Cozy Archives - Page 12 of 15 -

Authors of the Carolinas

2 Comments / Adventure, Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Christian, Cozy, General, Historical, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Romance, Suspense, Western, Women's Fiction

How many of you have read about a region of the USA in a novel and wanted to travel there, in part to experience the food, in part to relax and enjoy the fabulous scenery that can only be seen in that one area of the planet? The Carolinas (both North and South) are home to fabulous shrimp & grits dishes, as well as mouth-watering other goodies. And you can’t visit either State without having a refreshing glass of world famous Sweet Tea.

The authors listed below either live in North or South Carolina, grew up here, or set their books in the region. We are treated to the cuisine of the Appalachia, the Low Country boils, the scenery of the mountains, and/or the wildlife/marshes of the coast. There is a mix of historical, paranormal, happily-ever-after, outrageous comedy, dark mysteries, and cozies – something for everyone who loves thumpin’ good fiction.

Click on the website links to find out more. J

Suzanne Adair “A Hostage to Heritage” www.suzanneadair.net

JD Allen “Grasshopper” in “Murder Under the Oaks” www.jdallenbooks.com

Maria Alonso-Sierra “The Coin” www.mariaelenawrites.com

Mike Axsom “Making Memories Down South” www.mikeaxsom.com

Jodie Bailey “Breach of Trust” www.jodiebailey.com

Kaye Wilkinson Barley “Whimsey” www.kayewilkinsonbarley.com

Cindy Blackburn “Five Spot” www.cueballmysteries.com

Heather Blanton “A Promise in Defiance” www.ladiesindefiance.com

Susan Boyer “Low Country Book Club” www.susanmboyerbooks.com

Felicia Bridges “Czechmate” www.adventuresthatinspireaction.com

Antoinette Brown “One-Cat Woman” in “Carolina Crimes”

Ross Cavins “Barry vs The Apocalypse” www.rosscavins.com

Diane Chamberlain “Pretending to Dance” www.dianechamberlain.com

C. Hope Clark “Echoes of Edisto” www.chopeclark.com

J.A. Coffey "Double Dog Dare" www.jacoffey.com

Cynthia Cooke “Going All the Way” www.cynthiacooke.com

E.B. Davis “Ice Cream Allure” in “Carolina Crimes” www.ebdavismysteries.com

Saword Broyles Eller www.amazon.com/author/saywordbeller

Nora Gaskin (Esthimer) “Time of Death” www.lystrabooks.com

Normandie Fischer “From Fire into Fire” www.normandiefischer.com

Beatrice Fishback “Bethel Manor” www.beasattitudes.net

Dorothea Benton Frank “All Summer Long” www.dotfrank.com

Marni K Graff “Death Unscripted” www.auntiemwrites.com

Jordon Greene "They'll Call It Treason" www.jordongreene.com

Leigh Greenwood “Forever and Always” www.leigh-greenwood.com

Lynette Hampton “Fiona’s Journey” www.agnesalexander.com

Rick Helms “Older than Goodbye” www.richardhelms.net

Judy Hogan “Haw” www.judyhogan.home.mindspring.com

Tom Honea “A Confluence of Rivers” www.amazon.com/dp/B009LU1X8I

Ellen Hunter "Much Ado About Murder" www.ellenhunter.com

Polly Iyer “Indiscretion” www.pollyiyer.com

Regina Jeffers "Angel Comes to the Devil's Keep" www.rjeffers.com

Sabrina Jeffries “Stormswept” www.sabrinajeffries.com

Linda Johnson “Trail of Destruction” www.lindajohnson.us

Kieran Kramer “Trouble When You Walked In” www.kierankramer.com

Vicki Lane “Under the Skin” www.vickilanemysteries.com

Linda Lovely “Lies” www.lindalovely.com

Cynthia Luhrs “First Knight” www.cluhrs.com

Margaret Maron “Long Upon the Land” www.margaretmaron.com

Jamie Mason “Monday’s Lie” www.jamie-mason.com

Karen McCullough “Wired for Murder” www.kmccullough.com

Heather McGovern "A Moment of Bliss" www.heathermcgovernnovels.com

Ruth Moose “Wedding Bell Blues” www.ruthmoose.com

Katy Munger “Desolate Angel” www.katymunger.com

Nancy Naigle “Every Yesterday” www.nancynaigle.com

Heather Newton “Under the Mercy Trees” www.heathernewton.net

Kathryn O’Sullivan “Neighing with Fire” www.kathrynosullivan.com

Gail Oust “Cinnamon Toasted” www.gailoust.com

Kate Parker “Deadly Scandal” www.kateparkerbooks.com

Britni Patterson “A Thousand Deadly Kisses” www.britnipatterson.com

Leigh Perry “The Skeleton Haunts a House” www.leighperryauthor.com

Ashantay Peters “Reading Between the Lives” www.ashantay.com

Patti Phillips “Kerrian’s Notebook, Vol. 1” www.pattiphillipsbooks.com

Karen Pullen “Cold Feet” www.karenpullen.com

Kathy Reichs “Trace Evidence” www.kathyreichs.com

Jennifer Riley “Jerk Alert” available at Amazon

Sarah Shaber “Louise’s Chance” www.amazon.com/Sarah-R.-Shaber/e/B001HMPB9U

Nancy Simpson “B.O.Q.” www.authornpsimpson.com

Regina Smeltzer “Retribution” www.reginasmeltzer.net

Jennifer Hudson Taylor "For Love or Liberty" www.jenniferhudsontaylor.net

Ellis Vidler “Prime Target” www.ellisvidler.net

Kathryn R. Wall “Jordan Point” www.kathrynwall.com

Tamara Ward “Concealed Suspicions” www.authortamaraward.com

Lynn Chandler Willis “Wink of an Eye” www.lynnchandlerwillis.com

Bonnie Wisler “Count a Hundred Stars” available at Amazon

Caleb Wygal "Blackbeard's Lost Treasure" www.calebwygal.com

See any new-to-you names on the list of Authors of the Carolinas?

Happy reading! 🙂

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Happily Ever After – 2016

4 Comments / Bestselling Author, Book List, Christian, Cozy, Debut Author, General, Nominated for Award, Romance

Summer is almost here, when there is lots of talk about weddings and romantic getaways.

June is the biggest month for weddings in the United States – or so all the bride magazines would have you believe. In fact, while June may be the most popular month to tie the knot, it’s only by a small margin. 10.8% of yearly weddings are performed then, followed closely by August, at 10.2%. But, that’s still over six thousand weddings a day, explaining why wedding venues must be booked months in advance.

For those of us not getting married or traveling to a romantic destination anytime soon, we can get lost in a ‘Happily Ever After’ book and be transported via heart and mind.

Below is a list of titles suggested by readers that enjoy more sweet romance in their stories than the murder mysteries usually reviewed or listed here at NBR. These books got raves from the readers that made the suggestions. 😀

No dead bodies to be found among the pages – or so I’ve been told – just romance in many forms. Think Hallmark Channel on Saturday and Sunday nights during June.

If you’ve read any of the titles from the authors in this genre, let us know in the comments below.

Click on the author names for the links to their websites.

Rachael Anderson: “Not Always Happenstance”

Tamie Dearen: “A Rose in Bloom”

Shannon Guymon: “Free Fallin’ ”

Liwen Ho: “Drawn to You”

Melanie Jacobson: “Always Will”

Stacy Juba: “Fooling Around with Cinderella”

Sophie Kinsella: “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan”

Jane Lebak: “Honest and For True”

Debbie Macomber: “Love Letters”

Catherine Maiorisi: “Matters of the Heart”

Jill Mansell: “The Unpredictable Consequences of Love”

Jules Nelson: “Shadows”

Jenny Proctor: “Love at First Note”

Ann Roberts: “Complete Package”

Curtis Sittenfeld: “Eligible”

Heather Sutherlin: “Loose Ends”

Debbie White: “Finding Mrs. Right”

Susan Wiggs: “Summer by the Sea”

Sherryl Woods: Chesapeake Shores series

Is there a swoon worthy title in the list? Happily Ever After reading! 🙂

*Photos by Patti Phillips

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Texas Fiction – 2016 List

Adventure, Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Cozy, Debut Author, General, Historical, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Romance, Short Stories/Collection, Suspense, Thriller, Western

Every once in a while, it’s fun to focus on regional fiction. It’s a chance for readers to concentrate on stories that take place in their favorite part of the world or an area that has aroused their curiosity. Sometimes, fans like to search for books written by authors that live in that region.

The Texas list of 36 authors is a mix of:

Authors who live there, but write books set elsewhere
Authors that have written novels set in Texas, but live elsewhere.
Authors who live in and write about Texas.

Click on the names to take you to the author sites.

Kathleen Rice Adams: “Prodigal Gun”

Susan Wittig Albert: “Blood Orange”

Linda Bingham: “Skyscraper Caper”

Parris Afton Bonds: “Blue Bayou” box set

James Lee Burke: “House of the Rising Sun”

Valerie P Chandler: ‘Rota Fortunae’ in “Murder on Wheels”

Caroline Clemmons: “Angeline”

Catherine Coulter: “Nemesis”

Bill Crider: “Between the Living and the Dead”

Stephanie Jaye Evans: "Safe from Harm"

Ann Everett: “Say You’ll Never Love Me”

Kay Finch: “The Black Cat Knocks on Wood”

Kinky Friedman – series about a Texan living in NYC

Meg Gardiner: “Phantom Instinct” (reviewed here)

Kaye George: Imogene Duckworthy series, “Broke”

Linda Kozar: “Weighty Matters”

Billy Kring: “Tonton”

Liz Lipperman: “Chicken Caccia-Killer”

Nancy Martin: “Miss Ruffles Inherits Everything”

Larry McMurtry: “Lonesome Dove”

James Michener: “Texas”

Golden Keyes Parsons: “His Steadfast Love”

Mark Pryor: “Hollow Man”

James Reasoner: “The Last War Chief”

Catie Rhodes: “Rest Stop”

Rick Riordan: “Rebel Island”

Terry Shames: “The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake”

Leann Sweeney: Yellow Rose Mystery Series

Livia Washburn: “Peach of a Murder”

Nancy G. West: "Smart, but Dead"

George Wier: “Cold Rains”

Lori Wilde: “Love of the Game”

Lynn Chandler Willis: “Wink of an Eye” (reviewed here)

Manning Wolfe: "Dollar Signs"

Reavis Z. Wortham: “Dark Places”

Celia Yeary: “Annalisa”

Have fun choosing from this great list of Texas fiction. 🙂

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“Drizzled with Death” by Jessie Crockett

“The Longest Yard Sale” by Sherry Harris

“Musseled Out” by Barbara Ross

Cozy, Mystery

Julia Snowden is back in “Musseled Out,” the third installment of Barbara Ross’ great Maine Clambake Mystery series.

The Maine summer tourist season is winding down and it’s time for Julia to make a decision. Should she stay around until the next season to help the family with the Snowden Clambake business or go back to her venture capital job in New York City? Her boss will only hold her spot open for so long – just until the end of the week. She’s got five days to choose between two jobs and lifestyles that could not be more different.

Now that the family livelihood has been saved, about the only thing that really holds Julia to Busman’s Harbor is her boyfriend, Chris. But, is that relationship really just a summer fling? Can she count on him to hang around? Is his constant disappearing act over? In a half-hearted attempt to force herself into making a decision, she looks at places to live in town. She doesn’t like the apartments she’s seen, and her boyfriend’s cabin is a little rough (translation – gutted while being rehabbed) for her taste. Plus, she has to find work in the off-season. Is that a sign?

The thing is, as in any good series, there has to be motivation for the out-of-town main character to hang around. We don’t want Julia to go anywhere, so Ross has to give this smart, savvy gal in “Musseled Out” an authentic reason. How about the body of a potential competitor, David Thwing, tangled up in the lines of a lobster boat she sees drifting off her beach? Julia has helped the local police successfully before, so they trust her not to be involved in Thwing’s death, but there are plenty of people (including her brother-in-law) in her circle that could have done the deed.

What follows is a beautifully crafted plot, with surprising twists and turns, and impeccably placed events that foil the bad guys’ plans. There is even a page-turning rescue scene that left me stunned, with the life and death struggles reading like an actual Coast Guard response.

Ross has developed the core characters of the series even further in “Musseled Out,” giving Gus and Mrs. Gus a storyline of their own that affects Julia and Chris in a profound way. The book not only explores what happens when key personnel in a family business are sidelined, and the serious decisions that must be made, but also how bad decisions can wreck havoc on the lives of everyone involved.

The motivations for everything that happens are as current as the latest news cycle, but if that’s not enough, there are some serious cooks in this series. Techniques are shared as part of the storyline, and I plan to try the one for fried eggs. Recipes for main dishes and desserts are included at the end of the book. I made lobster mac & cheese from “Clammed Up,” (delicious) and I can’t wait to try the pumpkin whoopee pies from “Musseled Out.”

Well done!

Read the review of “Clammed Up,” the first in the series, here.

For more information about Barbara Ross and her next book, “Fogged Inn,” please visit www.maineclambakemysteries.com

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“Suspendered Sentence” by Laura Bradford

Amish, Bestselling Author, Cozy, Mystery

Laura Bradford’s “Suspendered Sentence” continues the story of Claire and Jakob in the fourth book of her bestselling Amish Mystery series. Claire Weatherly, big city escapee and now shopkeeper in the Amish community of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, lives in her aunt’s bed & breakfast, helps with the Inn’s upkeep and enjoys her simpler country life.

Claire’s heart is mending after a bad marriage, and she has come to value her time with Jakob Fisher, a shunned former member of the Amish, a Detective on the police force that oversees law enforcement for the entire town, including the Amish.

In “Suspendered Sentence,” an Amish barn burns to the ground and when the barn raising begins, a skeleton is found on the property. If that isn’t enough, the skeleton is found with a bracelet that had been given to a missing girl some 15 years before. Jakob must investigate, but being shunned, is not allowed to speak with the Amish directly about what has occurred. Claire continues her intermediary role in order to get to the truth. Their relationship has developed quietly through the series, as their attraction to each other warms, moving beyond their investigative bond.

Bradford skillfully weaves in details of Amish culture, with more about the Rumspringa tradition in “Suspendered Sentence.” During Rumspringa season, the sixteen year olds experience the world beyond the isolated community and afterwards are able make an informed choice about becoming baptized and living out their lives as Amish. Occasionally, teens do leave permanently after Rumspringa, but the ones that stay supposedly have no regrets or worries about what they might be missing by staying. So, when the murdered girl had originally disappeared during Rumspringa, nobody went looking for her. It was unexpected to have no goodbyes, but not unheard of.

In the course of the investigation, terrible and unexpected secrets are revealed, jealousy is uncovered, and bitterness erupts in destructive ways. The characters’ relationships are touching and difficult and quite real in this outwardly gentle community. We feel the pain, the anguish and finally horror as long hidden truths are laid bare and discussed.

Bradford’s effective use of Amish cultural values as a plot device, some of which might make little sense to an outsider, keeps us turning the pages in this well written mystery. The barn raising after the fire in “Suspendered Sentence,” is a fascinating look at how the community bands together when disaster strikes. We learn why Jakob is not allowed to speak with his own family members and along the way, Aunt Diane provides comforting advice and insight to Claire about the Amish.

Layers of complex stories involve both communities, with elections, family squabbles, new employees, the lives of the English and the Amish both clashing and blending, all leading to a surprising outcome.

“Suspendered Sentence” is a wonderful addition to the series. 🙂

Please visit www.laurabradford.com for more information about Bradford and the Amish Mystery series, as well as other books she writes under a pseudonym.

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