Lisa Ks Book Reviews blog is proud to bring to you

THE COZY TIMES

This is a weekly online publication focused on connecting cozy mystery readers to favorite cozy characters by way of their town's newspapers. 

The Cozy Times will be available Wednesdays right here on Lisa Ks blog. 

There will also be weekend editions, and special editions from time to time. So keep watch. 

Today The Cozy Times is featuring the 

Ramble On

The jitterbug, cupcakes, and penguins

 in Ramble, VA? 

Check it out!

  Local Mortician Tosses Bridal Bouquet…Designer

Normally the only tossable blooms at weddings are in the bride’s bouquet.  But after preparing a perfectly lovely bouquet for the mayor’s daughter’s nuptial celebration, local floral designer Audrey Bloom found herself tossed about, during a particularly heated jitterbug.

“It was completely nuts,” one anonymous wedding guest reported. “He was slinging her around like a rag doll. You just knew that wasn’t going to end well.”

Other dancers were able to avoid injury—from either collision or flying shoes—by exiting the dance floor.

While some witnesses expressed sympathy for Bloom, others were more suspicious of her motives. “It had to be some kind of publicity stunt, right?” one man said.  “I mean, at first I thought it was all real, and then her dress comes flying up in the air and she’s wearing penguin underpants. Penguin. Underpants. Who does that? She must have planned it that way.”

Bloom, as readers may recall, was recently focused in the Ramble On when it came to light that none of the brides who ever carried one of her bouquets, specially designed using the old Victorian language of flowers, have ever split up from her spouse. While some brides have claimed Bloom’s bouquets are magical, no amount of magic could overcome the greater forces of gravity and inertia. When Bloom’s dance partner lost his grip, she went flying across the floor and under the cupcake table, nearly upsetting the whole table.

“I would have sued,” the bride said. “Seriously. Audrey’s lucky only one cupcake fell.”

Maybe she was also lucky that local baker Nick Maxwell was in place to save the cupcake table and help Bloom to her feet. Or maybe there was enough of that magic to go around.

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Lincoln Point sounds 

like quite the little town!

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That's this week's edition of 

The Cozy Times 

I hope you enjoyed!

To learn more about the little town of Ramble, Virginia, and the language of flowers,  read the 

Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries 

by author 

Beverly Allen

About the author

Barbara Early aka Beverly Allen writes cozy mysteries with a healthy dose of comedy and sometimes a splash of romance. Bloom and Doom and For Whom the Bluebell Tolls, the first two books in the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mystery series, are now available. Floral Depravity will release in October. Beverly grew up in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY. When not reading or writing, she enjoys cooking, crafts, home-improvement projects, and spending time with her husband, daughter, and four naughty, 

but adorable cats.

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Is there a cozy town you'd like to see featured in 

The Cozy Times? 

Please let me know in the comments section.

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.

It's

Cozy Food Friday!

Wait...what? 

This is Tuesday...

How does this keep happening? 

Who cares! 

It means we get another yummy recipe! 

It's

Cozy Food Tuesday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today I'm featuring

The Consignment Shop Mystery series

by Duffy Brown!

Book One                                       Book Two

        Book Three                               Book Four Novella  

Book Five

Today's recipes are featured in the yet to be released. 

LETHAL IN OLD LACE

Coming soon! 

On to the recipes!

It’s summer in Savannah and Reagan Summerside and her sidekick, Auntie KiKi are knee-deep in solving more mysteries. Not that they go looking for them mind you, but dead bodies just seem to fall across Reagan’s path. It’s all her ex’s fault! The way Reagan sees it when she got divorced that took one lifeless piece of crud out of her life and now the fates feel they have to fill the void by sending a whole bunch more her way.

Reagan and Auntie KiKi talk clues and suspects on Reagan’s front porch of her old Victorian. 

Bruce Willis, Reagan’s canine BFF sits beside her and a shaker of martinis sits beside Auntie KiKi. Talking dead people and whodunit it comes a lot easier while sipping something tall and cool.

Here are two of Auntie KiKi’s fave martini recipes. With or without booze they are totally delish!

Auntie KiKi’s Summer 

On The Veranda Watermelon Martini

Ingredients 

 Sugar + kosher salt

 6 oz watermelon juice (mash or use food processor and strain)

 2  1/2 oz vodka or pellegrino sparkling water

 2  1/2 oz Limoncello or orange liqueur or oj

1 oz fresh lime juice

Ice

Watermelon wedges for garnish

Instructions

Chill glasses in freezer 10 minutes

Combine sugar and salt and dip you dampened glass rim.

Fill cocktail shaker with the watermelon juice, vodka or sparkling water, liqueur and lime juice. 

Fill shaker with ice and shake 6-8 times.

Strain and pour into the glasses and garnish with a watermelon wedge.

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Reagan’s Sexy Savannah Nights Martini

Ingredients

1 tablespoon finely grated orange chocolate

1 teaspoon sugar

2 orange slices

1/2 cup premium chocolate ice cream, at room temperature for 5 minutes

1 ounce orange vodka (or fresh squeeze orange juice)

Instructions

Gently stir together the chocolate and sugar and put it on a plate. 

Run an orange slice around the rim of a chilled martini glass and dip the rim in the chocolate/sugar mix to coat.

Add the ice cream and vodka to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. 

Strain into the prepared glass and garnish with the remaining orange slice.

Mmmmm.....The perfect treat to have 

with this luscious drink. 

MY REVIEW 

DEMISE IN DENIM

Note: DEMISE IN DENIM picks up where the eBook DEAD MAN WALKER leaves off. It would be a good idea to read that story before this one, but not one hundred percent necessary. 

This book started out running, and the action and laughs never slowed down. There were more twists and turns in this story than on a rollercoaster. Many times while reading, I was sure I knew who the killer was, only to doubt myself and change my mind. It was a shock when I read who the culprit was, because of course, I was wrong. ;-) Even the very last sentence threw a major surprise my way! 

The characters in the series are delightful! Set in Savannah, Georgia, author Duffy Brown knows how to write the sassier side of the south. With hysterical lines like, “Well, buy me a hound dog and call me Elvis”, Ms. Brown will have you talking with a southern accent before you finish the book. 

If you enjoy a great mystery, love to laugh, and a can’t resist adorable dog (his name is Bruce Willis!), DEMISE IN DENIM is the book for you!

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.

Have you ever wondered what your favorite authors are doing when they aren't writing those wonderful cozy mysteries that we love so much?

Do they have other jobs, hobbies, hidden talents?

Now you can find out!

Stop by the blog on Thursdays for delightful guest posts from our amazing authors! 

They're going to be sharing all sorts of things that they do when they're not writing.

Today's special guest author is 

Vicki Delany

aka

Eva Gates

Vicki is the author of the wonderful 

Year Round Christmas Mysteries.

Vickie writing as Ava is the author of the excellent Lighthouse Library Mysteries. 

So, what does Vicki do when she's not writing?

When I’m Not Writing...

My Trip to Vietnam

By Vicki Delany

Being a writer is, I have found, more than a full time job. I sometimes think I’m working all the time.  I write outlines and proposals, I write my books (I have 23 published so far), I edit them. And then I edit the edits, and check the proof-readers’ copy. And begin the whole process again, sometimes before the first round is even finished.

And then there is all the other stuff – travelling and promotion and research. Blog posts and guest blog visits, FB posts, newsletters and contests, bookstore and book club visits, book signings, luncheon talks or giving workshops, travelling to conferences. Plus hours of research and long research trips.  

Oh, did I mention I am the current President of the Crime Writers of Canada. That’s got its own workload too.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining (well, maybe just a little bit).  I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, and that’s the joy to me of this late-in-life (well, not too late) career. As soon as I am not having fun anymore, I’ll stop doing it.

But even as much as I enjoy the writing life, it does seem sometimes to be all of my life.

So I recently took a long vacation that had nothing at all to do with writing or promotion.

I went to Vietnam for eighteen days. I went on an organized tour, and loved every minute of it. The places we visited were fascinating, the people on the tour were all great, and the guide was fun and knowledgeable and charming.

Why Vietnam? A couple of people I knew who are very well traveled said they loved it there. The country is only just opening to tourism in a big way, so everything isn't yet overrun by tourists, but the tourist accommodations and facilities are top-notch.

I flew into Hanoi, and spent two days before my tour began, just wandering the city (map in hand) by myself. It was fascinating, the Old Quarter in particular.  With the tour we went to the famous Ha Long Bay and stayed overnight on a boat, then took the overnight train to the former imperial city of Hue, and a bus to Da Nang and then to Hoi An, a totally charming city on the ocean. We then flew to Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by the locals) and traveled to the Mekong Delta which we toured by boat.

Just being in those places, the names so well known to us of a certain age, gave me a wonderful feeling. The county is peaceful (we barely saw a cop the entire time we were there) and apparently prosperous. Things can change, and peace can come.

I hope you enjoy my pictures. 

Eva Gates is the national bestselling author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin Random House, set in a historic lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The third book in the series, Reading up a Storm, was released on April 5, 2016.  Eva is the pen name of Vicki Delany, one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers, author of the Constable Molly Smith series from Poisoned Pen Press and the Year Round Christmas Mysteries from Penguin Random House.

Find them at www.vickidelany.com. Facebook:  Vicki Delany & Eva Gates (evagatesauthor) and twitter: @vickidelany and @evagatesauthor

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Writing as Vicki Delany

Year-Round Christmas Mysteries

Book One

Book Two

A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...

It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn. 

But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods. 

When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...

Available for pre-order

Release date

November 1, 2016

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Writing as Eva Gates

Lighthouse Library Mysteries

Book One                                     Book Two

Book Three

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Also Writing as Vicki Delany 

Non-Cozies

RAY ROBERTSON MYSTERY Series

CONSTABLE MOLLY SMITH MYSTERY Series

KLONDIKE MYSTERY Series

 And quite a number of stand alones!

Vicki on Amazon

So many wonderful titles! 

Which one peaks your interest?

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.