Saturday, February 28, 2015


I'm thrilled this weekend to be hosting a giveaway for one copy of  
PUPPIES IN PARADISE 
Book 5 in the Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery series.
by author 
Kathi Daley 

When a friend of Tj's is killed and her dog injured, Tj takes responsibility for the litter of puppies left behind as she works with Kyle, Jenna, and the gang to catch a killer.

Open to US and Canada

US - Choice of Print or Kindle copy
Canada - Kindle copy only

Please use the Rafflecopter for at the end of the post.

Guest Review by
 Dawn Frazier

5.0 out of 5 stars
 I loved it! This is the perfect cozy Winter book, February 23, 2015
I loved it! This is the perfect cozy Winter book! It is book five in the TJ Jensen series. TJ is taking care of a friends dog and her litter of puppies when she gets involved in another murder mystery. This book has a mystery within a mystery, and it was a lot of fun to read. I really like TJ, and her sisters that live with her. Ashley and Gracie are two of my favorites characters in this series. I love the sense of family with them and TJ. This book also has a bit of a romance going on, and I will be very happy if it goes where I want it to!! I didn't stop reading until I finished the book, I was very surprised at who the killer turned out to be. Looking forward to the next in the series!



As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

GOOD LUCK!








a Rafflecopter giveaway


Friday, February 27, 2015

It's
Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 
another great cozy mystery!

Today's recipe comes from
THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN
A Killer Collection of Recipes by the Bestselling Authors of the Cozy Chicks Blog 
SECOND EDITION

Welcome to our kitchen! The kitchen is the heart of the home. This sense of warmth and companionship is what The Cozy Chicks try to invoke in our novels. And now, our cookbook will allow you to enter the heart of our cozy mystery worlds—the stories of our characters, of their authors, told through food. For a short while, our heroines have taken a break from crime solving to don aprons and wield spatulas and wooden spoons. And they’d like nothing more than to spend some time with you. THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN is chock full of mouthwatering gems. Everything is here: main dishes, desserts, salads, soups, drinks, and did I mention desserts? Don’t miss this fabulous collection. I’ve got both the ebook version and a hardcopy. Get yours today! --Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author of the White House Chef and Manor House mysteries The Cozy Chicks Are Bestselling Authors: Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley, Deb Baker / Hannah Reed, Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett, Kate Collins, Mary Kennedy, Mary Jane Maffini, 
Maggie Sefton, Leann Sweeney

This book contains recipes from cozy mystery favorites, 
Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley
Deb Baker / Hannah Reed
Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett/ Lorna Barrett
Kate Collins
Mary Kennedy
Mary Jane Maffini
Maggie Sefton
and
Leann Sweeney

You can follow The Cozy Chicks blog here...

Today's recipe is from 
Kate Collins
author of the 
Flower Shop Mysteries

IRISH LEEKS AND POTATO SOUP


Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup onion, 1/4 inch dice
2 diced leeks, well rinsed
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
5 cups chicken stock
4 cups dice Idaho potatoes or 1 5-pound bag new red potatoes
1 large carrot, diced
salt and pepper to taste
chives (optional)
bacon bits (optional)
bouquet grani (see below)



   Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.

   Lower the heat; add onion and carrots and cook gently for 2 minutes. 

   Add the leeks and cook for 6-7 minutes or until the onions are soft but not brown. 

   Add flour and stir for 2 minutes to thicken, making a roux, without browning. 

   Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. 

   Add the bouquet garni. 

   Add the potatoes and simmer over medium heat for 40-45 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked thoroughly.


   Remove from the heat and discard the garni. 

   Garnish with bacon bits or chives.

   Finished soup -  Yield: 4 servings 



BOUQUET GRANI


   1 bay leaf
   2 tablespoons chopped parsley 
   1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
   1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns


   Tie the ingredients in a small piece of cheesecloth or wrap in foil pricked with small holes.

NOTE: All images are from Google Images and/or Pinterest. 
Your dish may vary in appearance.

I think a bowl of this with some warm crusty bread would be perfect on a snowy day like I have here in DE. 

But I bet it would also be very refreshing in the summer time if served chilled. 

 Author Kate Collins
writes 
The Flower Shop Mystery series. 
The newest book in the series, 
A ROOT AWAKENING 
is available now!


Abby Knight's marriage may be in full bloom, but house hunting is no bed of roses in latest novel in the New York Times bestselling Flower Shop Mystery series...


Now that they’ve tied the knot, flower shop owner Abby Knight and her husband, Marco, want to put down roots. When it comes to picking a house, Marco can’t wait to get his hands dirty, while Abby isn’t ready for a fixer-upper. But conflict really sprouts when they’re checking out a dilapidated Victorian and watch a construction worker take a life-threatening tumble.


Since witnesses claim the man shouted for help, suggesting that the fall was no accident, the victim’s flamboyant wife hires Marco to find the person responsible. Meanwhile, Abby keeps secret from Marco her own investigation into the home’s inhabitants, a family whose off-kilter behavior has aroused her suspicions. If only Abby’s very pregnant cousin, Jillian, will stop distracting Abby with false labor pains, she can conclude her own inquiries before Marco finds out…and her case blossoms into a disaster.

MY REVIEW


I found A ROOT AWAKENING to be every bit as entertaining as the other volumes in this series. With the same great writing style, it’s packed with mystery, fun, and colorful characters.


It’s hard to believe this is already the sixteenth installment in the Flower Shop Mysteries. Yet, somehow, Ms. Collins has kept this series as fresh as the flowers she writes about. For indeed, it is a wonderful bloom in an ever growing bouquet.

There is a superb “whodunit” with plenty of false leads to keep you guessing. I had no idea who the culprit was until lead character, Abby Knight, knew herself. While I do love to be able to guess sometimes, I really enjoy when a book like this one leaves me with my mouth hanging open and saying, “No way!”

One of my favorite parts of the story was the house hunting involving Abby and her new husband, Marco. It reminded me so much of looking for a new house a couple of years ago. Some of the “fixer uppers” we were shown were in pretty rough shape. Like Abby, I was not enthused with the prospect of being the one to do the fixing.

You’re really going to enjoy A ROOT AWAKENING. If you haven’t read this series yet, please start adding them to your TBR stacks! You won’t be sorry. And if you already read this series, well, you are in for the same wonderful treat you always get when reading the Flower Shop Mysteries.

Check out the end of the book for a blurb on, FLORIST GRUMP, coming in November 2015!

Keep reading to check out my installments of 
Book Beginnings on Fridays
and
The Friday 56

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader
Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading

Keeping my Cozy Food Friday theme going... 
Book Beginnings this week is from
A ROOT AWAKENING by Kate Collins
Book 16 in the Flower Shop Mystery series

Monday

"Are my newlyweds ready to go inside for a look?"

Our Realtor pressed her hands together as though praying, her smile as desperate as her enthusiastic nods, as if to say, Of course you're ready! At that price, you'd be fools not to be. Please, please, please?

I glanced at Marco, who was studying the dilapidated Victorian home with a shrewd and, yes, disdainful eye. Good. We were on the same page. 

"No," I said, just as Marco said, "Sure."

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice
Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's okay.) *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. *Post it.

Continuing with the A ROOT AWAKENING theme
My Friday 56

He wasn't hard to locate. There was only one laborer in the back, a broad-shouldered man with coal black hair tied back in a ponytail, a square-jawed face, and a well proportioned body. 


A ROOT AWAKENING is 
Book 16 in the 
Flower Shop Mysteries. 

You can find the rest of the great titles in this series at your local bookstore,


Follow Kate at her website

As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!
Also, become a Follower of my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

?????????????????????????????

Whodunit Wednesday Solution


   "According to Bernidi's story, he lay down in the narrow space behind one of the display counters. His face was to the wall, and the lower wooden panels of the counter would have obstructed his vision even if he turned. Since he supposedly did not arise until after the thief left, he could not have known that the thief used a burlap sack." 

   Business had been bad for Bernidi. He fabricated the entire robbery for the insurance money and was sent to prison for his trouble. 

Thursday, February 26, 2015


It's
Whodunit Wednesday 

Do you like to solve mysteries?
Do you love to win prizes?
If you said yes to both questions,
you're in the right place! 

It's easy.
Read the story below and if you think you know
Whodunit, enter your answer(s) into 
the Rafflecopter form.

Giveaway is to US only

This week's Whodunit is being hosted by author
Staci McLaughlin!


One lucky winner will receive a copy of 
A HEALTHY HOMICIDE
Book 4  in the Blossom Valley Mystery series!
Out now!


Normally the O'Connell Organic Farm and Spa in Blossom Valley, California, would welcome a little healthy competition. But it's no day at the spa when the rivalry with their chic opponent turns lethal. . .

Blossom Valley is abuzz with excitement over The Pampered Life, a brand new spa with a trendy menu of decadent services and employees who look like they jumped off the pages of a fashion magazine--and Dana Lewis is worried it could ruin business. But when the swanky spa's owner is drowned in a mud bath, police suspect a healthy rivalry may have turned into deadly revenge. Now, with all eyes on the farm, Dana must sift through a tawdry list of suspects and catch a killer more fearsome than a botched chemical peel. . .

What readers have had to say about the Blossom Valley Mystery series...

Going Organic Can Kill You Book 1


5.0 out of 5 stars Great cozy & good characters!July 17, 2012


All Natural Murder Book 2


5.0 out of 5 stars A clever protagonist and a good dose of humor enliven this cozy seriesSeptember 11, 2014
By 

Green Living Can Be Deadly Book 3


5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful! Mystery! Action! Suspenseful! Romance! Humor! Engaging!May 6, 2014

By 

You really want to win a copy, don't you?

Well then, read the Whodunit and get your entries in!

BAD DAY FOR BERNIDI

   During a midday visit to the city of Royson, Thomas P. Stanwick, the amateur logician, notice several police cars at the entrance of Bernidi, a small downtown jewelry store. Toying with the tip of his mustache in thoughtful curiosity, he approached and eased his way through the knot on onlookers. His friend Inspector Matt Walker was inside, and he signaled to the policeman at the door to let Stanwick in. 

   "Hello, Tom," exclaimed Walker in mild surprise. "What brings you here?"

   "I was passing by," replied Stanwick. He glanced around the cool, dark interior of the narrow room. "What happened?"

   "I was just about to ask Mr. Bernidi to repeat his story for me."

   The two turned to the small, white-haired owner, who was leaning against one of the two display counters that ran the length of both sides of the room. His face was streaked with dust, and he looked exhausted. 

   "I had just stepped into the back," he said, "when I hear the bell on the front door ring. I come out, and there's this guy, very well dressed, looking around and coming toward me and the register. 'Can I help you?' I say, and he smiles and pulls a gun halfway out of his jacket pocket. A little piece, but I can see it's real. Then he puts it back, but keeps his hand in there. There's nobody else around, so what can I do?"

   "Anyway, he makes me open the register, but I just made a deposit, so there's only a few bucks. He doesn't get mad, but takes a piece of clothesline out of another pocket, ties my hands behind my back, and makes me lie down on my stomach behind the side counter here, with my face to the wall." 

   "It was tight; you can see there's not much room back there. Then I hear him opening wood panels---these here, the lower half of the counter---but he finds nothing. I only keep supplies down there. Then he steps across to open the opposite counter, pulls out a little burlap sack, smashes the glass, scoops some rings into the sack, and runs out. I get up, see the broken glass, and yell for a cop." 

   "What did the man look like?" asked Walker.

   "Like I told the officer---big, burly guy, clean-shaven, dark hair."

   "Don't you have your display glass wired to an alarm?" inquired Stanwick. 

   "Never got around to it. It's insured anyway." 

   "Well, thank you Mr. Bernidi," said Walker, closing his notebook. "We'll check around and let you know when we make an arrest." 

   "I think you can make an arrest right now," said Stanwick. 

Normally I would ask you two questions now.
Who does Stanwick think stole the rings? 
and 
How does he know? 

However, since Stanwick says ..."make an arrest right now" and the only person mentioned in this story is Mr. Bernidi, we are safe in saying, Mr. Bernidi is lying and stole the rings himself. So, today's only question is...

How did Stanwick know Bernidi was lying and stole the rings himself? 

The Whodunit solution will be posted on tomorrow's blog .

I want to thank Staci McLaughlin for hosting this week's Whodunit Wednesday.

Learn more about Staci.






As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Want to follow my blog? 
Click on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page!

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep reading for the answers to yesterday's 
MATCH IT

???????????????????????

MATCH IT
Solutions

Abby Knight ~ Flower Shop Mysteries

Olivia Paras ~ White House Chef Mysteries

Harlow Jane Cassidy ~ Magical Dressmaking Mysteries

Hazel Rose ~ Book Group Mysteries

Camryn Brooks ~ Snow Globe Shop Mysteries