Publishers Comments – Page 8 – Rosepoint Publishing

Purls and Poison by Anne Canadeo #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Purls and Poison (A Black Sheep & Co. Mystery) by Anne Canadeo on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

Purls and Poison (A Black Sheep & Co. Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Kensington (October 30, 2018)
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1496708636
ISBN-13: 978-1496708632
Digital ASIN: B079KT54BW

When a fellow Black Sheep Knitter is suspected of poisoning her coworker, the group puts down their needles and takes up their friend’s defense . . .

Suzanne Cavanaugh has just about had it with her office rival at Prestige Properties. It’s bad enough that Liza Devereaux is constantly needling her at work, but when she shows up at one of Suzanne’s open houses to poach potential buyers, it’s the last straw. No one in the office fails to hear the two snarling at each other.

When Liza is later found dead in her office cubicle—poisoned by a diet shake—Suzanne becomes the prime suspect. It’s soon discovered, though, that Liza had double-crossed so many around town and stashed their dark secrets in her designer handbags that anyone could be the culprit.

The Black Sheep Knitters have no doubt their friend has been framed—but they need to prove it. Stirred to action, they get together to catch a sneaky killer who’s trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes . . .

My Review

I’m a big knitter at heart, so seeing the title and blurb sold me on signing up for the opportunity to read this little cozy. (Well, I must confess to messing with some crocheting as well, but knitting is my fav.) The idea of a group of lady knitters, best friends, sitting around with a glass of vino, trying to solve a murder mystery definitely piques the interest, huh? Well, obviously, these are not the ladies you’d normally imagine in a knitting group.

This particular entry to the series has Suzanne as a prominent character, although Maggie imparts some wisdom as well. The group consists of Suzanne, Maggie, Dana, Lucy, and Phoebe. Each has their own backgrounds, stories to tell, and fields of expertise. Suzanne is an upper-level real estate agent, dealing in better homes, and apparently has some serious office competition in Liza Devereaux. Liza is very good at what she does and manages to take a client and a sale from Suzanne that would have earned her a douzy commission. They fight, publicly, big time.

After meeting with her Black Sheep Knitting group (and mellowing out some), she is ready to offer an apology only to be the one who discovers Liza’s body. Suzanne is naive and easily admits to having the big fight with Liza. Suzanne has an amazingly sweet, understanding, and patient hubby in Kevin, and Maggie has a significant other in Detective Charles Mossbacher. It is Charles along with his partner Frank who take the emotional Suzanne in for questioning. She is also her own worst enemy and opens her mouth one too many times until one of her group finds her an attorney.

I particularly appreciated Maggie, the owner of the knitting shop. She has attained an easy-going manner in life and created a successful business with a good head on her shoulders. I also liked Lucy. Charles is a good guy just trying to do his job. The ladies are trying to do theirs–not for the first time apparently.

The well-plotted storyline moves along at an even pace. The knitters do an impressive job of creating donated baby and toddler items. The group enjoys each other’s company and exchange ideas and offer encouragement and backing to Suzanne and it’s a pleasure to partake, even if vicariously, in their get-togethers. There are red herrings, diversion of possible perps, investigated and dismissed or pursued. The dialogue is easy and natural and the conclusion swings in unexpectedly, though not wholly a surprise.

(Unfortunately, once again, I’ve come in at the second in the series* and get the feeling I may have missed some important developing going on in the first of the series. So you might wish to begin with the first.)

I was given this ebook download by the publisher and NetGalley for this book tour and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended for those who enjoy cozy mysteries, crafting hobbies including knitting, and women sleuths.

*[Goodreads note: Starting with book #9, the series changed publishers and are published with a slightly different series name of “A Black Sheep & Company Mystery,” but they are a continuation of the Black Sheep Knitting Mysteries series.]

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win one of (3) Autographed Copy of Purls and Poison (A Black Sheep & Co. Mystery) by Anne Canadeo (U.S. Only) in this Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Anne Canadeo is the best-selling author of more than 30 books, including the Black Sheep & Company Mysteries, and as Katherine Spencer, the Cape Light and Angel Island series. She somehow manages to write a lot, despite many and much-loved distractions — such as digging up the garden, hanging out with her dog, trying new recipes, drinking copious amounts of mint tea, eating chocolate and volunteer work in the community. She lives in Northport, NY, a village on the Long Island Sound very much like the settings of her stories. Anne loves to hear from readers. Answering their messages is definitely another favorite distraction in her day.

Author Links

Website: annecanadeo.com
Facebooks: www.facebook.com/AnneCanadeoAuthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/annecanadeo

Purchase Links
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell Books

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

Tour Participants:

November 8 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

November 8 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – GUEST POST

November 9 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST

November 10 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

November 11 – Handcrafted Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

November 12 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

November 12 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

November 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 13 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

November 14 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

November 15 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 16 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT

November 17 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

November 18 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST

November 19 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

November 20 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

November 20 – Reading Is My SuperPower – GUEST POST

November 21 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

Overused Tropes and Clichés – Can We Get a Break?

Overused Tropes and Cliches

OMG, I’m Soooo tired of reading these same tropes and clichés. They’ve been used and abused well past the point of beating that poor horse to death. (Uh oh) Nothing new or original under the sun? (Oops!) We’re doing this again, are we?

Trope, as in commonly used theme or device–

Cliché, as in phrase or expression used for the gazillionth time into ad nauseum.

Well, is it a trope or a cliché? Has the trope been used so many times it’s beyond predictable? Past the point of boredom? Then it’s a trope that has become a cliché!

I’ve gathered a few “just off the top of my head” (chuckle), that is really beginning to set my teeth grinding (adding insult to injury). (A triple!-don’t get me started.)

Dump the Tropes:

Damaged female protagonists – with or without ginger-colored hair and all male protagonists over 6′ and hunky.
Capable female protagonists suddenly incapable or worse in the presence of the 6′ hunk (see #1).
Bad boy sheriff – but always gets his man even if he has to fight the whole town to do it.
Back to the old, small home town–couldn’t wait to get away–come crawling back.
Cop in love with the criminal–because they aren’t really guilty, you see.
Cop with troubled past, abuses alcohol and his connections, still gets his man (or woman).
The old love triangle–who to choose, eenie, meanie…
Insta-love (’nuff said)
The average, normal everyday guy (girl) who turns lucky and wins the big one–whatever that is.
The ugly one who turns beautiful. (Took their glasses off?)
Dystopian–depressing, just flat depressing.
Conspiracy theory but there’s one in the world (the protagonist) who can see and solve it.
The evil one, well, mostly evil until…
Secret witch, magician, possesses magical powers
Bad, abusive childhood, one parent household
Super conflict between male/female resulting in “heated arguments” that result in protagonist passion.
The nerd with IT that can invade any computer or the kids with more tech-savvy than their parents.
Children with witty mouths obviously smarter than adults.
Vampires, zombies
Amateur sleuths who must solve the case because the police can’t (or won’t).
The amnesiac, can’t remember or won’t?
Only child discovers they are the long lost relative of a maga-rich uncle (aunt?).
The crotchety old mentor who turns sweet and nurturing. (see #21)

Animal slap

Of course, along with the tropes, I began gathering overused clichés (in addition to the above):

He/she scrubbed her fingers through his/her hair–used his/her fingers to rake her hair.
Grabbed an errant strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
Is that all you got?
I’m just doing my job.
What part of [fill in the blank] don’t you understand?
Did I just say that out loud?

I know you can add many to the above lists. I actually found a website that listed almost 700 clichés not to use in your manuscript (or that are found in the books you are reading). These clichés are getting mighty tired for those of us reading the books. Going forward, can we avoid these like the plague? (Oops.)

There was a recent meme discussion that Shanah of Bionic Book Worm circulated that she included in her Top 5 Tuesday for October. You may wish to catch a few of those as well. I’ve also gleaned a number of the above suggestions from The Writing Cooperative by Zoe Nixon. Lively discussions! Do you have your particularly egregious list as well?

Hello October! Are We Reading #Thrillers?

Hello October!

Welcome October! Surely it can’t be already! Halloween, followed closely by Thanksgiving, and then we’re into the holidays. When my two babies were little, I couldn’t wait to tear into decorating for Halloween, but my daughter was born on October 14th, so I always tried to make sure we celebrated her birthday first! However, Harvest time and October can be a beautiful month with clean, crisp air, and a great time to start ripping into thrillers, horror, paranormal, and mysteries. Leave the lights on!

As you may have guessed from noting the covers in the above photo, I’ll be participating in a number of cozy mystery book tours, including Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan, Glitter Bomb by Laura Childs, and The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller (A Haunted Bookshop Mystery #6) by Cleo Coyle (sounds perfect, huh?).

Heavier reads are interspersed with the cozies, including Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly (a thriller), The Enigma Source by Breakfield and Burkey (you’ll remember I started that last week about crypto-currency and got distracted), and Time’s Up, Afton by Brent Jones, which is the fourth and final in his spine-tingling, nerve-jangling Afton Morrison series (See my reviews for the first three on this blog). Then I’ll wrap the month up with The Long Paw of the Law (Paw Enforcement #7) by Diane Kelly. That cover is too cute to ignore and you know how much I love K-9 books!

All books noted above are from NetGalley with the exception of Time’s Up, Afton which is an author request. That’s a good start but you know I’ll be adding to the TBR as I still have a few slots to fill. I know, right?—I can’t believe it either! Seems so many of the cozies are scheduled for November book tours. (In the meantime, before the temps drop I have a quilt to finish!)

Do you have any of these novels on your TBR also? Are you recommending thrillers for Halloween? Send me your recommendations–please–and thank you!

Rosepoint #BookReviews – September Recap

Review Recap - September

Oh my gosh! Got into some super reads in September, (eleven!) stretched my reading chops with a horror, a couple thrillers, political conspiracy, and K-9 (service dog) mysteries. I really love the stories about those valiant, stout-hearted canines who do so much for us without so much as a clue what it all means. (Or maybe they do! Long as we’re happy–they’re happy.)

Greatly enjoy working on graphics and sometimes when I see a particular cover love to stretch the imagination into a bookstagram. And it’s fun heading into fall to switch themes now with harvest colors and later, Halloween. I stay on the lookout for new tutorials, but so often when I’ve tried the technique discover it’s for business or paid accounts only. (Either that or my programs are just way too old.) And “stories”? Gees, I could write a book on what I DON’T know about stories. So, no I don’t know what I’m doing, but at least I can still deliver a review on a timely basis.

My book reviews for September:

Cast No Shadow: A Short Story by Brandon Dragan

Malice at the Manor by J Marshall Gordon

Lackbeard by Cody B Stewart and Adam Rocke

How many have you read? Did you agree with my analysis? Click the links below to read any reviews you might have missed.

Sept 2 – The Forbidden Door – a #BookReview – #greatreads – Dean Koontz

Sept 4 – Nice Try, Afton – a #BookReview – Brent Jones

Sept 7 – Deadly Dram: A Whisky Business Mystery by Melinda Mullet #BookTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Sept 9 – A Borrowing of Bones – a #BookReview – Paula Munier

Sept 11-Cast No Shadow: A Short Story #Review – Brandon Dragan

Sept 14-Malice at the Manor – a #BookReview – J Marshall Gordon

Sept 16-Read and Gone – a #BookReview #BookTour #Giveaway – Allison Brook

Sept 18-Lackbeard – a Children’s Fantasy Pirate Adventure #BookReview – Cody B Stewart and Adam Rocke

Sept 21-In Cold Chocolate by Dorothy St. James #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Sept 25-Malice by Jennifer Jaynes – a #BookReview

Sept 27-High Crimes by Libby Fischer Hellmann – a #BookReview

The books above came from author requests, NetGalley, and/or part of book tours. The ole October TBR is stacking up to include a number of cozy mysteries from NetGalley for reviews and book tours as well as an author request. The Throwback Thursdays have included books published more than a year ago but reviewed this year by the CE. My conundrum has become the skewed stats on Goodreads and Amazon accounts as I receive his books through BookBub but they appear on both Amazon and Goodreads. (EEK!) Taking his reviews out of my numbers, I’m still five short of achieving my Goodreads Challenge. Yes, I’m working on fixing that…in the meantime

A big thank to all my new followers and as always so appreciate you who continue to read and comment! Thank you!

#TBR – What’s Up Next? Crypto-Currency and Crime – or Is That Redundant?

#TBR

Just a little respite from the cozies to get into some serious, intelligent reading. I’m as ignorant of crypto-currency as I am of the Amazon algorithms, but thinking I’d tackle that subject downloaded The Enigma Source by Charles V Breakfield and Roxanne E Burkey from NetGalley. Holy Moly Batman, what have I gotten myself into!? Because the blurb is almost as long as the book, I’ll just mention that so far I am greatly enjoying a very intriguing, intricate, and solid technothriller.

The world is almost ready for fiat currency to be replaced by a superior digital currency. The trouble is, which one and who will own it? The R-Group is back and trying to guide the players to a safe destination in the complex world of cryptocurrency. The Global Bank has tasked Tonya to find and hire a cryptologist to create a new global cryptocurrency, though sometimes it seems she may not be up to the task. Along the way it appears she is the one getting played.

If you’ve heard the term and wondered what is going on with our greenbacks, you might tap into this, the tenth (yeah–the 10th!!–it’s possible I’ve missed something important in the first nine! Gees, always late to the party...) The Enigma Series Book 10 released August 11, 2018. Check it out.

Add to Goodreads

Malice by Jennifer Jaynes And I was ready for a rollicking good psychological thriller again and chose Malice by Jennifer Jaynes also from NetGalley. This one will release on September 25th, which means I’ll have to switch books temporarily.

The perfect life becomes the perfect nightmare in a twisting novel of psychological suspense from #1 USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Jaynes…

Dr. Daniel Winters is living a fairy-tale life. He has a beachfront home in Malibu, a career as a respected pediatrician at a thriving Los Angeles practice, and a gorgeous new wife, Mia. For a man whose past was rife with mental illness, addiction, and thoughts of suicide, it seems too good to be true.

This little ditty has already gotten 85 reviews on Goodreads at 4.62 stars. That’s pretty good for Goodreads and I’m looking forward to tearing into it.

High Crimes by Libby Fischer Hellmann And just in case I haven’t had enough on the thriller side of political conspiracies, I also downloaded from NetGalley High Crimes by Libby Fischer Hellman, the Georgia Davis PI Series Book 5. Oh good grief! When will I learn to start with Book 1? This one will be released on November 10, 2018. From the blurb…

How do you solve a murder when there are 42,000 suspects?
That’s the task facing Chicago PI Georgia Davis, hired to hunt down those ultimately responsible for the assassination of Resistance leader Dena Baldwin at a demonstration fourteen months after the 2016 election. The gunman, on a nearby hotel rooftop, dies within minutes of the shooting. As Georgia sifts through Dena’s 42,000 Facebook followers, she discovers that unknown enemies hiding behind fake profiles have infiltrated the group…

Reviews upcoming. After that, I’ll be ready to tackle those cozies I have lined up beginning in October. I’ll get back to you on those. Stay tuned…

Rosepoint #BookReviews – August Recap

dog days header

So great to welcome our Navy buddies in August and must admit Northwest Indiana was exceedingly cooperative with beautiful, comfortable temps. As always, Kitra was a dynamo, bundle of energy who helped me get in and FINALLY put together the 50th Anniversary quilt that sister-in-law Ann’et made for us in 2012. Yes! Can you say “winter project?” Ted made his world-class ceviche (yum!) and he and the CE shared their old Navy stories (again) and quite a number of new ones! I posted a pic of the two of them trying to sink a sub at the Science Museum in Chicago. Kitra baked a new favorite–biscotti–and the boys put together a couple flower boxes for the fairy garden!

Catching up has taken the better part of a week; the blog, reading and reviews, social media, my veggie and fairy garden. Oh my goodness! The tomatoes!! Kitra got in and froze a bunch of them for me–they’ll make a great addition to stews and soups. (Never tried freezing them before, so we HOPE they’ll work well!) When the fairy garden doesn’t look quite so desolate, I’ll take another pic to share (discovered another downed snag today).

SO! What I read before they arrived is pretty much it for August, although I was able to get in some great reads.

Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein

Burning Ridge - a Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

Aug 3 – Knot My Sister’s Keeper by Mary Marks

Aug 7 – Death Over Easy (A Country Store Mystery #5) by Maddie Day

Aug 12 – Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein

Aug 14 – Death on the Menu by Lucy Burdette

Aug 21 – Burning Ridge – a #BookReview by Margaret Mizushima

Aug 28 – Samhain Secrets – a #BookReview by Jennifer David Hesse

The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz Nice Try, Afton All of the above were downloaded from NetGalley and/or were book tours. In the meantime, I #AmReading The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz (number 4 of 5) and will be posting my review this Sunday, September 2nd. I read and reviewed The Crooked Staircase (#3) here and The Whispering Room (2) here. Following on Tuesday, the 4th, my review of Nice Try, Afton by Brent Jones. That is the third of four in his Afton Morrison series and will release September 17th. Be aware that this gritty series profiles protagonist Afton Morrison in a frank assault of adult situations and language. Author Brent Jones paints an abstract of “moral ambiguity.” Dark and disturbing, crime fiction, vigilante justice–Afton style. I reviewed the second in the series, See You Soon, Afton in July and Go Home, Afton (#1) here.

I have a line up of cozies scheduled for September (book tours), as well as my fav (thrillers), and as always Throwback Thursdays, Cee’s Fun Fotos, or other features as captures my attention.

Hope this summer is going well for all of you: Blue Skies, Easy Breezes, Green Gardens, and nothing but GOOD books coming your way!

A big thank to all my new followers and as always so appreciate you who continue to read and comment! Thank you!

Tag – This Is My Genre Book Tag

This is My Genre Book Tag

I was tagged by Shalini at BOOKS, REVIEWS ET AL BY SHALINI to participate in the This Is My Genre Book Tag! Thank you so much! If you haven’t followed Shalini yet, you owe it to yourself to check out her blog and enjoy the biting wit and wisdom she bestows in her reviews, posts, and interviews.

The Rules

Answer the questions
Tag as many people as you want

The Questions

What is your favorite genre?

I don’t think I can pin that down to one genre. I tend to read all over the board. However, I do love thrillers, psychological thrillers, mysteries, suspense, crime, police procedurals, yadda, yadda, yadda…hey, I list all that, including genres I won’t normally read on my “Submission” page.

Who is your favorite author from that genre?

The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz Argh! Well, that could change, but right now I’m reading book 4 of the Jane Hawk series, The Forbidden Door, by Dean Koontz. Gees, can that man write!! (And, btw, I’ll be reviewing his book this Sunday, September 2nd, which is also my 56th anniversary with the CE. How the man has hung in this long is beyond me.)

What is it about that genre that keeps pulling you back?

Are you kidding? The nail-biting, edge of your seat, can’t put it down to fix a meal or go to the bathroom, glued to the page reading. These books leave you spent at the finish line and looking for the next one. They are the “crack” of books. And like Lay’s Potato Chips, you can’t read just one.

What is the book that started your love for the genre?

Uh huh, at my age, I can’t remember that far back. When I told my son I was reading a Dean Koontz book, he mentioned that Koontz wrote horror. (He knows I wouldn’t read that.) But I was hooked. Years ago I discovered Toby Neal and her Lei Crime series. After reading Blood Orchids, yeah, I was hooked.

If you have to recommend one book from your favorite genre to a non-reader–that genre, what book would you choose and why?

Just Add Salt by Jinx Schwartz Yeah, no. I don’t generally recommend books, although I discovered that I had no problem recommending books to my recent visitor–an avid reader (who seems to prefer books of more than 300 pages). She also reads a fairly wide variety of genres. I introduced her to Toby Neal and Jinx Schwartz. If you don’t know that latter name, Jinx writes the kitschy Hetta Coffey Mysteries. I got started with her books because she writes sea stories (and you know where that interest stemmed from).

Why do you read?

I’ve always read. Books have the power to transport you to exotic places, exercise super powers, teach, empower, and write. Which I also wanted to do!

I tag –

Mischenko

Carla

And many of you don’t do tags, so anyone else who wants to do this tag, please do! I’d loved to read your answers!

Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts

Welcome to Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts, an original weekly meme hosted by Lexxie at (un)Conventional Bookviews. She realized that many of the books she read (must have been cozies!) had food or drinks in them and thought it would be interesting and fun to share some food and/or drink quotes.

Few rules with this meme, just share the food or drink quote, and note whether or not it’d be something you’d be interested in yourself. Share the title of the book and the character who introduced the delicacy! Easy! You are welcome to use her logo or create your own but please link back to her blog.

This week I want to share Ropa Vieja, as “some people consider this to be the national dish.” Author Lucy Burdette shared her recipe in the book I just read and reviewed called Death on the Menu. Sounds to me like a variation of beef stew, yes, I’d try it.The dish name is dropped by protagonist Hayley Snow, the Key West food critic for the Key Zest Magazine. She translates the name of the recipe as “old clothes.” Yum!