On My Table and In My Cup December 16th- 23rd

Blinking and thinking about the tidal wave of a week we have just had passed as we gear up for the big days yet ahead. I felt like I was just treading water this week and took the wonderful highs, with a few lows. I can not believe that I am going to blink again and it will be Christmas Eve, Day and the New Year. Thursday was the first day of the 12 days of Christmas, also known as Yule, and the Winter Solstice. The above photo is for my table and this is my yule log.

Yesterday I added one of my newer Snowbabies to the table, at the time we were expecting more snow and we were lucky not to get more just yet, I think this is my good luck charm!

Don't get me wrong, we did have snow, so much that snuck up on us on Tuesday it pretty well shut the city down. Traffic was awful and roads very much unsafe. I took this after the second round of shoveling I did...

you may look at this photo and laugh, as this is likely not much snow for where you live but here it is quite a bit. It was 4 inches when it stopped and yes when you live on the West Coast of Canada as I do, just Three hours North of Seattle, you don't expect to get snow often or very much. The novelty of it wears off quickly and while it looks great from the window, if you have to go anywhere it is a nightmare. More snow is forecast for Christmas Day, who knows we may actually have a white Christmas here after all.

I am reading CeeCee James newest cozy called Cherry Pie or Die, I am very much loving this story and due to the snow, three Christmas Concerts and a two hour dental appointment has found me carrying the book around and not getting time to sit and binge read as I would like! I will share the review tomorrow though!

I downloaded and read a great little cozy short story this week by Gin Jones it was a free one on Amazon this week and a lovely book to read while I enjoyed tea and shortbread from one of my friends.

I did manage to also get The Hostess With the Ghostess read this week as well.
I will leave you here today, some much needed last minute shopping I must do and hope that you are all enjoying your Saturday.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The Hostess with the Ghostess by E.J. Copperman

The most lovely thing about these Ghost stories is how plausible they seem. E.J. Copperman writes a wonderful series and gets the characters both dead and alive just right. From the Innkeeper and her 13 year old daughter to the ghosts in residence and all those they encounter this series is a great one to get carried away in. This is a particularly interesting mystery, I found it complex and compelling and the side story moving. As this is one of several books in the series I have read I felt like it was a visit with old friends. Celebrating with them in their triumphs and feeling worried and anxious for them in their hardships too. So much to love about a haunted guesthouse, an investigative team of both living and nonliving and just the right amount of magic.

Things are never quiet for long at the Haunted Guesthouse. Right as Alison Kerby finally gets some peace, long-time deceased Paul Harrison’s recently murdered brother, Richard, shows up looking for the ghostly detective. But Paul has left for parts unknown months ago. The only thing is, she doesn’t know how to find him. And she’s going to need to because Richard’s isn’t the only murder still left unsolved.As she searches for Paul, Alison discovers that Richard, who was a lawyer, was working a case about a woman accused of murdering her stepfather. It quickly becomes clear that Richard was getting too close to the truth, and was forcibly kept quiet. Now as Alison continues her investigation, she gets a creeping sensation that the murderer doesn’t appreciate her snooping around. And if she doesn’t stop, she’ll be next in The Hostess with the Ghostess, the witty and delightful follow-up to national bestselling author E. J. Copperman’s Spouse on Haunted Hill.

This one is out January 9th and you can find it on Amazon by clicking here.
Thank you for joining me here for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup December 9-16th

As I write this I have just sat down after hosting a birthday party here for the reformed reluctant reader who turns 10 on Monday. We had friends from school, hockey and baseball here. 20+ people, Pizza, Chips, Cupcakes, Cookies and more. I am tired but so thankful it was so much fun. His two good buddies just gave him two books in the series he loves  and I have tried to tell him to go to bed for the last two hours and just now he was in there trying to read by glow stick! I am impressed and yet overwhelmed by the need to get him to sleep so he can play hockey in the morning...torn, but grateful.

So excited to have The Hostess with the Ghostess on my table to read, I love an E.J. Copperman mystery and this is one of my most favorite series. Today on the Booked For The Holiday Event I am hosting on Beyond The Bookmarks Facebook Page our them is Christmas Ghost Stories. I hope you can pop by!

This week I shared a Fiction short story I wrote for Christmas I hope you got to read. I am so thrilled with the lovely comments and emails I got about it. I was very nervous to share but thrilled I did, thank you to all who took the time to read it.

Not a lot of reading got done this week but what I read was superb! Comic Sans Murder was a very good read! I held my breath so much and was so excited by the twists! Great book and it is out now!
Teas on this table I have had so very many and I am so excited to have so many different teas to try with my advent calendar. Some I hope I can order and add to my rotation of teas!
Thank you for taking time to check in this weekend. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup March 11th-18th

This week I have enjoyed sharing with you some of my favorite series paired with my favorite Green Cups for St. Patrick's day and some new reads as well. Sunday I shared with you Gone with the Twins by Kylie Logan, a good read for sure. With a Southern Twist and a mystery you will love this one is out now and one I recommend picking up.

Not to be missed and such a deal to have, Lorraine Bartlett has kindly put together some of her best work in a cozy sampler to savor! Click here to be directed to the Cozy Chicks Blog and get it free while you can! 

May Can not come fast enough for fans of the Tourist Trap Mystery Series. I could not believe my good luck to be able to read this so early! Mark your calendars for Lynn Cahoon's Hospitality and Homicide.

Book Four in the Coffee and Ghosts series on my table this week as well. I had the hardest time putting this book and series down. A great cozy short series!

Edited Out comes out in May and this was a book I really got into . This should be on your to be read list for sure!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Edited Out by E.J. Copperman

I was thrilled to be sent an ARC of E.J. Copperman's Edited Out. This is book 2 in the Mysterious Detective Mystery series and the first in the series I have read. It was captivating from the first page and a mystery I very much enjoyed. I love the idea of this series, the writer who creates a character, and a person who shows up with no memories prior to the creation of that character who claims to have the same name and occupation of the character. This mystery man may not be who he seems to be but it lends its self to a great mystery with in a mystery and I loved it. The way the story intertwines and twists is perfect. This is a very well written cozy and one that I very much enjoyed. This is a May release and one to put on your list!

Mystery author Rachel Goldman is getting used to the idea that her fictional creation Duffy Madison has somehow taken flesh-and-blood form and is investigating missing person cases not far from where Rachel lives. Wait. No. She’s not getting used to it at all, and the presence of this real-life Duffy is making her current manuscript—what’s the word?—lousy.So she doesn’t want to see Duffy—the living one—at all. To make matters worse, when he shows up at her door and insists on talking to her, it’s about the one thing she doesn’t want to do: Find a missing person. But the man Duffy seeks this time around might be able to solve Rachel’s problem. He might just be the man Duffy was before he became Duffy five years ago. The only problem is she could be letting Duffy lead her into danger yet again…Entertaining and witty, the second in E.J. Copperman's Mysterious Detective Mystery series Edited Out will delight his fans, both new and old.

To pre order your copy from Amazon of Edited Out please click here. 
Learn more about E.J. Copperman by clicking here. 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

December 1st and A Give Away I Hope You Will Love!

It is December and a time for giving, the wonderful people who let me read E.J. Copperman's Spouse On Haunted Hill Early, have a gift for one of you lovely readers in the USA! 

I absolutely love this series, it is one of my most favorite and I only recently discovered it! Perfect time to catch up on this series and share with someone you love!

Alison’s shady ex needs to use her haunted guesthouse as a hideout in the latest from the national bestselling author of Ghost in the Wind.Where Alison Kerby’s ex-husband goes, trouble follows. This time, unfortunately, he’s brought that trouble right to her doorstep. On the run from a business deal gone bad, Steven, aka “the Swine,” owes some scary people a staggering sum of money. No need to panic, though. He has a plan: Sell Alison’s Jersey Shore guesthouse to pay them off. Before Alison has a chance to read Steven the riot act, he disappears—after a mysterious man trailing him ends up full of bullet holes. Now the police are next to darken her doorway. For all his faults, Steven is still the father of Alison’s daughter, so with the help of ghosts Maxie and Paul, Alison sets out to find her ex and clear him of the murder. But if the bad guys get to him first, he may not have a ghost of a chance...

For your chance to win a copy of E.J. Copperman's book Spouse on Haunted Hill please email me at karenmowen@gmail.com with SPOUSE in the subject line as well as your USA mailing address. Contest is open between now December 1st, 2016-December 7th 2016. Your chances of wining depend on number of entries received. Please only one entry per person. 

December is going to be a very busy month for us. It is my hope that later today or over the weekend I will get keys to our new home, that means lots of daily trips to the new place, packing, cleaning and adjusting. Hoping to have some time to read, write and share. I am so thankful to have you along for the journey. As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup November 12-19th

Saturday morning and time for another week in review. This morning I have Frosty The Dead Man on my table, the third book in the Snow Globe Shop Mystery by Christine Husom. I am looking forward to sharing my review of this December 6th release with you all.

Knowing where I am going in the next few months has helped me with the idea of having to move out of the home we have lived in for the last 7 years. Leaving the neighborhood is hard for me, it is something I am struggling with. However the new place has built in book shelves so that is helping...
Reading Spouse on Haunted Hill was a lot like going home. This is book eight and was beyond wonderful. I hung on each word, easily picturing the setting, characters and mystery. Delightful to the end!

The end of December has some fantastic books coming out as well. The second book in the Jennifer David Hesse Wiccan Wheel Mystery Series is very exciting. A great mystery and a wonderful book, while the main character is Wiccan this is really not a paranormal cozy, it happens to be a great cozy, fun mystery and a character who just happens to walk the path of a Wiccan Witch. Loved it! Can not wait to read the first one, the second one was so good I must go and buy the first one.

Death Takes Priority, book one in the Postmistress series by Jean Flowers, was another cozy I enjoyed this week, I read and reviewed book two in September and was thrilled to go back and see how it all started.

Pressed to Death by Kirsten Weiss actually doesn't come out until next March but I got a sneak peak this past weekend and it was such a treat. Story, subject matter and cover, had me hook, line and sinker!
Not a lot new in my cup this week, choosing to stay in my comfort zone with the black vanilla tea from Murchies this week in my cup.  I did sneak a Christmas Eve Tea by Stash in twice, but had them in my mug so not sure that totally counts!
Thank you for joining me for another cup of tea and a week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Spouse On Haunted Hill By E.J. Copperman

Oh boy are you all going to love Spouse on Haunted Hill by E.J. Copperman. This is the eight book in the A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series and oh my gosh I could not put it down. Just when I thought things could not get any crazier in Alison's life, this book was so much fun. Crazy, lovely, fun. Good mystery, great characters, lovely loose ends and full of great surprises. If you have a cozy mystery lover on your list this holiday season I can recommend these eight books as a great gift! Spouse on Haunted Hill could be a tv movie for sure and this one would be amazing to see on screen. It was so easy to picture each scene, character and setting. I so love this series! I hope you will too! Mark your calender's for December 6th or pre order now!

Alison’s shady ex needs to use her haunted guesthouse as a hideout in the latest from the national bestselling author of Ghost in the Wind.Where Alison Kerby’s ex-husband goes, trouble follows. This time, unfortunately, he’s brought that trouble right to her doorstep. On the run from a business deal gone bad, Steven, aka “the Swine,” owes some scary people a staggering sum of money. No need to panic, though. He has a plan: Sell Alison’s Jersey Shore guesthouse to pay them off. Before Alison has a chance to read Steven the riot act, he disappears—after a mysterious man trailing him ends up full of bullet holes. Now the police are next to darken her doorway. For all his faults, Steven is still the father of Alison’s daughter, so with the help of ghosts Maxie and Paul, Alison sets out to find her ex and clear him of the murder. But if the bad guys get to him first, he may not have a ghost of a chance...

To pre order Spouse on Haunted Hill by E. J. Copperman  from Amazon please click here.
Learn more about E.J. Cooperman by clicking here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup October 8th-15th

It is Saturday again and the start of hockey season for me, this year both my boys are playing on the same team. This is truly an emotional and exciting time, says the mother who is just having her tea and has yet to dress them or load the mini van this morning. Above is my very pleasant late Friday delivery, some of November's finest books!

 On my table this week I am very pleased to have been asked to read and review Canadian Author Janice J. Richardson's Casket Cache, newly arrived on my kindle app and a review I hope to have for you early next week.

I have a review coming up for you tomorrow on Charlaine Harris' All the Little Liars, I hope you will stop back over to read my review.

My library stocks the best cozy series and I was so delighted to be able to read the series and Chance of a Ghost was such a great book! I can not wait for the next one!

Magicless in Nevermore was a good fairy tale for grown ups, a fun book to read!

Sunday's Death on Windmill Way was a great escape mystery this week as well.

The winner of Kathy Aarons Behind Chocolate Bars is, Kathleen Costa! Thank you to all who entered!

The Murchies Vanilla Black tea has been a lovely addition to my daily tea pot this week. I have not made a decision yet on what kettle I will be going with, looks like either Santa or a new year purchase. I got news that we will have to find a new home to rent very soon and for now my travel kettle will have to do. The idea of moving is both exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
I hope in the next three months to discover myself and my family in a comfortable and new location, we shall miss where we live now and have lived for 8 years terribly, I think it will be hardest on the boys. Our goal is to stay in the same area so as not to disrupt their lives too much.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Old Haunts By E.J. Copperman

I love my library. The cozy section is well stocked and the librarians there are open to suggestions. They even make recommendations, with lists and special knowledge or our favorite genres. Thankfully they also know what I need years before I need it. Having just discovered E.J. Copperman's Haunted Guest House Mystery series I was so thrilled to find two books in the series on the shelf waiting for me on Wednesday last week. Old Haunts is the third book in the series and it has all the magic and so much more then the first. This book is superbly written, with great mysteries, turns and twists along with reveals I did not see coming. I am very pleased with how this mystery ended and how E.J.Copperman tied up the ending, leaving me longing and excited for the next one! 

The ghosts haunting Alison Kerby's Jersey Shore guesthouse are sad. Maxie wants to know who murdered her ex-husband, and Paul pines for his still-living almost-fiancee. The only one who isn't missing her ex is Alison-because The Swine just arrived on her doorstep...

To order a copy of Old Haunts for yourself with free shipping from The Book Depository world wide please click here.
To learn more about E.J. Copperman please click here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com