Cozy Wednesday with Gayle Leeson – Author of Honey Baked Homicide #GuestPost / #Review / #Giveaway @BerkleyMystery

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday! 

I am so happy to have Gayle drop by for a visit today! 

Time Traveling –A/K/A Going Through Your Recipe Box
by Gayle Leeson
(Post provided by publicist.)

One of the many things I’ve enjoyed about writing the Down South Café series is looking for the recipes to include. With the first book, in particular, I reached out to my readers and received many wonderful suggestions and, sometimes, the stories that went along with the recipes. My own little white and yellow recipe box is filled with stories. Granted, some cards in the box are merely recipes, but other are echoes from the past.

I look at my recipe for turkey dressing and smile because I can remember my grandmother’s words when I asked her for the recipe—you’re afraid I’ll die and you won’t know how to make this—and our shared laughter. Fortunately for me, she didn’t die until many years later…and for the first Thanksgiving afterward, I couldn’t stomach the thought of eating that beloved dressing. Now when I see that recipe card, I smile, remembering all the Thanksgiving Days I stood by her side and helped her determine if the mixture had enough sage before I ran back to the living room to catch another glimpse of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

“I’m gonna be a Rockette one day, Grandmother,” I’d say, returning to the kitchen to show her how I could kick.

“You will be if you want to be, angel,” she’d say, never once pointing out that Rockettes were tall, skinny, and coordinated, all features I still lack to this day.

I received a wedding invitation from our neighbor—itsy bitsy Laken, who was just ten years old last week, wasn’t she? and five the week before that? Okay, so it only seems that way. Anyway, enclosed with the invitation was a recipe card and a request to share a favorite recipe with the couple. What a wonderful idea. Not only do guests share a recipe, but it’s in the guest’s own handwriting and, most likely, filled with memories.

~Gayle

Thank you so much for visiting today, Gayle!

The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . .

It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.

As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation…

About the Author

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. I also write as Amanda Lee. As Gayle Trent, I write the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. As Amanda Lee, I write the Embroidery Mystery series.

The cake decorating series features a heroine who is starting her life over in Southwest Virginia after a nasty divorce. The heroine, Daphne, has returned to her hometown of Brea Ridge to open a cake baking and decorating business and is wrestling with the question of whether or not one can go home again. She enjoys spending time with her sister, nephew, and niece, but she and her mother have a complicated relationship that isn’t always pleasant. Daphne has also reconnected with her high school sweetheart and is pursuing a rekindled romance while desperately trying to put her past behind her.

Kerry Vincent, Hall of Fame Sugar Artist, Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show Director, and Television Personality says the series is “a must read for cake bakers and anyone who has ever spent creative time in the kitchen!”

Says Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author, “One day I found myself happily reading . . . mysteries by Gayle Trent. If she can win me over . . . she’s got a great future.”

The Embroidery Mystery series features a heroine who recently moved to the Oregon coast to open an embroidery specialty shop. Marcy Singer left her home in San Francisco, along with the humiliation of being left at the altar, in order to move to Tallulah Falls and realize her dream of owning her own shop. She takes along her faithful companion, a one-year-old Irish wolfhound named Angus O’Ruff. She makes many new friends in Tallulah Falls, but she also makes a few enemies. Thankfully, her best friend Sadie MacKenzie and her husband Blake run the coffeehouse right down the street from Marcy’s shop, the Seven-Year Stitch; and Detective Ted Nash always has her back.

Publishers Weekly says, “Fans of the genre will take kindly to Marcy, her Irish wolfhound, Angus O’Ruff, and Tallulah Falls. This is a fast, pleasant read with prose full of pop culture references and, of course, sharp needlework puns.”

Pat Cooper of RT Book Reviews says, “If her debut here is any indication, Lee’s new series is going to be fun, spunky and educational. She smoothly interweaves plot with her character’s personality and charm, while dropping tantalizing hints of stitching projects and their history. Marcy Singer is young, fun, sharp and likable. Readers will be looking forward to her future adventures.” (RT Book Reviews nominated The Quick and the Thread for a 2010 Book Reviewers’ Choice Award in the Amateur Sleuth category)

I live in Virginia with my family, which includes her own “Angus” who is not an Irish wolfhound but a Great Pyrenees who provides plenty of inspiration for the character of Mr. O’Ruff. I’m having a blast writing this new series!

Webpage      Facebook      Twitter     Pinterest    Instagram

Purchase Links:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-A-Million
• Indiebound

Writing as Gayle Trent

Writing as Amanda Lee

Just click on covers for more book information or to order from Amazon.

Thanks to the publisher I have 2 copies to give away!

Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.

Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.

You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Click the Like Button at the top of this post for a Bonus Entry.

Add this book to your WANT TO READ shelf on GoodReads for 3 Bonus Entries.

Sign Up for Gayle’s Sneak Peaks for 3 Bonus Entries

Leave a comment for Gayle for 5 Bonus Entries.

Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries.

If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End December 20, 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

Be sure to check out the giveaway on the Great Escapes Book Tour!!
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.”