Sunday, June 3, 2018

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries "Hailey Dean Mysteries: 2+2 = Murder" Premiering TONIGHT at 9pm/8c! #HaileyDean #Sleuthers @HallmarkMovie & #Instragram Takeover

Hailey Dean Mysteries: 2+2 = Murder

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Programming Presents: Hailey Dean Mysteries: 2+2 = Murder, is premiering tonight, June 3, 2018 at 9pm/8c, and stars Kellie Martin and Chad Lowe.

(Photo used with permission from Hallmark)

About A Marriage Made for Murder:

Hailey attends her niece's school recital only to learn that the beloved music teacher has vanished. Hailey soon discovers several startling secrets amongst the staff, as well as a link between the missing young teacher and the school’s reconstruction funds.

More Information About 2+2 = Murder and Other Hallmark Programming Can Be Found Here:

http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/

There will also be a Hailey Dean Instagram Takeover on @HallmarkMovie's IG

Help investigate the next pieces of Hailey's Personal Clue Board!

Make sure all of you #Sleuthers head over to https://www.instagram.com/hallmarkmovie/ and share your theories in the comments.

Watch a Teaser:



(Photo used with permission from Hallmark)

Book #Review ~ Death on Tap (A Sloan Krause Mystery #1) by Ellie Alexander #CozyMystery #Brewery #Beer

Death on Tap (A Sloan Krause Mystery #1)
by Ellie Alexander


From Ellie Alexander, beloved author of the Bakeshop Mysteries, comes the first in an intoxicating new series: Death on Tap.

When Sloan Krause walks in on her husband, Mac, screwing the barmaid, she gives him the boot. Sloan has spent her life in Leavenworth, Washington becoming an expert in brewing craft beer, and she doesn’t have time to be held back by her soon-to-be ex-husband. She decides to strike out on her own, breaking away from the Krause family brewery, and goes to work for Nitro, the hip new nano-brewery in the Bavarian-themed town. Nitro’s owner, brewmaster Garrett Strong, has the brew-world abuzz with his newest recipe, “Pucker-Up IPA.” This place is the new cool place in town, and Mac can’t help but be green with envy at their success.

But just as Sloan is settling in to her new gig, she finds one of Nitro’s competitors dead in the fermenting tub, clutching the secret recipe for the IPA. When Mac, is arrested, Sloan knows that her ex might be a cheater, but a murderer? No way. Danger is brewing in Beervaria and suddenly Sloan is on the case.

Print Length: 315 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
ASIN: B06XKG2RFR
Goodreads


Death on Tap is an exciting book in Ellie Alexander's new Sloan Krause Mystery series. I really enjoyed the setting and small, hometowny feel that Ms. Alexander pens in her new series. Setting up Sloan's ex-husband to take the fall for a competitor's murder, the author takes the reader along for a twisted and dangerous ride. As Sloane encounters many people who could be the murderer, she discovers that the sweet German-eque town in which she lives harbors residents with secrets. 

I really enjoyed the multiple threads woven into this story. It's not just a murder mystery. In fact, the murder happens a little later in the book than what I'm used to reading - and that's okay. We get to see the author develop the main characters and do a lot of world building in order to make the cheating, murder, and other events tie in together properly. I love Sloan's character. She's strong and doesn't put up with Mac's infidelity. She gets along with almost everyone in the book. For the sake of their son, Sloan even works on finding the real killer. She knows Mac, even though he betrayed her, did not kill anyone.

The cheating husband angle demonstrates how cheating on a spouse doesn't just affect the couple but everyone around them - including their children, friends, and other family members alike. There is a genuine emotional connection between Sloan and her in-laws and we get to see what happens when a divorce is imminent. The fact that Sloan and Mac have a 15 year old son also plays into the relationship between Sloan and her in-laws. I just like the way the author takes a bad situation and doesn't necessarily destroy other relationships.

I was very engaged in the story. The murder mystery kept me guessing. Sloan's history with the foster system, another thread woven in, provides a lot of insight on her character. The brewery aspect was interesting to me as a Michigander where breweries and microbreweries are popping up all over (https://www.michigan.org/breweries#?c=44.4299:-85.1166:6&tid=62&page=0&pagesize=20&pagetitle=Breweries). I found the entire book to be well thought out with wonderful pacing. 

 I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

I was given a hardcover copy to read.

Rating:


Friday, June 1, 2018

Promo Blitz ~ Jum & Muz: I Forget - a Caregivers View of Alzheimers by Mary Ellen Connelly



Memoir
Date Published:  July 2016
Publisher: Xlibris

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About the Book:

Jum & Muz is the story of the 20 years of the frustration and desolation of Alzheimers disease that the Mary Ellen Connelly's husband suffered. It chronicles the descent into oblivion. It explains how to cope, what they learned as a family in the hope it will help other families in dealing with Alzheimers.  The author explains the symptoms and the research that is now available. As the primary caregiver she explains her feelings, her attempts to deal with the onslaught and some of the things that worked and things that didn't work. Connelly explains the frustration of the refusal of the insurance companies and how she dealt with them.

About the Author:


Mary Ellen Connelly grew up in Montana, attended local schools. She served 5 terms in the Montana House of Representatives on the Appropriations & Budget committee. She was appointed chair of the long-range planning sub-committee. She lives in California on the Calaveras River.


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Book Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ For the Brave (The Gentrys of Paradise, Book 2) by Holly Bush @GoddessFish ~ Historical Fiction


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Holly Bush will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Genre: Historical Fiction
About the Book:
1869 – Matthew Gentry joined the Confederate Army at eighteen years of age after an argument with his father, leaving Paradise, his Virginia home and famed horse breeding stables, for the fields of Gettysburg. Having survived the War Between the States, Gentry is haunted by the violence and inhumanity of the war. He continues to roam the country long after the conflict is over, finding solace in the arms of soiled doves and at the bottom of whiskey bottles. Finally traveling home after learning of a family tragedy, he nearly loses his life in a spring-flooded riverbed.
Annie Campbell, lone survivor of her family, lives at a remote farm near the North River, raising pigs and trying to grow enough to feed herself, and to stay out of the crosshairs of the Thurmans, violent men who run the town of Bridgewater. Annie’s secrets threaten her safety, even as she rescues and nurses Matthew Gentry.

Matthew knows he must return to Paradise, to grieve with his family. Will his heart lead him back to Bridgewater and Annie Campbell?
Read an Excerpt:

Matt saw a path on the right, running parallel to the water, through a rocky area that led away from the sharp incline and loose boulders. Rain started to fall and the mud slid out from under his and Chester’s feet. He called to Ben until his voice was hoarse and made his way slowly to the safer path to his right. He looked back and watched rocks and stones tumble forward, hitting Ben and making his horse shy back and rear up as much as it could on the narrow path.

Matt slid out of the saddle and struggled to turn himself and Chester around to get back to where Ben was held up. The rain was coming down steadily now and Matt went down hard on his shoulder when his boot slipped. He sat up, now thoroughly soaked and mud covered, turning just in time to see Ben’s horse fall as his hooves came out from under him, landing on his side, kicking Ben, and sliding toward the raging river. Ben stood, reaching out, as if he could pull a thousand pounds of horse upright. A large boulder behind Ben shifted and began to bounce and roll toward him. Matt shouted and started down the hillside, off the trail, desperate to get to the other man in time. It was of no use, he knew—he was twenty or thirty feet away—but he clamored down anyway, slipping and struggling, watching as the rock slammed into Ben’s legs, pinning him against another rock and then rolling on toward the river.

He heard Ben’s screams over the sounds of the rushing water. He hurried the last ten feet as quickly as he was able and fell to his knees.

“Ben!”

“My leg! God! Look at my leg!”

He held Ben’s shoulders still as he looked at a bone that had poked through Ben’s pants. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to climb back up to Chester and get off the hillside. He wanted a whiskey. He pulled his belt from his pants and pulled it tight above the exposed shinbone on Ben’s leg. He looked up to see Chester lose his footing as he followed his whistle, the horse forced to leave the trail and pick through the stones and moving rocks.

About the Author:

Holly Bush writes historical romance set on the American Prairie, in Victorian England, and recently released her first Women’s Fiction title. Her books are described as emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance. She makes her home with her husband in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Social Media Links:

http://www.hollybushbooks.com
http://www.twitter.com/hollybushbooks
Facebook
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/holly-bush
https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Bush/e/B006ZDTQ1A/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Purchase Your Copy:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Google Play Store

Enter the Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sale Blitz & #Giveaway ~ Boy in the Mirror by Robert J. Duperre ~ Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Horror @robertduperre



Boy in the Mirror
Robert J. Duperre 
Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Horror
Date Published: December 31, 2016
Publisher: TRO Publishing

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About the Book:

Fifteen-year-old Jacqueline Talbot’s boyfriend Mal lives in the mirror of her makeup case. There’s never been anything normal about Jacqueline; not during her time in foster care, and certainly not in her new hometown of Mercy Hills.

With rumors of actual monsters in the woods, the popular kids taking an unhealthy interest in her, and the revealing of her own dark past, all Jacqueline wants to do is run away forever with Mal. Too bad he’s trapped in the mirror.

But when she learns the ancient forces of the town want to destroy everything she loves, the race is on to free the boy in the mirror, because he just might be the only one who knows how to stop them.

Read an Excerpt:

Olivia tripped, falling on her rump with a yelp. Jacqueline continued to kick out her feet, trying to scurry away from the lurching monstrosity as fast as she could. She tried to get her anger to rise up again, to feel the strength of her rage as she had when Papa Gelick attacked her, but it remained hidden, locked away, out of reach. This wasn’t confronting some boisterous kid in a high school hallway. This was real. This was dangerous.

And Jacqueline was afraid.

“Get away!” Annette’s voice shouted. “Don’t come any closer!”

Jacqueline’s friends rushed forward. Ronni helped Jacqueline to her feet while Annette did the same for Olivia. Neil stepped toward the man with the knife with his phone held up, the flashlight on the back shining. The man held up his hand to shield his eyes. Jacqueline shrugged away from Ronni and joined Neil’s side, trying not to be completely terrified.

The man dropped his hand and leered at them. Neil kept his arm raised, the wavering light revealing a haggard, forty-something adult with a patchy beard, messed-up teeth, and beady eyes. The guy wore a beaten-up leather duster and grimy jeans. He took another step toward them, which prompted Neil to hastily retreat and stumble over his own feet.

“Little pig, little pig, let me in,” the man growled as Neil fell. His beady eyes shifted in Jacqueline’s direction. “Not by the hair of my—”

His mouth abruptly snapped shut, his jaw twitched, his cheeks sagged. Jacqueline froze, not sure what to do. Finally, the brute turned tail and dashed across the parking lot, looking like he was headed for the thin line of woods on the mall’s west end.

Jacqueline wasn’t sure if the danger was over. She heard Olivia sobbing behind her. “I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry…my cousin was mugged last week…what’s wrong with this town?” Jacqueline stepped toward the darkened area between the two cars, where the second shadow still lay. The victim. Jacqueline knelt on wet pavement. She touched the body, and it flinched.

“Please…” whispered a weak, female voice.

“Guys!” Jacqueline called out over her shoulder. “Neil, call 9-1-1!”

About the Author:


Robert J. Duperre is an author from Connecticut, the land of insurance, tobacco, and unfulfilled dreams. Over his mildly interesting life, Robert has released seven novels that skirt the line between horror, science fiction, and fantasy, as well as edited and contributed to a pair of short story collections. His novel “Soultaker” was released in 2017 by Ragnarok Publications. He also co-wrote "The Breaking World" series with David Dalglish, which was picked up and published by 47North, a subsidiary of Amazon Publishing. And all this was accomplished while living happily ever after with his wife, the artist Jessica Torrant.

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