Caught Read-Handed Outstanding 2nd Story For The Read Em' and Eat Series!

I finished Caught Read Handed the second in series from Terrie Farley Moran Saturday night. I have to tell you that I was so beyond thrilled to get one of the first Advanced Reading Copies of this book.  I am so thankful that Author Terrie Farley Moran who trusted me with the task of not only reading and reviewing this book but also the pleasure and honor of lending one of my recipes to the back of this book.

 

 I ordered the first book in the Read Em' Eat series titled Well Read, Then Dead on the advice of one of my friends Lisa Kelley and boy am I ever glad I did.

 I really enjoyed the first story about two friends who open a cafe/bookstore in a small gulf town. You can read my review from last August by clicking here or you can order a copy of Well Read, Then Dead by clicking here. Terrie's first book recently won the Agatha Award for best first novel at Malice! Congrats Terrie!

In Caught Read Handed, while delivering books to the local library for an up coming sale, main character Sassy inadvertently witnesses an argument between a new volunteer/over barring patrons wife and a homeless veteran who tries to access the library. When the woman is later found dead, all fingers point to the homeless vet and it is up to Sassy and best friend Bridgy to shed light on the real killer and help bring the community back together.

Caught Read- Handed is equally well written and has a great story line, a fantastic mystery and it solidifies the community feeling that cozies are famous for. There are important community messages and you get the feeling of being apart of the community while you read it. Caught Read-Handed comes out July 5th and can be ordered with free shipping from The Book Depository by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me for A Cup Of Tea and A Cozy Mystery Review today. 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

VancouverMom.ca Top Blogger Awards, Could I Ask You To Please Vote?

Today I am thrilled to share one of the new photos my wonderful friend and photographer Karolina of Karolina's Photography took of me last week near my home to celebrate my nomination for this years Top 30 Vancouver Bloggers. I was nominated by one of you wonderful readers and along with that nomination is the chance for me to win some wonderful prizes based on votes that the readers cast.

You just have to be one of my readers to cast a vote and you can do so by clicking here.  You may vote once a week for the next two weeks and I would love your support. To cast a ballot for my please select Karen Owen, Karen Mom of Three's Craft Blog.
Thank you all for your time and for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery. I look forward to sharing more of my beach tea photos with you all soon.
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

Stay-cation Book Suggestion...Hannah Reed's Hooked On Ewe

I finished Hooked on Ewe by Hannah Reed last week and have I got a great Stay-cation Book for you! Even if you are not traveling this summer but feel like you need to get away, this is the book you have been waiting for.

Hooked on Ewe is Hannah Reed's second Scottish Highlands Mystery and it is the perfect book to read when you need a Stay-cation.

Out in July 7th Hooked on Ewe is an excellent complement to book one Off Kilter, which I read and reviewed and loved last October. I loved the cover art on book one (see below) and I think the cover art for Hooked on Ewe is outstanding and really depicts the story accurately.

The story follows main character Eden Elliott on her Scottish Highlands Writing Adventure. As she starts her new life with out her husband and recently deceased Mother, Eden finds all the inspiration she needs and all the trouble she can handle in Glenkillen Scotland.  In book two, Eden is a talented wannabee Romance writer who finds herself caught up in yet another mystery in this small Scottish town. This time however she is given the go ahead and encouragement to aid in the investigation. I was thrilled Hannah wrote this character with such care and genius. There are some wonderful friends, townsfolk and potential love interests in Eden's life and they are all as colorful as the hand dyed and spun balls of yarn found at her best Scottish Friend, Vicki's store.

Squirrel and I think that this series is the perfect stay-cation summer read.

To pre- order Hooked On Ewe (I have had my copy on order since December) From The Book Depository like I did please click here. To order the first in this series Off Kilter please click here.
*Even though I was sent the advanced reading copy of this book I still am looking forward to receiving my pre-ordered copy, I love having books with their cover art. I order from The Book Depository because I live in Canada and The Book Depository sends their books out with out delivery fees no matter how many or few books you order. Their customer service can not be beat and I love shopping on their site.

Thank you for joining me for a Cup of Tea and this Cozy Mystery. 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 This Week May 9th-16th

I can not believe it is Saturday again already. This week on my table I have been lucky to host two Advanced Reading Copies, Terrie Farley Moran's Caught Read Handed and Susan Furlong's Peaches and Scream. I am almost done with Caught Read-Handed, it is a really great story from the Fort Myers Beach Florida, situated around what I think would be my dream cozy hang out Read Em' and Eat, a cozy bookstore and gourmet cafe. The tables and the food all have literary names and mouth watering recipes, as a back page reader I can tell you I highly recommend the recipe in the back of the book! The mystery centers around a prominent resident who is found dead in her hot tub and the main suspect War Vet Alan who main characters Sassy and Bridgy must work to clear his name and get him the help he needs....I can not wait to post my review! A great job by Terrie Farley Moran on this second in the series you can pre-order yours now by clicking here. This book is out July 7th.

Also new on my table is a new tea cup, I have had this tea cup before but I broke the saucer a few months back and I was thrilled to find another of this blue bird ceramic teacup and saucer set. I was thrilled to find it at HomeSense, a store here in Canada that is like your Marshalls or TJMaxx in the USA. This is a Grace's Teaware brand cup and saucer which I paid under $8 for. I love the pattern and the style. These make great gifts and look great on any table.

This week Peaches and Scream, a first in a new series by Susan Furlong arrived. This is the first in her new A Georgia Peach Mystery series and I am so excited to read it. I wish that I could read more then one book at a time but it is not my talent sadly. This book centers around a family in Cays Mill Georgia who are trying to keep the family Peach Farm going through some tough times. Returning after a long absence from a small town that only remembers main character Nola Mae as a "wild teenager" suspicions an gossip abound when Nola Mae finds a local businessman murdered among the families Peach trees... I do believe that I am going to have to make and share my Peach Cobbler recipe with you all while I read this...perhaps a tutorial as well. I hope you will check back!
This book is also out July 7th to pre order your own copy please click here.

 

 Sunday was mothers day and I am still so thankful for all the lovely comments and messages of support I received from sharing my story and my own mystery with all of you. I have been having lots of developments in the last week and hope to have updates as information and connections are made with the information I received through 23andMe. If you happened to miss my post and woudl like to know more please click here for my story.

In my cup this week I have enjoyed several pots of Paris tea from the Adorabella Tea room, I am getting low on that so I am going to have to make my way back out there for more.

 I have also enjoyed Steeped Tea's Jazzy Jasmine Tea. With the warmer weather I have been craving the fresh clean taste of this green tea with Jasmine flowers. This tea is great hot or cold and I never add anything to it. I order mine through Steeped Tea's Website you can view it by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me again this week to see what was on my table and in my cup. I would love to hear what you are reading, working on or baking so do leave a comment below or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com.

Not Everything I Make Turns Out, But Even The Mistakes Taste Great!

Bundt Cake Mistakes
Every now and then I make a baking mistake,
Usually it is when I try a bundt cake,
I don't know why,
no matter how hard I try,
I usually give up and just start to cry.
~by Karen Owen

The above poem was inspired by my lack of baking abilities this past Tuesday I tried for what feels like the millionth time to make a bundt cake, and for about the millionth time I failed. I went to and graduated from cooking school years ago and even though I bake a lot I still make mistakes. Why this always happens to me is the "mystery" part of today's post.

If you don't believe me about me making mistakes, take a look at my attempt at Dora The Explorer Cakes I did for my twin nieces for their 2nd birthdays 6 years ago, it looked like Dora was having an allergic reaction to a bee sting...Seriously though it was enough to make me give up cake decorating for a while!

Back to my bundt cake though, my second try worked. That is after making as second trip to the store for more eggs and oil....when I got back I sprayed so much Pam cooking spray on the pan that I could not see clearly in my kitchen, said a prayer and placed it in the oven.
Then I made a pot of tea, sat down, dried my tears and ate my mistake cake which tasted pretty darn good.  Come to think about it that day we ate the Dora cake where she was having an "allergic reaction to a bee sting" tasted pretty good too. At least I can laugh about it now.

I am happy to report that my second attempt bundt cake not only turned out but looked amazing for my friends surprise 30th birthday brunch. She even stopped by with out knowing Tuesday and had a piece of the first mistake cake.

The moral of the story here is if you happen to ever have a difficult time baking know you are not alone. The best part of this bundt cake mistake was sharing it with her, with you and the wonderful memories it has now created. Both the new cake and the mistake cake tasted pretty good too. If you would like to give a try to Bundt Cake Making may I recommend this fun book called Bonkers For Bundt Cakes. I just love the title. You can view or order this book by clicking here
Thank you for joining me today on A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Mystery and a Tasty mistake too.
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

New Tea Strainer I Just Love! New Cozy To Pre-Order...

Silicone novelty tea strainers are very popular right now and I found one I just love! 

Shaped like a "real teabag" this is one of the cutest ones I have seen yet, I ordered a few in various colors but the orange one was first out of the envelope so that is the one I am sharing today.

To use, simply pull the bottom away from the bag and open it to add your tea leaves, replace the bottom and place it in your mug or tea pot and pour the hot water over it allowing the leaves to steep as you like them.  When ready remove the tea bag and let it rest. To remove the leaves simply pull the bottom away and dump out the leaves!  Give it a rinse and let it dry.

These adorable little tea bags can be found inexpensively on Ebay. They make great little gifts or stocking stuffer for tea lovers, friends, wedding shower favors teachers and more.  I bought mine from small-sellers Ebay shop to view their listing please click here.
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of tea! Now for that new Cozy Mystery....

The new "Cozy" on my table to read this week is called Peaches and Screams.  I was thrilled to get an Advanced Reading Copy of Susan Furlongs Peaches and Scream Cozy Mystery due out July 5th! You can pre-order your own copy by clicking here. I can not wait to read it! I love Southern Mysteries and just check out that cover art!
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

Lemon Pies And Little White Lies 4th Story In This Delicious Series

I just finished Lemon Pies and Little White Lies! I waited and waited for this wonderful story to arrive. I ordered it from The Book Depository as soon as I heard it was available for pre-order, it arrived almost three weeks late (Canada Post's Fault Not The Book Depository!) but I was so grateful when it finally arrived.

The Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series is like many other cozies with a strong female lead character but this one has a little bit more then just the one strong lead. The cast of characters in this series with deep routes in community, family and magic. Not just any magic. Magic inherited from Fairies.

Throughout the series you meet some very enchanting characters who all have special abilities that enrich the lives of everyone in town, including non magical town members. Main character Ella Mae's special talent is infusing her feelings in her pastry shop baked goods. In this 4th book Ella Mae is more then just the talented and enchanted baker the towns folk love she is also her peoples "Clover Queen" This was more of an adventure cozy mystery and one that was a joy to read. I did not know what I was in for when I first ordered Ellery Adams Pie and Prejudice, honestly I did not even read the synopsis. I ordered it based on title and cover alone. I feel like I hit the jack pot with this series and I hope you will feel the same way too.  Each story that has followed in The Charmed Pie Shop Mysteries has left me wanting to know more and not leave, a true testament to the write abilities of Ellery Adams.

I love when I find a book that is so good it stands it's own. Even better to find a series that takes you on a wild adventure along with a great mystery. If you are looking for a great summer series to start, take with you to the cabin or read on these warmer spring and summer nights check out any of the titles in this series by clicking the titles below.
Pies and Prejuice
Peach Pies and Alibis
Pecan Pies and Homicides 
and Ellery Adams latest Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Lemon Pies and Little White Lies.

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. 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