Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader

(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)

 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.

*Post it.

*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

My book today is A BISCUIT, A CASKET by Liz Mugavero

Stan thought about that. A family heirloom as the weapon. 

Was that symbolic, or coincidental? 

"Was he having trouble with anyone?" she asked.

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice

REVIEW

SUGAR AND ICED by Jenn McKinlay

Sugar and spice and murderous vice.
That’s what pageants are made of…

Normally Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura wouldn’t be caught dead at a beauty pageant, but when Mel’s mom asks them to provide cupcakes for the seventy-fifth annual Sweet Tiara contest as a favor for her best friend, they can’t say no. Plus, between cooking up a daily display for the three-day event and sponsoring a cupcake creation challenge for the participants, Fairy Tale Cupcakes will get great publicity.

But the world of pageants is even hotter than Mel’s kitchen. A high-strung judge and a pushy stage mom target Lupe, a young friend of Mel and Angie’s, at the competition and aim to take her out—by any means necessary. When the same judge shows up dead underneath Mel and Angie’s cupcake display, Lupe is crowned the lead suspect. Now Mel and Angie will have to find the real killer quickly or Lupe may be strutting the catwalk in prison pinstripes…

SUGAR AND ICED by Jenn Mckinlay Book 6 in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series.

To say I love this series would be an understatement. It is by far my favorite 

cozy mystery series.

Jenn McKinlay has the gang from Fairy Tale Cupcakes taking on a beauty pageant in this story. Not only are they building beautiful cupcake towers to display at the pageant, they’re baking the cupcakes that the contestants themselves invent. On top of that, they are there for their young friend Lupe who enters the pageant to win a scholarship. Of course they didn’t count on Lupe and one of the judges having a very public argument in the lobby of the hotel hosting the event. And they sure didn’t expect that same judge to be found dead under the table that holds Melanie and Angie’s cupcake tower! Making matters worse…Lupe is the prime suspect! Once again, Mel and the crew find themselves trying to find a killer.

Ms. McKinlay’s characters grabbed me on the first page of this story and held on to me until the last. No, that’s not right. They held me tight long after the book was done. Just as they have in every book in the series.

You wouldn’t think someone could take a murder mystery and make it laugh out loud funny. Jenn McKinlay does it with an ease that I envy. Her witty sense of humor carries over into her writing. In SUGAR AND ICED she once again blends that humor wonderfully with an excellent storyline and a good, tightly crafted mystery that will keep you guessing even after you think you know who the murderer is.

If I could be in any fictional place I wanted out of all the cozy mysteries I read, I would have to pick working at Fairy Tale Cupcakes in not so fictional Scottsdale, Arizona. This is saying a lot since I really don’t do well in hot temperatures. But I would be willing to suffer through the hottest Scottsdale summer for the chance to hang out 

Mel, Angie, Tate, Joe, Oz, and Marty at the bakery.

 Heck, I’d even risk it knowing how high the body count is!

If you haven’t read the Cupcake Bakery series, please don’t wait any longer.  

About the author

Jenn is the New York Times bestselling author of several mystery series including the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries, the Hat Shop Mysteries, the Library Lovers Mysteries as well as the Good Buy Girls Mystery series which is written under her pen name Josie Bell.

Jenn lives in sunny AZ in a house overrun with kids,

pets and her husband's guitars.

Visit her website at:

www.jennmckinlay.com

INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

With Author Kathi Daley

Kathi lives in the beautiful alpine community of Lake Tahoe with her husband Ken and dog Echo. When she's not writing she enjoys hanging out on the beach with her children and grandchildren. During the summer she enjoys hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, wakeboarding, and sunset cruises on the lake. 

During the winter she enjoys cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and curling up by a fire with a good book.
Kathi uses her mountain home as inspiration for her books, all which include appearances by the wildlife she shares her life with.

*************************************************************

LKBR: Kathi, you write both the Zoe Donovan Mysteries and Tj Jensen Lake Mysteries. Do you have a favorite of the two? If so, why?

KD: I really don’t have a favorite. I guess I like them for different reasons. While both series have murder plots and endearing characters, the Tj Jensen mysteries are longer and usually contain a more complex mystery which I find challenging, while the Zoe Donovan mysteries are published every six weeks providing me the ability to focus on the antics and love lives of the characters as they work out the details of the murder.

LKBR: How did you come up with the idea of each series?

KD: Zoe Donovan was born on a whim while I was updating my Facebook page. I have a Bernese Mountain Dog, Echo, which everyone knows is my baby. One day I was updating the page and I had the idea of sharing a Facebook Page with my dog. While I didn’t actually do this, the idea took hold and I wrote a single paragraph which started with: “My name is Zoe Donovan. According to my Facebook page, which I share with my dog Charlie, we are ….”

I just kept writing and a week or so later I had a book which I self-published. There are now 7 books in the series with a new one coming every 6 weeks. People who have read the series seem to love it.

The Tj Jensen Paradise Lake series was a bit more deliberate. I knew I wanted to write a cozy mystery and since I live in Lake Tahoe, I wanted the story to take place in a similar setting. Anyone who is familiar with the area knows that Paradise Lake with the small mom and pop town of Serenity on the north and Indulgence on the south shore really is Lake Tahoe but I didn’t want to be limited by the details which can bog you down when you use an actual place. Tj Jensen is a high school teacher and I used to be a middle school teacher. I love teens and really wanted to work them into the story. Tj has a complex family unit since she lives with her dad and grandpa as well as two half-sisters who she is guardian to at a lakeside resort. She has lived in the area all of her life so has close and meaningful relationships with the people in town.

LKBR: What are you currently working on?

KD: I am currently working on a Zoe Donovan mystery called Derby Divas. All of the books in the Zoe Donovan Series have either a holiday or an event in the background. The basic plot of this book takes place during a classic car show and demolition derby held during the summer. It will publish on Amazon July 1. 

LKBR: Do you have ideas for a new series?

KD: I am working on a new series set on the San Juan Islands off of the Washington coast. It will be a cozy mystery series with a strong family element as a traditional Irish family with ties to commercial fishing go through growing pains as the culture of the island transitions from commercial fishing to tourism. While the series will have a family drama element to it, there will also be an animal sidekick, cute small town with quirky residents, and featured romance. My tag line is “Come for the murder stay for the romance” so I always add a strong romance element to my series.

LKBR: When did you know you wanted to be an author?

KD: I guess the idea first took hold a couple of years ago after my husband and I sold our business and I had a lot of free time. I like to read but I really didn’t go the traditional route of taking classes and joining groups. I’ve never even taken an intro to creative writing course. I just sat down and wrote something and people seemed to like it so I kept writing. I love hanging out with my characters. I never plot my books. I just sit down and start typing so I feel that I get to experience the story as it unfolds. My characters never cease to surprise me and I usually never know how a book will end until it does. In many ways my experience with writing a book is similar to reading a book.

LKBR: Do you remember what you did to celebrate when your first book was published?

KD:  I don’t remember doing anything really grand. I was already busy writing the next one but I seem to remember going out to my favorite lakeside restaurant.

LKBR: What was your favorite book/series when you were a child?

KD: When I was young I liked anything with horses. I was totally into them and even managed to talk my parents into letting me have one for a short while. I also liked Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. 

Fabulous recipes from Kathi's books

LKBR: What are three things you would like your readers to know about you?

KD: I live in Lake Tahoe and enjoy all sorts of outdoor sports and activities with my husband, children, and grandchildren.

I love animals and am lucky enough to not only have a wonderful dog who is really a friend but to live in a spot where I have bears, raccoons, coyotes, and other forest creatures in my yard almost daily.

I like to experiment with food which is how I come up with recipes I include in the Zoe Donovan series. 

Coming Soon

LKBR: Is there anything else you would like to share?

KD: I love my readers and truly enjoy getting to know them through Facebook posts, email, messaging, etc.

“Like” me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kathidaleybooks. I post tons of photos, recipes, and other random thoughts and I love to engage with the people who have decided to join my online family.

I also do a weekly newsletter titled The Daley Weekly which includes updates on my books as well as photos, other tidbits, and usually features a recipe.   http://eepurl.com/NRPDf

I'd like to thank Kathi for taking the time to do this wonderful interview, It was a lot of fun!

Speaking of fun.....

GIVEAWAY time!!!

Kathi is giving away to one lucky winner, 

 a package that includes....

1 signed copy of BEACH BLANKET BARBIE

1 signed copy of BIKINIS IN PARADISE

1 Mug with the covers of both books on it!

This giveaway runs until Monday May 12.

(11:59 EST) 

Be sure to come back every day for more chances to enter!

!!!! GOOD LUCK !!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

INTERVIEW

Author Mary Ellen Hughes

Author Mary Ellen Hughes has a wonderful new book that was just released May 6. It's called THE PICKLED PIPER and is the first in the new Pickled and Preserved Mystery series. I absolutely loved this book and look forward to more in what I am sure will be a long running series.

(You can see my review of THE PICKLED PIPER in the blog post after this interview)  

Now, please sit back and get to know a little more about Mary Ellen Hughes...

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LKBR:  Thank you so much for being here Mary.

MEH: Thanks for having me, Lisa!

LKBR: How did you come up with the idea for THE PICKLED PIPER?

MEH: I credit my husband with that. He happens to love pickles, and I suspect he knew I’d be trying out recipes as I wrote. At first I laughed at his idea, but pickling grew on me as a fun theme, and before I knew it I had a story and characters to go with it.

LKBR: Do you do your own pickling? (if this was not part of your answer for the above question)

MEH: I did some pickling several years ago when I had more time. As I mentioned, I now test certain pickling recipes, but with a book to write I need to keep it to the minimum. Freezer pickles are pretty quick, though, and very tasty.

LKBR: Are any of the characters in THE PICKLED PIPER based on someone you know?

MEH: My characters in THE PICKLED PIPER tend to be composites of people. In one of my earlier books, I used a few amusing traits of someone I knew (but changed the name). Then I worried that this person might recognize herself and be annoyed. To my relief she didn’t recognize herself, but I decided not to put myself through that again. Besides, it’s more fun to create someone new.

LKBR: Would you be interested in naming a character in your next book after me? Lisa Kelley - that's Kelley with an ey. LOL I'm kidding of course. Or am I? ;-) But it does bring me to the next question...

How do you come up with the names for all of your characters?

MEH: When I first started writing, I remember reading through obituaries for interesting names, especially for older characters. Now I have a book of various ethnic names – first and last –and I sometimes go to the social security website for popular first names listed by decade. Very helpful. I’ll keep your name on my list, Lisa, and maybe I’ll surprise you!

LKBR: Can you give us any hints on what Piper has facing her in the next book?

MEH: I’d love to! Book #2 is titled  LICENSE TO DILL. Piper’s local dill farmer is suspected of the murder of an old nemesis, who was found dead in the middle of his dill field. There’s adult soccer players and a visiting Italian team involved, old grudges to dig up, and – hopefully – a surprise ending!

LKBR: What can you tell us about your writing process? Such as...Do you follow an outline of some sort? Is there a certain place where you write like your home, bookstore, coffee shop?

MEH: I don't do detialed outlines, but I always know my story in general. I like to keep myself open to fresh twists as I write. I write on a laptop, usually in a little nook in a spare bedroom, which tends to get surrounded by lots of papers and books. It's nice to be able to close the door and keep it from view. I could never write in a coffee shop. I'd probably find myself people-watching and eavesdropping for plot ideas! 

LKBR: Do you have any other series or stand alones you're working on or have plans to work on?

MEH: Right now I’m focusing on the Pickled and Preserved series, and have started book #3.

LKBR: What are three things you would like your readers to know about you? 

MEH: First, I’m definitely not my protagonist, Piper Lamb. She’s younger, prettier, smarter, and a much better cook than I am. Second, I love to read mysteries as much as my readers do—all kinds. Third, though I love it, writing is time-consuming hard work. Hearing an encouraging word or two from readers can make all the difference in deciding to keep at it.

LKBR: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us before you go?

MEH: Only that I hope everyone will visit me through the links below.

http://www.maryellenhughes.com

http://www.facebook.com/MaryEllenHughesauthor

http://twitter.com/mehughesauthor

http://www.pinterest.com/mehughes13

I'd like to thank Mary so much for stopping by. I adore her and her new series. If you don't already have your copy of THE PICKLED PIPER, do yourself a favor and buy it as soon as you can! You won't be sorry. 

Mary Ellen Hughes is also the author of the Craft Corner Mysteries, the Maggie Olenski series and the short story THE WOMAN ON THE TRAIN. All of these great titles are available in ebook format. 

Continue down to for my review of THE PICKLED PIPER,

REVIEW

THE PICKLED PIPER by Mary Ellen Hughes

After her dreams of romance are crushed, Piper Lamb decides to pursue her dream of opening her own shop of pickles and preserves, called Piper’s Picklings, in the idyllic small town of Cloverdale. But she isn’t in town long before she encounters a barrelful of trouble…

The Cloverdale fair offers Piper a sweet opportunity to promote her business. With her new assistant, Amy, she sets up a booth centered around an eye-catching display of the ever-popular dills in an old-fashioned barrel of brine.
 
But things soon turn sour when fairgoers witness a fight between Amy’s boyfriend, Nate, and town council blowhard—and bagpipe player—Alan Rosemont. When Rosemont is found floating in Piper’s barrel, Nate becomes the prime murder suspect. With Amy’s boyfriend in a pretty pickle, there’s no time to dillydally. But as Piper searches for the real killer, she needs to be careful to preserve her own life…or she may end up a pickled Piper herself.

I have to start by saying, this is one of the best new books I have read this year! I couldn't put it down. THE PICKLED PIPER hooked me on page one and just kept pulling me in!

 

Piper Lamb has opened her dream store, Piper's Picklings in the small town of Cloverdale where she sells not only the multitude of delightful items that she has pickled and preserved herself, but also pickling spices, supplies, and cookbooks. And she can't think of a better way to promote her business than setting up her wares at the Cloverdale fair. Well, it was a great idea until Alan Rosemont, a local town councilman is found head first and dead inside her old-fashioned pickle barrel with Piper's assistant's boyfriend the prime suspect!

 

Right away I felt Piper, her Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank, her assistant Amy, and the rest of the cast of characters were close friends. Like I had always spent my days in Piper's shop.

 

Author Mary Ellen Hughes writes with a simple flair that makes reading a real joy. Her characters are very likeable and fun, the setting enjoyable and the mystery first class. I thought I knew who did it, but I was wrong. Then I suspected someone of something else...I was wrong. When the reveal of the killer came, it all made prefect sense.

 

Another sweet and spicy surprise was how interesting I found the process of pickling. It's not something I've ever had an interest in, but as I read this treat of a book I found myself wishing I had paid more attention to my mother when she made and canned her pickle relish.

 

Congratulations to Ms. Hughes on this wonderful first book of what is sure to be a hit series! My appetite has certainly been wetted for more!

About the Author

Mary Ellen Hughes is the author of the Craft Corner mystery series - WREATH OF DECEPTION, STRING OF LIES, and PAPER-THIN ALIBI - as well as the Maggie Olenski mysteries - RESORT TO MURDER and A TASTE OF DEATH.

She has also authored several short stories, including THE WOMAN ON THE TRAIN, and short mysteries included in the Chesapeake Crimes and Tales from the Backlist anthologies.

A transplanted Wisconsinite, Mary Ellen now lives in Maryland where she is excited to be working on her new Pickled and Preserved mystery series beginning with THE PICKLED PIPER.

 

This Monday I'm reading...A BISCUIT, A CASKET by Liz Mugavero.

What are you reading? 

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REVIEW

STAGED TO DEATH by Karen Rose Smith

Caprice DeLuca stages houses for high-end clients. When she discovers a body in the castle-mansion she staged to sell and starts asking questions, she finds herself in danger. On the way to solving the murder, Caprice's large Italian family helps and hinders. She also finds romance with Dr. Seth Randolph. But does her brother's partner, attorney Grant Weatherford, care about her, too? Or is he just worried she'll get herself killed and her family will blame him?

Trying to sell your house and getting nowhere? Call Caprice DeLuca professional house stager and wait for the offers to start rolling in! Unless of course your house comes with a dead body. Then you can call Caprice DuLuca amateur sleuth!

I really enjoyed STAGED TO DEATH, the first book in the Caprice DeLuca Mysteries. And I'm thrilled to see a second in the series, DEADLY DECOR is coming out in June!

Ms. Smith has delivered an entertaining mystery with an original lead character. I read a lot of cozy/traditional mysteries and I've never read a protagonist like Caprice. It was fascinating learning about the world of house staging, Of course, murder and mystery are the major focus of the book and they were written expertly. The story moved along at a great pace (which is important to me) and had a satisfying conclusion. And I love Caprice's big heart for animals!

Reward yourself with a gift today and buy a copy of STAGED TO DEATH

About the Author

Karen Rose Smith is writing mysteries as well as romances now! Her plots, whether in mystery or romance, are all about relationships.

She began writing in her early teens when she listened to music and created stories to accompany the songs. After expressing feelings in poetry, earning a degree in English and French, completing short stories that became too long to find a market, she turned to her fascination with relationships to writing romances and now mysteries. This award-winning best-selling author (USA Today List, Borders Bestseller List, Amazon Romance Bestseller lists, Barnes and Noble Bestseller list) will see her 84th novel released in 2014. She has published with Silhouette, Harlequin, Kensington and Meteor/Kismet. Her awards include two Golden Leaf awards in short contemporary romance, the Golden Quill in traditional romance, two cataromance.com's awards for Best Special Editions and Romance Review's Today's Best series romance award. Jane Bowers of Romance Reviews Today states: "Karen Rose Smith's storyworlds are complete and realistic and lovely places to visit and revisit. She excels at stories that feature couples brought together by infants and children, and she handles her plots and characters with sublime sensitivity."

REVIEW

TRUDY, MADLY, DEEPLY by Wendy Delaney

Human lie detector Charmaine Digby is having a bad year. After eating her way through a divorce, she's out of work and up to her eyeballs in debt. In need of a life makeover Char comes home to the senior citizen haven of Port Merritt, Washington, and is ecstatic when she parlays her eye for lies into a job as the County Coroner's new assistant. But her joy is short-lived when a hunky doctor at the hospital reports the suspicious death of Trudy, Port Merritt's beloved Story Lady. Even more stunning, Trudy isn't the only recent patient whose heart mysteriously stopped. Is it mad to think that dear old Trudy could be the latest victim of a serial killer? With no physical evidence of foul play, Char's on the case, much to the irritation of Detective Steve Sixkiller, who doesn't want her to stick her pretty nose for trouble in his investigation. But she's a woman on a mission to uncover the truth, and she'd better keep her eyes open or the next body on the way to the morgue could be hers....

Charmaine Digby has a unique gift. She can tell when someone is lying. But that doesn't help her pay the bills. Until she lands a job in the County Coroner office. She's thrilled with her new job until the town's Story Lady dies under suspicious circumstances while in the hospital. Char soon learns Trudy isn't the olny patient to die this way. She never would have dreamed her first case could involve a serial killer!

This was a really good story. Charmaine Digby is unlike most protagonists not only in the fact that she has the gift of telling a lie from the truth, but she is also a "real" sized woman and isn't a size 2 or 4. I admire Ms. Delaney's choice in that respect. I always enjoy a book a bit more when I can relate to the main character in some way.

The story had a great plot and flowed fast without leaving you wondering if you had missed something. I was always ready to turn the next page even though I didn't want the book to end.

I can see why this was an award-winning book for the author. Fingers crossed that means a Volume 2 is soon to follow!

About the Author

Wendy Delaney writes fun-filled cozy mysteries 

and is the author of Trudy, Madly, Deeply, which kicks off her

 Working Stiffs Mystery series (July 2013).

A long-time member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America,

and Mystery Writers of America, she's a Food Network addict

and pastry chef wannabe. When she's not killing off story people she

can be found on her treadmill, working off the calories from her latest

culinary adventure. Wendy makes her home in the Seattle area with

her husband and has two grown sons.

www.wendydelaney.com

Review

MAI TAI ONE ON by Jill Marie Landis

Six months ago, if anyone would have told Em Johnson she'd end up divorced, broke, and running the dilapidated Tiki Goddess Bar on the magical North Shore of Kauai she would have told them to shove a swizzle stick up their okole. As if all that isn't bad enough, when an obnoxious neighbor with a grudge is found dead in the Goddess luau pit, suspicion falls on Em and the rest of the Goddess staff. 

With the help of a quirky dance troupe of over-the-hill Hula Maidens, Em and the cast of characters must ban together to find the killer and solve the mystery before the next pupu party. 

This is the first book I have read by Ms. Landis, but it won't be my last. I look forward to reading the next books in the series.

The characters are original and interesting. I enjoyed spending time with Em, Uncle Louie and the staff of the Tiki Goddess Bar in beautiful Kauai, Hawaii. Oh, and the Hula Maidens! Loved the oldster Hula Maidens! The story is entertaining and flows at a great pace. All with a mystery that had me guessing until the end.

MAI TAI ONE ON sure did get me loaded and ready for the next book in the series... TWO TO MANGO.

I can't wait for my next visit to The Tiki Goddess Bar!

About the author

JILL MARIE LANDIS'S twenty eight+ novels have earned distinguished awards and slots on such national bestseller lists as the USA TODAY Top 50 and the New York Times Best Sellers Plus. She is a seven-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award in both Single Title and Contemporary Romance as well as a Golden Heart and RITA Award winner.

Her works include historical romances, contemporary single title romance with a hint of suspense, inspirational historical romances, and most recently the new Tiki Goddess Mystery series that launched with the successful Mai Tai One On.

Jill Marie resides in Hawaii with her husband where she's working on her latest project. When she's not writing or sitting on the beach reading, she enjoys visiting with family and friends, raising orchids, working in her garden, plunking on the ukulele, dancing the hula and quilting, but not all at once.

She enjoys hearing from readers at www.jillmarielandis.com

facebook, and at www.thetikigoddess.com