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Blog Tour with Review – In Cold Chocolate by Dorthy St. James

In Cold Chocolate: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery

by Dorothy St. James

About the Book

In Cold Chocolate: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery

Cozy Mystery

3rd in Series

Crooked Lane Books (September 11, 2018)

Hardcover: 350 Pages

ISBN-10: 1683317432

ISBN-13: 978-1683317432

Digital ASIN: B078M3N9TC

In Dorothy St. James’s third delectable Southern Chocolate Shop mystery, a new batch of chocolate and troubles of the heart cause a string of disasters for the Chocolate Box’s new owner, Charity Penn.

The vintage seaside town of Camellia Beach, South Carolina seems like the perfect place for romance with its quiet beach and its decadent chocolate shop that serves the world’s richest dark chocolates. The Chocolate Box’s owner, Charity Penn, falls even further under the island’s moonlit spell as she joins Althea Bays and the rest of the turtle watch team to witness a new generation of baby sea turtles hatch and make their way into the wide ocean.

Before the babies arrive, gunshots ring out in the night. Cassidy Jones, the local Casanova, is found dead in the sand with his lover Jody Dalton—the same woman who has vowed to destroy the Chocolate Box—holding the gun. It’s an obvious crime of passion, or so everyone believes. But when Jody’s young son pleads with Penn to bring his mother back to him, she can’t say no. She dives headfirst into a chocolate swirl of truth and lies, and must pick through an assortment of likely (and sometimes unsavory) suspects before it’s too late for Penn and for those she loves in Dorothy St. James’s third rich installment of the Southern Chocolate Shop mysteries, In Cold Chocolate.

Review –

In an Oyster Shell – It was mostly good as always, I was getting a little impatient at the overbearing underlying subplot that has been running through the series.

The Pearls – A sleepy beachside town with a cozy chocolate shop. What is not to love? I love Penn and all of her townsfolk that is coming to surround her. There is an interesting plot that keeps me coming back again and again. This series is a must read drop everything when the newest book comes out.

I loved that romance is not prominent in the series but it has a nice accent to it. It is partially what makes a cozy a cozy. I like that this part of the series has taken its time forming. There is a nice surprise in this particular book.

The conflict was tantalizing. I was on the edge of my seat while I was turning through the last quarter of the book. St James threw down and didn’t hold back and I loved every second of it.

The Sand – I have to admit I really love this series but I was getting quite frustrated with some of the twists and turns. Sometimes some things can get twisted too much and I felt like that happen with Penn’s legitimacy to the Chocolate shop. Unfortunately for me it was quite overdone. It worked out to a satisfying end but it really could have been tamed down quite a bit.

3.5 Pearls

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About the Author

Mystery author Dorothy St. James was raised in South Carolina. She makes her home on the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, a neurotic dog, and a fluffy cat. Though writing has always been a passion for her, she pursued an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a graduate degree in Public Administration and Urban Planning. She put her educational experience to use, having worked in all branches and all levels of government including local, regional, state, and federal. She even spent time during college working for a non-profit environmental watchdog organization.

Switching from government service and community planning to fiction writing wasn’t as big of a change as some might think. Her government work was all about the stories of the people and the places where they live. As an urban planner, Dorothy loved telling the stories of the people she met. And from that, her desire to tell the tales that were so alive in her heart grew until she could not ignore it any longer. In 2001, she took a leap of faith and pursued her dream of writing fiction full-time.

* Dorothy St. James is the alter-ego of award-winning multi-published author, Dorothy McFalls. She enjoys writing in several different genres. Her works have been nominated for many awards including Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, Reviewers International Organization Award, National Reader’s Choice Award, CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award, and The Romance Reviews Today Perfect 10! Award. Reviewers have called her work: “amazing”, “perfect”, “filled with emotion”, and “lined with danger.”

Author Links

Website: www.dorothystjames.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothystjames

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dorothymcfalls

Purchase Links

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

September 12 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

September 12 – A Holland Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST

September 12 – Writing Pearls – REVIEW

September 13 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW