A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Chat & Give Away with Joyce Teremel

Today I am thrilled to have author Joyce Tremel of the Brewing Trouble Series join us today for a cup of tea and a chat about her series. I am also thrilled that her publisher has given me the chance to give one of my lucky USA readers the opportunity to win a copy of her book for their own.
Tangled Up In Brew is the second in the Brewing Trouble Series and one I really enjoyed!

Please welcome Joyce!

KMOT: When you are writing what sustains you Tea, coffee or other?

         JT: Definitely coffee in the morning and sometimes in the late afternoon. Usually water during the day, with an occasional beer in the evening.

KMOT: What gave you the idea to write about a female Brew master?

JT: My agent had sent a previous manuscript to Berkley featuring a police secretary. The editor said it wasn't cozy enough for their line but liked my writing enough to

ask if I'd be interested in coming up with a proposal for a cozy. Of course, I said yes. I wanted to find a hook that no one had done before and after some research I came up with the brewing idea.

KMOT: When writing your character how much research into the development of beer making did you do?

           JT: What I knew about beer before was mostly from drinking it, lol. I did some initial research online, then contacted a couple of local brewery owners who were very helpful. I toured the breweries and asked questions. There's a lot more to the process than I realized at first.

KMOT: I loved the main character Max's depth, her back story is fun and her family is a riot, where did you come up with the idea of her?

         JT:She more or less just popped into my head when I decided on a female brewmaster. Although there are more and more female brewers, it's still mostly a male dominated field. I made

Max petite to make even more of a contrast with the other brewers. Her family evolved from the fact I made her Irish and Catholic. A large family and a brother who's a priest just made sense.

Will we see more of "Mrs Claus" in book three?

         Definitely! Book three (A Room With a Brew) is with my editor now. All the questions everyone has about Candy's past come to light, including one huge surprise. I probably shouldn't admit it, but it's my favorite of the three books. I'm working on a proposal for a possible book four. My fingers are crossed that Berkley will want to continue the series.

Thank you Joyce! Now it is time for you wonderful readers to get an opportunity to win your own copy of Joyce's book Tangled Up In A Brew (special thanks to Berkely for the opportunity!)

Email me at karenmowen@gmail.com with HOPS in the subject line, please include your US mailing address for your chance to be entered in to the random draw giveaway. Chances or winning are dependent on number of entries received. Contest open from today October 25-October 28th.

To order your one copy of Tangled Up in A Brew  please click here.

Learn more about Jocye Tremel by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me here today for a cup of tea, a chat and a giveaway. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Cup of Tea and A Chat with Kathy Arrons and A Cozy Mystery Giveaway, Behind Chocolate Bars

Today is the day I get to share a give away with my readers in the USA, I am sorry I can not include everyone but I am thrilled with the ability to have these giveaways. Behind Chocolate Bars is a great cozy, third book in the Chocolate Covered Mystery series and a really great for Halloween. I love the community feel I get when I read this series and I hope you will too.  This mystery was particularly well written and the cover is fantastic! I reviewed this book in September and I loved it, you can read my review by clicking here.

Kathy kindly stopped by for a quick up and and a chat about Behind Chocolate Bars her new release in the Chocolate Covered Mystery Series.
KMOT: When you are writing what sustains you? Tea, Coffee, or perhaps liquid chocolate?
KA:Lots of coffee! I love strong coffee -- I use a French press and my favorite beans are from Philz Coffee. The first book took one year and the other two took 9 months.

KMOT: Be honest how much chocolate though did you consume while writing this book?
KA: Way too much! But it was all in the name of research.

KMOT: Can you share something about yourself with us that we may not know about you?
KA: Something readers might not know about me is that I'm a huge supporter of arts education for youth. I'm president of the board for Playwrights Project, which teaches playwriting and literacy to students, seniors and the incarcerated. I advise and teach for the CCA Writers' Conference (only free writing conference for high school students in US) and the San Diego Middle School Writing Workshop series.

Best friends and business partners Michelle and Erica have a monstrous to-do list as they prepare for the annual West Riverdale Halloween Festival. Their shop, Chocolates and Chapters, will have a booth at the event, where Michelle will serve spooky delights while Erica displays an assortment of spine-chilling books. Thank goodness the teenagers from Erica’s comic-book club are chipping in to help. But one of their volunteers winds up in trouble after a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house—with the teen’s superhero key ring close by. The teen swears he didn’t do it, but he’s obviously hiding something—leaving Michelle and Erica with a witch’s cauldron of questions. Soon they discover that the dead woman was tricking a whole bunch of people out of more than just treats. Now these two friends must go door-to-door if they hope to unmask a killer…

Now it is your chance to get a copy of Kathy's book on your table! To enter to win please email me at karenmowen@gmail.com and write CHOCOLATE BAR in the subject line. Please include your USA mailing address so that when the random draw is done I can forward the winners information to the publisher. Contest is open from today October 12th to Friday 14th at noon PST. Winner will be chosen at random from number of entries received and announced on my week and review on Saturday the 15th of October 2016.
To order your own copy of Behind Chocolate Bars from Amazon please click here.
Good luck and thank you Kathy and you lovely reader for taking time to join me today for a cup of tea and a cozy giveaway.
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

Murder of A Cranky Catnapper By Denise Swanson

Labor day weekend I read Murder of a Cranky Catnapper by Denise Swanson. Today I am happy to tell you that you have a chance to win a copy of your own. If you live in the USA you are welcome to enter to win a copy for yourself. To enter to win simply email me at karenmowen@gmail.com with CATNAPPER in the subject line before September 30th and I will draw a winner at random from entries received.

With her morning sickness finally abated, Skye Denison-Boyd is ready to pounce on the pertinent problems she faces as Scumble River Elementary School’s psychologist. After trying almost every trick in the book to aid a handful of socially awkward fourth grade boys, Skye opts for the innovative approach of pet therapy with the assistance of the local vet, a Siberian husky, and a Maine coon cat. Unfortunately, the first session only breeds disaster and draws the ire of cantankerous school board member Palmer Lynch. But Skye’s worry over the episode changes to dread after Lynch is found dead in his home with the therapy cat hidden in his garage. With a clowder of questions unleashed, Skye finds herself dealing with a killer who isn’t pussyfooting around…

It is easy to love main character Skye and her take charge attitude with a twist. Who doesn't love a strong character who is also insecure about her weight, marriage and work? In this the 19th book in the series Skye finds herself in a few very uncomfortable situations, giving into pregnancy cravings and as usual helping to save the day. I enjoyed the character of Skye's line of work and the way that Denise wrote the boys in her special group as well as the way Skye discusses education in this book. I truly appreciated the realism and the way that Denise wrote this mystery.
Now it is your chance to enter to win! Be sure to email me your USA mailing address along with CATNAPPER In the subject line for your chance to win your own copy!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review and give away!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Dead To The Last Drop by Cleo Coyle, Review & Give Away

Labor day long weekend I read Dead to the Last Drop by Cleo Coyle. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this mystery. This is the 15th book in the series and the first one I can say I truly enjoyed to the last drop. When I first saw the cover and the write up on the book I thought that this mystery would be like so many other "President's daughter gets kidnapped" story lines from books and movies, I am happy I was wrong and despite my fears I quickly found myself turning page after page and drinking it all in. I enjoyed Cleo Coyle's spin on this "President's daughter gets kidnapped" story and hope you will too! I am very excited to announce the give away for a copy of Dead to the Last Drop to one of my USA readers. From today September 21st to September 23 you have a chance to enter to win a copy of your own. Email me  at karenmowen@gmail.com with COFFEE in the subject line to be entered into the random draw, chances of wining a copy are dependent on entries received. Good luck!

When the White House asks coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi to consult on a Rose Garden Wedding, she uncovers long-simmering secrets that threaten to boil over... Clare's Washington visit is off to a graceful start, when she lands a housesitting job in a Georgetown mansion and is invited to work on the Smithsonian's salute to coffee in America. Unfortunately, her new Village Blend DC is struggling--until its second floor Jazz Space attracts a high-profile fan in the daughter of the President. But as Clare's stock rises, she learns a stark lesson: Washington can be murder. First a State Department employee suspiciously collapses in her coffeehouse. Then the President's daughter goes missing. After another deadly twist, Clare is on the run with her NYPD detective boyfriend. Branded an enemy of the state, she must uncover the truth before her life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness come to a bitter end.

To order your own copy of Dead to the Last Drop from Amazon please click here. 
To order from The Book Depository with free world wide shipping please click here.
To learn more about this series please click here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy review & give away. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Death Of An English Muffin Wynter Castle Tea Blend Tea Review and Tea and Book Mark Give Away

I am working my way through Death of An English Muffin, savoring it as I go and I was so thrilled to receive a box containing Victoria Hamilton's Series to donate to my local library. Included in the box was some Death of An English Muffin Individually Wrapped Tea bags containing a lovely blend of Black tea with Caramel notes and a lovely fragrance.

I submit evidence that Victoria Laurie is the queen of swag! Seriously I love the attention to detail and the tea cover that matches the book cover is genius! 

As I was so blessed with this package I wish to share with one of my lucky readers, so for this months give away I will send you an envelope of bookmarks and a package of Wynter Castle Blend Tea.

To enter please email me at karenmowen@gmail.com with Wynter in the subject line along with your mailing address to be entered to win. Chances of wining are dependent on number of entries received. Void where prohibited.  Contest is open from August 3- August 31st and winner will be selected at random from number of entries received. 

To learn more about Victoria Hamilton please click here. 

To order your own copy of Death of An English Muffin please click here.

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a 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