Archive for June 6, 2016

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It’s always fun to find a new cozy mystery series. This is my first time reading a book by Laura Bradford and it won’t be my last.

Check out Eclair and Present Danger, An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery.

Enjoy my review.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

ECLAIR AND PRSENT DANGER
Éclair and Present Danger (An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery)
New Cozy Mystery Series
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (June 7, 2016)
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425280898
E-Book ASIN: B016JPTP4G

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My Review

I’m terrible about jumping into a series anywhere but the beginning so it’s always a thrill to actually start with the first book.

Eclair and Present Danger. Such a catchy title. And I’m sure you’ve noticed the fun cover art too. These are two of my favorite things about the cozy mysteries. Some others are the whimsical names of the characters and the fun themes. This book has the token murder mystery and it’s served up with some yummy desserts.

Due to her landlord’s greed, Winnie Johnson can no longer afford her lease payments and is forced to close down her bakery. The unfortunate passing of an elderly friend leaves her with a cat that hates her and an antique ambulance and plenty of time on her hands.

When Winnie stumbles upon her elderly neighbor’s body, she has plenty of time to sift through the clues and solve the crime.

Meanwhile, she has a great idea to start a new business. Why not use the ambulance to take her business mobile, give it a catchy name like the Emergency Dessert Squad, and drive her customers to ecstasy with her delicious concoctions.

Let’s throw in some blooming romance too. Greg Stevens, EMT and the new guy in town, referred to by some of the ladies as Master Sergeant Hottie, is just the man Winnie needs to talk to about how to outfit the ambulance for her business. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a yummy, tall drink of water, and seems to have some interest in her.

This book is all kinds of fun. The character’s are a mixed bunch of young and old, many older as Winnie lives in a senior community. The author did a wonderful job of giving voices to these different aged characters, keeping them in their roles and keeping me in stitches.

And the recipes. Let’s not forget those. There are some yummy ones used in the book and I’d especially like to try the Don’t- Be- Blue Berry Pie. Sounds delicious, eh?

This is one I highly recommend to all of you cozy fans looking for a new author and series. An all around good time!

5 Stars

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Synopsis

The first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.

With her rent rising faster than her pie crust, bakery owner Winnie Johnson had hoped to be rescued by an inheritance from her wealthy friend and neighbor Gertrude Redenbacher. Instead all she inherits is the widow’s hostile hissing tabby, Lovey, and a vintage ambulance, restored by Gertrude’s late husband. As her dream crumbles, Winnie makes her final delivery—a peach pie to an elderly widower. But she finds Bart Wagner lying on his kitchen floor, smothered by a pillow.

To comfort her frightened and grieving neighbors, Winnie comes to the rescue with her baked goods—and an idea is born: dessert delivery via her ambulance and a new business called the Emergency Dessert Squad. When she’s not speeding to the scenes of dessert emergencies, Winnie is also racing to track down Bart’s killer—before she needs to call a real ambulance for the next victim…

Author Laura Bradford

laura bradford

 

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey) is the author of several mystery series and a handful of romance novels. She is a former Agatha Award nominee and the recipient of an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award.  In her free time, Laura enjoys making memories with her family, baking, playing games, and catching up with friends. In addition to the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries, Laura writes The Amish Mysteries and The Jenkins & Burns mysteries, as well as The Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (as Elizabeth Lynn Casey).

For more information, visit Laura’s Website, or get to know her even better on Facebook, and on Twitter  and Pinterest.

  Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble    Indiebound.org      Amazon

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Follow The Tour

June 1 – Girl Lost In a Book – REVIEW

June 1 – MysteriesEtc – REVIEW

June 2 – Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW

June 2 – The Self-Rescue Princess – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 2 – cherylbbookblog – REVIEW

June 3 – Shelley’s Book Case – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 3 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW *

June 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, INTERVIEW *

June 4 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – REVIEW *

June 4 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST

June 5 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 5 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner – REVIEW  

June 6 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW *

June 6 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

June 6 – fuonlyknew – REVIEW*

June 7 – Classy Cheapskate – REVIEW

June 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

June 7 – Books Direct – GUEST POST

June 8 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW*

June 8 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 8 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW *

June 9 – Melina’s Book Blog –  REVIEW *

June 9 – deal sharing aunt – REVIEW *

June 9 – Mystery Playground – RECIPE

June 10 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, RECIPE *

June 10 – Booklady’s Booknotes – REVIEW

June 11 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW

June 11 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 11 – The Girl with Book Lungs – REVIEW *

June 12 – Book Babble – REVIEW

June 12 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, INTERVIEW

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Welcome to My Monday Minis Reviews where I share short reviews of books I’ve read. For today I’ll be sharing my reviews of four books from my TBR shelves.

Every Color Of The Night

by C. Yellow Robe

Genre: Horror / Apocalypse

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My Review

If you like a new spin on something you’ve read a lot about, this will fit the bill. I stayed up late reading from beginning to end and still not quite sure what to tag these things as.

I enjoy an underdog, a compromised character with a lot of baggage. It’s my hope they can rise above their grief or self pity, redeem themselves. Especially in the worst of times. There’s more than one character to bond with, and don’t get too fond of any of them. The author is not afraid to take them out of the equation.

I’d recommend this to horror and thriller fans. The suspense builds quickly and then it’s all out action to the bitter end.

4  Stars

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Synopsis

Like a gallon of milk forgotten on the counter and left to curdle, Ken’s life is going sour. The loss of his wife and daughter, entirely his fault, has left him shattered. In the face of such pain, he’s turned to the temporary solution many others do: liquid salvation. It’s all catching up to him. Life seems as if it cannot get any worse.
And then … the world comes to an end.
The newly wakened evil that comes next proves that some things are even worse than the apocalypse. And these things only come out at night …

AMAZON

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 Uninvited Guests Trilogy

by Victor Dark

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

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My Review

I grabbed this trilogy as a free download off Amazon. It’s a great way to discover new authors.

I’ll be reading more of Victor’s stories.

From the first story to the last, you are totally emotionally engaged. You’ll want to kick some character butt, reach in and shake sense into them. Tell them, hey, don’t you know the rules on how to survive a horror story. A lot of what they do is typical screw up stuff. You shake your head, wondering, why did the author give me the same old idiots.

But, wait. That’s how you get emotionally engaged with these characters. How you come to like or loathe them, wish them to survive or die horribly.

And what’s good horror without killing off some characters. It could be someone you loathe, or that one you are really hoping will make it. Lots of twists and no guarantees.

It’s creepy good reading and I’m planning on seeing what else Victor Dark has for me.

 4 Stars

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Synopsis

Alan Walter’s marriage has fallen apart. It all started when the Walters moved into their new dream home. For months, they heard creaking noises in the attic, tapping on the walls and the opening of cabinet doors. His wife swears that there’s an intruder living in the house. But Alan didn’t believe her. And he didn’t discover the truth until it was too late.

Now, three years later, it’s happening again to a single mom and her two young children.
And Alan won’t let history repeat itself. Not if he can help it.

As Alan investigates the case, he uncovers a conspiracy twenty years in the making. He comes face to face with an unspeakable horror that will change his life forever. Soon enough Alan Walters will realize that if these walls could talk, they would be screaming.

The Uninvited Guests Trilogy Contains:
1. Uninvited Guests
2. Descent into Madness
3. Becoming The Beast

AMAZON

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Listen To Me Speak

by Victor Dark

Genre: Horror

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My Review

After reading and enjoying the author’s Uninvited Guests Trilogy, I had to give his next series a go.

It sounds familiar. Author gets writer’s block. Goes off by himself to some creepy house, hoping to find his writing mojo again. Instead, he winds up in something horrific,  gets scared shitless, does some stupid stuff, and maybe, just maybe, makes things right and lives through it.

Well, I’m not saying that’s what happens here, just giving you an idea of what might be in store for you. Mix together a haunted house, a seductress, and a married man with no hope, and you get a horror smorgasbord.

 I had a fun with this one and the good news is, it’s a trilogy and I’m going to grab it and continue this story.

3 Stars

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Synopsis

After the success of his first novel, John Krik has struggled to come up with a follow up that his fans would eagerly gobble up. On a spur of the moment decision, John leaves his suburban married life to spend six months in an abandoned house in the quiet eerie town of Cafeville, where secrets lurk in every corner. The town’s biggest source of gossip is the Greens who live right next door.

As John attempts to put his finger on what it is about the house that has everyone steering clear, he finds himself captivated by the seductively charming Eva Green who is as dangerous as she is irresistible. A gruesome story begins to take form in his mind. As the lines between fiction and reality become blurred, something sinister emerges from the shadows and demands to be heard.

AMAZON

I did just grab the trilogy. So if you want to get the collection, just click on the cover below.

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Psychopathia

by Kate Genet

Genre: Horror

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My Review

Warning: This may appear to be the same old horror story about some idiots who explore an old insane asylum. Think again. And when you finish this story, don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

The dark suspense really did creep me out. It takes a lot to have me worried about what will happen in the next sentence, the next paragraph. You know what I mean? You’re brain is twitching, and you almost feel tired from wondering.

I was literally freaking out about these characters. What was happening to them. What I knew was going to happen to some of them. And what I feared was going to happen to them.

A lot of my fears came true. Boy, did they ever. Remember watching a scary movie, going to bed, and being afraid to turn out the light? You had to run across the room in the dark and make a leap into your bed. You pulled the covers up to your chin, and prayed you wouldn’t hear a strange noise coming from the closet or under the bed? That’s how I felt. Like a little kid, scared by a silly horror story.

Silly? Not really. It was all out scary and I couldn’t have been happier.

I was like a mad scientist when I read the ending. Rubbing my hands together, a wicked gleam to my eyes, a manic grin on my face, and cacklingly madly.

  5 Stars 

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Synopsis

Everyone knows old insane asylums are the best place for ghost hunting – spooky, tragic, and with a pretty good chance of finding something that will go bump in the night. Even so, a ghost hunt is just an excuse for a good night out, a bit of a scare. A bit of a scare never hurts anyone, right?
Tully’s been watching a lot of paranormal investigations programmes lately, missing the mother who died shortly after her birth, so when her brother suggests they go look around an old asylum, she thinks it’s a brilliant idea. Her brother Toby doesn’t believe, and he doesn’t expect they will see any ghosts.
But there’s something there, all right, waiting for someone just like him to come along. It’s been there a long time, and it’s determined to hitch a ride home with them.
There’s a reason some people were incarcerated in the old asylums, and as it turns out, death doesn’t stop the insanity. It just makes it hungrier.

AMAZON

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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