Congratulations to the winners of the last contest. Glen D. from Yuba City, CA won It Dies with You. What Lies Beneath goes to Penny T. from Klamath Falls, OR. The books will go out in the mail tomorrow.
I’m giving away cozy mysteries this week, beginning with Laurien Berenson’s Killer Cupid so it gets to the winner by Valentine’s Day. Melanie is delighted at the prospect of three uninterrupted days alone with her husband Sam (and, of course, her prize-winning Standard Poodle, Faith). They’re booked at the White Birch Inn, a picturesque New England resort nestled at the foot of a snow-covered mountain. The inn has a full slate of couples activities planned for the busy Valentine’s weekend—date nights, sleigh rides, tobogganing, ice skating, and pop-up shops in the inn’s ballroom —from the bubbly to the bubble bath, the resort is a perfect match for Melanie and Sam’s vacation. But the first night of festivities feature an event that isn’t on the program: murder.
The sheriff quickly launches an investigation, but at the inn keeper’s urging—and because she suddenly finds herself a person of interest in the case—Melanie tries to sneak a little detective work into her romantic getaway. But with the resort nearly sold out for the holiday weekend, there’s no shortage of suspects, and Melanie’s secret sleuthing is already attracting the wrong kind of attention.
I really liked Lauren Elliott’s Steeped in Secrets, the first in a new series with paranormal elements. Flat broke and divorced, intuitive gemologist Shay Myers has changed since leaving her artsy hometown of coastal Bray Harbor sixteen years ago. But when she moves back under strange circumstances, old instincts may be the only key to spilling the tea on a deadly mystery. Even with her life in ruins in New Mexico, Shay feels uneasy about settling into the small seaside town where she grew up on California’s Monterey Peninsula and taking over an estate bequeathed to her by Bridget Early, a woman she had barely known. Her heightened senses—an empathic gift she’s had since childhood—go into overdrive upon touring Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, Bridget’s eclectic tea and psychic shop brimming with Irish lore and Celtic symbols. They reach a boiling point when Shay looks up to discover a stranger’s body sprawled across the shop’s greenhouse roof . . .There’s a terrific cast of characters in this new series. My favorite is the mysterious dog.
Which book would you like to win? You can enter to win both, but I need separate entries. Email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com.. Your subject line should read either “Win Killer Cupid” or “Win Steeped in Secrets.” You must include your name and mailing address, or you can’t win. Entries from the U.S. only, please. The giveaway will end Thursday, Jan. 26 at 5 PM CT.
