Cozy Wednesday with Bethany Blake – Author of Dial Meow for Murder – #Guest Post / #Review / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!! 

I am very excited to welcome Bethany Blake to Escape With Dollycas!

Hi Everyone,

Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved three things: pets, books and cozy stuff.

For my 10-year-old self, the perfect day was rainy or snowy, just right for creating a blanket tent in the attic and retreating with a Nancy Drew novel and my dachshund, Greta.

Some things never change. As an adult, my house is filled with animals and books, and I recently traded my master bedroom for my daughter’s smaller room, even though I have to smoosh all my clothes into one tiny closet, while she gained a walk-in for her wardrobe.

Why did I make what seems like such a bad bargain?

Because small spaces are awesome – and my new room has a secluded alcove that I’m transforming into the adult version of that blanket tent.

My addiction to the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from being in the perfect, snug spot with your furry friends and your favorite stuff is why I started reading, and ultimately writing, cozy mysteries. I dreamed of creating a town filled with charming shops, cute cafés, and quirky characters. I suppose, when I set out to write the first Lucky Paws Petsitting Mystery – Death by Chocolate Lab – I was conjuring up a vacation spot for my imagination.

If you open my books and “visit” Sylvan Creek – the pet-friendly setting for the Lucky Paws stories – you’ll find yourself spending time at Winding Hill, a lovely, restored 1800s farmhouse, complete with a tiny caretaker’s cottage. You’ll also visit Espresso Pronto, purveyor of hot coffee and homemade biscotti. And, while the locals crack crabs at the Lakeside – a dive bar on a rickety pier in Lake Wallapawakee – there’s fine dining at the Wolf Hollow Mill, a Revolutionary-War-era building with two fireplaces and a working mill wheel that spins against a stone wall.

The second book in the series, Dial Meow for Murder, is set during one of my favorite times of year: Halloween. You can probably guess that there will be autumn leaves, pumpkins, chilly nights spent by blazing fires, and maybe even a costumed pet parade through town.

 

 

 

The funny thing is, the “escape” I created is actually based upon my hometown of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I used to live in the Victorian house that is the setting for Moxie Bloom’s garret apartment. The fictional pet boutique, Fetch!, is based upon a real shop. And the haunted mansion in Dial Meow is modeled after a spooky, hilltop estate called the Slifer House.

If you’re a fan of all things cozy, I hope you’ll join me in Sylvan Creek as pet sitter and amateur sleuth Daphne Templeton tries to solve a mystery in the mansion with the help of her sidekick, a taciturn basset hound named Socrates. (Daphne will also be navigating an increasingly complicated relationship with handsome, enigmatic Detective Jonathan Black.) So grab a copy of the book, put on your favorite toasty warm socks and pj’s, and curl up in your comfiest chair with your furry friend. We’re never too old to recreate that blanket tent we loved when we were 10 years old, right?

Happy fall, everyone!

~Bethany

Thank you Bethany for stopping by today! 

 

 

 

Even an experienced pet sitter like Daphne Templeton can be fooled by animal behavior: how can an adorably tiny fuzz ball named Tinkleston be capable of sudden flying leaps with cat claws bared? But human behavior remains even more mysterious, especially when Tinkleston’s owner is murdered on the night of a gala fundraiser for Fur-ever Friends Pet Rescue.

Accompanied by her unflappable basset hound, Socrates, Daphne plans to take charge of Tinks the Terror and leave the crime-solving to handsome detective Jonathan Black. But while luring the prickly Persian out of hiding, she uncovers clues that might take suspicion off her own mother. Maeve Templeton already has a reputation as a killer—in real estate. How far would she go to bag Sylvan Creek’s most coveted property, the Flynt Mansion?

To expose the truth, Daphne finds herself donning a deranged clown costume on an autumnal adventure that might just be crazy enough to work—if it doesn’t get her killed.

Includes recipes for homemade pet treats!

 

 

 

ABOUT BETHANY BLAKE:

Bethany Blake lives in a small, quaint town in Pennsylvania with her husband and three daughters. When she’s not writing or riding horses, she’s wrangling a menagerie of furry family members that includes a nervous pit bull, a fearsome feline, a blind goldfish, and an attack cardinal named Robert.

Next time Bethany visits I want to hear all about her pets 🙂 

Website – Twitter  – Facebook

Subscribe to Bethany’s Newsletter here.

Coming February 27, 2018

Thanks to the publisher I have 1 copy to give away!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US mailing address.

Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.

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something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.

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Contest Will End October 25, 2017 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

Click Here For Entry Form

 

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.”