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Review: Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush
Grounds for Murders
Tara Lush
A Coffee Lover’s Mystery, Book 1
Barista Lana Lewis’s sleuthing may land her in a latte trouble as Tara Lush launches her new Coffee Shop mysteries.
When Lana Lewis’ best — and most difficult — employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café’s chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil’s Beach, Lana’s normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger. Of course, Fabrizio “Fab” Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he’s found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana’s café, she becomes the prime suspect.
Even the island’s handsome police chief isn’t quite certain of her innocence. But Lana isn’t the only one in town who was angry with Fabrizio. Jilted lovers, a shrimp boat captain, and a surfer with ties to the mob are all suspects as trouble brews on the beach.
With her stoned, hippie dad, a Shih Tzu named Stanley, and a new, curious barista sporting a punk rock aesthetic at her side, Lana’s prepared to turn up the heat to catch the real killer. After all, she is a former award-winning reporter. As scandal hangs over her beachside café, can Lana clear her name and win the championship — or will she come to a bitter end?
4 Stars
A fantastic start to a new cozy series.
Grounds for Murder is the debut book in the new Coffee Lover’s Mystery Series. Lana Lewis as a former journalist who has returned home and is now managing the family coffee shop. Now days before a huge barista competition her best and most frustrating employee quits and leaves her high and dry, only to turn up dead the next day. Said barista has made a name for himself in their small little town and fingers are pointing in all directions when his body is found. Lana’s investigative nature kicks in and starts looking for information and clues, not only to clear her name but to find who did.
A fun, laugh out loud, entertaining cozy mystery. Lana Lewis is a strong enjoyable character who has a few complications to her life but is genuinely a good person. She’s got a quirky and likable personality. Lana knows how to get to the bottom and get her answers. Lana’s home town of Devils Beach is a hoot. From the names of the businesses like the coffee shop, Purgatory, to the characters that dwell within the town. Lana’s hippy of a dad is a riot. The new barista is going to be the best kind of bad influence on Lana!! Lol. And of course to for fill my romance needs there’s a hottie cop who catches the readers attention nicely. Grounds for Murder is a well written mystery with many twists to keep you guessing. I very much enjoyed my trip to Devils Beach and can’t wait to go back.
Review: Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn
Little Bookshop of Murder
Maggie Blackburn
A Beach Reads Mystery, Book 1
A Shakespearean scholar inherits a beachside bookshop–and a murder mystery–in this delightful new cozy series for fans of Kate Carlisle and Ellery Adams.
Summer Merriweather’s career as a Shakespeare professor hangs by a bookbinder’s thread. Academic life at her Virginia university is a viper’s pit, so Summer spends her summer in England, researching a scholarly paper that, with any luck, will finally get her published, impress the Dean, and save her job. But her English idyll ends when her mother, Hildy, shuffles off her mortal coil from an apparent heart attack.
Returning to Brigid’s Island, NC, for the funeral, Summer is impatient to settle the estate, sell her mom’s embarrassingly romance-themed bookstore, Beach Reads, and go home. But as she drops by Beach Reads, Summer finds threatening notes addressed to Hildy: “Sell the bookstore or die.”
Clearly, something is rotten on Brigid’s Island. What method is behind the madness? Was Hildy murdered? The police insist there’s not enough evidence to launch a murder investigation. Instead, Summer and her Aunt Agatha screw their courage to the sticking place and start sleuthing, with the help of Hildy’s beloved book club. But there are more suspects on Brigid’s Island than are dreamt of in the Bard’s darkest philosophizing. And if Summer can’t find the villain, the town will be littered with a Shakespearean tragedy’s worth of corpses–including her own.
3 Stars
Little Bookshop of Murder is a light and easy cozy mystery read that is more than fitting for beach reading.
Summer Merriweather is having a time of it. A Shakespeare Professor researching a paper in England to try to save her career when the unexpected death of her very healthy mother brings her back to her childhood home. Upon return she realizes things are not as they seem. Summer decides that if the local law won’t listen she will have to figure out this one herself.
There are many things I enjoyed about Little Bookshop of Murder. First and foremost the store, Beach Reads! The Idea of this store is a reader stream on the beach. From its name to its beach themed decor, It’s a place that I wouldn’t mind spending an afternoon or two enjoying reading by the sea. Second small towns whether I’m reading cozies or romance are always a favorite. This one has a vast array of quirky characters that make up a very fun and interesting town. Next the family dynamic within the story is priceless. I love the inner jokes and squabbling that goes back-and-forth between them. Summer it’s an interesting main character. She may have left a few ill feelings when she left home yet it’s still her home and has a love for it even if she didn’t realize how deep it goes. The mystery of the story itself was rather easy to figure out but the why was a bit off for me. However I enjoy this little town and these crazy characters enough that it will make me read the next book in the series.
Review: A Sprinkling of Murder by Daryl Wood Gerber
A Sprinkling of Murder
Daryl Wood Gerber
A Fairy Garden Mystery, Book 1
Fairy garden store owner Courtney Kelly believes in inviting magic into your life. But when uninvited trouble enters her shop, she’ll need more than a sprinkling of her imagination to solve a murder . . .
Since childhood, Courtney has loved fairies. After her mother died when Courtney was ten, she lost touch with that feeling of magic. A year ago, at age twenty-nine, she rediscovered it when she left her father’s landscaping business to spread her wings and start a fairy garden business and teashop in beautiful Carmel, California. At Open Your Imagination, she teaches garden design and sells everything from fairy figurines to tinkling wind chimes. Now she’s starting a book club tea.
But the light of the magical world she’s created inside her shop is darkened one night when she discovers neighboring dog-grooming business owner Mick Watkins dead beside her patio fountain. To make matters worse, the police suspect Courtney of the crime. To clear her name and find the real killer, Courtney will have to wing it. But she’s about to get a little help from an unexpected source . . .
4 Stars
A Sprinkling of Murder is an enchanting beginning to the magical new Fairy Garden Mystery.
Open Your Imagination is Courtney Kelly’s wonderfully popular fairy garden shop. A place that allows one to believe. Courtney is a charming woman who is creative and a bit nosy. With an ex cop for a father, a fairy on probation on her shoulder and a ragdoll cat in tow, Courtney will make you a believer in fairies without even trying. When a neighboring business owner is found dead In Courtney’s shop, she finds herself at the top of the suspect list and a non stop determination to find out who the real killer is. Maybe a little fairy magic is just what she needs.
A Sprinkling of Murder is a fun and whimsical cozy that will keep you thinking. The plot is a puzzle that seems like the pieces change as they are trying to fit in place. Courtney is a very likable character and I love that she carries her cat, Pixie, with her as if she were a dog. I love the way her mind thinks up scenarios and she tries to figure out if they are feasible or not. Courtney’s persistence never falters even though she’s a prime suspect. The mystery is just one of the great elements of the story. The setting is cozy and has plenty of charm. The love that we learn about the fairies as Courtney does. I love that there’s just enough paranormal to make you think but not so overwhelming that you can’t believe it.
Daryl Wood Gerber has a unique and entertaining beginning to her Fairy Garden Mystery series with A Sprinkling of Murder. I can’t want for the next magical mystery.
Ruthless Excerpt By Lexi Blake
The first in a sexy contemporary romance series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.
The Lawless siblings are bound by vengeance. Riley, Drew, Brandon, and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their parents’ murder twenty years ago to steal their father’s software program. And there’s only one way Riley can find some solid evidence…
Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover, her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without…
Pre-order Now
Amazon | Amazon UK | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google | Kobo | Print
EARLY REVIEWS FOR RUTHLESS
“Smart, savvy, clever, and always entertaining. That’s true of Riley Lawless, the hero in Ruthless, and likewise for his creator, Lexi Blake. Both are way ahead of the pack.” ~ New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry
“I love Lexi Blake. Read Ruthless and see why.” ~ New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
With Ruthless, Lexi Blake has set up shop on the intersection of Suspenseful and Sexy, and I never want to leave. ~ Laurelin Paige, New York Times bestselling author
Ruthless is full of suspense, hot sex, and swoon worthy characters — a must read!” ~ New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst
“Why did you do that?”
It was the first time she’d spoken without being prompted. “Do what?”
Her face flushed the sweetest pink. The color went all the way down that sexy V-neck. Her breasts flushed as well as her face, and it made his damn dick tighten. “Kiss me. Why did you kiss me like that?”
Oh, so many reasons, but he gave her the most compelling one. “I wanted to.”
The minute she’d opened the door and he’d seen her standing there looking anxious, he’d known how to calm her down. All he’d had to do was put his hands on her and some odd connection flared between the two of them. She hadn’t fought him. He could have gone on kissing her. He’d been the one to pull away.
It was like the minute he walked in, he was the only thing that existed for her. It made him feel ten feet tall, but it also made him want to please her.
It was an unsettling sensation.
Her hands came up, fingers on the sides of the table. “You know what I’m asking. You knew I wasn’t alone. Why did you pretend to be my boyfriend?”
It was easy to see she’d wanted him to wait for her at the restaurant so as to avoid him meeting her sister and ex. When she’d opened the door, he’d immediately known something was wrong. He’d gotten a glimpse of her sister and known Ellie had likely needed a hand. It had to be tough on a woman’s ego to lose even a pathetic excuse of a husband to a younger sister.
“You were alone with your sister who slept with your husband. Excuse me. Ex-husband.”
She shook her head. “At the time, we were definitely married. How did you know he was my ex-husband?”
“He took half your net wealth. I’m your lawyer. At this level, a good lawyer is less legal counsel and more war consultant. I can’t properly perform my duties if I don’t know everything about you, including the fact that you tend to have terrible taste in men.”
She frowned. “I haven’t had a ton of boyfriends. I’m not sure what my taste is.”
He really wanted to understand why she’d married that obvious prick. “What attracted you to him? Because from where I was standing, he looked like a dickwad desperate to be twenty-one again.”
She bit into her bottom lip, her eyes glancing away from him. “He wasn’t always like that. I actually met him when he was twenty-one. He was far more mature then.”
He liked her candor. “You were in college?”
“Last year of undergrad. We dated for two years and then it seemed like it was time to get married. We’d moved back here to Manhattan so I could take my place at StratCast. I thought he was going to go to grad school, but he decided on a different path.”
“What path was that?”
A single brow rose over her right eye. “You don’t know?”
Of course he knew. He knew everything. “Are you referring to your ex-husband’s penchant for swinging for the fences? When it comes to investments, that is.”
It was what he liked to call “idiots who funded ridiculous ideas.” They never wanted a simple profit out of their money. They wanted millions and really fucking fast. They swung for the grand slam when all they needed to do was get on base.
It took a true genius to take a single idea and make millions off it. Drew had.
Her shoulders straightened. “He wanted the easy solution. A get-rich-quick scheme. He wasn’t that way at first. At one point he was very intellectual. It’s what attracted me to him. He was curious about the world and liked to discuss everything from politics to social jus- tice to movies we saw. He changed. I didn’t. In some ways, I blame getting involved with me for what happened to him. He got around my father and real wealth and wanted some of his own. When I met him, he wanted to be a professor. He wanted to teach.”
At least he’d gotten her this far. She was talking. Now he needed to get those shoulders down from around her earlobes. For one moment, for that moment when he’d drawn her into his arms and pressed his mouth to hers, she’d relaxed against him, given over to him. Her body had softened and she’d leaned into him, and if he’d pressed her, he didn’t know what would have happened. She might have continued kissing him, forgetting all about the other people in the room. He could have cupped her breast, her ass. Put his hands anywhere he liked.
She hadn’t given a damn that they hadn’t been alone. All she’d cared about was him.
NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog int eh world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.
FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE / AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE
Excerpt: Ruthless by Lexi Blake
The first in a sexy contemporary romance series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.
The Lawless siblings are bound by vengeance. Riley, Drew, Brandon, and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their parents’ murder twenty years ago to steal their father’s software program. And there’s only one way Riley can find some solid evidence…
Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover, her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without…
Pre-order Now
Amazon | Amazon UK | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Google | Kobo | Print
EARLY REVIEWS FOR RUTHLESS
“Smart, savvy, clever, and always entertaining. That’s true of Riley Lawless, the hero in Ruthless, and likewise for his creator, Lexi Blake. Both are way ahead of the pack.” ~ New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry
“I love Lexi Blake. Read Ruthless and see why.” ~ New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
With Ruthless, Lexi Blake has set up shop on the intersection of Suspenseful and Sexy, and I never want to leave. ~ Laurelin Paige, New York Times bestselling author
Ruthless is full of suspense, hot sex, and swoon worthy characters — a must read!” ~ New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst
Riley’s mouth came down on hers again. She could feel his hunger, and his hands roamed over the curves of her hips and backside, rubbing himself against her. It fed her own. She’d never felt more wanted, needed by a man. He didn’t seem to simply want sex with someone. He seemed to need her—only her.
She wrapped her arms around him and held on, letting him lead.
His mouth moved down, kissing her jaw and ear. “Do you have any idea what I want to do to you?”
A little bit. She’d always been quiet during sex, preferring to con- centrate on the sensations, but she wanted to hear him. She wanted to know he was with her. “What do you want to do?”
She shivered with heat as his tongue ran along the shell of her ear and he nipped the lobe, a thrill shooting through her.
His voice was a low, sexy growl in her ear. “I think about stripping you down all the time.”
He turned her suddenly and her back was pressed to his front. She could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her backside. His arms wound around her, keeping her close.
“You want me naked?” She didn’t want to stop talking. She could see now that her other sexual encounters had been defined by the walls she’d put up. Though she’d had a partner, she’d been essentially alone in whatever pleasure she’d found. With her ex-husband she would turn off the lights, enjoy the ride, and then sleep in silence, their physicality the only true intimacy between them.
She didn’t want that with Riley.
His hands moved up, cupping her breasts through the thin mate- rial of her blouse and bra. The warmth of his mouth and lips moved on her neck. “I’ll have you naked. I’ll get rid of every single thing that comes between us. I’ll strip you and then touch every inch of your body. You might be the boss in the boardroom, but I intend to lead here. I intend to have you every way I can have a woman, Ellie. Once I’m inside you, I won’t want to leave.”
He was still giving her a way out. She wasn’t going to take it. “Yes, Riley. I won’t change my mind.”
His thumbs rasped over her nipples. “I’ll fucking hold you to that. I will.”
She had no idea why he sounded so resolute, but his hands were working the buttons of her blouse, dragging it out of the waistband of her skirt and peeling it back.
Cool air hit her skin. Her brain was foggy with lust. Her whole system had softened in a way it never had before. She felt hot, her muscles tight with need, but she let Riley take over. He slipped off her bra and then sighed against her skin as he cupped her breasts again.
“Fuck, that feels so good. These are beautiful, baby. Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to get my hands on these?”
She leaned back against him, her head cradled by the strength of his chest. He was solid all over. His callused hands rubbed against her skin, the feeling of masculinity making her feel more feminine than she’d ever felt before.
His fingers rolled her nipples and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
“You’re going to give me everything I want, aren’t you, Ellie? You’re going to let me play with this body. You’re going to wrap your- self around me and let me have you like I’ve dreamed of. Without reservations, no thoughts of anything but how we can make each other feel.”
Forgetting everything else seemed like the best idea ever. She needed this. Needed to let go of everything and simply be. She hadn’t done it in years, maybe never.
But it felt right with Riley. It felt good and true.
“Yes. I don’t want to be anywhere but with you. Only you.”
His hand fumbled with the button on the back of her skirt and he cursed, finally managing to undo it. “Damn it. I’m not going to last once I get inside you. I’m going to be good for you, Ellie. I promise. I’ll make it so fucking good for you.”
She loved the growl he got in his voice when he was really aroused. And the way his hands shook. She wasn’t in this alone. He was with her, right beside her in his need. She helped him, shoving the skirt down and kicking off her shoes. When she was down to nothing but her undies, she turned in his arms.
She was a little too big, her breasts real. Unlike many women her age, she’d never lifted them or enlarged them. They sagged slightly and she was well aware that her hips were curvier than fashionable. Would he turn her away? Would he see she wasn’t as pretty as he’d thought?
He stared, his eyes going right to her breasts. “You’re so gorgeous, Ellie. Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through since that first day? I’ve never masturbated as much as I have in the last week.”
Yep, the man knew what to say to her. She was pretty sure she was glowing. “I’ve thought about you, too.”
“I want you to tell me all about that, but later, baby. Right now, I’m going to do what I’ve wanted to do since the moment I met you.”
NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog int eh world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.
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