Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Dog Days of Summer Meet The Character Andi Grace- Low Country Dog Walker by Jackie Layton

 


I’m Andi Grace Scott. I’m a dog walker in Heyward Beach, South Carolina. At thirty years old, I’m the matriarch of our little family. Nate is my younger brother, and Lacey Jane is the baby of the family. We’re a tight group, and there’s nothing we won’t do to help each other.

In Bite the Dust, I’m a suspect in Peter Roth’s murder. In Dog-Gone Dead, Nate is accused of murdering one of the men in our town. Of course he was innocent, and there’s no way I wasn’t going to help catch the real killer.

I never back down from a challenge, whether it’s raising my siblings or trying to make better decisions about my eating habits. Taking care of others is also something that comes naturally to me, whether it’s a person or animal. My German shepherd appeared one day, and she’s been with me ever since.

I’ve always lived in Heyward Beach, and the locals are like family. For example, Tony Russo, owns the local pizza restaurant. The only thing bigger than his smile is his heart. After my parents died, he kept an eye on us to make sure we never went hungry. Doc Hewitt gave me a job in his veterinary clinic despite my lack of experience. A few years later, with Doc’s blessing, I started my dog walking business. The flexible schedule allowed me to keep up with my siblings and their after-school activities.

I’m not a matchmaker for people, but I have a talent of pairing animals with people. My long-term goal is to build a dog shelter where no animal ever fears for his life. They will be well cared for and loved as long as they are with me.

To the dismay of our local sheriff, I have a knack for solving murders. It’s hard to believe Heyward Beach has so much crime, but I’m doing my best to catch the killers. I’ve also had a few close calls, but I try to play it safe and not do anything too stupid.

Come visit us in Heyward Beach for fun and relaxation. Just don’t come our way if you’re planning to commit murder. I’d rather chat with you over a cup of coffee than question you about an alibi. Hope to see you soon!

Visit the authors website to learn more about the Low Country Dog Walker Series Click Here




Monday, August 15, 2022

Dog Days of Summer feat. Cold Case pursuit by Dana Mentink. Book Spotlight


About the book  
Product Description
A cold case solved by the K-9 unit…

but the past is not so easily escaped.

Decades after her parents’ murders, Penelope McGregor’s grateful the killer’s finally been identified—until he comes after her. Now Detective Tyler Walker and his K-9 partner, Dusty, must protect Penelope and catch the culprit…while making sure his little girl stays out of the crosshairs. But can the single father outplay a killer whose endgame will leave no one safe? 


Buy the book  

Available on Amazon
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Visit Dana click Here 




Thursday, August 11, 2022

Last But Not Leashed by Eileen Brady My Review for Dog Days of Summer

 

About the book 

pleasing mélange of mystery and pet lore." — Kirkus Reviews

In the second installment of this animal-themed cozy series, Dr. Kate Turner has one New Year's resolution: Stop finding corpses...

All Dr. Kate Turner wants to do is get her life in order before ringing in the new year, but with bodies turning up left and right, she'll have to trust her own instincts—and those of her beloved animals—to stop a killer in their tracks.

As the only veterinarian at Oak Falls Animal Hospital, Dr. Kate's life is complicated. She's swamped with hospital patients and house calls, a long-distance relationship with law student Luke Gianetti (that is less than perfect), and a handsome, flirtatious artist who sets his sights on her as his new muse.

When the body of Sookie Overmann is found outside the community center after her organization seminar, the entire town is hunting for answers. All of Kates hopes of quietly ringing in the new year are lost and when the body of Sookie's assistant falls with the confetti at midnight, she has no choice but to sniff out the killer.

And I thought 

I typically don't really research a new author until I write my review.  

I couldn't help but wonder about Eileen Brady.  I was thinking she had some excellent help and did a bunch of research because as I read I felt like I was really in a Dog hospital. 

The emergency scenes, the typical day appointments at the clinic were spot on. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. 

The mystery was entertaining and a bit twisty and turning taking the reader on a bit of a wild ride. 

When an author includes a sub plot or another story or mystery woven into the main plot speaks volumes to me and I realize just how well written the book is.  In this cc asr the mysterious hurt Pit Bull that shows up wrapped in a blanket by the clinic dumpster. 

Eventually his mystery is solved and he is reunited with his family. 

And through lots of interviews and and digging Dr. Kate manages to untangle the web of lies and deception and figure out who did it. 

This one will be on my picks of the year.  And I will be reading book 1 as soon as I get a chance.  

Author Eileen Brady is a veterinarian living in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a wife and mother of two daughters and often has to chase her six cats and two dogs away from her laptop keyboard. The Kate Turner, DVM Mysteries is her first series. 

I was lucky to find a Buy It Now Free copy on Amazon.  

My review will appear on Amazon and Good Reads. 


The series 



Buy the book  

Available on Amazon

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Sunday, August 7, 2022

Lethal Legacies by Colleen Shogan Great Ecapes Tour Spotlight and Giveaway

 August 8 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT 

About the book 

It’s springtime in Washington, D.C. and congressional staffer Kit Marshall has more on her plate than she can handle. With her boss campaigning for an open U.S. Senate seat, Kit is left to run the office in her absence and manage a new week long American history extravaganza filled with high-profile events, lectures, and receptions.

When the Director of the Capitol Visitor’s Center ends up dead, Kit springs into action to clear a longtime friend, who becomes the prime suspect in the murder. With her best pal Meg pressuring her to solve the mystery quickly, Kit must figure out how to navigate her closest relationships while keeping an eye out for the diabolical killer.

The investigation takes Kit across the city to famous locations, including Georgetown University, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the White House.

When the killer strikes a second time, the pressure to solve the crimes intensifies. Has our favorite Capitol Hill sleuth finally met her match? In the end, Kit learns the hard way that history tends to repeat itself, often with deadly consequences.

Buy the book 

Amazon – B&N 

Visit the tour   

To read reviews guest posts and interviews click Here 





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Thursday, August 4, 2022

Meet Elizabeth Trout Main Character Hook Line and Singer by Marc Jedl. Great Escapes Tour

 

Rather than leaping in to tell y’all what happened last week, I thought it only fitting to introduce myself properly first. My name is Ella Mae, no, sorry, it’s Elizabeth Trout. It’s just that everyone around here keeps calling me by the nickname they made up when I was growing up here in Jenkins, Arkansas. By the time I was old enough to realize I didn’t like it, the whole town was already in the habit of calling me Ella Mae. And, now that I recently married Jonas Trout, I’m still trying to get used to the whole new-last-name thing.

I happen to like Elizabeth best, of course, and that’s what my husband, Jonas, calls me. But, people have always used different names for me. As a kid, it was everyone calling me Ella Mae, then my high school boyfriend came up with a pet name for me—Lizzie. I thought that was cute at first, until we broke up. Now, it’s been ten years since we dated and I rarely even returned to town during that time. Yet, he still can’t seem to break his annoying habit. On the other hand, I don’t get upset when my best friend from high school, Kelsey, still calls me Eliza sometimes. She tricked me into reading Pride and Prejudice during English Honors class in junior year just so she’d have a study partner for the test and then started calling me by the protagonist’s nickname. There are a few other nicknames for me out there but I’ll just save those for another time.

I sure hope those different names for li’l ole me haven’t made your head hurt. I can barely keep track, but at least it’s not like looking at spreadsheets. Boy, I get an immediate headache from looking at one of those. Don’t you?

Spreadsheets aren’t my thing. That’s fine with me because I’m an artist. Working as an independent graphics artist allows me to work whenever I want, never have to attend staff meetings, and not have a boss. A short disastrous stint working at an ad agency convinced me that working for someone else wasn’t for me. After all, having wild swings of emotion and overexaggerating things were all part of why we artists were given our very own license: artistic license.  

I credit my artistic abilities to my Pawpaw. In addition to any genetic advantages he passed on, he taught me to draw and paint, plus plenty of other useful skills like sleight-of-hand tricks. I guess I’m good at picking up new skills. A boy in college once taught me to pick locks. That came in right handy to sneak back into my room when I locked myself out and didn’t want to bother the resident advisor—especially since he and I were dating at the time and he wouldn’t have liked learning that I’d been out super late with another guy . . . Anywaaay . . . you just never know when some skill, like lock-picking, will come in handy, like it did last week.

It's too bad that my friend, Kelsey, didn’t learn anything useful when she was growing up. I mean she’s smart and everything—any English teacher would have to be intelligent. But that girl just struggles if she has to pull off even a basic sting operation. I’m not talking about some major scam, but you’d be shocked at how poorly that smart woman lies to others. She got her tongue twisted into such a knot I was worried we’d have to take her to the hospital. Fortunately, she didn’t mess anything up and hanging out with her was a real hoot, as always.

Moving on from Kelsey, last week was quite the shocker for me, on many fronts. At least I didn’t get arrested again. Jonas and I managed to figure everything out before things got too out of control. I’d explain all this further but I think Marc Jedel did a great job telling the whole story in HOOK, LINE AND SINKER. Y’all really should go read it today. It’s a fun clean read with lots of twists and surprises. Just thinking of everything that happened, I think I’ll go rest now.


HOOK, LINE AND SINKER is the third book in Marc Jedel’s Ozarks Lake Mystery series, available on Amazon at: getbook.at/HookLineSinker. The first book in the Ozarks Lake Mystery series, FISH OUT OF WATER is available at: getbook.at/Fish. Don’t you agree it’s pretty cool of him to tell stories about me and Jonas? Although I hope we don’t keeping having danger, dead bodies, or disasters in our future. Sure, it may make for a great story, but this is my life after all!


You should also try Marc’s Silicon Valley Mystery series at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHNT7XM, or a discounted box set of the first three at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MZHGD65/. I haven’t read those, but I hear they’re very funny. That doesn’t surprise me any as them Californians are strange folk, and none stranger than his main character, Marty. The first three in that series are also out on audiobook from Tantor Audio, available everywhere audiobooks are sold. All of Marc’s books are free for Kindle Unlimited members.


Learn more about Marc at:


            Website: www.marcjedel.com


            BookBub: http://www.bookbub.com/profile/marc-jedel


            Facebook: http://facebook.com/MarcJedel.Author


            Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18403497.Marc_Jedel


            Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jedel/e/B07H7MVKJL


            LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mjedel/

Visit the tour

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Monday, August 1, 2022

Shielding Her Son by K.D. Richards Great Escapes Tour Review

 

About the book 

She thought she’d escaped her past…

Has it caught up with her?

Erika Powell has lived in hiding for years to protect her son from his wealthy, tyrannical grandfather. Wary of strangers, she’s suspicious of James West, who’s renting a neighboring cabin, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when attempts are made on Erika’s life, James fears he may have endangered her—because the undercover PI’s investigation of Erika may have led someone dangerous right to her.

 

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

 

Discover more action-packed stories in the West Investigations series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order:

Book 1: Pursuit of the Truth
Book 2: Missing at Christmas
Book 3: Christmas Data Breach
Book 4: Shielding Her Son

And I thought  

I was super excited to see that author K.D. Richards chose to tour with Great Escapes because I had read Christmas Data Breach and thought it was awesome! 

I was surprised to see it and Shielding Her Son are all part of a series! 

I really liked the fast pace page turning keep you on the edge of your seat! 

Erika and James are great characters that make you really like them.   

I happily rode along as they became acquainted and then began to 'like' each other and then . . . 

I was surprised at the ending! 

Shielding Her Son was a great Suspense! 

Now I need books 1 and 2. 

Thank you Lord Case and author K.D. Richards for the tour. 

I received a complimentary copy. 

My review will appear on Amazon and Good Reads. 

Buy the book  

Harlequin Amazon Kobo B&N 


Visit the tour 

Click Here

New Releases

 



The Case of the Disgraced Duke 

by Cathy Ace 
Henry Devereaux Twyst, eighteenth duke of Chellingworth, is desperate to disprove murderous rumors about his ancestor before his first child is born, so he enlists the help of the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. However, Annie is working undercover – on a case that turns out to be more deadly than anyone had imagined, and Carol is finding it difficult to juggle her responsibilities – especially when faced with a puzzling theft in the village. Meanwhile, Christine is consumed with fears about Alexander’s shady colleagues, and Mavis is trying to manage the dowager’s dispute with the local vicar.

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Round Up the Usual Peacocks

 by Donna Andrews 
Kevin, Meg’s cyber-savvy nephew who lives in the basement, comes to her with a problem. He’s become involved as the techie for a true-crime podcast, one that focuses on Virginia cold cases and unsolved crimes. And he thinks their podcast has hit a nerve with someone . . . one of the podcast team has had a brush with death that Kevin thinks was an attempted murder, not an accident. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Dead Before Dinner

 by Kat Bellemore 
Maddie Swallows had always intended to be a psychologist. But becoming a wife, mother, and tenured professor—that was more than she’d ever dreamed. Until it all implodes and she finds herself without a job, divorced, and a single mom to two teenagers. Despite needing a therapist of her own, Maddie returns to her New Mexican hometown to open her own therapy office.  

Available on Amazon 

Click Here




Where The Sky Begins 

by Rhys Bowen 

London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’s world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go.

Available on Amazon 

Click Here 


Reckoning

 by Catherine Coulter 

When she was twelve years old, Kirra Mandarian’s parents were murdered and she barely escaped with her life. Fourteen years later Kirra is a commonwealth attorney back home in Porte Franklin, Virginia, and her goal is to find out who killed her parents and why. She assumes the identity of E.N.—Eliot Ness—and gathers proof to bring down the man she believes was behind her parents’ deaths. She quickly learns that big-time criminals are very dangerous indeed and realizes she needs Dillon Savich’s help.  

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Purloined Poinsettia

 by Dahlia Donovan 

The past and present collide for Motts when two serial killer brothers barge into her plans for Christmas in London. Her desire to solve her childhood friend’s murder brings her ever closer to danger. She finds herself one fall away from the grave herself. When one of her former primary school teachers winds up dead in her burning house, Motts realizes the mystery is far more twisted than she ever imagined.

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Murder of a Mail-Order Bride 

by Mimi Granger 

Lizzie Hale thought mail-order brides existed only between the pages of the historical romances she stocks in her bookstore, Love Under the Covers. But when not one, but two local men introduce her to their respective new wives, she’s forced to reevaluate that notion. Lizzie is surprised when Al Little, the owner of the local hardware store, asks Lizzie and her aunt Charmaine to help Svetlana, his new bride straight from Russia, to settle into Tinker’s Creek, but they agree.

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Making It Write

 by Betty Hechtman 

As a writer for hire, Veronica Blackstone puts her keyboard to use to help others. That includes writing advertising copy for local businesses or love letters for those with romantic troubles, or helping people publish their memoirs. Maeve Winslow needs the latter. Maeve is the wife of a famous artist nominated for a prestigious award, and the memoir is to be released ahead of the ceremony. All of Maeve’s notes are given to Veronica but for the final few pages. There’s a huge surprise within those last pages, but Maeve won’t reveal it yet. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


California Fever 

by John J. Jacobson 

Top surfer Dolphin Smoote gets more than he bargains for when he works up the nerve to ask out the brown-eyed beauty on a date. The search of quick coin without having to work will always lead a surfer to precarious places, and Dolphin is no exception. With the help of his lovable surfer crew who often have more to say about stylishness than anything else, Dolphin finds himself between conmen, ghosts, an impending storm from the coast of Mexico … and still no money for a second date. 

Available on Amazon 

Here


The Fragrance of Death 

 by Leslie Karst 

Restaurateur Sally Solari is a champion, both in the kitchen and on the case, but after getting mixed up in one too many murders, she’s noticed her nonna’s friends have now taken to crossing themselves when they see her in the street. Adding to her woes, a sinus infection has knocked out her sense of smell, making cooking on the hot line difficult, indeed. Nevertheless, Sally is determined to stay out of trouble and focus on her work.   

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Catch Your Death

 by Lissa Marie Redmond 

When Cold Case Detective Lauren Riley’s partner, Shane Reese, runs into an old friend, he’s invited to a school reunion at a new luxury spa and resort. Lauren’s also invited and it sounds like a perfect weekend getaway, except it brings up painful memories for Reese – like the unsolved murder of his high school friend Jessica Toakese seventeen years earlier. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here 


Death at the Mansion 

by Andrew Thomas 

A former judge who has become a bit of a recluse has suddenly been murdered, and nobody is any the wiser about where to point the finger. Could the murderer be the judge’s son on the lookout for an early inheritance? Or might it be one of his two estate staff members, who had their own grudges against their employer? 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


The Last Lie Told 

by Debra Webb 

Legal investigator Finley O’Sullivan searches for evidence the police overlooked, wading through secrets, lies, and betrayal to find answers. With the unsolved murder of her husband still very much on her mind, Finley must confront her own personal trauma on a daily basis. Lies are part of her livelihood, but they’re also the reason she can’t get justice for the man she loved. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Big Bucks

 by Kirsten Weiss 

I’m Alice, a thirty-something ex-bodyguard, and DNA tests are the Devil. My brother Charlie took one, and it turns out he’s only my half-brother. Our parents aren’t around to explain things, but Charlie tracked down his real father, in the fancy-pants spa town the hill over. Charlie’s father is loaded. Or he was until someone killed him.

Available on Amazon 

Click Here