Babs Hightower's Blog, page 60
October 2, 2016
September 20, 2016
Here Comes the Witch by Ani Gonzalez, review, top ten list & giveaway
This is my stop during the blog tour for Here Comes the Witch by Ani Gonzalez. This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 7 till 20 September. You can see the tour schedule here.
Here Comes The Witch (Main Street Witches #1)
by Ani Gonzalez
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 7 September, 2016
Blurb:
Jewelry designer Kat Ramos has come to Banshee Creek to break the famous Hagen House curse and, in order to do that, she must marry Liam Hagen. A vengeful ghost with a deadly history isn’t part of the deal, and neither is love. Will Kat be able to handle both? Or will the mystery of the cursed Hagen House remain unsolved?
You can find Here Comes The Witch on Goodreads
You can buy Here Comes the Witch here:
– Amazon
– Amazon UK
Top Ten List & Review
Hi, my name is Ani Gonzalez. I write paranormal romantic comedy and cozy mystery and Babs has kindly agreed to host the book tour for Here Comes the Witch, the first book in my Main Street Witches cozy mystery (with lots of romance) series
Main Street Witches is a spin off of my haunted town romantic comedy series, Banshee Creek. Three witches head to America’s Most Haunted Town to open up businesses, and find romance and mystery along the way. The series was inspired by my love of all things witchy (just like Banshee Creek arose out of my enthusiasm for all things haunted).
Food is very important in my books. Banshee Creek has a fantastic (haunted!) bakery which serves stuff like vampire churros, and a pizzeria with a horror movie theme (their signature dish is the Bela Lugosi Lasagna). I love food. I’m not a very good home cook, but I try my best. Here are my favorite kitchen implements.
Computer/Google – This is my #1 favorite kitchen implement. It’s how I find new recipes and products and figure out how to substitute for egg whites when I’m missing an ingredient. Without Google I wouldn’t be able to cook. I also wouldn’t be able to find wonderful spooky recipes for my books!
Immersion blender – Invaluable for making soups and whipped cream, and not as bulky as a full-sized version.
Mortar and Pestle –I use this to mash garlic and mix sauces. Also, it makes me feel like a real cook (which I’m not).
Santoku knife – It makes me feel like Rachel Ray.
Spaghetti spoon – Because this is all that my kids eat.
Avocado knife – Yes, I have a special avocado knife. My daughter makes guacamole at least once a week and it’s small enough that she can cut the avocados without cutting herself. I think this is technically called a paring knife.
Potato masher – For making the guacamole. It has never touched an actual potato.
Broil pan set – This came with our oven and it makes the crispiest bacon in the world. It’s amazing.
Tongs – I think these are supposed to be for grilling, but I used then all the time to turn over meats and vegetables. So much easier than using a spatula or a fork.
Silicone and suede pot holders – I love these. They are fabulous heat insulators. I’m a clumsy cook and these keep me from getting burned all the time.
Review:
About the Author:
I write paranormal romantic comedy and cozy mystery (whew, that’s a mouthful!) set in Banshee Creek, Virginia, The Most Haunted Town in the USA. My books feature feisty funny heroines dealing with a host of paranormal critters (ghosts, cryptids, pagan gods…the sky’s the limit) and mysteries. They find magic, love and laughter and readers get to follow them every step of the way.
I love quirky towns with spooky stories, and, thanks to my books, I get to “live” in one year-around. In real life I live in a Minneapolis suburb (which is sadly lacking in ghosts) with my husband and three children and I’m still trying to adjust to the cold.
You can find and contact Ani here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Amazon
– Newsletter
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Here Comes the Witch. These are the prizes you can win:
– Custom Jewelry (US Only)
– a 25$ amazon gift card (International)
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 7, 2016
Betting Off Dead by Tonya Kappes & giveaway
Why not a cozy?
When people find out I’m a writer and ask me what genre. I respond with cozy mystery. You can probably guess the next question. Cozy? What is a cozy?
Trust me, I’ve been around long enough (26 novels) to know that cozy mystery genre doesn’t get the same hats off, Baptist nod, and thumbs up that thriller mystery or even just mystery writers get.
And if it’s not bad enough, I have to tell them that I write paranormal cozy mystery. That really gets the quizzical looks that make me feels as if I have two heads. THEN when I say it’s a witch mystery, I get the OMG, you believe in witches?
My explanation generally goes like this:
Cozy mystery is kinda just that. Cozy. More along the lines of Murder She Wrote where the sleuth of my novels has a job that is in a craft or a special talent. She stumbles on a murder that is somehow tied to her life and she has to solve the murder/crime on her own.
There is no blood, guts, or gore and cozies are centered on the sleuth’s craft or gift. In my case with Betting Off Dead, the sleuth is a witch who lives in the mortal world. Her car is her familiar named Vinnie, which is funny and he can be very jealous.
Maggie Park, my cozy sleuth, is a witch that has been recruited by SKUL spy agency because she seems to fit into everyday situations and knows things, things she shouldn’t. They have no idea she’s a witch.
But most cozies do not have paranormal characters, they have relatable characters set in small towns with a cozy setting. Even though romance takes a back seat in the mystery, there is still a love interest to sweeten the pot.
By the time I’ve given my spiel, the person who asked me about what a cozy was, is spouting off movies or television shows that fit the cozy mystery genre.
What do you love about cozy mysteries? Do you like a little paranormal with your mystery?
Synopsis:
And they’re off!
Gambling on horse racing is Kentucky’s number one sport but when Kentucky Derby Thoroughbred picked to win the Derby, Rails and Nails, ends up poisoned, SKUL special agent Mick Jasper and rookie witch Maggie Park, who keeps her witch powers a secret, are called in to investigate a world of illegal gambling where a run for the roses can prove to be deadly.
Purchase links:
Author Links:
Twitter: twitter.com/tonyakappes11
Facebook: facebook.com/authortonyakappes
Website: tonyakappes.com
Blog – http://tonyakappes.blogspot.com/
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4423580.Tonya_Kappes
Tonya has written over 20 novels and 4 novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband and a teenage boy (her other three boys have spread their wings in college) and two very spoiled schnauzers in Kentucky.
The post Betting Off Dead by Tonya Kappes & giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
September 4, 2016
Nine LiFelines by Joyce Ann Brown book review, guest post and giveaway
Nine LiFelines
by Joyce Ann Brown
If you like your cozies to star cute kids and cats, a timely message, and a surprising outcome, this is the one for you!
~Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries and Meows!
…enjoy a quick paced cozy mystery about a clue finding cat or you can take your time and appreciate a well written full fledged mystery novel. Be prepared for your pulse to quicken when you think all is safe!
~Laura’s Interests
Nine Lifelines (Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Self Published
Paperback: 316 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1533367105
E-Book ASIN: B01H0NIGGE
The elevator won’t go to the tenth floor, someone is breaking into condos, and the well-heeled Ukrainian renter isn’t paying the rent. Beth and Arnie have retired to the building where Beth’s last rental unit is located, and Beth, the klutzy landlady, has declared herself through solving mysteries. Then, her renter is arrested for the murder of the neighbor who fell (was pushed?) from the tenth-story balcony and the dead neighbor’s grandchildren are left with only their wheelchair-ridden grandmother to care for them. Beth feels compelled to help out.
Are Sylvester’s psycho-cat behaviors providing clues? Is the renter actually the killer? Do the break-ins and elevator problem have anything to do with the murder? Even Arnie, who has always told Beth to keep her nose out of police business, gets involved—for the sake of the children.
My review:
Guest Post:
Cozy Pets, Kids, Careers, and Hobbies
Go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or I-Tunes and search for cozy mysteries. You’ll find tons of them with cats on the covers and in the titles. Dogs are plentiful, too. Why? What roll do the animals play in these stories that involve amateur sleuths, charming locales, and murder mysteries with no graphic violence or profanity?
In my Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery books and in The Cat Who… series by Lilian Jackson Braun, the cats perform humorous capers with which many readers identify. Don’t all cats get stuck inside cabinets and scare people by jumping off of bookshelves? Patricia Guiver writes the Pet Detective Mystery Series which features the Doberman Pinscher, Watson, who helps the sleuth solve her cases, as do many cats in cat cozies.
Authors also use pets as a devise whereby characters can voice their thoughts aloud for the readers to hear—we all know people talk to their pets. Instead of thinking about the reasons her renter might be guilty, Beth, my landlady protagonist, tells Psycho Cat her thoughts while walking him. For the readers’ benefit, Qwillerin, Braun’s sleuth, tells Koko to stop destroying photos by licking them and then praises the cat for finding a photo with a clue he would have missed.
When cozy pets themselves become sleuths, they may lead their humans to clues or to the recognition that a character or situation isn’t to be trusted. There are a few animal mysteries that veer from realistic fiction into the realm of fantasy by giving human voices to the felines or canines.
Pets in cozy mysteries provide side stories, act as sidekicks, and provide chances for side remarks. Children work, as well, and so do careers and hobbies. Children ask questions. People talk to babies while holding them. A caterer might have a baking partner or employee to whom she directs her thought or depends upon for sleuthing assistance. Such is the case in Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldie in her culinary mystery series and in Joanna Fluke’s Hannah Swensen bakeshop series.
A bookshop owner has employees, librarians have co-workers and book club members, quilters and knitters rely on their fellow crafters. Priests have their parishioners. Realtors have assistants, journalists have editors, and little old ladies have little old men who stick around to help or add a little humorous contention.
Sylvester, the Psycho Cat in Nine Lifelines: A Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery, acts as a sidekick as he paws at doors where the lock has been picked and hisses at people he mistrusts. He provides humorous interludes of typical crazy cat behavior. Beth, the landlady, talks to him about mysterious goings-on in their condo building while she walks him on a leash or plunks him into a stroller for a longer walk on her Trolley Track trail in Kansas City. Eventually, the two provide lifelines to a better life for nine souls, and Psycho Cat’s nine lives remain intact.
Do you have a favorite pet mystery or series?
About the Author
Joyce Ann Brown, the author of the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery
series, set in Kansas City, was a librarian, a landlady, and a Realtor before becoming a short story and novel writer. She also has two mischievous cats.
Her actual tenants have never disappeared, murdered, or been murdered. Nor have any of them found a skeleton in the attic. Joyce has never solved a crime. Moose and Chloe, her cats, haven’t sniffed out a mystery, at least not yet.
Joyce spends her days writing (with a few breaks for tennis, walking, and book clubs) so that Beth, the landlady in the series, and Sylvester, the Psycho Cat, can make up for her real-life lack of excitement in a big way.
Author website with Blog: http://www.joyceannbrown.com
Blog: http://retirementchoicescozymystery.wordpress.com
Blog: http://hikingkctrails.wordpress.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/joyceannbrownauthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joyceannbrown1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9858447.Joyce_Ann_Brown
Purchase Links:
The post Nine LiFelines by Joyce Ann Brown book review, guest post and giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
September 2, 2016
★★ Beautiful Sacrifice is LIVE & on sale. #romanticthriller #bs_promo #GenRyan
★★ Intense, powerful, & romantic. ★★
Beautiful Sacrifice is LIVE & on sale.
#romanticthriller #bs_promo #GenRyan
All buy links: http://books2read.com/beautifulsacrifice
The post ★★ Beautiful Sacrifice is LIVE & on sale. #romanticthriller #bs_promo #GenRyan appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
September 1, 2016
FIX YOU is LIVE by Gen Ryan on sale now!
♂♂ “Sweet, romantic, & heartbreaking.”
Fix You by Gen Ryan is LIVE & on sale for #99c.
#MMromance #fy_promo #GenRyan
All buy links: http://books2read.com/fixyou
The post FIX YOU is LIVE by Gen Ryan on sale now! appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
August 28, 2016
RUSTLER’S MOON by Jodi Thomas
RUSTLER’S MOON by Jodi Thomas
The post RUSTLER’S MOON by Jodi Thomas appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
August 26, 2016
Always A Cowboy by Linda Lael Miller book review and tour
He’s the middle of the three Carson brothers and is as stubborn as they come—and he won’t thank a beautiful stranger for getting in his way!
Drake Carson is the quintessential cowboy. In charge of the family ranch, he knows the realities of this life, its pleasures and heartbreaks. Lately, managing the wild stallions on his property is wearing him down. When an interfering so-called expert arrives and starts offering her opinion, Drake is wary, but he can’t deny the longing—and the challenge—she stirs in him.
Luce Hale is researching how wild horses interact with ranch animals—and with ranchers. The Carson matriarch invites her to stay with the family, which guarantees frequent encounters with Drake, her ruggedly handsome and decidedly unwelcoming son. Luce and Drake are at odds from the very beginning, especially when it comes to the rogue stallion who’s stealing the ranch mares. But when Drake believes Luce is in danger, that changes everything—for both of them.
My review:
This is book 2 of the Carson Brothers series and it can’t get any better. Drake is a real cowboy and nothing is going to change that and Luce is a city girl but loves the outdoors. She is studying wild horses and to Drakes horror causing issues with him and the ranch. He is falling hard and they clash like horses at the beginning until the two finally see they are great together. With several things happening on the ranch there is a lot going on to keep the reader interested and on the edge of their seats.
The author does a great job again like always with the characters and setting. A must read for western romance lovers. You will not be disappointed.
The post Always A Cowboy by Linda Lael Miller book review and tour appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
August 19, 2016
THE CREPES OF WRATH blog tour and book review
The Crêpes of Wrath
by Sarah Fox
New Cozy Series
File Size: 6124 KB
Print Length: 257 pages
Publisher: Alibi (August 16, 2016)
ASIN: B01A4ATX58
SynopsisWhen Marley McKinney’s aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it—and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff.
After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy’s workshop, Marley is determined to find out what’s really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she’s not careful, she’s going to get burned by a killer who’s only interested in serving up trouble.
My review:
Marley is in a whirlwind with her cousin’s death and everyone traipsing around. She has had a rough past and now she is trying to solve this murder. It was an ok read there were things that didn’t add up for me as a cozy goes. Things were just not right like the lock on the door where did it go? They didn’t break in take the extra/spare key and replace the lock. Things she notices that were not there before but turn up things like that just don’t happen. It makes you wonder where the police where in this book. Plus there were too many side characters. It just wasn’t for me.
Now the author does a good job with the descriptions for the crepes and pancakes. The pancake house and the beach setting was great.
Over all it was an ok read. 3 Stars.
About The AuthorSarah Fox was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she developed a love for mysteries at a young age. When not writing novels or working as a legal writer, she is often reading her way through a stack of books or spending time outdoors with her English Springer Spaniel.
Author website http://www.authorsarahfox.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/authorsarahfox
Twitter: @thewritefox
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14950357.Sarah_Fox
Purchase Links:
Penguin Random House Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters Barnes&Noble Google Play
Tour Participants
August 15 – Reading Reality – REVIEW
August 16 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – INTERVIEW
August 16 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
August 16 – Carole’s Book Corner – REVIEW
August 17 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
August 17 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW
August 18 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
August 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
August 19 – Babs Book Bistro – REVIEW
August 19 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
August 19 – Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes – SPOTLIGHT
August 20 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
August 21 – Classy Cheapskate – REVIEW
August 22 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
August 23 – Ashleyz Wonderland – REVIEW,
August 23 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
August 24 – The Broke Book Bank – REVIEW
August 24 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST
August 25 – Book Babble – REVIEW
August 26 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
August 27 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
August 27 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 28 – A Holland Reads – GUEST POST
August 29 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
August 30 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW
August 30 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW
August 31 – The Girl with Book Lungs – REVIEW
August 31 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW
The post THE CREPES OF WRATH blog tour and book review appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
August 13, 2016
Book Spotlight for cozy mystery DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE
Death and Disappearance
by Susan Russo Anderson
Death and Disappearance (A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery)
Mystery/Suspense
5th in Series
Self Published (May 30, 2016)
File Size: 682 KB
Print Length: 272 pages
ASIN: B01GEK7UOI
While Denny battles demons of his own and Cookie and Clancy disappear, a pregnant Fina Fitzgibbons investigates the death of her friend’s husband and in doing so lands in the middle of a group of art and drug traffickers.
About The Author
Susan Russo Anderson is a writer, a mother, a member of Sisters in Crime, a graduate of Marquette University, and a life member of The Art Students League of New York. She has taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, an opera company. Like Faulkner’s Dilsey, she’s seen the best and the worst, the first and the last. Through it all, and to understand it somewhat, she writes.
TOO QUIET IN BROOKLYN, the first in the Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn mystery series published December 2013. The second book in the series,MISSING BRANDY, published September 2014, and WHISKEY’S GONE published in January 2015 and completes a trilogy. The fourth book in Fina’s series, THE BROOKLYN DROP, published August 2015.
DEATH OF A SERPENT, the first in the Serafina Florio series, published January 2012. It began as a painting of the Lower East Side, the landmark immigrant neighborhood in Manhattan, and wound up as a mystery story set in nineteenth-century Sicily. NO MORE BROTHERS, a novella, published May 2012, the second in the series. The third book, DEATH IN BAGHERIA, published in December, followed by MURDER ON THE RUE CASSETTE in January 2014.
Author Links:
Website: http://susanrussoanderson.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Russo-Anderson/349374975075796
Twitter @SusanRussoAnder
Purchase Link
Tour Participants
August 8 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
August 9 – Sleuth Cafe – REVIEW
August 10 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW
August 11 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
August 12 – Shelley’s Book Case – REVIEW
August 13 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
August 14 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
August 15 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
August 15 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 16 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW
August 17 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy,Too! – SPOTLIGHT
The post Book Spotlight for cozy mystery DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
