Wednesday, March 27, 2019

2018 Lone Star Book Blog Tours Bloggers' Choice Awards!




CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 LONE STAR BOOK BLOG TOURS

BLOGGERS' CHOICE AWARDS WINNERS AND FINALISTS

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Friday, March 8, 2019

Fatality in F ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Review & Giveaway!

FATALITY IN F
A Gethsemane Brown Mystery, Volume 4 
by
Alexia Gordon
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press
Date of Publication: February 26, 2019
Number of Pages: 234

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Fresh from solving her third mystery—and saving Dunmullach's firstborn males from a vengeful ghost—Gethsemane Brown's ready to relax and enjoy her summer. Her plans include nothing more dangerous than performing in the opening ceremony of the annual rose and garden show and cheering on Frankie Grennan, who's entered his hybrid rose into the competition.

But when a mysterious stalker starts leaving Frankie floral bouquets as coded messages, Gethsemane fears a copy-cat may be planning to recreate the still-unsolved murders of the infamous Flower Shop Killer. Then Frankie's main competitor in the rose show—and the reason his marriage failed—turns up dead in Frankie's rose garden. Frankie takes first prize in the category "prime suspect.”

So much for a relaxing summer. 

As bodies start dropping like rose petals, Gethsemane must judge the other suspects and find the real killer. Or rose bushes won't be the only things dead-headed in Dunmullach.


PRAISE FOR THE GETHSEMANE BROWN MYSTERY SERIES:

Book 1, Murder in G Major
Winner of the 2017 Lefty Award for Best Debut Novel
2016 Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel
Suspense magazine "Best of 2016" selection in Debut Novel category

Book 2, Death in D Minor
Runner-Up, 2017 Lone Star Bloggers' Choice Awards, Best Mystery

Book 3, Killing in C Sharp
Starred review, Publisher's Weekly, January 29, 2018

CLICK TO ORDER ON:
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HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audio book review. When Fatality in F first came on the Lone Star Book Blog Tours radar, I knew I would read it. After all, I have been a fan from the beginning of the Gethsemane Brown Mysteries series, and there was no way I’d miss this fourth book.  But as home and work responsibilities stacked up, finding time to read any book didn’t seem promising – until I saw the book was coming on Audible. I bought and downloaded that sucker the minute the notification showed up on pub day – and I listened straight through.

Fatality in F is the first of the four books that I have read with my ears instead of my eyes. Initially, I had to adjust to having a British narrator. Gethsemane, after all, is a southern American woman, and so I expected American narration. Once the surprise passed, it was easy to listen to the delightful Helen Duff switch between characters using a variety of accents to bring author Alexia Gordon’s characters to life.  A second shock was the voicing of Gethsemane herself – southern, yes, but also sensual and sultry! This is not at all how I hear her in my own head. Because of that, Gethsemane’s voice is a tougher adjustment because narrator Duff’s voicing evokes a different impression than what’s made in the written word -- and it is hard to reconcile them. However, I imagine listeners jumping-in and starting the series here won’t bat an eye. The narration is wonderfully done, flows smoothly, and the pacing was on-point. I left the speed at 1.0x and never regretted it.

Speaking of jumping-in to the series with Fatality in F – jump away! This and the other books that I have read in the series stand-alone just fine. I will note that there is mention of some of the reasons that Gethsemane is living in Ireland, and hearing those piqued my interest in going back and reading the first book, Murder in G Major, also available on Audible. Yes!

“Never make light of a man’s loathing.”

There is always a huge cast of characters in the books, but Gordon masterfully introduces them slowly, and each is memorable and seemingly capable of murder. Readers have their work cut out for them in trying to solve the mystery before Gethsemane does.  The setting in Fatality in F centers around a rose and garden show, so FLOWERS! I am all about the flowers!  Would I murder over them? Hmmm. *sips coffee, looks at nineteen flowering house plants, ponders*

“Friends don’t let friends fall prey to womanizers
with more ex-wives than Methuselah had years.”

Everything about the Gethsemane Brown series and Fatality in F is clever: the plot, the premise, and even the perpetrator(s).  The writing is intelligent, with rich word choices and complex sentences. But the author doesn’t let it get too cerebral and includes a smattering of hilarious words to provide levity and make the characters’ personalities pulse to life. (Favorites include “gobshite,” “gobtrotter,” and “wanker.”) And everything is quirky: Gethsemane’s coping mechanism of citing Negro League baseball statistics, the Mad Rabbit pub, and the ghost of Eamon McCarthy are only a few examples. You won’t find a more unique grouping of elements to provide a completely satisfying reading experience.  I highly recommend Fatality in F and the whole series, whether you want to read with your eyes or ears.

I heard of this series from Lone Star Book Blog Tours and am adding my review to the tour, but I bought the audio book on my own, and there were no strings requiring I provide my honest opinion – the only kind I give.


A writer since childhood, Alexia Gordon won her first writing prize in the 6th grade. She continued writing through college but put literary endeavors on hold to finish medical school and Family Medicine residency training. She established her medical career then returned to writing fiction. Raised in the southeast, schooled in the northeast, she relocated to the west where she completed Southern Methodist University’s Writer’s Path program. She admits Texas brisket is as good as Carolina pulled pork. She practices medicine in North Chicago, IL. She enjoys the symphony, art collecting, embroidery, and ghost stories.

 ║  Website ║ Facebook ║ Instagram  
BookBub  ║ Twitter  Goodreads

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One winner receives a signed copy of Fatality in F and 
a $30 Gift Card to David Austin Roses
FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 8, 2019
VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
2/26/19
Sneak Peek
2/26/19
Playlist
2/27/19
Review
2/28/19
Review
3/1/19
Top 5 List
3/1/19
Author Interview
3/2/19
Review
3/3/19
Review
3/4/19
Top 5 List
3/4/19
Top 5 List
3/5/19
Review
3/6/19
Series Spotlight
3/6/19
Excerpt
3/7/19
Review
3/7/19
Review
3/8/19
BONUS Review

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Thursday, March 7, 2019

Live Wire ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Review & Giveaway!

LIVE WIRE
(Maggie, Book One)
A What Doesn't Kill You
World Romantic Mystery
by
PAMELA FAGAN HUTCHINS
  Genre: Romantic Mystery
Date of Publication: March 6, 2019
Number of Pages: 270

Scroll down for giveaway!

A hook-up turned lethal. A spurned, angry cowboy. Can rebel Maggie turn the tables before a killer adds her to the list of lost causes?


Washed-up alt-country rocker-turned-junker Maggie Killian is pulled to Wyoming by an irresistible force . . . former bull rider Hank Sibley, the man who broke her heart fifteen years before. When she unexpectedly meets his Sunday school-teaching girlfriend at a saloon, Maggie seeks liquor-fueled oblivion between the sheets of a younger man’s bed. But after her beloved vintage truck breaks down and leaves her stranded in the Cowboy State, she learns her hook-up died minutes after leaving their rendezvous. Suddenly surrounded by men with questionable motives, Maggie searches for the murderer while fighting the electricity between herself and her old beau, and her new penchant for local whiskey.

When the police zero in on Maggie despite a disturbing series of break-ins at her guest cabin, she realizes she’s got no one to rely on but herself. To keep herself happily in bars instead of behind them, she must stop the killer before the cops realize the man she really suspects is a jealous, angry Hank.

Live Wire is the first standalone book in a trilogy featuring sharp-tongued protagonist Maggie Killian from the addictive What Doesn’t Kill You romantic mystery series. If you like nerve-racking suspense, electric characters and relationships, and juicy plot twists, then you’ll love USA Today best seller Pamela Fagan Hutchins’ Silver Falchion award-winning series.


"Maggie is irresistible." 
Robert Dugoni, #1 Amazon bestselling
author of My Sister's Grave

CLICK TO PURCHASE


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HALL WAYS REVIEW: How do I love thee, Live Wire? Let me count the ways. Honestly, if I were to list everything that author Pamela Fagan Hutchins nailed in writing this book, I’d run out of virtual ink.  The bottom line is that it feels real -- the people, the places, the events that take place – all of it is just wacky enough to feel authentic.  And I hate, hate that I finished the last page knowing that Live Wire’s cast of characters are out there doing their thing, and I no longer have a spying eye on them.  I need the next Maggie book NOW.

“Maggie is about as useful as teats on a boar hog.”

Main character Maggie Killian is flawed and fabulous.  To be perfectly accurate in my description, I should add f-words in front of those adjectives, and then you have a better picture of her.  Maggie is rough around the edges, but she owns it and accepts herself as she is, even if she doesn’t necessarily forgive herself for it. She’s driven and industrious, but no matter how she tries to make her life less complicated, it seems each decision ends up creating kinks – and chinks in her armor. Can you say complex character? (Side note: Maggie likes to use the f-bombs and some pretty creative derivatives, and it works. But if you’re sensitive about that, be warned.)

“Where I come from, ma’am is respectful.”
“Where I come from, it means you’re old.”

While Maggie and her quips and actions maketh Live Wire, the supporting cast woven into the intricate plot are what keep readers glued to the story. Murder, juicy gossip, drama, and holy cow, food. Readers should be sure to have a snack handy because the descriptions of the mouth-watering meals will have stomachs grumbling.  And a good meal isn’t the only thing readers will crave as they wrap-up the book: they’ll be craving more Maggie.

Hutchins leads readers blindly along, and the last quarter of the story keeps ratcheting-up in intensity. Live Wire is truly electric! But don’t get comfortable when it seems resolution is within reach – it isn’t. Remember, Maggie and her life are complicated, and the twists and turns and gut-punches in Live Wire will leave you howling “Nooooooooooo!” as the book ends.
Happily, the next installment of the Maggie series, Sick Puppy, comes out in a month or so, but while you’re waiting, I recommend jumping in pretty much anywhere in the What Doesn’t Kill You series. The other sets of books center around Katie & Annalise, Michele, Emily, and Ava, and each set stands alone though the characters pop-up in the other books. (You’ll find Michele in Live Wire.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t note the excellent editing and proofreading job that allowed me to focus on the story and not the syntax. Thank you. And thank you to the author and Lone Star Literary Life for providing me a free eBook in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. 




Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a USA Today best seller. She writes award-winning romantic mysteries from deep in the heart of Nowheresville, Texas and way up in the frozen north of Snowheresville, Wyoming. She is passionate about long hikes with her hunky husband and pack of rescue dogs and riding her gigantic horses.

If you'd like Pamela to speak to your book club, women's club, class, or writers' group, by Skype or in person, shoot her an e-mail. She's very likely to say yes. Connect with Pamela on the web.



WEBSITEFACEBOOKTWITTERBOOKBUB
INSTAGRAMGOODREADSAMAZON AUTHOR PAGE



Praise for Pamela Fagan Hutchins


2018 USA Today Best Seller

2017 WINNER Silver Falchion Award, Best Mystery

2016 WINNER USA Best Book Award, Cross Genre Fiction
2015 WINNER USA Best Book Award, Cross Genre Fiction
2014 USA Best Book Award Finalist, Cross Genre Fiction
2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-finalist, Romance
2013 USA Best Book Award Finalist, Business: Publishing
2012 Winner of the Houston Writers Guild Ghost Story Contest
2012 WINNER USA Best Book Award, Parenting: Divorce
2011 Winner of the Houston Writers Guild Novel Contest, Mainstream
2010 Winner of the Writers League of Texas Manuscript Contest, Romance

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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
FIRST PRIZE
Signed paperback of Live Wire + eBook of Buckle Bunny + $5 Amazon Gift Card
SECOND PRIZE
Signed paperback of Live Wire + eBook of Buckle Bunny 
THIRD PRIZE
Signed paperback of Live Wire
PLUS, ALL WINNERS
Audio downloads of Fighting for Anna and Searching for Dime Box
March 6-16, 2019
(International)
CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
3/6/19
Character Interview
3/7/19
Review
3/7/19
Review
3/8/19
Series Spotlight
3/8/19
Series Spotlight
3/9/19
Review
3/9/19
Review
3/10/19
Guest Post
3/11/19
Review
3/11/19
Review
3/12/19
Character Spotlight
3/13/19
Review
3/13/19
Review
3/14/19
Author Interview
3/15/19
Review
3/15/19
Review
3/16/19
BONUS Scrapbook Page


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