Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Landscape for MurderThanks to Della Bercovitch of Book Marketing Services, I am giving away 5 copies of ‘Landscape For Murder’ by Joyce Strand.  There is another cool tour wide giveaway as well.

Description of Landscape For Murder by Joyce Strand

A friend’s murder. An unconnected cast of suspects, including the victim’s missing adult daughter. As if that wasn’t enough, Brynn Bancroft’s winery has been broken into. Can she deal with her co-owner ex and help the police find her friend’s murder so she can finally overcome her own troubled past and enjoy family life with her teenage ward?

Excerpt of Landscape For Murder by Joyce Strand

 

Chapter 01

The sheriff’s patrol car annoyed Brynn Bancroft when it stopped in the narrow curve of the road next to her, and its driver put down his window. She had traveled more than an hour to her favorite meadow where she could sit at her easel and paint in solitude without interruption. She had just gotten started. She regretted not having walked further into the muddy field.

The uniformed driver, whose sandy hair was cut close, removed his dark glasses and said, “Hello. I’m Deputy Hallis from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Sorry to hear about your friend.”

Brynn turned to face him, confused. She didn’t know him, nor had anything recently happened to any of her friends, as far as she knew.

He must have detected bewilderment on her face. He said, “Your artist friend. Haven’t I seen the two of you here painting when I’ve driven by on my way to town?”

Although perplexed by the interruption, Brynn understood that the intruder was referring to a fellow local artist she had befriended on former painting trips to the area. The two of them had sat together in this same spot.

Brynn said, “Why, yes, if you mean Kenneth Sterling. We often painted together. Is there a problem?”

“Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me your name, please? And where you are from?”

Brynn’s concern for her friend overcame her annoyance, and she answered, “My name is Brynn Bancroft. My ex-husband and I own the Hilltop Sunset Winery in Sonoma.”

“I see. And you came over here to paint with Mr. Sterling?”

“Yes. What is this about?”

The deputy hesitated briefly and then said, “I’m afraid your friend is dead.”

“What!? Kenneth is dead? How? He was fine just the other day.” Brynn stared at the deputy, who was watching her carefully.

“He was killed, murdered in his own home. We’d like to talk to you. Can you come into town to the sheriff’s office now to see our detective? We’d appreciate your cooperation.”

Brynn nodded. She knew Point Reyes well and enjoyed the scenic seaside area, which was why she traveled from her house in Sonoma to paint it.

He said, “Maybe your friend told you something that would help. We don’t get many murders up here.”

Brynn gazed back at the view she had been trying to capture. It didn’t relate to what the deputy was saying. She returned her attention to him and said, “I didn’t know. Thank you for telling me. I’ll check in with the sheriff.”

“OK, then. Our station is down past the creamery. Right next to the fire department. I’ll let the detective know you’re on your way.”

Brynn watched the deputy drive away. She took a deep breath, absorbing her view—one she’d spent a restful day or two painting alongside Kenneth Sterling—and then picked up her palette, canvas, tripod, and stool and loaded them into her blue Mercedes convertible.

Why would anyone want to kill the quiet, gentle elderly man who spent most of his time painting? He certainly didn’t appear wealthy, so money couldn’t be a motive.

She got into her car and drove toward the town center and to the Marin County Sheriff’s office. She walked into the shingled building and approached Deputy Hallis, still trying to comprehend what had happened. He escorted her to a table and asked her to sit. He returned in a few minutes with a tall, tanned muscular man dressed in slacks and pullover beige shirt.

“Ms. Bancroft? I’m Detective Springer. I understand you knew Kenneth Sterling.”

Brynn nodded. “Yes, sir. Not well, but we shared the same landscape.” Brynn smiled. “That’s how he referred to us. We sat together several times with our easels to paint that scene.”

Springer said, “I see. I thought maybe you were a model.”

Brynn stared at him. “Why would you think that?”

The detective looked embarrassed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. You’re just, well, striking with the blonde hair and all.”

Brynn smiled. “Why, thank you, Detective Springer. That’s nice of you to say.” Brynn prided herself on her intelligence rather than her attractiveness, but she appreciated the compliment.

The detective regained his composure and returned to a more officious approach. “Before we get to Sterling, maybe you could tell me more about yourself.”

“Of course. Again, my name is Brynn Bancroft. My ex-husband, Liam, and I own and operate Hilltop Sunset Winery in the Sonoma area.”

The detective nodded. “And you come over here to paint?”

Brynn smiled. “Yes. I find it relaxing to paint near the ocean. The past six months have been chaotic, to say the least. I was almost murdered—twice; and I got divorced, and—”

She pulled her attention back to the detective, who was asking, “I’d like to hear about that sometime. But right now, what can you tell me about Mr. Sterling?”

Brynn said, “He was certainly a far better artist than I. His technique was unique.” Brynn didn’t notice that she had rhymed, but the detective smiled slightly. “He could capture the emotion of a scene with—” Brynn interrupted herself. “Sorry, that’s probably not what you mean. He told me he was a retired CEO—or rather that he had quit working at his company after he found it not very rewarding.”

She hesitated, not knowing how much to tell the detective about her own life. She looked at him and said, “We related well, because I just quit my job as a chief financial officer at a Silicon Valley biotech company.”

“Do you know what changed his mind about being a CEO? Like was he caught doing something illegal?”

Brynn assumed that since he was a detective he had to explore different aspects of a victim’s life, but this seemed to Brynn like an unlikely direction. “As far as I know, it was not a specific incident. I assume for similar reasons as me. The corporate world is based on a motive of profit, not on helping humanity. That’s OK, because without them we wouldn’t have jobs. But after a while, you just want to say, ‘Enough.’ Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound preachy.”

 

About Joyce Strand

Mystery author Joyce T. Strand, much like her fictional character, Jillian Hillcrest, served as head of corporate communications at several biotech and high-tech companies in Silicon Valley for more than 25 years. Unlike Jillian, however, she did not encounter murder. Rather, she focused on publicizing her companies and their products. She is the author of the Jillian Hillcrest mysteries ON MESSAGE, OPEN MEETINGS, and FAIR DISCLOSURE, the Brynn Bancroft mystery HILLTOP SUNSET and the historical mystery, THE JUDGE’S STORY.

Strand received her Ph.D. from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and her B.A. from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. She currently lives in Southern California with her two cats, a collection of cow statuary and art, and her muse, the roadrunner.

Giveaway of Landscape For Murder by Joyce Strand

This giveaway is for the choice of  print, mobi or epub and is open worldwide.  This giveaway ends on November 27, 2015. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Joyce Strand

Big Giveaway for the Landscape For Murder by Joyce Strand Tour

1st Prize: Kindle Fire 7” WiFi 8GB Black plus ebook or paperback copy of Landscape for Murder
2nd Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card and ebook or paperback copy of Landscape for Murder
3rd Prize: ebook or paperback copy of Landscape for Murder

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Giveaway: Lane Changes by S.L. Ellis

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 24, 2014
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , | 6 Comments

LaneChangesfront_cover_finalThanks to Jessica Bromberg of Rock Star PR, I am giving away one copy of ‘Lane Changes’.

Product Description:

Cassie Cruise wants her life back as a kick-ass P. I.

Trouble is, she has zero credibility since bungling a case on reality TV. After a public tantrum, she slinks off to bury her head in the sandy beaches of Southwest Florida.

Just as she starts over as the owner of The Big Prick tattoo shop, a body is discovered in the trunk of her burning car. Cassie’s aware there are those who’d get in line for their turn to torch her car. But murder?

You don’t have to like her, but you damn well better respect her. And get out of her way—this is one case she intends to solve, with or without an audience.

About S.L. Ellis:S.L Ellis Photo

S.L. Ellis came from a small town in Michigan, and after a few decades of winter she was ready for a fresh start. A move to Florida and a few days on the beach improved her disposition a hundred-fold, and it was here that writing became more than a thought. Classes were taken, workshops worked, and a few books written.

Ellis’s short story “A Brush With Death” was published in Vol. 12 DARK TALES, a UK magazine and reviewed by: Vince A. Liaguno, Dark Scribe Magazine, Anthology Reviews: “A Brush with Death is a solid, at times poignant, chiller in which a dying woman–who knows death well after a lifetime of obsession–makes a deal with the Grim Reaper. Ellis’s keen observations on aging and death are spot-on.” Her short story “If the Shoe Fits” was accepted for publication in HARDLUCK STORIES for its final issue. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and ITW.

Buy ‘Lane Changes’:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on January 7, 2015.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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Today it is my pleasure to kick off the Bitter Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland.

Book Description:

Publisher: Artistic Origins Inc (June, 2014)
Category: Cozy Mystery
Series: Hot Chocolate Series- Book 2
Tour Date: June, 2014
Available in: ebook, 400 Pages, With Recipes

The characters you loved in Hot Chocolate are back with more escapades of life in Houston’s wealthy River Oaks.

Lila Mae is in a tizzy over the Chocolate Ball – a huge event that she and her sisters, Dorothea and Madge, host every year. But due to unusual circumstances, Dorothea and Madge dump everything in Lila Mae’s lap. If it weren’t for Julian Gillespie of Event Is King, the Chocolate Ball would have melted.

Bernie, the Alcott sisters’ 92-year-old father, decides he wants his Bentley back. The sisters and Bambi are horrified. They hire Joseph’s cousin Chewie as Bernie’s new chauffeur.

Wolfram, Lila Mae’s new astrologer, gives clues of things to come. This leaves Lila Mae and her sidekick Amelia with brows furrowed.

On her day off, Amelia decides to bake a chocolate blueberry pie. She discovers she needs to make a grocery run. When she returns home, she discovers her kitchen door is slightly ajar. Arms loaded with groceries, she toes the door open.

Three things catch her attention: a vase of flowers on the kitchen island that was not there when she left the house, her marble rolling pin covered with blood… and a dead body on her kitchen floor.

Amelia’s eyes drift toward the dining room and beyond – is the house empty, or is there a murderer inside? She backs up, turns and hurries outside. After setting the bags on the ground, she slips back into the kitchen and snaps a picture of the dead guy. Then she calls Detective Chance Walker, Lila Mae and finally… 9-1-1.

The Hot Chocolate audio book was awarded the AudioFile Earphones Award on Valentine’s Day 2014 and was on the Amazon Bestseller List.  Bitter Chocolate is the second book in the series.

Praise for Hot Chocolate:

“This cozy mystery is a raucous romp.  A light, quick read, it is laugh-out-loud funny all the way through except maybe for the scene when the murder victim is discovered and the scene when the murderer declares themselves tho even those two scenes have elements of slapstick visuals incorporated into them.

The plot is quite masterfully constructed and kept me guessing right up to the moment the culprit was revealed and that is not easy to do as I’ve read or watched so many mystery stories I often figure it out well before the halfway point.

Where the story truly shines though is through the characters of which there are many yet each one is fully rounded and uniquely eccentric.

Food itself is nearly a character in the story and several of the recipes featured in scenes are included in full at the end of the novel.”-Joy Renee Davis, Joystory

Hot Chocolate is a captivating tale with vivid and fun characters. I could almost visualize myself socializing with them, and I definitely enjoyed their interactions with one another. They felt like real sisters, albeit high-society ones.

All the players are in place, and we think we have them figured out. So when something unexpected happens one night at the bowling alley, the Alcotts, Bambi, and countless others are caught up in a mystery that had me turning pages rapidly. Who or what could be responsible for the shocking events? What will Bambi discover when she starts searching through her husband’s dresser drawers and files? And what other surprises await the Alcotts?

Through all the excitement and intrigue, we are gifted with wonderfully descriptive moments in the lives of the characters, including the delicious food they enjoy. The dishes are presented so realistically that I could almost taste them. As a final pleasing treat, there are several wonderful recipes at the end of the book. A five star read.”-Laurel Rain Snow, Chocolate and Mimosas

“Hot Chocolate is a light-hearted Southern comedy. The Alcott sisters are the epitome of Southern culture. They are each other’s fiercest enemy and closest companion.

One of my all-time favorite shows is Designing Women. The Alcott sisters, Dorothea, Lila Mae, and Madge could be the Sugarbaker women. Picture Suzanne Sugarbaker every time you read something about Dorothea and you’ll be rolling on the floor laughing every time she hollers and faints. It doesn’t get better than this.

The plot is well written and from the very first page there is no doubt these women live chocolate as much as the company they own makes chocolate. From the cocoa colored Bentleys to the hot chocolate they start their day with, this book is full of chocolate – what could be better than that?! The characters were dazzling creatures and full of spunk making the book an enjoyable read. I found no grammatical errors and the book ended with a surprise you won’t see coming, a definite plus in book world.” – Donna McBroom-Theriot, My Life, One Story At a Time

“I never read anything by Dawn Greenfield Ireland before, but she definitely knows how to write mysteries the way I like them. The story is filled with twists, turns and eccentric characters that are essential in writing a cozy mystery. It’s fast-paced and keeps the readers on their toes. There are also some giggles and a dash of romance thrown into the mix. At the end, she includes some yummy recipes that are featured in the book. Suddenly I’m in desperate need of a hot chocolate with some marshmallow fluff.

This book is delicious!”- Yvonne, Socrates Book Review

“I love reading a good cozy mystery and when it’s paired with good old fashioned southern charm and whit well I’m sold! “Hot Chocolate” by Dawn Greenland Ireland    gave me that plus a plenty of offbeat characters,along with a fast moving plot with a murder mystery woven in,  sprinkled together with a liberal amount of humor in to make this a book that I just couldn’t read fast enough!

As I read this story I couldn’t help but think that it would make an awesome movie. Set in the south with more than a few quirky characters that had me laughing out loud on several occasions.As I read the story I found the characters getting stuck in my head and could just imagine their southern twang.

If you enjoy reading a fast paced mystery that has more twists than a winding country road, along with vivid descriptions of people, food and places that will grab your imagination and hold on tight until the final page your certainly going to enjoy “Hot Chocolate.” I loved this author’s storytelling ability and look forward to reading more of her work.”-Brenda Casto, VW Stitcher

About Dawn Greenfield Ireland:

Dawn Ireland is the CEO of Artistic Origins Inc, a 100% woman-owned publishing and technical writing service company that has been doing business since 1995. She’s an award winning independent publisher and author of The Puppy Baby Book Mastering Your Money, and Amazon Best Seller Hot Chocolate (the first in the series, and her fifth novel). The Hot Chocolate audio book was awarded theAudioFile Earphones Award on Valentine’s Day 2014.

Her family feature film screenplay A Girl and Her Dogwas awarded a Kids First! Endorsement by the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media in October 2012 and optioned by Shadow Cave Productions in February 2013.

Originally from Feeding Hills, MA, Dawn migrated to San Antonio in 1968, then when her first son was one years old, her family moved to Houston where work was more plentiful. After 40+ years of heat and humidity, she has her sights on the Pacific NW.

Dawn is the co-author of the animated screenplay Memoirs of a Dog which won the Spirit Award of the Moondance Film Festival (children’s category) September 2011. Her dark comedy Plan B was a finalist in the Table Read My Screenplay script competition in 2010 and years before that, Standing Dead won the Women in Film and Television (Houston Chapter) screenplay award.

Stay tuned for The Last Dog (futuristic/sci-fi 2015), and Spicy Chocolate (2016).

www.dawnireland-writer.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dawnireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.ireland.18/friends
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/114089201888216130985/posts

Buy Bitter Chocolate:

Amazon

This giveaway is international and is for an ebook.  It ends on July 31, 2014.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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Follow the Tour:

Bless Their Hearts Mom June 20 Hot Chocolate Review
So Many Precious Books
 June 30  Spotlight & Giveaway
Room With Books July 1 Review
Room With BooksJuly 2 Iinterview & Giveaway
So, I Read This Book TodayJuly 3 (w/HC) Review & Giveaway
vvb32 reads July 8 Review
vvb32 reads July 9 Guest Post & Giveaway
Back Porchervations July  10 Review
A Chick Who Reads July 14 Review
Thoughts in Progress July 15 Review & Giveaway
Books & Quilts July 16 Review & Giveaway
Inspire to Read July 17 Review
Peeking Between the Pages July 18 Review & Giveaway
Bless Their Hearts Mom July 21 BC, June 20 HC Reviews
My Devotional Thoughts July 22 Review
 I’d Rather Be At The Beach July 23 Review & Giveaway
Rebecca’s Writing Services July 23 Guest Post
Open Book Society July 24 Review & Giveaway
Mochas, Mysteries and Meows July 25 Guest Post  & Giveaway
Socrates Book Reviews July 28 Review
Two Kids & a Migraine July 29 Review
My Life. One Story at a TimeJuly 30 Review, Guest Post & Giveaway