Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
I am so excited to Stephanie Blackmoore here today!
Hi Everyone,
I love going to weddings. They are filled with good tidings and lively celebration. They provide a chance to see old friends and meet up with far-flung family, eat great food, dance the night away, and wish a newly married couple well. Whether they’re simple affairs at the courthouse or large bashes with hundreds of guests, most weddings involve many hours of planning and fretting that occur behind the scenes. Invitees are treated to a seamless ceremony and party with each detail lovingly attended to, but behind all of the tulle and flowers and cake, tensions run high and emotions are at the forefront of most wedding days. I’ve been a bridesmaid several times and witnessed the behind the curtain melee at my own wedding. There have been missing flowers, AWOL wedding party members, ripped dresses, late and lost ministers, misplaced vows, and feuding families. I wanted to create an atmosphere of high tension and family drama for my cozy series, and weddings seem like a perfect fit!
But what happens when the wedding doesn’t go off without a hitch? Is there any way for a bride to make lemon meringue pie out of sour lemons? For my first cozy I wanted to explore what happens after a bride pours her heart and soul into making her big day perfect, but gets cold feet and has to jettison her wedding at the last second. What happens when a bride cancels the wedding? What does a bride do when the invitations have gone out, the vendors are ready to go, and she can’t get her deposit back? The dissolution of a wedding can be more complicated than planning a wedding that goes off. I wanted to see what happens when a bride not only calls off her wedding, but also finds out she’s stuck with it. In Engaged in Death
~Stephanie
Engaged in Death (A Wedding Planner Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
BRAND NEW SERIES
Setting – Pennsylvania
Kensington (June 28, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1496704788
E-Book ASIN: B0165HUWCC
All appears peaceful in sleepy Port Quincy, Pennsylvania–but in this small town, old grudges die hard. . .
After dumping her cheating fiancé and cancelling the wedding, Mallory Shepard can’t bear another disaster. So when the former bride-to-be unexpectedly inherits Thistle Park, a ramshackle mansion in her ex’s hometown of Port Quincy, it’s a problem she can’t afford–literally. Abound with stray cats, peeling wallpaper, and nosy neighbors, Mallory is dying to sell it off–once she finally fixes up both the place and her messy life. . .
Turns out, Thistle Park has its charms. But the honeymoon phase is abruptly cut short when an unwanted visitor is found dead on the front lawn. Enlisting the help of her sister Rachel, Mallory vows to unveil the killer before she herself becomes married to the suspect list. . .
Dollycas’s Thoughts
As soon as I read the above synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. Thank you Kensington for the early copy!
Mallory had no idea who she was engaged to, but his overbearing mother was pushing her over the edge. Finding out the guy was cheating on her was just icing on the cake. Then in a weird twist of fate she inherits Thistle Park, a mansion in need of loads of tender loving care. Mallory is faced with putting it up for sale but to that she is going to need to make some improvements. Finding a dead body in the front yard was not the renovation she had planned. The wedding was cancelled but her sister’s arrives to help in anyway she can. Never knowing she would be helping Mallory catch a killer.
So much happens in this story that intrigued me in addition to the murder. The house that Mallory inherited could be amazing in the hands of the right person. My imagination was running wild with ideas. Then what do you do when your wedding is cancelled and the venue refuses to return your huge deposit? You will have to read the story to find out.
As far as the murder, the man wronged so many people, meaning there are so many that could want him dead. Her ex-future mother-in-law could even be involved. Surely she wouldn’t kill someone, or would she? The clues seem to lead in circles at times but that just added to my reading pleasure.
Mallory starts out as a “goes with the flow” type of woman, but scorned she is a force to be reckoned with. She is a lawyer who is smart and organized and definitely doesn’t need a man making decisions for her. I was so impressed with her transformation just in this first book. I can’t wait to see what she takes on in the next story.
Her sister, Rachel, has yet to find her niche. She has tried several things but doesn’t really stick with anything long. She tends to find herself living with her mom and step-dad or having them bail her out of situations. Mallory is the responsible one, timid about trying new things. They each need to rub a little off an each other and they will make a fantastic team.
I enjoy the way Ms. Blackmoore writes, it is so descriptive. I could picture everything so clearly. She also unfolds the story at a brisk pace.
Even the secondary characters are fleshed out, real and believable. Keith, the ex and his mother Helene, are excellent characters to dislike. I am not going to lie, I would not have shed a tear if one of them was the body in the front yard, but they turned the story on its ear in their own way. The neighbors are interesting and the Chief of Police just happens to live in the house behind Thistle Park, with his son and granddaughter.
This is a fabulous debut! A great start to what I hope will become a long running series!
I see the next book in the series, Murder Wears White
About The Author
A native Pittsburgher, Stephanie Blackmoore now lives in Missouri, with her husband, son and two spirited cats. She was an attorney in Pittsburgh and a librarian in Florida before becoming a writer. Stephanie is a fan of everything black-and- yellow. She is hard at work on her next Wedding Planner mystery. Connect with Stephanie at the links below.
Social Media Links: Website Facebook Twitter
Click on cover to purchase from Amazon.
Coming January 31, 2017
Thanks to the publisher I have 1 copy to give away!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Thanks for the review. I thinks this sounds like a perfect cozy to read so I’ll be adding it to my ever growing wish list.
Great review thanks am looking forward to this
Penney
My mind of series!! Must read.!!!!
Oneponychick66@hotmail.com
This sounds really good.
Looks great, I hope to get a chance to read it 🙂
Love the cover and know I will love the book!!
I am looking forward to this series – it sounds like a great one.
Thanks for your review and chance to win. This looks like a really fun read!
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!!!
Congrats to Stephanie on the new debut! I like weddings too and think they make great settings for books! Thanks for the chance to win!
oh a new series, I love it! and weddings to boot!
Sounds great, I can’t wait to read it.
Sounds like a book I would really enjoy. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.
Adorable cover – added this one to my TBR list. Thanks for the giveaway.
I have four married children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Both of the boys married out of town girls which meant we did ALL the wedding planning with the kids. The girls’ parents showed up for the wedding and brought their checkbooks with them. I know quite a bit about the planning and execution of weddings. This books is going to be a real hoot to read.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. When planning any affair it never hurts to ask if it makes a difference if “Mr. Green” is paying the bill. On one wedding we got about 3g’s off the price and lots of added goodies.
Cozies are even better in the summer. Thanks for the giveaway.
Thanks for this great feature and giveaway.
Okay, she’s a native Pittsburgher, so am I, I have to read this series. Thanks for the chance to win.
This sounds like it will be a fun new series!
What a clever idea to try to find a bride to take over her wedding set up.
My life would have been better if I had cancelled my first wedding—I’ve got to read this book.
Engaged in Death sounds like a very good read! Thanks for the giveaway!
I haven’t heard of this one, but looks great! Thanks for introducing this book.
Sounds like I need to add this to my “to be read” pile.
When I look at new series I pay a lot of attention to the cover art, this book really draws me in!
This sounds terrific. I’d love to read it.
Love the cover of your book! I’d love to read it! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
Sounds like a cool and complicated cozy!
I already have this one on my list to read! It looks cute, and I love stories centered around weddings.
Looking forward to reading your first cozy. “Engaged in Death” sounds like the perfect summer read.
I love cozies. Weddings can be great, or not so great. Have you ever went to a wedding and you just knew the couple wasn’t going to stay together long? It’s a bummer to basically lie to the couple by telling them congratulations, yada, yada, yada.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW SERIES AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
I love this cover! Sounds like a great start to a new series! Thanks for the chance!
Very unique choice of topic. This sounds like it will be very interesting and what an adorable cover!
Engaged in Death sounds wonderful. Thank you for the review and introducing me to this series.
Wow, looks like great cozy mystery
Sounds like a great read! Thank you for the giveaway.