A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon - #review #giveaway

Former English professor Cat Latimer is back in Colorado, hosting writers’ retreats in the big blue Victorian she’s inherited, much to her surprise, from none other than her carousing ex-husband! Now it’s an authors’ getaway—but Cat won’t let anyone get away with murder…

The bed-and-breakfast is open for business, and bestselling author Tom Cook is among its first guests. Cat doesn’t know why he came all the way from New York, but she’s glad to have him among the quirkier—and far less famous—attendees.

Cat's high-school sweetheart, Seth, who's fixing up the weathered home, brings on mixed emotions for Cat ... some of them a little overpowering.  But it's her uncle, the local police chief, whom she'll call for help when there is a surprise ending for Tom Cook in his cozy guest room.  Will a killer have the last word on the new life Cat has barely begun?

Upcoming Blog Series on Virtual Book Tours!

Three times a week in October and early November 2016, I will be having a blog series featuring tips from a variety of experts who have participated in numerous blog tours in the past.

• Mondays will feature Authors
• Wednesdays will feature Book Bloggers/Reviewers
• Fridays will feature Virtual Book Tour Operators!

At the end of 2013, I 'rediscovered' reading for my own pleasure.  For years before that, most of my reading had either been to/with my children or for a class.  I also discovered these things called "Reading Challenges".  And about that time, I switched from considering myself a 'mommy blogger' to a 'book blogger'.

Of course, the next thing I came across was a phenomenon called a 'virtual book tour'.  An author will contract with a tour operator to line up a number of book bloggers to participate in a series of reviews, guest posts, author interviews and the like.  Blogger-reviewers are provided with a copy of the book (paper or ebook) to review and agree to post on their assigned day.  Authors get potentially a lot of exposure for their new works in a relatively brief period of time.

So, this series is my way of 'deconstructing' a virtual book tour to see what makes it tick.  There will be a lot of good information coming your way starting in a little over a month.  Y'all are definitely invited to follow the series and leave comments for the featured guest in each installment!

I'm also sharing today with:

  

Death of a Wolfman by Susan Boles - #review #giveaway

Lily Gayle Lambert is a professional seamstress specializing in period dresses for convention attendees and re-enactment groups along with being an amateur genealogist. And a big pain in the butt to the county sheriff…who just happens to be her cousin.

Quicker than she can stitch together the threads of a genealogy project she’s just signed on to research, Lily Gayle finds herself embroiled in investigating the Halloween night murder of a stranger who suffers from ‘wolfman syndrome’. Before she can even get going good on the first murder a member of a prominent family turns up dead too.

Escaping from a trailer in the woods owned by two good ole boys suspected of being involved and a confrontation with the eldest son of the town’s wealthiest family have Lily Gayle hot on the trail of the killer.

With the help of her lifelong best friend, Dixie, Lily Gayle must find the link between the two and solve the mystery before her investigation makes her the next target.

Cracked to Death by Cheryl Hollon - #review #giveaway

When a treasure hunt leads to deadly plunder, it’s up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb and her trusty investigative posse to map out the true motives of a killer . . .

It’s the dog days of summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Webb’s Glass Shop proprietor Savannah Webb has an eco-friendly plan to help locals escape the heat–a recyclable bottle-crafting workshop taught by reticent store manager Amanda Blake. Turns out, the class is a bigger smash than expected, thanks in part to a pair of staggeringly old bottles brought in by snorkeler Martin Lane . . .

Linked to a storied pirate shipwreck, the relics definitely pique Savannah’s interest. But intrigue turns to shock when Martin’s lifeless body washes ashore the next morning, another glass artifact tucked in his dive bag. With cell phone records connecting Amanda to the drowning, Savannah must voyage through unchartered territory to exonerate her colleague and capture the twisted criminal behind Martin’s death . . .

Sacred Legacy by Kat Flannery - #review #giveaway

Desperate to escape the memories that haunt her, Tsura Harris returns to Jamestown, the very place her mother forbade her to go. A gifted Chuvani, Tsura has sworn off all magick, thus making her vulnerable to the Renoldi clan, who wish to kill her and take the pendant that is the key to her power. 

Red Wolf is hell-bent on living his life on the sea, until he runs into Tsura on the docks. His pride wounded from her rejection years before, he hoped to never see her again. But when the evil Corsair, Romulus Black, demands to know where she is, Red Wolf must protect her, as is his duty.

But is duty and honor his only reason, or does Red Wolf still carry a flame of love in his heart? And will Tsura finally discover her destiny?

The Black Thumb by Frankie Bow - #review #giveaway

When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness-the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just…academic.

Murder at the Mansion by Janet Finsilver - #review #giveaway

Fortunes, fineries, and foul play . . .

It’s whale-watching season in Redwood Cove, and B&B manager Kelly Jackson’s battening down the hatches for the tourist rush at Redwood Heights—a Victorian-style estate owned by her boss. And due to recent jewelry thefts, her duties include keeping track of the many dust-covered artifacts spread throughout the property. But when Kelly finds Sylvia Porter’s lifeless body, menial tasks don’t seem so terrible. Enlisting the help of a ragtag group of brainy retirees, aka the “Silver Sentinels,” Kelly’s on the hunt for clues hidden behind the mansion’s glamorous façade. . .and for a killer who may want to make history of her next!

Death and Disappearance by Susan Russo Anderson - #review #giveaway

While Denny battles demons of his own and Cookie and Clancy disappear, a pregnant Fina Fitzgibbons investigates the death of her friend’s husband and in doing so lands in the middle of a group of art and drug traffickers.

Die, Die Birdie by J. R. Ripley - #review #giveaway

For Amy Simms, hatching a birding shop in her hometown of Ruby Lake, North Carolina, hasn’t exactly been a breeze. But could a deadly discovery clip her wings for good?

It’s just days before Amy plans to open Birds & Bees on the first floor of her creaky Victorian house, but delayed seed shipments have prevented the fledging owner from stocking her shelves. And it doesn’t help that Amy’s best friend and business partner is out of town indefinitely. With locals skeptical about the niche shop taking flight, the last thing Amy needs now is a dead man in her storeroom-or for a crotchety tenant to catch her holding a bloody birdfeeder hook over his body . . .

Pigeonholed as a leading murder suspect by police and lacking a solid alibi, Amy’s delving into the victim’s ugly past and buzzing around Ruby Lake for clues on his killer . . . before she ends up like so many of her beloved feathery friends-trapped behind bars!

A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice by Christine Hale - #review

Christine Hale grew up amid abuse, depression, dysfunction, alienation and isolation—her mother’s, but also, because her view was the lens that controlled the family—her own, her father’s and her two sisters’. She became a writer, a prodigal daughter, a single parent, a Buddhist disciple, and, late in midlife, a newlywed. In this non-linear memoir, she meditates upon the broken path she’s traveled: two divorces, an abandoned career, too much solitude, an unconventional and transformative relationship with a female spiritual teacher, and two children lost to young adulthood but recovered, in part, through an odd ritual of repeated tattooing.

Friday Bookish Post - 13 August 2016

    

Thanks to Freda from "Freda's Voice" and Gilion at "Rose City Reader" for hosting these bookish link-ups!  Click one of the buttons to go to the link-up page.

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY

Summary

In this layered collage of memory within memory, Hale recreates for readers her kaleidoscopic experience of a decades-long journey to acceptance and insight. Writer, prodigal daughter, single parent, Buddhist disciple, and, late in midlife, a newlywed, she is transformed through an unconventional relationship with a female spiritual teacher and an odd ritual of repeated tattooing with her two young adult children.

Book Beginnings

The couch, upholstered in textured velour, muted greens and gold, clashes with the view through the storefront window behind us:  the buckling asphalt parking lot of a seedy Tampa strip mall with the words PIERCINGS * TATTOOS blazing on the glass in biker orange and gunmetal gray.

(Review to follow on Monday, August 15th).

~~~oOo~~~

THE FRIDAY 56

Synopsis

For Amy Simms, hatching a birding shop in her hometown of Ruby Lake, North Carolina, hasn’t exactly been a breeze. But could a deadly discovery clip her wings for good?

It’s just days before Amy plans to open Birds & Bees on the first floor of her creaky Victorian house, but delayed seed shipments have prevented the fledging owner from stocking her shelves. And it doesn’t help that Amy’s best friend and business partner is out of town indefinitely. With locals skeptical about the niche shop taking flight, the last thing Amy needs now is a dead man in her storeroom-or for a crotchety tenant to catch her holding a bloody birdfeeder hook over his body . . .

Pigeonholed as a leading murder suspect by police and lacking a solid alibi, Amy’s delving into the victim’s ugly past and buzzing around Ruby Lake for clues on his killer . . . before she ends up like so many of her beloved feathery friends-trapped behind bars!

Friday 56

A rumpled red sleeping bag lay in the corner.  There were a couple of empty takeout containers, a half-consumed bottle of water, a bottle of Kentucky bourbon that had also been nearly depleted, and wads of stained paper napkins.  And that's just the hightlights.  The corner was a veritable nest.  But who or what had been nesting there?
In my house.  Right above me.  I shivered at the thought.

(Review to follow next Monday, August 15th.)

~~~oOo~~~

   

Thanks to Billy B at the "Coffee Addicted Writer" for hosting this link-up!  Click on the buttons above to go to his blog.

The question comes from Elizabeth at Silver's Reviews:

Do any of your book club members have a blog? Do you compare notes if they do?

I don't actually belong to a book club.  There are some online reading challenge groups that do group reads.  Maybe I could start (or join?) a book club at the county library.

~~~oOo~~~

        

Thanks to Ramona at Create With Joy, Janice at Mostly Blogging, and Tina at Mommynificent for these fun link-ups!  Click on the button to visit the sites to join in!  The more the merrier...really! :O)

I guess I'm combining Thursday and Friday linkups, because here's another (and it's one of my faves), hosted by Katherine (who rocks, btw):

- and the wonderful co-hosts:

• Nina at Vintage Mamas Cottage
• Debi at Surroundings by Debi
• Marilyn at Marilyn's Treats
• Olivia at Reinvented Collection
• Angelina at Peonies & Orange Blossoms
• Shellie at The Fab Journey

Grilling the Subject by Daryl Wood Gerber - #review #recipe #giveaways

Things heat up for bookstore owner Jenna Hart in the latest Cookbook Nook mystery from the Agatha Award-winning author of Fudging the Books.

As the Wild West Extravaganza rides into Crystal Cove, California, Cookbook Nook store owner Jenna Hart is ready to indulge her appetite for grilled and barbecued treats and maybe even try the Texas skip. But when the body of one of her father’s neighbors is found the next morning smoldering in a bonfire, the rodeo revelry is extinguished.

Sylvia Gump had acquired plenty of enemies with her practice of illegally encroaching on her neighbors’ properties—including Jenna’s dad, who was off fishing by himself and has no alibi for the murder. Now it’s up to Cary Hart’s dutiful daughter to clear his name before the real killer turns up the heat and rakes someone else over the coals…

Midsummer Night's Mischief by Jennifer David Hesse - #review #giveaway

As the Summer Solstice approaches in idyllic Edindale, Illinois, attorney Keli Milanni isn’t feeling the magic. She’s about to land in a cauldron of hot water at work. Good thing she has her private practice to fall back on–as a Wiccan. She’ll just have to summon her inner Goddess and set the world to rights. . .

Midsummer Eve is meant for gratitude and celebration, but Keli is not in her typically upbeat mood. The family of a recently deceased client is blaming her for the loss of a Shakespearean heirloom worth millions, and Keli’s career may be on the line. With both a Renaissance Faire and a literary convention in town, Edindale is rife with suspicious characters, and the intrepid attorney decides to tap into her unique skills to crack the case. . .

But Keli weaves a tangled web when her investigation brings her up-close and personal with her suspects–including sexy Wes Callahan, her client’s grandson. The tattooed bartender could be the man she’s been looking for in more ways than one. As the sun sets on the mystical holiday, Keli will need just a touch of the divine to ferret out the real villain and return Edindale, and her heart, to a state of perfect harmony. . .

Brimstone by Richard Masefield - #review

Brimstone is a story of temptation, ambition and their consequences. The year is 1793. The Terror is at its height in France, Britain is at war with her old enemy once more, and along the coast of Sussex the smugglers’ trade in spirits and tobacco is flourishing. The novel’s two heroes are brothers bound by love, but separated by opposing characters which come to represent two the two faces of eighteenth century England – its brutality and its enlightenment. For the reckless Aaron Corbyn, there are adventures to be had and profits to be made from contrabanding. While his elder brother Rafe, a sobrely steadfast physician, runs the family estate of Chalkdean, Aaron builds an illegal empire as master smuggler across the Channel, at Fecamp in Normandy. Ellin Rimmer, daughter of a ‘fire and brimstone’ preacher, marries one brother to escape the loneliness of life in a parsonage, only to find herself hopelessly attracted to the other – and to be compelled through him to an impetuous decision that will have drastic consequences for all three. Sweeping from the open downland and flintstone villages of Sussex to the coast of revolutionary France, from Newgate prison and the subhuman conditions of a convict transport ship to the penal colony of New South Wales, Brimstone weighs the destructive aspects of sexual obsession against the healing power of generosity to bring its heroine an unexpected redemption.