Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

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

Escape with Sasha Silverman
by Meg Macy

Hi! I’m Sasha Silverman, manager of my family’s Silver Bear Shop & Factory in Silver Hollow. We’re located in the area around Ann Arbor, Michigan. My Uncle Ross is the supervisor of production, and my sister Maddie, an artist, does all our design work for flyers, promotion, brochures, and ads plus social media. She used to work as our office manager, but Aunt Eve – Uncle Ross’s ex-wife – has returned to take over that job. Maddie hopes to open her own graphic design studio, but right now, she’s busy with her fiberglass bear sculpture. Maddie’s design was chosen for the Parade of Bears, which is part of the village’s annual Oktobear Fest. Yes, Okto-BEAR. My sister and I are hosting a Cranbeary Tea party (parents, kids, teddy bears) to kick off the month’s events.

But Maddie and I plan to escape in between the festival and the busier Christmas season – when teddy bear production and holiday events really crank up the stress! We usually go to Mackinac Island for a fall weekend. This year, we forgot to make reservations at our favorite bed-and-breakfast spots. Oops! And for some reason, it seems everyone is heading up north on the weekend we chose. But the Somewhere In Time weekend at the Grand Hotel had a few spots left, for an exorbitant price – so we figured it might be worth it. What’s on the schedule? Apparently, it’s the 25th anniversary of holding the weekend, and the 35th anniversary of the film. Plus, actress Jane Seymour will be attending! How cool is that? I’m sure we’ll have a few fan-girl moments with her, an autograph or two, and hopefully more than a few selfies as well.

On the schedule is a special screening of the film, which we both loved – but haven’t seen in probably a decade – plus a discussion of how the movie was made, an evening cocktail reception (with mimosas, I hope), a Grand Luncheon Buffet along with their usual full breakfast and scrumptious dinners, and a costume promenade. Uh, oh. We have nothing to wear! That meant a pre-escape-escape to find some 1912 era-appropriate hats, shoes, and costumes. I found an ivory satin gown with tiers of lace cascading at an angle from a shirred Empire waist, with a square neckline; Aunt Eve says I can wear her pearls and above the elbow opera gloves. My hat tipped, also at an angle, is crowed with pale roses and other tiny flowers. Maddie is wearing a vintage green silk gown with an ivory lace overlay, since she’s petite, with a rose silk ribbon at the waist. Her wide-brimmed straw hat covered with feathers is larger than Kate Winslet’s in the Titanic film!

I doubt I’ll enjoy my satin heels for long, however. I couldn’t find a pair wide enough. Ouch! They pinch my toes, but I’ll manage to grit my teeth and maybe slip them off under the table while eating lunch and dinner. Maybe I can tiptoe barefoot back to my room each night, which is supposed to have a glimpse of the Mackinac Straits but faces the gorgeous, huge Victorian cottages on the West Bluff. I’m hoping Maddie and I can squeeze in our annual bicycle ride around the island on Sunday afternoon and buy our favorite fudge flavors in town before we have to catch the ferry back to Mackinaw City.

We’ll need a few days to recover from our weekend escape, I’m sure!

~Sasha

Thank you, Sasha/Meg, for dropping by today!

Now let me tell you all about this book.

 

About the Book 

 

 

As autumn air settles into the quaint small town of Silver Hollow, there’s nothing more popular than Sasha’s teddy bears—and murder in cold blood . . .

Silver Bear Shop and Factory manager Sasha Silverman is cozying up to the fall season by hosting Silver Hollow’s Cranbeary Tea Party, the opening event of the village’s Oktobear Fest—a too-cute celebration themed around teddy bears. She barely has a moment to agonize over the return of her former high school rival, Holly Parker, whose new toy and bookstore in town could spell big trouble for the Silver Bear Shop and her cousin’s small bookstore . . .

But when Sasha discovers Holly’s shop assistant dead with a knife plunged in her body, the unpleasant woman suddenly looks like a real backstabber. So does Sasha’s ex-husband, rumored to have rekindled the fiery extramarital affair he once had with the victim. Now, before a gruesome homicide case takes the fun out of both the Fest and her personal life, Sasha must identify the true culprit from a daunting suspect list—or risk becoming as lifeless as one of her stuffed bears . . .

You can read my review and another guest post from Meg here. 

About the Author

Award-winning mystery author Meg Macy lives in Southeast Michigan, close to Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Dexter — the area she chose for the setting of her new “Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear” cozy mystery series for Kensington. She is also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series; two books have been named Agatha Award finalists. Meg’s first published book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Best First Novel Spur Award from Western Writers of America. She’s a graduate of Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program. Meg loves reading mysteries, historical, and other genre fiction, and also enjoys gardening, crafts, and watercolor painting.

Author Links:      www.megmacy.com      Meg Macy on Facebook      Meg Macy on Twitter

Purchase Links:

Amazon      B&N     Kobo    Google Play   BookBub
Meg also co-writes with Sharon Pisacreta as D. E. Ireland.

Praise for Bear Witness to Murder (A Teddy Bear Mystery)
by Meg Macy

I was riveted and worried and really did not see THIS ending happening.
~Laura’s Interests

I loved all the things that were going on in the town, Oktobear Fest and the Cranbeary Tea Party and all the interesting things!
~Valerie’s Musings

I may be biased because I have a huge love for all things teddy bear but this is just the cutest cozy mystery series . . . The characters are all well developed pulling you into the story until you feel like you have known them forever.
~Books a Plenty Book Reviews

Mystery lovers will enjoy this story filled with whimsical themes and fun characters that will have you wanting more.
~Texas Book-aholic

I don’t know what I enjoy more about this series – reading about the teddy bear-themed events, or the mystery itself. Sasha Silverman is such a down to earth, believable character that she makes both of them fun.
~The Book’s the Thing

All the story is told around the Oktobear Feast, it was really original reading about all the bear creations and ideas for kids, really, if this kind of village exists I want the name of the town!
~Varietats

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

May 23 – Lisa Ks Book Review – REVIEW

May 23 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

May 24 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

May 24 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

May 25 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

May 25 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 26 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

May 26 – Blogger Nicole Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 27 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW

May 27 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 28 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 28 – Varietats – REVIEW

May 29 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

May 29 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 30 – Sapphyria’s Books – REVIEW

May 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

May 31 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

May 31 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 1 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW

June 1 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

June 2 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

June 2 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW

June 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

June 3 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – REVIEW

June 4 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW

June 4 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

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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.”