitter, and waffles. OK, maybe the octopus needs some help, like from an adorable bunny friend, and maybe that bunny turns out to be . . . a rocket scientist? (Probably not.) But could something even more amazing come to pass? Debut author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, with the help of illustrator Benji Davies, sets up an endearingly funny story, then hands the baton to readers, who will be more than primed to take it away.

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Review

I picked up this book for my great-niece to build up her library, but I was not expecting a great story about how anyone can write a story and that no idea is too silly.  In fact, this book would actually help an aspiring young author by showing the steps they need to go through to actually write the story.

I do love how the book starts:  “Every story starts the same way…with nothing.”  It s true, every story that any author has written started with nothing to very little other than a dream to write that story.

We give this 5 paws up!

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Posted in 5 paws, Christian, Giveaway, Review, romance on May 17, 2016

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EVERY BRIDE HAS HER DAY

(Brides With Style #3)

by Janice Thompson

Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Publisher: Revell
Date of Publication: May 17, 2016
# of pages: 352

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synopsis

Another Delightful Romance from the Queen of Romantic Comedy

Katie Fisher is ecstatic. Pro basketball star Brady James has proposed, and she can’t wait to start planning their life together. She’s confident she’ll make it down the aisle this time–but it still may be easier said than done. A high-society Houston bride has Katie and the Cosmopolitan Bridal team scrambling to get the perfect dress done in time for her spectacular wedding. Meanwhile, Katie finds herself bombarded with everyone’s competing visions regarding her own special day–and she’s beginning to worry that her own ideas will get lost in the crossfire. Will she ever manage to settle all of the details for her perfect day? Or will bridal shop chaos and overzealous friends and family make a mess of everything? Fan favorite Janice Thompson gives readers what they’ve been clamoring for: another funny, romantic romp with a Texas twang.

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Praise for the Brides with Style Series

“Readers will fall in love with Katie.”–Library Journal

“A feel-good romantic comedy of subverted expectations. . . . Readers will laugh and sigh along with Katie as she comes into her own, discovering a life and love beyond her dreams.”–Booklist

“Romantic comedy at its best. I highly recommend it!”–Cara Putman, award-winning author of Shadowed by Grace and Where Treetops Glisten

“A delightful mix of romance, inspiration, and humor.”–Judy Christie, author of Wreath, A Girl in the Wreath Willis series

Review

I have read many of Janice Thompson’s books and have enjoyed every single one of them and this one is no different.  I like the clean, sweet romance stories that she writes probably because they are set in Texas where I live.  This story is even in a town I have heard of since a sorority sister grew up in this small town.

I should say that this is the 3rd book in a series and I have not read the first two.  I don’t think you have to read the first two to enjoy this book, but it might give you more of the back story of Katie & Brady and their family and friends.  I’m picky about things like that but I still enjoyed this story and now have to go back and read the first two books to see what I missed – which would include Katie & Brady’s courtship before the proposal.

Love is definitely in the air around Katie & Brady’s friends and family.  There is not really any conflict between any of the couples in the book and the only real conflict is when the town of Fairfiew becomes divided over a misunderstanding right before the wedding.

Very enjoyable and we give it 5 paws up!

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about the author

janice thompson

 

Janice Thompson is an expert at pulling the humor from the situations we get ourselves into and offers an inside look at the wedding business, drawing on her own experiences as a wedding planner. She is the author of the hugely popular Weddings by Bella series, the Backstage Pass series, and the Weddings by Design series, as well as Every Bride Needs a Groom and Every Girl Gets Confused. She lives in Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

author links

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GIVEAWAY! THREE PRIZES!

Prize 1: Box of Texas Treats & Signed Book

Prize 2: $10 Starbucks Gift Card & Signed Book

Prize 3: $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Card & Signed Book

 (US ONLY)

May 17 – May 31, 2016

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Check out the other great blogs on the tour! 

5/17       StoreyBook Reviews  Review     
5/18       Book Crazy Gals   — Author Interview #1
5/19       Forgotten Winds Guest Post #1  
5/20       Country Girl Bookaholic   Review               
5/21       Books and Broomsticks    — Excerpt
5/22       The Crazy Booksellers    Promo               
5/23       All for the Love of the Word   Review               
5/24       Missus Gonzo   — Author Interview #2      
5/25       Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books  — Promo       
5/26       My Book Fix    — Review               
5/27       Hall Ways Blog   — Author Interview #3      
5/28       A Novel Reality   — Guest Post #2  
5/29       The Page Unbound    — Review               
5/30       Margie’s Must Reads  — Promo               
5/31       It’s a Jenn World  — Review               

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