BOOK BLAST

I'm so excited to be joining in the book blast for

TANDEM DEMISE

Book 3 in the Cycle Path Mysteries

by Duffy Brown

Smugglers on the hunt, a police chief on the run, lost loot and a dead wedding planner have the Mackinac Island regulars riding in circles 

After solving two murders, bike shop owner Evie Bloomfield thought life on Mackinac Island would settle into boredom until she finds out Nate Sutter, island police chief and once-upon-a-time under cover cop is on the run. Some badass guys from Nate’s Detroit days think he stole money from them in a champagne smuggling operation and now they’re headed to the island to get their loot. Evie is determined to help Nate because he’s a good cop, Nate is determined to keep interfering Evie and island locals out of harms way, and the crooks are determined to get their money.
To add to the island’s problems there’s a dead guy on the dock and the new wedding planner is more interested in playing bedroom bingo than ordering bridal bouquets. 

With the help of Fiona, Evie’s BFF and local newspaper editor, Evie is determined to prove Nate innocent, figure out how champagne smuggling, bodies on the dock and a bad wedding planner are tied together and not wind up taking a long walk off a short pier herself. 

📚📖📚📖📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

2 lucky readers will win a

TANDEM DEMISE Tote Bag!

USA only

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.

About the Author

Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. She is a National Bestselling author and now conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own. She has two series the Consignment Shop Mysteries set in Savannah along with rescue pup Bruce Willis and the Cycle Path Mysteries set on Mackinac Island with judgmental cats Cleveland and Bambino.

Author Links: 

Website - http://www.duffybrown.com 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com 

Purchase Link - Amazon

BOOK BLAST TOUR PARTICIPANTS

DECEMBER 3

The Book's the Thing – SPOTLIGHT*

Celticlady's Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

Mythical Books - SPOTLIGHT

Rosepoint Publishing – SPOTLIGHT*

Brooke Blogs - SPOTLIGHT

Socrates Book Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

Mallory Heart's Cozies - REVIEW

FUONLYKNEW - SPOTLIGHT

Cozy Up With Kathy - SPOTLIGHT

My Reading Journeys - REVIEW

The Montana Bookaholic - SPOTLIGHT*

Varietats - SPOTLIGHT

Handcrafted Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

The Ninja Librarian – SPOTLIGHT*

Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book - SPOTLIGHT*

DECEMBER 4

The Avid Reader - REVIEW

StoreyBook Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW

Bookworm Cafe – SPOTLIGHT*

Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

Carla Loves to Read - SPOTLIGHT*

Community Bookstop – SPOTLIGHT*

Melina's Book Blog – SPOTLIGHT*

Here's How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT*

Ruff Drafts - SPOTLIGHT

Babs Book Bistro – REVIEW

The Power of Words – SPOTLIGHT*

A Holland Reads - SPOTLIGHT

fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT*

Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews - SPOTLIGHT

Lori's Reading Corner - SPOTLIGHT

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page

(on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click "View web version".

Then follow the above directions.

Today I'm joining Berkley Mystery

in hosting authors

Lorraine Bartlett

and

Gayle Leeson

and their new release

YULE BE DEAD

Book 5 in the Victoria Square Mysteries

Like a lot of readers, I enjoy reading holiday themed books during the season they are set in (not a must, but fun) making YULE BE DEAD was of course a must.

I’ve missed the last two books in this series, so a few things have changed. But I had no problem catching up. It also helps that the author provides a character list at the beginning of the book. (More and more authors are doing that)

YULE BE DEAD was a good mystery and holds up to the others in the series. I didn’t guess who the killer was, but protagonist, Katie Bonner didn’t either, making me feel not so bad. There was a lot going on for Katie in this story. It’s no wonder she couldn’t figure it out. As for me, I couldn’t see clearly beyond the twists and turns. Also, the killer wasn’t made obvious to the reader.

Fans of this series are going to have a great time reading, YULE BE DEAD.

📚📚📖📚📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of

YULE BE DEAD

USA only

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post

📚📖📚📖📚

MY REVIEW

Like a lot of readers, I enjoy reading holiday themed books during the season they are set in (not a must, but fun) making YULE BE DEAD was of course a must.

I’ve missed the last two books in this series, so a few things have changed. But I had no problem catching up. It also helps that the author provides a character list at the beginning of the book. (More and more authors are doing that)

YULE BE DEAD was a good mystery and holds up to the others in the series. I didn’t guess who the killer was, but protagonist, Katie Bonner didn’t either, making me feel not so bad. There was a lot going on for Katie in this story. It’s no wonder she couldn’t figure it out. As for me, I couldn’t see clearly beyond the twists and turns. Also, the killer wasn’t made obvious to the reader.

Fans of this series are going to have a great time reading, YULE BE DEAD.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page

(on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click "View web version".

Then follow the above directions.

Christmas is coming

and with it, lots and lots of cookies!

Looking for something different?

Try these delicious delights from 

Joanne Fluke's

SUGAR COOKIE MURDER

The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen. Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas--until murder is added to the mix.  .  .

When it comes to holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion--and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way. The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.

The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife--all wrapped up in glitter and fur. His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog. And when Hannah's mother's antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the décolletage of the new--and now late--Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice.

With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden--and a killer. Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it's up to Hannah to dig out all the clues--and make sure that this white Christmas doesn't bring any more deadly tidings.  .  .

Includes over fifty original recipes for you to try!

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Heavenly Tea Cookies

All food images courtesy of Google Images

DO NOT preheat oven---

this dough must chill before baking. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks, ¾ pound)

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 beaten eggs (just whisk them up in a glass with a fork)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavoring---in the story lemon extract was used)

1 ½ cups dried mixed fruit chopped with 2 Tablespoons flour (measure fruit after chopping)

3 cups flour

   Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 2 ½ minutes.

   Add the brown sugar and mix it up.

   Let it cool for several minutes. 

   When the mixture is warm to the touch, but not hot, add the beaten eggs baking powder and vanilla. 

   Chop the dried mixed fruit. This is easy with a food processor and steel blade.     Just drop in the fruit (in the story, peaches, apples, pears, and apricots were     used) and sprinkle the 2 Tablespoons of lour on top. 

   Pulse until the fruit is finely chopped, adding a bit more flour if it starts to  "gum" up. 

   Measure out a cup and half of chopped fruit.

   Add fruit to your mixing bowl and stir it in.

   Then add the flour, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. 

   Place the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up. 

   Then divide into 4 parts.

   Using waxed paper, roll each part into a log approximately 2 inches in diameter. (If dough is too sticky, return it to the refrigerator and let it chill for another 10 minutes.)

   Wrap logs in fresh sheets of waxed paper, stick them in a plastic bag, and store them in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours. (Overnight is fine too---Heavenly Tea Cookie dough will keep up to a week in your refrigerator.)

   When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F., with rack in the center position.

   Take out a roll of dough, (just one---it's easier to work with when it's chilled) unwrap it, and roll it on the counter again if the bottom has flattened in the refrigerator

   Cut quarter-inch thick slices with a sharp knife and place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. 

   Return unused dough to the refrigerator. 

   Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F. for 10 minutes or until nicely browned.

   Cool one or two minutes on the sheet and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. 

   Yield: 6 to 7 dozen cookies. 

Note: These cookies are not very sweet---

if you prefer a sweeter cookie, dust the tops with powdered sugar before serving. 

Aren't these beautiful?

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe?

Message it to me at

Lisa Ks Book Reviews on Facebook

and I'll share it on the blog!

(Photos would be wonderful!)

Today I'm joining Berkley Mystery

in hosting author

Laura Childs

and her new release

EGGS ON ICE

Book 8 in the Cackleberry Club Mysteries

The Christmas season at the Cackleberry Club café is marred by murder in the latest book in the New York Times bestselling series.

Some say that casting crusty attorney Allen Sharpe as Scrooge in the Kindred Players production of "A Christmas Carol" is just playing to type. He's not the most beloved man in town. In fact, you'd have a dickens of a time finding someone who liked him. Still it's a shock when the Ghost of Christmas Past stabs him during the first rehearsal. Suzanne, co-owner of the Cackleberry Club café, Kindred's favorite combination diner, craft store and bookshop, chases the murderer out of the building but loses him in the alley. 

As the days pass the list of suspects grows longer. Is it the disgruntled partner? The former secretary whom Sharpe sexually harrassed? Or is it fellow owner of the Cackleberry Club, Toni's almost ex-husband, Junior? The women of the Cackleberry Club are determined to find the killer before he can add another victim to his Christmas list.

Guest Post for Laura Childs, New York Times

bestselling author of Eggs on Ice

A sense of Adventure.

I believe that life is lots more fun when it’s a bucket of crazy. Like the time I applied to the FBI. Or did a three-day Outward Bound solo in the Boundary Waters Canoe area. Or taught my Quarter Horse how to jump fences. Or learned whitewater canoeing. Or skied the back bowls in Vail. Or when I started a major ad agency when I was barely thirty.

It gets better. A couple years ago I tiptoed down a path in an Indonesian jungle (disregarding warning signs about poisonous cobras) to get a look at the temple where Margaret Mead did her early research. Then I flew in a single engine plane inside the Grand Canyon and landed on the snow-covered rim.

I possess what you’d probably call a spirit of adventure. And while I don’t want to reveal some of these follies to my life insurance agent, I definitely try to stick as much joie de vie as possible into my mysteries!

Because mysteries should be mysterious, laugh-out-loud fun and over-the-top exciting. And I truly believe from the bottom of my adrenaline-charged heart that a cozy mystery needs to deliver random blips of pulse-pounding excitement to its reader. Have you ever heard of a thrillzy? Well, I coined that term and it’s exactly the kind of books that I write. Cozy mysteries with the breakneck pace of a thriller.

I mean, it’s fabulous to have knitting and tea drinking and hobbies and crafts in a mystery – in fact, most of those past-times are my stock in trade. But I also love to flip the script and add a ginormous helping of car chases, fires, explosions, ghostly specters, romance, and crazy BFF capers.

And that’s exactly what I deliver in Eggs on Ice, my brand new Cackleberry Club Mystery.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes on it:

As the Kindred Players hold their first dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, a ghost wafts onstage and murders the star of the show. Shocked from her perch in the wings, Suzanne Dietz, co-owner of the Cackleberry Club, chases this spooky specter through the shadowy backstage of the theatre, but loses him when he escapes into a snowstorm. Feeling angry and threatened, Suzanne honchos her own shadow investigation and ends up juggling multiple suspects that include the mayor of small town Kindred, a strange visiting minister, a former female employee of the victim, and the play’s director. True to character, Suzanne also deals with holiday tea parties, a second murder, a devastating fire, and a terrifying car crash – all while maintaining a sizzling romance with the town doctor. Eggs on Ice offers laugh out loud humor, cozy moments, and recipes that include Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork, Elvis French Toast, Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole, and Church Basement Funeral Bars.

Have a terrific holiday and be sure to take some time for yourself and cozy up with a cup of tea and a mystery!

Love,

Laura

Laura Childs is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of the Scrapbooking Mysteries, Tea Shop Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Recently, Book Riot named her mysteries to their list of “25 of the All Time Best Cozy Mystery Series.” In her previous life Laura was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show. She is married to Dr. Bob, a professor of Chinese art history, enjoys travel, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

📚📚📖📚📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of

EGGS ON ICE

USA only

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post

📚📖📚📖📚

MY REVIEW

I’ve come to eggspect a lot from books by author Laura Childs. She’s certainly a master of her craft. In this eighth book of her Cackleberry Club Mysteries, Ms. Childs does not disappoint.

EGGS ON ICE wastes no time jumping into the thick of things. With a murder happening right off the bat, readers will hit the ground running in this tale. And what an original murder it is! There are a ton of witnesses who saw nothing (You’ll see for yourself when you read it). And speaking of original, the way the killer was “taken down” was simply awesome.

I love the characters in this series. They’re such a quirky group. Among the mystery and mayhem, a few of them always make me laugh out loud. This book is no different.  

This is an eggcellent time of year to read a Christmas cozy mystery. Why not make it EGGS ON ICE?

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page

(on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click "View web version".

Then follow the above directions.