Kill Em with Cayenne by Gail Oust, Review and Guest Post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 



Kill ‘Em with Cayenne
(Spice Shop Mystery Series)

 

2nd in Series Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (December 16, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1250011053

Synopsis

A brand new finger-lickin’ good mystery featuring small-town Georgia spice shop owner Piper Prescott, a smart and spunky amateur sleuth…

Spices are flying off the shelves of Spice It Up!, and Piper Prescott couldn’t be happier. It’s that time of year again—time for the annual Brandywine Creek Barbecue Festival. Soon contestants and BBQ aficionados from all over the Southeast will converge on the town. Many of Brandywine Creek’s citizens plan to participate in the week-long festivities and are busily concocting savory rubs and sassy sauces. Among the locals vying for the grand prize are Becca Dapkins and Maybelle Humphries. The women have been arch enemies ever since Buzz Oliver dumped Maybelle after a thirteen-year courtship and started seeing Becca.

When Becca’s body is found near one of the festival booths, bludgeoned by a brisket, Maybelle becomes one of Chief Wyatt McBride’s top suspects. Determined to help clear her friend’s name, Piper begins her own investigation, much to McBride’s consternation. As the festival draws closer, will Piper and Reba Mae be able to find the real killer and clear Maybelle’s name? Will Piper make it to the annual shag contest with Doug Winters, the mild-mannered vet she’s been seeing? And, who will win the BBQ cook-off?

 

What I Thought!

 

I really enjoy this series and I think this book was better than the first.  I love the setting and the quirky characters that Gail has created.  This was a fast paced book that kept me turning the pages.  Piper sure does have some close calls, but she is bound and determined to prove that her friend is innocent.  There were also some laugh out loud moments in this book.  This is one that really kept me guessing till the very end.  Great job Gail, can't wait for more.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

 

About This Author

 

Friends accuse Gail Oust of flunking retirement.  While working as a nurse/vascular technologist, Gail penned nine historical romances under the pseudonym of Elizabeth Turner.  It wasn’t until after she and her husband retired to South Carolina that inspiration struck for a mystery.  Hearing the words “maybe it’s a dead body” while golfing with friends fired her imagination for the Bunco Babe Mystery series published by NAL.  Gail is currently writing the Spice Shop Mysteries published by Minotaur/St. Martin’s Press.  Kill ‘em with Cayenne, the second in the series, was released December 2014.  Her interests include reading, travel, golf, and spending time with friends and family.

 

Links:  www.gailoust.com, Gail Oust Author on Facebook, and Goodreads.

 

Purchase Links
Amazon B&N Book Depository

 

 



 



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Guest Post

HEY, LADY…

Years ago—pre everyone-has-a-cell-phone era—I called a repairman to fix my washing machine.  In the course of his service call, the man asked to use my phone to call his office.  While on hold, he happened to glance around my office and read the titles of the books on a  nearby shelf.  Titles such as Malicious Intent, Deadly Doses, and Armed and Dangerous.   “Ma’am,” he said, clearing his throat rather nervously, “exactly what type of work do you do?”  “I’m a writer,” I explained to his obvious relief.  “I need these for research.”

Before I started writing mysteries, I wrote historical romance under the pseudonym of Elizabeth Turner.  In my last two historicals, I introduced a mystery element, but the bulk of my research dealt with things such as period clothing, timelines of history, and regional history.  I had an entire shelf devoted to dictionaries and almanacs to give my work verisimilitude.  I even own, and often referred to, a set of Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1890.   Most of my research was performed the old fashioned way via books I could hold in my hand.

Many changes have occurred through the years.  Not only in the type of books I write—cozies—but in the way I do research.  While methods may have changed, the necessity for research remains constant.  When it comes to writing mysteries, today’s readers are a savvy bunch thanks to a plethora of crime shows such as CSI, Law and Order, and newsmagazines Dateline, 48 Hours, and 20/20.   Readers aren’t easily misled and are quick to note any discrepancies.   DNA, blood spatter, and gunshot residue are familiar terms.

I confess that I still own an assortment of books dealing with everything from poisonous plants to textbooks on forensics.  Although my sleuth is an amateur, I’m a professional.  I try hard to keep the details as accurate as possible.  A lot of my research these days is done on the Internet.  Google and I have become BFFs.  I try to fact check my information from several sources for accuracy.  I shamelessly avail myself of the expertise of friends and acquaintances.  I’m fortunate to have friends who were in law enforcement and are always happy and willing to answer oddball questions.  Once in response to one of my questions, a friend  and former Detroit detective, came over and fired off a round in my backyard—much to the consternation of my husband--to demonstrate a point.  Recently during my annual checkup, my doctor who knows I’m a writer volunteered several great suggestions on how to kill a person—provided I withheld my source. 

Unlike revisions (which I detest) I actually enjoy research.  Quite often research doesn’t deal with murder and mayhem but with fun things.  Research for my Shop Shop Mysteries has increased my understanding and appreciation for spices that I took for granted.  For example, I always assumed allspice was a blend of various spices therefore the name--allspice.  In fact, allspice is a berry discovered by Columbus in the Caribbean and at the time thought to be pepper.  Kill ‘em with Cayenne takes place around Brandywine Creek’s Annual Barbecue Festival.   Chili peppers, I learned, carry a wide, wide range of heat.  Hot, hotter, and hottest. It was fun having Piper advise contestants on how to Spice It Up! from the milder ancho to the little firecrackers called piquin.  Read and learn, I always say—and enjoy the journey. 

Twisted Threads by Lea Wait

Twisted Threads
(A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery)
Series: A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Kensington (January 6, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617730047


Synopsis

After leaving a decade ago, Angie Curtis has been called back to Harbor Haven by her grandmother, Estelle, who raised her following her troubled mother’s disappearance when she was a child. Her mother has been found, and now the question of her whereabouts has sadly become the mystery of her murder.

The bright spot in Angie’s homecoming is reuniting with Estelle, who has started her own needlepointing business with a group called Mainely Needlepointers. But when a shady business associate of the stitchers dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, Estelle and Angie become suspects. As Angie starts to weave together clues, she discovers that this new murder may have ties to her own mother’s cold case.

 

What I Thought:

 

Well, when I first started this book, I thought, I don't think I am going to like this book very well, but boy was I wrong.  Once I started it, I didn't want to put it down.  There were so many things happening in this book, my head was almost spinning.  Not only does Angie want to try to find out what really happened to her mother, she also has to find her grandmother's business partner.  Then she has to solve another murder.  I liked the characters and the setting of this book.  I am looking forward to the next installment in this series.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

 

About This Author

Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.

Author Link

    http://www.leawait.com/

 

Tales from Suburbia by Brandi Haas, Review and Guest Post

Tales from Suburbia: You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Live Here, but It Helps
Print Length: 209 pages
Publisher: Cup of Tea Books, an imprint of PageSpring Publishing (December 1, 2014)
ASIN: B00OY1L3EI
Synopsis

Brandi Haas is no domestic goddess . . . but she’ll tell you that motherhood is probably the hardest gig in the universe: “The pay is horrible, the wardrobe is pathetic, and your boss (although utterly adorable) is usually a tyrant.”

Brandi brings her trademark wit from the popular blog to this new collection, sharing stories of birthday party mayhem, mommy martyrdom, and snow shoveling majesty.

 The setting is Anytown, USA, among barking dogs, picket fences, and eclectic neighbors.

 Tales from Suburbia: You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Live Here, but It Helps will make you laugh, warm your heart, and let you know you’re not alone. Mothers (and fathers) will recognize themselves, their children, and the absurd situations that family life brings to us all.

 

What I Thought:

 

This is a book that is for any woman who is a mother.  Sometimes, I thought it was being written about me.  I too, decided I only wanted one child and I am not a teacher yet, but I am getting my degree to become a teacher.  There were many laugh-out-loud moments in this book.  I really liked the chapter that was entitled We're all Carol.  This chapter really hit home, in that, there are many types of mom's out there, not all mom's are the same, but mostly they all try to do their best.  This book is so interesting that it just flew by.  I really enjoyed reading this, it really hit home.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

 

About This Author
Brandi Haas is a former high school English teacher turned stay-at-home mom. Born and raised in California, she now lives in Missouri with her husband, daughter, and their dog, The WonderMutt. She is consistently inconsistent about her weight and age because, really, it’s no one’s business anyway. She sees humor in everything and began writing stories about her life as way to share her insanity with the world.

 

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Guest Post:

If there is one thing moms are good at, it is pretense.

 

For me, the pretense started right about the time a mom friend of mine told me her ten-month old was already potty trained. My pride got the best of me and I panicked.

 

“Well, my daughter isn’t potty trained yet but she has expressed interest in the presidency. Remember the other day when she wrote all over my new purse with that marker? Well, to the untrained eye that was just the reckless abandon of a toddler, but I’m pretty sure she was trying to perfect her signature for all the legislation she will be signing as president.” I finished my rambling and was really impressed because for a moment, I almost believed it.

 

My most recent tangle with pretense was when my daughter invited a friend over to our house for a playdate. Of course she told me at the last minute and of course I had cooked a new recipe the night before that didn’t turn out so well (okay, I burned that dinner to oblivion) which left a horrendous stench in my house. I quickly grabbed one of those fancy candles and ran around the house with it.

 

This time my pretense worked—that girl’s mother now completely believes that my house always smells like a fall leaf medley.

Steven Manchester Gooseberry Island Excerpt

Brief Synopsis:

They met at the worst possible moment...or maybe it was just in time. David McClain was about to go to war and Lindsey Wood was there at his going-away party, capturing his heart when falling for a woman was the last thing on his mind. While David was serving his country, he stayed in close contact with Lindsey. But war changes a person, and when he came home very little had the same meaning that it had before – including the romance that had sustained him. Was love truly unconquerable, or would it prove to be just another battlefield casualty?

Gooseberry Island is the most nuanced, dramatic, and romantic novel yet from a writer whose ability to plumb the depths of human emotion knows few peers.

 

 

 

Steven Manchester is the author of the #1 bestsellers, Twelve Months and The Rockin' Chair. He is also the author of the award-winning novel, Goodnight, Brian, as well as the critically-acclaimed novel, Pressed Pennies, A Christmas Wish (Kindle exclusive), Wilbur Avenue (novelette), Just in Time (novelette), The Thursday Night Club (novella) and Gooseberry Island (novel, released January 2015). His work has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, CNN's American Morning and BET's Nightly News. Three of Steven's short stories were selected "101 Best" for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. When not spending time with his beautiful wife, Paula, or their four children, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing. Visit: www.StevenManchester.com

 

Gooseberry Island excerpt

 

David had been home for six weeks when he pulled into the market, preparing to locate everything on his mother’s grocery list. As he approached the store, he spotted a young teenage boy walking out; he was holding a brown bag. An older man approached the boy and reached out his hand. David gasped and his dizzy mind immediately raced back to Afghanistan and the horrific beating of the young Afghani boy:

 

There was movement three hundred yards out on the street below. Unusual, David thought. It was a teenage boy, maybe fourteen, carrying a burlap bag and hurrying home before dark. Never seen him before, David thought.

In a flash, a man—a Taliban fighter—jumped out of the shadows and grabbed the boy’s arm, pulling him to the street and spilling the contents of his sack. As the teenager yelled for help, another Taliban soldier emerged from the darkness. The boy screamed louder, but not a single soul came to his aid…

 

It only took a few seconds, but the whole scene played out in sequence in his mind—both men yelling and slapping the boy as he screamed for help; the slaps turning to a vicious beating until finally the boy was dead. He could almost hear Command say “Negative” again after he asked if he could intervene. He felt the anguish in his soul threatening to overwhelm him, but it was quickly replaced by a burning rage.

His eyes filled with tears, David returned to the present and started for the man in a mad rush. He was three steps from the shocked stranger when reality clicked in. It’s the boy’s father, he realized. He’s…he’s okay.

David’s body convulsed. He’d forgotten he was home, and the reality of it slapped him hard in the face.

The man pulled the teenage boy close to him; both of them were frightened by David’s sudden charge toward them.

“Sorry,” David said, though it sounded more like “Sigh.” Trying unsuccessfully to smile at them, he turned on his heels and hurried back to the Mustang.

 

For the next hour, David sat alone in his car, trying to calm the physical effects of his anxiety. Once he’d reined that in, he spent another two hours beating back the depression that always followed in anxiety’s wake.

His wasn’t sure whether the abyss existed within his heart or mind, but he knew that he was now filled with a great void—nothingness. There was no light there, only darkness. There was no hope, only despair. In time, he’d learned to embrace the silence, as the screams and whimpers of faceless victims became echoes that returned again and again, pushing the line of madness. Yet, the solitude was relentless, enveloping, merciless. It would have been better had I never existed, he thought, fearing another moment more than cashing in and leaving it all behind. No love, he thought, no peace. His memories were slanted in such thick negativity that his entire past would have been better off erased. And no one knows I’m dying inside, he thought, inviting another wave of panic attacks to crash onto the shore of his weary mind.

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to calm the short labored gasps. Just ride the wave, he told himself. Just ride the wave.

But in another room in his mind, he knew that even if he rode that wave—and didn’t crack his skull on all the rocks beneath him—he’d have to take the ride again and again. It didn’t take long before the jagged rocks seemed like the more merciful option.

 

~~~

 

Enough time had passed for Lindsey to realize David was not coming after her. He’s obviously in a lot of pain, she thought, and doesn’t want to burden anyone with it. She shook her head. But I care way too much about him to let him go through this alone.

With Craig’s permission, she slammed David’s front door behind her and marched through the living room into the kitchen. “Don’t you dare play the coward with me, David McClain,” she shouted before even reaching the room.

As she expected, David had been staring out the kitchen window into nothingness. With tear-filled eyes, his head snapped up. “Don’t you ever call me that word…ever!”

She stared at him for a few long moments before her heart softened. “Then go ahead, tell me that you don’t want to see me anymore and I’ll leave you alone forever.”

He looked at her with tormented eyes but didn’t say a word.

“But you can’t, can you?” she said, her entire insides starting to tremble.

“It’s not you,” he vowed. “It’s me. I’m just not…”

“Don’t you dare feed me that tired line! I spent a year praying for you…writing letters and wishing for us to…” She stopped, trying in vain to contain her emotions.

His face looked panicked, as his mind obviously spiraled out of control to gather the right words. “I don’t have the words,” he said in less than a whisper.

“After the first time I came here, I thought for sure you’d chase after me,” she said. “I’m not stupid, David. I realize something happened over there that has you all twisted up. But I also thought that once you saw my face, you’d…” She stopped again and began to cry.

David placed his hand on hers. She started to pull away, but he stopped her, intertwining their fingers. “Lindsey, please…please don’t say anything until I finish. Just hear me out. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her tears threatening to flood her face.

He took a few deep breaths. “I've given this a lot of thought, and I want you to know that I've never lied to you…and I don't plan to now.” He shook his head. “I’m so messed up right now, Lindsey, I can’t even explain it.” He could barely hold eye contact with her. “I really hope we can be together someday…more than you can ever imagine. But I’m just not ready yet. I…I need to heal,” he stuttered.

She took a deep breath and held it.

“Torn isn't even the word for what I’m feeling over this,” he babbled on. “The last thing I want to do is hurt either of us.”

“I don’t think we have to say goodbye, though,” she said, feeling the panic of desperation creep into her soul. “Don’t you remember the night we shared on that bench?”

His eyes grew even more distant. “I really wish things were different,” he said, “that life didn’t have to be so difficult.” He shrugged. “Time will tell, I guess.”

“You guess?” She returned his shrug to him, perturbed.

“Lindsey, I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that I don't want to destroy any chance we might have at it …just because I might not be ready for it yet.” He grimaced. “I need time to find myself, okay?”

Lindsey, the child of a PTSD victim, shook her head. “You don’t have to find yourself, David. You just have to remember who you are…who you’ve always been.”

He nodded, tears streaming down his face.

Lindsey took a deep breath and surrendered. “David, I’ve told you the way that I feel for you and what I want for us. That’s all I can do. The rest is in your hands.” She peered into his dull eyes. “I can only hope that you’ll think of me every day, as I will you. I hope a lot of things, David.” She paused to collect herself. “Most of all, I hope the day will come when Afghanistan is behind you and we can fall in love all over again and catch up on all the things we’ve missed.” Mimicking him, she shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. I guess time will tell.” She pulled her hand away from his and felt her heart rip clean out of her chest. “Until then, you’ll be in my thoughts,” she whispered.

“I’m so sorry, Lindsey,” he sobbed, his shoulders rocking.

“I love you, David,” she said and, with one final attempt, grabbed his chin and forced eye contact between them. “Now tell me you don’t want to see me and I’ll leave you alone,” she whispered.

As he looked at her, Lindsey could clearly see the anguish in his eyes.

“You can’t, can you?” she said, hopefully.

His tears continued to leak down his cheeks. “I don’t want to see you…for now,” he said, and turned his eyes away from hers.

It felt as though someone had just slugged her in the gut. “Okay,” she gasped and ran out of the house crying harder than she’d ever cried before.

 

Long after Lindsey had run out of the kitchen, David remained catatonic—until he grabbed a drinking glass off the counter and threw it onto the floor where it broke into a hundred pieces. Enraged, he began smashing everything he could get his hands on in the kitchen. At the end of the violent outburst, he collapsed to the floor and began to weep. With his head in both hands, he screamed, “I love you, too, Lindsey.”

Day turned into dusk and, like most nights, just beyond the sobs and sniffles the world turned quiet and black.

 

~~~

 

After four or five weeks of self-imposed solitary confinement—a punishment filled with death-defying panic attacks and long, treacherous tunnels of depression—David decided to reach out to the men he had served with. They’re the only ones who can relate, he thought. And I wonder how they’re doing…really doing?

 

 

 

 

 

Diners, Drive-ins, and Death by Christine Wenger, Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

 

Diners, Drive-Ins and Death
by Christine Wenger

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Death:
A Comfort Food Mystery
Series: Comfort Food (Book 3)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Signet (January 6, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0451415103



Synopsis
For Sandy Harbor’s tastiest comfort food, venture to the Silver Bullet Diner. But head next door to the new drive-in theater if you have an appetite for murder….
Trixie Matkowski has a tall order to fill this fall. Aside from dishing out delicious fare at the Silver Bullet during peak fishing season, she’s helping her friend—Antoinette Chloe Brown, or ACB for short—open a drive-in movie theater in the vacant lot beside her diner. It’s just the thing to take ACB’s mind off Nick, her missing biker beau.
But their plans are fried after Nick’s body is discovered during the groundbreaking for the drive-in. And when the police connect the murder weapon to ACB, she becomes the prime suspect in eighty-sixing Nick. With the fate of her innocent friend and her business on the line, Trixie must make the guilty party pay up before someone else gets stiffed….
Includes Delicious Home-Style Recipes!



What I Thought:

This is one of my favorite Cozy series, and I was not disappointed with this installment of the series.  This book kept my interest from the time I picked it up, until I finally finished it.  I really like visiting Sandy Harbor and all of the eccentric characters that inhabit this small town.  This book had everything that I love in a cozy, it kept me guessing till the end, and it also had just the right amount of humor in it.  I like the setting of this series and I also like the characters, Trixie is a very strong protagonist.  This was a great read to start off my new reading year.  Great job Christine, I literally cannot wait for the next book, please keep up the good work.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

About This Author
I have worked in the criminal justice field for more years than I care to remember! It seems like I was forever going to school while I was working full time, but in the end, I received a dual master’s degree in Probation and Parole Studies and Sociology from Fordham University.
Unfortunately, the knowledge gained from way too many years in night school, didn’t prepare me for what I love to do the most – writing cozy mysteries.
LOVE THOSE COZY MYSTERIES!!
The year 2013 began my series of “comfort food” cozies  which are set in a small-town 1950’s diner: the Silver Bullet (open 24 hours, air conditioned).  The Silver Bullet sits on the shore of Lake Ontario and many colorful characters, including the owner of the diner, Trixie Matkowski, live in Sandy Harbor or are just visiting.
The first book, DO OR DINER, from Penguin/Obsidian books was released in August, 2013.  Another followed, A SECOND HELPING OF MURDER, in April, 2014, and a third, DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DEATH, is scheduled for January, 2015.  I’d like to continue with this series for as long as readers keep reading about sleuthing Trixie Matkowski’s way.
JUST FOR FUN
I enjoy watching professional bull riding and rodeo with my favorite cowboy, my husband Jim. We put on our cowboy regalia (I look horrible in a cowboy hat!) and have traveled to events in Las Vegas, Florida, Connecticut, and other states.
Of course I have to do research for my comfort food diner series.  That takes me to diners all over the U.S. and Canada (and maybe Europe and Asia!) for meals.  It’s a tough job, but I just have to do it!
Best wishes to you, and I hope you smile when you read my books!

Author Links
Online links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinewengerauthor?fref=ts
Website: www.christinewenger.com
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N Book Depository

Guest Post:

Email to Aunt Stella

From Trixie Matkowski

January 6, 2015

 

Aunt Stella:

Hello!  And have a happy and healthy 2015!

I know you are cruising somewhere in the Bahamas and are enjoying warm weather, but you know I like to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening. 

Right now it’s about two degrees above zero (but who’s counting?) on the non-sunny shores of semi-frozen Lake Ontario.    The only one who is enjoying blizzard after blizzard and the neck-deep snow is my adopted pup, Blondie.  Here’s a picture that I took of Blondie yesterday:

 

Things are wonderful at the Silver Bullet Diner.  It was the right decision to buy the diner and the cottages from you.  I enjoy every day there, or should I say early morning because I work the graveyard shift? 

I want to tell you about  Christmas.  Ty Brisco (Sandy Harbor deputy and Houston transplant), and Antoinette Chloe Brownelli (you know her, she runs Brown’s Four Corners Restaurant in town), and I all cooked Christmas dinner at the Silver Bullet.  We are continuing your (you and Uncle Porky’s) tradition of cooking for the staff and their families along with anyone who doesn’t have a place to go to for Christmas. 

What a crowd we had! 

ACB and I made a zillion pierogies.  Ty carved up four turkeys and four hams.  We had tons of kielbasa that I ordered from the store in Utica that you like so much.  And I made horseradish, cranberry/pear chutney, and lots of snowball cookies.  My mother’s snowball recipe has been around the world, most recently to Afghanistan where a fan of my author pal, Christine Wenger, sent a box of them to the troops.  Isn’t that terrific?    

Chris has the recipe on her website if you want to check it out:  http://www.christinewenger.com/recipes.html

Well, Aunt Stella, I have to get ready to go to work now.  Please write back when you get a chance.  Enjoy the warm weather!

                                                                                Love,

                                                                                Trixie

 

GIVEAWAY:

CHRISTINE IS GRACIOUSLY GIVEING AWAY ONE PRINT COPY OF THIS BOOK PER BLOG.  TO ENTER, LEAVE A COMMENT TELLING ME HOW YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL, NO EMAIL NO ENTRY, ALSO US ONLY SORRY.  I WILL PICK A WINNER BY JANUARY 13.  GOOD LUCK.

 

 

 

 

 

Lies a River Deep by Vera Jane Cook

 

General Fiction / Women's Fiction

Date Published: March 1, 2012

   

 In the summer of 1962, at a high school graduation party, Bessie Day Hardy is victim to a brutal crime. Fifty years later, the consequences of that horrific night will transition into unforeseen events that will shatter her serene and uncomplicated life.

 

 

 

 

It was a day like any other. Days have a sameness, even new, they offer little beyond weather changes and sudden deaths.

 

“And how are you today?” Bessie asked, showing a smile that age had not yet dulled. She’d always been cute because of it. Sixty years ago, or more, she was the little girl whose cheeks you pinched, and though she was old now, she still wore her hair in curls; silver grey undulations that framed her face and brought out a blithe desire in others to pinch where her dimples dipped, even to kiss her there unabashedly.

 

Grey looked up and nodded. “Same,” he said.

 

The air was damp with April moisture as Bessie Day Hardy wrapped her scarf closer to her neck and shivered. Air that hung heavy like wet clothes caught flapping in the rain made it hard to breathe. The scarf had been a gift in a white torn box, under red Santa Claus wrapping, from the Episcopal Church of Saint John the Apostle Christmas party, just last year. The lime green and

caramel colored wool that she loved to feel against her lips, an anonymous kindness from someone who had written: Bless you and have a very Merry Christmas. Someone, she imagined with fresh white skin, pearl teeth and eyes that sparkled blue in daylight, light as the sea, but darkened with the night, turning cenereal behind the shadows of dusk.

 

“We ever going to see the sun again?” She sighed. A wind kicked around the corner and her body felt the chill, enemy winds that carried the threat of sodden attacks to bones too brittle to fight. Later, she would feel the ache and she would rub her muscles more for the distraction than the release of pain.

 

“If we live long enough,” Grey said.

 

Bessie chuckled. Living long wasn’t the blessing it used to be. Aging was in the way. Couldn’t leave a person alone, had to show up and make her breath short, expose every damn vein in her body and give her the unsightly imprint of impending death. Nobody wants to look at mortality too closely and aging people carry its threat, vulnerably apparent; the weight of its nearness is a

monster in the wings where heaven is a nebulous and cracked mirror; don’t look into it, the young whisper: don’t look yet.

 

But the old were once young. Bessie Day Hardy still carried the traces of adolescent giddiness in the creases of her lips and her middle-aged ardor for Chauncey Hardy still glinted in her eyes at the memory of his smooth hands in hers, and his fine soft hair against her breast. His step was lively. She could hear it, sometimes, when the house was quiet. Chauncey’s step on the stairs, in the kitchen, on the bedroom floor.

 

Damn house was quiet now, even her cat walked too softly to hear.

What I have to say:

This book was a little hard to get into at first, but picked up towards the end.  It was well written with a good plot and well rounded characters. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

 

 

 

 

 

Vera Jane Cook

Pharaoh's Star is Vera Jane Cook's most recent release. The Story of Sassy Sweetwater was Vera Jane’s second southern fiction novel and was a finalist in the ForeWord book of the Year Awards for 2012 and received a five star ForeWord Clarion review, as well as an Eric Hoffer honorable mention award for ebook fiction in 2013. Dancing Backward in Paradise also received a 5 Star Clarion ForeWord review and an Eric Hoffer notable new fiction award in 2006, as well as the Indie Excellence Award in 2006. Also by Vera Jane Cook: Lies a River Deep, Where the Wildflowers Grow, Marybeth, Hollister& Jane and Annabel Horton, Lost Witch of Salem. Her next novel, Pleasant Day will be published in 2015 by Moonshine Cove Press.

Website: http://www.verajanecook.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/verajanecook    

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/verajanecook

Blog: http://www.verajanecook.com/blog

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lies-River-Deep-Vera-Jane-ebook/dp/B007G4KHT2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413383989&sr=8-1&keywords=Lies+a+River+Deep

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lies-a-river-deep-vera-jane-cook/1107228163?ean=2940149245758

 

 

 



 

 

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Coming to Rosemont by Barbara Hinske

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Forensic accountant Maggie Martin survives the sudden death of her husband, the charismatic President of Windsor College, only to uncover the secrets of his carefully-concealed double life. Dealing with the financial and emotional wreckage left in Paul’s wake, she is stunned to learn he inherited an estate known as Rosemont in the seemingly-serene Midwestern town of Westbury. Why had he never told her?



Maggie travels to Westbury for the stated purpose of listing Rosemont for immediate sale, but what she really seeks are answers to her all-consuming questions about her sham of a marriage; her sham of a life. She never anticipated the seductive charm of Rosemont. Throwing her trademark caution to the wind, and over the objections of her opinionated grown children, she pulls up stakes and moves halfway across the country, determined to make a fresh start in Westbury. Behind closed doors, however, lurks a cadre of evildoers, playing with multiple wild cards of fraud, embezzlement and arson.



With a quiet, orderly – and distinctively solitary – life in mind, Maggie is instead thrown headlong into a crusade against political corruption, where defeat and retreat are not an option. Still bearing the scars of betrayal, will she find joy, romance and possibility in Westbury?



This fast-paced, smart novel has enough twists and turns to make the reader want to buckle in!

Enjoy an excerpt:



Maggie dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the squirming dog. “You don’t know how much I appreciate being able to have Eve with me tonight,” she beamed up at John. “My flight was delayed and I had a Chatty-Cathy car rental agent. I drove like a maniac to get here. I’m really very grateful you waited. The lot was empty and I thought that I was too late.”



“It was no trouble. I was catching up on paperwork,” John assured her. “I live on the other side of the Square and walk to work, weather permitting. I usually stop at one of the restaurants on the way home for dinner.”



“Are you done? Would you like a lift home?”



John knew an opportunity when he saw one. “I just need to lock up,” he said. “Are you hungry? Or are you full of delicious airline food,” he mocked. When she shook her head and indicated that she was, indeed, starved, he proposed that the three of them walk over to Pete’s for dinner. They could leave her car at the Hospital and she could drop him off at his house after dinner.

What I Have to Say:

This was a book that once I started, I didn't want to put down.  I literally fell in love with the characters and the town of Westbury.  This seems like a great place to live, but it is a little dangerous as well, as there are some corrupt people in office in this town that Maggie and her friends need to unseat.  This was a book that was well written, it had a great protagonist in Maggie, it was set in a great location, it had a great plot, it had a little romance, but was not graphic at all and wasn't sappy.  It also had a great dog in which I loved.  This book left off with a cliffhanger that was very well written, because I can't wait to pick up the next book in this series and find out what happens with Maggie and her friends.  I don't usually give stars or anything like that, but this book was way beyond a five star read!  Great job Barbara!

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.



About the Author:

Barbara Hinske is a practicing attorney in Phoenix, Arizona. She has two grown children with her exceedingly kind and good second husband, who died of cancer in 2006. Lucky in love, Barb married another exceptional man and father of two in 2010, and they live in their own Rosemont with two adorable and spoiled dogs.



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbara-Hinske/402247529854511

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraHinske

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/BarbaraHinske/

Website: http://barbarahinske.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15080873-barbara-hinske

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