Friday, June 29, 2018

LOCKED OUT -- A COZY MYSTERY



Don't miss the Rafflecopter at the end of the post!


Locked Out
Welcome To Rebuild Book 1
by
L.M. Schukraft


Genre: Cozy Mystery

Emeline Watson hoped that by changing careers and going back to her home
town, Waverly, it would be a new beginning for her. She could forget
her horrible ex and the troubles he caused, move on from her father's
passing away six months ago, and start over. She finds out quickly
enough that her past has followed her. 


Amid overhearing clandestine conversations, her ex stalking her, and her
home town being plagued with recent break-ins, Emeline's first week
at Rebuild, a local chain hardware store, is anything but easy. The
only bright spot is her gorgeous new co-worker, Ethan Walker. They're
paired up together the first day, and the mutual attraction is
undeniable, but Emeline senses there's more to Ethan than he's
letting on. 

Starting out a new job, in a new town, is never easy but Ethan Walker has
become a pro at blending in and adjusting to change. He figures this
should be one of the easier changes he's had to face in a while.
Little did he know the trouble that was awaiting him when he first
set eyes on Emeline Watson. Her girl next door blonde hair, curvy fit
body, and stunning eyes catches his attention instantly. Time and
again, he finds himself playing knight in shining armor to her damsel
in distress. 

Waverly is experiencing its first wave of crime in centuries and Emeline
seems to be mixed up in the center of it. No matter how much she
denies needing Ethan to rescue her, the two are thrown together after
Emeline discovers the grizzly remains of a body. 

Can Ethan and Emeline figure out who's behind the crimes? Will their
attraction, and Emeline, survive the sinister plot threatening the
entire town? Or will their secrets keep them locked out of each
other’s lives?

Time is running out and the stakes are getting higher with each passing
day....the danger is real and it's coming for Emeline.




L. M. Schukraft is a long time writer, a quirky novelist, and a
semi-passive blogger. 


With the release of her third novel, LOCKED OUT, Ms Schukraft is excited
to share with you a cast of new characters in a mystery that keeps
you guessing. She is currently writing her next adventure - a YA
fairy tale retelling - that she anticipates releasing in 2018. 

Ms. Schukraft graduated with a degree in English Creative Writing which
she's finally putting to good use. She loves reading but being a
picky reader limited her choices. She found herself going long
periods of time waiting for her favorite authors to release their
next books. Using her inclination towards creativity, Ms Schukraft
started writing a few novels years ago. Life and circumstances, along
with some writer's block and doubt, delayed her finishing the first
two books she started to write. Hop forward to a competition along
with a butt-load of determination and Ms Schukraft finished
EVEN HALOS CAN BE CROOKED. Her next release followed shortly after that,
CASTLES IN THE SKIES, a collection of poetry and short stories. 

Ms Schukraft has several ideas waiting to be written and looks forward
to sharing each and every single one with you. Keep an eye out for
her YA fairy tale retelling, a children's picture book, the second
book in both her series, and a stand-alone romantic suspense
thriller. 

Ms Schukraft actively updates her blogs and Facebook pages with
information on current releases, giveaways, promotions as well as
what she's writing at the time. Please follow, like, and share her
blogs and Facebook pages to stay up-to-date and not miss any new
releases!




Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!



Wednesday, June 27, 2018

FAKING LUCKY TOUR!


Don't miss the Rafflecopter giveaway at then end of this post.



Faking  Lucky
by
Q. D. Purdu

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Desdemona, a pianist in the Austin life-music scene, is channel-surfing when she
stumbles upon the program Marriage Exposure. The trashy
television show gets people to spill all the secrets of their sex
lives, and Desdemona’s ex-boyfriend just happens to be a guest. To
her shock and horror, Desdemona’s ex announces on national
television that he dumped her because she never got the big O. “She
faked…,” he says. Every single time.
Her life is wrecked! If her friends, family and colleagues haven’t seen
the interview yet, they will.
How do you survive a scandal like this? How did he know she faked? And
why is it that in the bedroom, Desdemona never, ever gets lucky?
The lovable, creative and quirky heroine tackles these challenges. As
Desdemona tries to run damage control on her reputation, she begins
to explore her sexuality. Along the way, she will get a second chance
at genuine love.
Q. D. Purdu’s Finding Lucky won first place in the
romance category of the Texas Writers’ League. Desdemona’s quest
for the Big O is full of hilarious moments, handsome men, and
heartfelt memories.



FAKING LUCKY Excerpt:

So I’m home alone on Saturday night in my flannel PJs, relaxed on my denim sofa, eating fudge and brazil nuts, and channel surfing. Jewelry channel—maybe a flashy gem would jazz up my life. Gag—tonight it’s cameos. Sex in the City—I bet they all faked it, even Samantha. Marriage Exposure—where do they find people who will go on television and argue about their sex lives?
Wait.
I don’t believe my eyes. It looks like Burt on Marriage Exposure. I raise the volume and edge closer to the screen. It is him, the same reddish-brown hair and sharp features. He’s even wearing his favorite green-striped polo shirt. I haven’t seen him in a year, and he’s wearing that same shirt. The short-haired woman sitting next to him has her hands covering her face. She’s wailing something like, “You never loved me! You never loved me!”
It can’t be. Burt’s in an L-word relationship? I edge closer to the screen, hardly breathing.
Burt pulls at the back of his neck with one hand, the way he always does when he’s stressed, and looks down toward his feet. “I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t love you.” Unbelievable. He’s married to her.
She uncovers her red, puffy face and leans close to him. “You never loved me.” Spit flies out with her words. “You’ve always loved…” She gives a big, gasping sob and then slowly, distinctly blurts out my name. “…Desdemona. With…with…her beautiful dark eyes. Her perfect body. Her incredible piano playing.” More spit with the p’s. “Her long, thick raven hair.” She raises both hands to her head and pulls at her brownish spikes.
No. I must have misheard.
But she repeats my name, dragging out each syllable as if it causes her physical pain. “Des…de…mon…a.”
Could Burt have dated another Desdemona?
Something mushes between my toes. Fudge under my foot oozes out onto my creamy-white lamb’s-wool throw, which is now on the floor. I must have stood when she wailed my name. Brazil nuts are all over the floor.




Q. D. Purdu’s debut romance FAKING LUCKY, under the title of DESDEMONA
FINDS THE BIG O IN LOVE, won first place in the Texas Writers’
League Romance category, 2014. Her novella THE LIGHT WE FOUND, first
published in MOTHER'S DAY MAGIC anthology, is now available as a
stand-alone short read. 


Q. D. loves her rescued puppy, red wine, running through sprinklers,
dark chocolate with sugared ginger, and anything wrapped in a corn
tortilla. Her prized possessions include a hot pink Christmas tree
and a garden full of okra and basil. 

She hasn’t decided what she’ll be when she grows up, but whatever it
is will be filled with romantic impossibilities.




Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!



Monday, June 25, 2018

THE LILAC CODE -- THE SISTERS TEXAS SERIES CONTINUES


Becki Willis has a Rafflecopter Giveaway at the end of this post!



The Lilac Code
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 7
by
Becki Willis
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Will a case of mistaken identity be the death of her? 
Madison Reynolds is looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation. Her
best friend Genny is judging a celebrity bake-off near DC, so it’s
the perfect opportunity for a girl’s getaway. With fun-loving
Granny Bert in tow, the trio heads to the very heart of the Intel
community. Deep in alphabet soup territory—surrounded by CIA, NSA,
FBI and more—it takes only moments for things to go awry.

mix-up at the airport leaves Madison with the wrong luggage, and a
last-minute change in accommodations lands them at The
Columbia Inn at Peralynna.
 How can they know its ties to the spy world 

will soon spin them into its web?


Designed as a CIA safe house, the inn has a fascinating history. When it seems
a mysterious man in a dark coat is following her, Madison scoffs at
her over-action imagination. She’s listened to too many spy tales,
spun by the innkeeper herself. The stories of espionage and agents
are intriguing, but too incredible to be real. The Texans know
nothing about secret codes and counterintelligence. They’ve never
heard of The Lilac Code, or the illusive agent-for-hire known simply as Kalypso.

Back home in The Sisters, a drama is unfolding that involves Madison’s
precious twins. She’s raised them to do the right thing, no matter
the consequence, but will their quest for justice put them in danger?

Thrust into impossible situations of being in the wrong place at the wrong
time, the twins risk everything to save their school, while deep in
spy territory, Madison and Genny race against the clock—and the
elements—to save Granny Bert’s life.


The award-winning The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series continues
in this exciting Book 7. This is a stand-alone book, but best when
enjoyed as a full series experience.




THE LILAC CODE Excerpt:

Madison lifted their suitcases onto the proffered stands, grunting under the effort of her own bag. “I must have packed in my sleep, because I swear, I don’t remember this being so heavy this morning,” she muttered. She unzipped the basic black rolling bag and gasped. She rifled through the contents, not recognizing a single item. Most of it was folders, books, and ledgers. No wonder it was so heavy!

“I have someone else’s luggage!” she stated with delayed realization.

“What are you mumbling about in here?” Granny Bert asked, returning from the bathroom.

“I have the wrong suitcase! This isn’t mine.”

“How in tarnation did that happen?”

“I have no idea. Wait. The attendant stowed my luggage for me,” she recalled. “I was one of the last people off the plane, which means that someone else mistook my luggage for theirs.” She sank onto the side of the bed with a horrified sigh. “That means that they have mine, and I don’t have a thing to wear!”

“Look on the bright side. You’ve needed a new wardrobe. Derron found you a few new pieces, but you still need a major update.”

“Not like this, I don’t! I don’t even have a pair of underwear to change into.”

“Relax, they have stores up here. There was a mall near the restaurant where we ate.”

Madison continued to bemoan her troubles. “This is terrible, just terrible. My favorite pair of boots were in that bag!”

“So call the airport, explain the mix-up, and see if the other person has already returned your bag. I’ll bet it’s there waiting on you.”

“You’re right. I should call the airport.”

Her grandmother clicked her tongue. “What would you do without me? All this time, I thought I was the beauty and you were the brains, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I’ve been both, all along.”

In no mood for her grandmother’s shenanigans, Madison already had her phone in her hand.
Three calls and an hour later, the news wasn’t good. No one reported a missing suitcase, nor had they returned a piece of mistaken luggage. Without any identification on the bag in Madison’s possession, they advised that she hang on to it until someone claimed it. Returning it to the airport could result in permanent loss.

“This is crazy. I can’t believe they told me to just keep someone else’s luggage!” Madison fumed.

“For all the good it does you. Nothing but a bunch of papers, from what I can tell. What little I read didn’t even make sense,” Granny Bert groused.

“I’m sure they told the other person to just keep mine, as well!” she continued to rant. “This is ridiculous.”

“Let’s find a store and buy you some new clothes, at least something for tonight and tomorrow,” Genny suggested. “We’ll come back, have a glass of wine, and call it a night. You can call the airport again in the morning. Even if no one has returned your suitcase, at least someone on the morning shift may be more helpful.”

“They certainly can’t be any more inept that the idiots working the phones this evening!”

“Calm down, Maddy. It’s going to be fine.” Genny stroked her friend’s arms in a comforting gesture.

“You were right, you know. Something bad did happen.” Madison threw her hands up in exasperation. “I lost all my underwear!”

Granny Bert snickered. “Somehow, I don’t think Genny had a premonition about you losing your underwear.”

“Go ahead. Laugh. Make a joke. It’s fine for you. You have something to sleep in tonight.”






Don't miss the other books in The Sisters, Texas series!

Chicken Scratch
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 1
When The Stars Fall
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 2
Stipulations and Complications
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 3
Home Again: Starting Over
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 4
Genny's Ballad
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 5

Christmas in The Sisters
The Sisters, Texas Series Book 6

Becki Willis, best known for her popular The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series
and Forgotten Boxes, always dreamed of being an author. In November
of '13, that dream became a reality. Since that time, she has
published eleven books, won first place honors for Best Mystery
Series, Best Suspense Fiction and Best Audio Book, and has introduced
her imaginary friends to readers around the world. 

An avid history buff, Becki likes to poke around in old places and learn
about the past. Other addictions include reading, writing, junking,
unraveling a good mystery, and coffee. She loves to travel, but
believes coming home to her family and her Texas ranch is the best
part of any trip. Becki is a member of the Association of Texas
Authors, the National Association of Professional Women, and the
Brazos Writers organization. She attended Texas A&M University
and majored in Journalism.



Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!




Friday, June 22, 2018

New Release ★ Free Content ★ Upcoming Release


Celebrate with me! THE RANCHER’S PERFECT BRIDE is up for pre-order and will release on Monday, June 25, from Amazon. This is book 7 of the Loving a Rancher Series, a sweet western historical romance. In this story, Zenobia Stanton wants to be the perfect mail-order bride for Callum McFadden—if only she knew how to cook and clean! She’s a fast learner, but has what I hope you’ll find are interesting encounters along the way. The purchase link is http://a.co/5ORxMym.



The previous titles in this series were part of Debra Holland’s Montana Sky Series for Kindle World. Because Amazon is dropping the Kindle World program, the rights to these books (with Debra’s permission) return to me on July 16. I will be republishing them as soon as possible after that date. Of course, the names of Debra’s characters have been changed because they belong to her. Now I'll be able to offer the books in print as well as e-books.

THE RANCHER'S PERFECT BRIDE Excerpt: (Zenobia is alone at the ranch on the fifth day of her marriage. The day before, Callum gave her shooting lessons.)

She saw the stocky man’s muscles bunch and recognized he was going to jump up and lunge at her.

“Mister, you try to stand up and I’ll shoot you.”
He raised his head and sent her a lethal glare. “I’ll bet you don’t even know how to shoot. You look like that there gun is getting too heavy for you.”
“If it does, I have a revolver in my apron pocket. Would you prefer I shoot you with a revolver?”
The skinny man’s voice was an unpleasant whine, “Don’t shoot us at all. You let us ride away and we won’t bother you none.”
“As if I’d believe that. Thieves like you two aren’t going to change your ways.” Where was Callum? He should have come by now.
She took a step back and fired three more into the air. When she did, the stocky man leaped to his feet. Her fourth shot was at his feet.
He kept coming at her so she shot at him, this time plugging his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise and he stopped momentarily.
“I’ll teach you to fire at me.” He called her horrid names.
The man recovered his momentum and rushed at her. She shot him again, this time hitting his knee. He dropped to the ground cursing and repeating what he would like to do to her.
His talk caused her knees to shake but she couldn’t let him know. She scowled and pretended to regard him as expendable. “If you’re of a mind to continue, I still have ammunition. When I said ‘on the ground’, that’s what I meant.”
He continued calling her names and cursing. “You shattered my knee. I’ll have the devil of a time walking after this.”
“I didn’t ask you to come at me and I have no sympathy for you.”
The sound of hoofbeats reassured her. Callum and his hands rode into the yard at a gallop. When he stopped, he was off his horse and running toward her.
The three ranch hands converged on the two thieves.
Callum grabbed her shoulders and searched her face. “Are you all right? What’s happened here?”
She set the rifle on the porch and clung to his arms. “I’m okay but have never been so grateful to see anyone. These two men didn’t know I was here. They waited until you and your men were gone then rode in to steal hens and meat. They’re living in your old soddie.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Zenobia, I’m sorry you had to confront them, but you held your own.”
She rested her head against his strong chest. His accelerated heartbeat reflected his anxiety. “I thought I would have to kill that stocky man. He was determined to reach me. The leering way he looked at me scared me witless.”
She leaned close and spoke quietly, “Callum… um, I have to tell you the truth. The first time I fired at him, I intended to hit his boots and got his shoulder. The second time, I aimed at his other shoulder and hit his knee. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t miss entirely.”
He hugged her to him again. “Don’t tell anyone. You’ll have a reputation now as a woman who can defend herself. Let’s keep it our secret that you aren’t as good a shot as you’d like.”
“I don’t want to be tested again by the likes of those two but I think I should practice more. If I’d missed him he would have overpowered me.”



FREE SAMPLE BOOK 


We always like something FREE, right? A sample of an anthology I’m in is now available from most vendors at http://a.co/f0JZ1Rj. MEDLEYS AND MUSINGS includes blurbs, excerpts, recipes, historical tidbits, and bios from the nine authors in the upcoming UNDER A MULBERRY MOON western historical anthology being released July 19. I’ve loved what I’ve read of these stories so far and have found they offer a nice variety.

UPCOMING RELEASE NOW ON PRE-ORDER



You can pre-order UNDER A MULBERRY MOON now at http://a.co/dSvcFdc and it will magically appear on your e-reader on release day. Don't you love technology? (When it works, that is.) Authors included in the anthology are Zina Abbott, Patricia Carroll, Caroline Clemmons, Carra Copelin, Keta Diablo, P. A. Estelle, Cissie Patterson, Charlene Raddon, and Jacquie Rogers. Snap it up now at only 99 cents. 

Thank you to all those who have purchased my books! I love writing but can only continue as long as I have readers. Thank you also to those who have left reviews. Reviews are helpful to authors as well as prospective readers. 


Wednesday, June 20, 2018

CURSE OF THE ANCIENTS



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.



As Craige Ingram climbed the stairs of the derelict building, that peculiar stench of a dead body hit him. It was the same smell no matter where—SpecOps SEAL encounter gone sour, or in a vacant, roach-infested apartment. Inside, his SEAL buddy-turned head of Buckingham Parish Homicide’s Investigative Support Division, Grayson MacGerald, was huddled with the coroner next to a swollen decaying corpse that was days old and hardly more than oozing dead meat. The PI inside Craige had a gut feeling that there was more to this than a dead body, and Craige’s Grannie always told him, “Trust your feelin’s.” But that was before Mihály Keaulescu set down two of his Black Falcon choppers on Craige’s Moccasin Hollow private airstrip in an uninvited stopover. It got worse. From his airstrip to Israel, to Turkey and a nightmare-dream of one-of-a-kind ancient artifacts that not only threatened the serene life Craige knew and loved at Moccasin Hollow, it would destroy the world.


Read an Excerpt from CURSE OF THE ANCIENTS:

The smell got worse as Craige made his way up the stairs. Like the smell of burning human flesh, a fermenting corpse gave off one of those distinctive odors one never forgot. Craige thought of the adage about it taking a strong stomach to work with a body that had been dead for a while. One never got used to it. Some memories weren’t pleasant—time on storm-swept beaches, digging for supplies buried in the sand, hidden under piles of rubbish, in dark alleys or trashed rat-ridden warehouses; huddled in black dark caves or stinking tunnels. Their Special Mission CTU team cocked and loaded for anything; prepared to deal out any necessary parcel of maimed, butchered and dismembered—or running for their lives the few times their cover was blown.

As Craige climbed to the second-floor landing, the smell went from bad to a sour-worse. He spotted familiar faces from the department’s forensic team; intent and focused around the pulpy lump with swollen pumpkin dimples where eyes should have been in one very bloated dead body. The corpse was well beyond the initial stages of being recycled. It no longer looked human after cooking several days in the sweltering oven of a Dixie mid-August scorching summer in this dreary one-flight walkup of apartments with no AC and painted-shut windows. The dreary apartment was busier than it’d been in years with lab and forensic techs bustling and sorting the pitiful pieces of the when and how of abandoned death. Near the peeling paint archway into a worse kitchenette he spotted Gray huddled with just over five feet plus, roly-poly Coroner-Medical Examiner Fred Dinkins.


About the Author:
With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions at several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to his work in classrooms and laboratories, he has written numerous professional articles on chordate neuroembryology and authored several novels that reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. MOCCASIN TRACE, a historical novel nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his protagonist in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. HIDDEN VAULT OF SECRETS and WESTOBOU GOLD, Books 1 and 2 in the series, have received national and international attention. Hawk is also writing a science fiction series, The Cairns of Sainctuarie.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiAGlgQQsMQ&feature=youtu.be

Website: http://hawkmackinney.net

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Ancents-Moccasin-Hollow-Mystery/dp/0997096268/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Monday, June 18, 2018

THE DEADLIEST BLESSING -- A PROVINCETOWN MYSTERY



The Deadliest Blessing
Provincetown Mystery Series #3
by
Jeannette de Beauvoir

Genre: Cozy Mystery

If there’s a dead body anywhere in Provincetown, wedding consultant Sydney Riley is
going to be the one to find it! The seaside town’s annual
Portuguese Festival is approaching and it looks like smooth sailing
until Sydney’s neighbor decides to have some construction done in
her home—and finds more than she bargained for inside her wall.
Now Sydney is again
balancing her work at the Race Point Inn with an unexpected adventure
that will eventually involve fishermen, gunrunners, a mummified cat,
a family fortune, misplaced heirs, a girl with a mysterious past, and
lots and lots of Portuguese food. The Blessing of the Fleet is
coming up, and unless Sydney can find the key to a decades-old
murder, it might yet come back to haunt everyone in this
otherwise-peaceful fishing village.


DEADLIEST BLESSING EXCERPT

The sunset was living up to expectations.

I’d parked my Civic—known affectionately as the Little Green Car—in the row of vehicles facing Herring Cove Beach, one of the few places on the East Coast where the sun appears to set into the water. As usual, the light was spectacular. It’s the light that made Provincetown what it is, the oldest continuously operating art colony in the United States: the light here, apparently, is like nowhere else.

Or so my friend Mirela tells me. She’s a painter, and is constantly talking about the light, though when it really comes down to it, she can’t explain exactly what it is they all see, the artists who live and work here. I know; I’ve asked.

It was late spring, and I didn’t yet have too many weddings crowding my daily calendar, so I was taking advantage of the calm before the storm of the summer tourist season really hitting when my spare time, like everybody’s else’s, would disappear altogether. I’m the wedding coordinator for the Race Point Inn, and while we do tasteful winter weddings inside the building, the bulk of my work is in the summertime, as Provincetown is pretty much Destination Wedding Central, mostly for same-sex couples but really for anyone who wants this kind of light. The sun was carving a path of gold right up to the beach, glittering and gilded, and I knew I was smiling, settling back into my seat with a sigh.

My phone rang.

Cell coverage is spotty out here in the Cape Cod National Seashore, and my experience is that it’s when you really need to reach someone that it’s not going to happen; on the other hand, when it’s something you don’t want to deal with, the signal comes through loud and clear. Murphy’s Law, or something along those lines. I sighed and swiped, my eyes still on the sunset. “Sydney Riley.”

“Sydney, hey, hi, it’s Zack.”

My landlord. This couldn’t be good. I mentally checked the date. Um, I’d paid my rent this month, right? “Hi, Reg.”

“Hey, hi. Listen, Sydney, I’ve got Mrs. Mattos here and she’s looking for you.”

Of course she was. I live above a nightclub, which makes for reasonable rent with free Lady Gaga thrown in at one o’clock in the morning; Mrs. Mattos is the eighty-something widow who owns the very large house directly across the street. Property developers are probably checking on her health daily as they wait for her demise; I can’t imagine how many million-dollar condos they could create in that space.

I take her grocery shopping to the Stop & Shop once a week and I’ve noticed, lately, that she’s finding more and more excuses to come over and buzz my doorbell. She’s lonely and probably a little scared and most of the time I try to help, but the silly season was already upon us and there was a lot less of my time available. Generally I try to wean her off daily visits by May, but we were already into the beginning of June now, and she was crossing the street rather than calling, a sure sign of distress.

Mrs. Mattos is frequently distressed.

Still, it must have been something out of the ordinary for her to have buzzed Zack, who owns the nightclub as well as the building and was probably peeled away from his never-ending paperwork to talk to her. Mrs. Mattos is usually a little nonplussed around Zack, who regularly paints his fingernails chartreuse or purple, and owns an extensive assortment of wigs. “She’s there with you now?”

A murmur of conversation, then Mrs. Mattos’ quavering voice on the line. “I just need you to come over, Sydney,” she said.

The sun was dipping into the water now; the show would soon be finished. Above it, scarlet and pink streaked across the sky. Some day, I told myself, I was going to be old and quavering, too. “Okay, you go back home,” I said. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Her name is Emilia Mattos, she stands about five-feet nothing and might weigh a hundred pounds. But every bit of her, like most of the Portuguese women in town, is muscle and sinew. I know her first name, but I’ve never used it; there’s a certain distance, a certain decorum the elderly Provincetown widows observe, and I respect that. Out on Fisherman’s Wharf there’s a collection of large-scale photographs of elderly Portuguese wives and mothers, an art installation called They Also Face The Sea; Mrs. Mattos isn’t one of them, but she could well be.

Back when Provincetown was one of the major whaling ports, ships stopped off in the Azores to take on additional crew, and a lot of those people settled back in town and sent for their families; by the end of the 1800s they were as numerous as the original English settlers. Nowadays there are fewer and fewer Portuguese enclaves, as gentrification switches into high gear and Provincetown’s fishing fleet dwindles; but the names are still here: Mattos, Avellar, Cabral, Gouveia, Silva, Amaral, Rego, Del Deo.

Up until about ten years go, a prominent advertisement in the booklet for the Portuguese Festival was for the small Azores Express airline, when there was still a generation in town that was from Portugal itself; you don’t see that anymore.

She was standing in her doorway when I found a parking place for the Little Green Car and got to our street. I’ve read in books about people twisting their hands; I’d never actually seen it until then. “Mrs. Mattos! Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

“Probably nothing,” she said, on that same quavering note. “Oh, I’m probably disturbing you for nothing, Sydney.”





Jeannette de Beauvoir grew up in Angers, France, but has lived in the United
States since her twenties. (No, she's not going to say how long ago
that was!) She spends most of her time inside her own head, which is
great for writing, though possibly not so much for her social life.
When she’s not writing, she’s reading or traveling… to inspire her writing. 


The author of a number of mystery and historical novels (some of which
you can see on Amazon, Goodreads, Criminal Element, HomePort Press,
and her author website), de Beauvoir's work has appeared in 15
countries and has been translated into 12 languages. Midwest Review
called her Martine LeDuc Montréal series “riveting (…)
demonstrating her total mastery of the mystery/suspense genre.” She
is currently writing a Provincetown Theme Week cozy mystery series
featuring female sleuth Sydney Riley.

De Beauvoir’s academic background is in history and religion, and the
politics and intrigue of the medieval period have always fascinated
her (and provided her with great storylines!). She coaches and edits
individual writers, teaches writing online and on Cape Cod, and
thinks Aaron Sorkin is a god. Her cat, Beckett, totally disagrees.




Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!





Friday, June 15, 2018

MOMS WITH SECRETS - HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO PROTECT YOUR SON?



Moms With Secrets

Tammy & Lisa Mom Detectives Book 1
by
Bena Roberts


Genre:
Chick Lit , Cozy Mystery, Parenting Drama

Move over Thelma and Louise! Enter Tammy and Lisa two moms of troubled
teenage boys. Not convinced of the school's ability to deal with
serious issues, the two mothers become mom detectives. 


Meet Tammy Lewis - the local politician's wife. She is a dutiful wife and
adores her family. Her life in her cozy village and Victorian home is perfect. 

Enter Lisa Evans - an enigmatic yoga teacher and single mother. Lisa has
worked hard to succeed in her life, and when she discovers her
teenage son might be dealing drugs, she comes up with a crafty plan.
Lisa sets out to frame innocent mom Tammy Lewis for her son's
misdemeanors. Lisa's son and Tammy's son are best friends so; the
set-up could work. 

Is Tammy the pushover that Lisa believes? 

More importantly? Has the village school got the accusations right? Are
Mark and Ethan, Tammy & Lisa's children really the local village
school drug lords? 

Author Bena Roberts has delivered a warm and witty short read ideals for
mums with troubled teenage boys who understand the pull of
motherhood. How far would you go to protect your teenage son?





Bena Roberts was a journalist and analyst. Now she prefers the title
novelist and romance adventurist. She graduated in England 1994 and
then with a Masters in 1997. 


Born in 1973, Bena lived in West London until she was 24. Then she lived
and worked in Budapest, Bruges, Prague, Amsterdam, Vienna, Hamburg
and Munich. She currently resides in Germany, between Heidelberg and
Frankfurt. Although she still refers to London as 'home.'

Bena successfully created a technology blog which gained funding, had
lunch with Steve Ballmer and was 'top 50 most influential woman in
mobile.' Her blog also won several awards including Metro Best Blog. 

Bena has two children, loves small dogs and always writes books with a cup of Earl
Grey. 

Bena's favorite literary style is black humor, and she hopes to offer a unique voice
in this area. Her books aim to confront the darkest of life
experiences, with levity. Most of her writing is heavy hitting yet
also entertaining. The second novel out in 2018 offers
thought-provoking fiction which embraces the absurd with reality. 



Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!