COZY WEDNESDAY - With Author Jenn McKinlay (Giveaway)

I love this feature!!!  Another great batch of cozies was released yesterday and today Jenn McKinlay is here.  She has brand new series,  Library Lover's Mysteries, and the debut installment, Books Can Be Deceiving, was released yesterday. She also writes The Cupcake Mystery series.  The third book in that series will be released in October. She also writes the Decoupage Mysteries under the name of Lucy Lawrence and has written a few Romantic Comedies as well. She is a wife, a mom, and quite a baker.  She also has worked in a few libraries that helped quite nicely when writing this latest series as you will read in her post below.   I am so happy she found time in her busy, busy schedule to drop by for a visit.

Welcome Jenn!!!

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Jenn in Halifax

The Family Business!

I cut my teeth on books in my mother's library when I was a kid. Seriously, my brother and I grew up playing "hide and seek in the stacks" and "hit the sibling with the dictionary" in the library my mother ran for a private high school. To this day, the smell of leather bindings and old paper soothe me like a hug. 

When I got into high school and needed a job, my best girlfriend and I took positions at the public library where we shelved books, talked about boys, and shelved books. Oh, and we ended every shift by checking our horoscopes in the latest Vogue, Glamour or Cosmo. To this day, I still have to check hers right after mine, luckily she's a Taurus to my Aries.

When I went to college, I had no idea what to do with my life. Really, why do we make eighteen year olds commit to a vocation that young? I could barely commit to a mascara nevermind a profession. As luck would have it, my university offered a degree in library science which I discovered while escaping my apartment which consisted of six girls and one bathroom. Honestly, what were we thinking!

Years passed, and I dabbled at writing while happily working in a variety of libraries all over the country. And then, while at Phoenix Public Library working as a library assistant, I met him -- my husband Chris, a musician who also worked in the library. And so you can see, from my mother to me to my husband, libraries are the family business.

I love libraries. I mean, where else can you study every subject under one roof? I also love writing. When I first moved from CT to AZ, I would write long, funny letters to my former library coworkers. It was my love of writing and libraries that led to BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING the first in the Library Lover's Mysteries. I hope my readers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thanks for having me visit today, Lori! You have a fabulous website and I am honored to be a guest here.

Happy reading!

Jenn

Jenn McKinlay: New York Times Best Selling Author of the

Cupcake Bakery Mysteries and the Library Lover's Mysteries!

www.jennmckinlay.com

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Thank you Jenn!!!! Your books are wonderful!!! I hope you will come back in October with some CUPCAKES!!!!

Cover Illustraion
by Julia Green
Cover Design
by Rita Frangie

A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery

A Division of Penguin Books

A BRAND NEW SERIES!!!

A Library Lover's Mystery

Available Now!!!

Lindsey Norris is the new director of the Briar Creek Library.  She has some fresh new ideas like a crafternoon, which combines a book club with a craft and some yummy food.  The previous director Mr. Tupper, would have "never allowed such goings-on" as she was told by Ms. Cole, a long time employee of the library.  Any time Lindsay tries anything new Ms. Cole takes the opportunity to throw Mr. Tupper's view into the conversation.

Lindsey does have a wonderful staff including her best friend Beth who is the Children's Librarian.  Beth has been working on her own children's book for years.  She has also been dating Rick, a well-known, award winning, children's author for about 5 years, with no talk of marriage and Beth has never even been to his house.  He has also berated her talent as an illustrator and author several times.  The last straw occurs when a New York editor is learned to be vacationing in Briar Creek.  One of Beth's friends goes so far as to make an appointment to meet with the editor and Rick does everything he can to stop that meeting.  But Beth and Lindsey attend the meeting together and uncover the real reason Rick didn't want them to meet.

Furious, Beth and Lindsay, hire a water taxi to take them to Rick's home on one of the mysterious Thumb Islands.  They are going to confront him with what they have learned.  They are too late, when they arrive at his home, they find him murdered.  The local chief of police decides immediately that Beth is the killer without even an initial investigation.  Lindsey needs to get the rest of the story before her friend ends up behind bars booked for a crime she didn't commit.

I love everything about this book, the subject matter, the setting, the plot, the characters, even Ms. Cole, she reminds me of a few librarians in my past.  The story is fast moving, enjoyable with a splash of humor, great friendships, a little crafting, and a captivating mystery.  This book contains all my favorite things in one of my favorite places. 

Growing up I spent so many hours at the local library.  I didn't actually work there but I loved shelving books just for fun.  It was definitely my haven as my parents worked long hours and my siblings were so much older than me.  I wish some of those librarians were still around.  They would not be surprised that I spend my days and nights reading and telling others about the books I have read.  I did that without the help of the internet as a child/teenager. I was always one to share my opinions.  It seems I have found the  perfect outlet for my obsession. Thank you to Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Powers, Mrs. Hein and all the other librarians the fed my need to read!!

So, one more time.  I loved this book and you should all get right out and buy it today because I said so.  That would make Mrs. Lee very proud!!!

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

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Now thanks to the wonderful people at Berkley Prime Crime I am able to give away 2 copies of this awesome book!!

U.S. and Canadian Residents Only

Contest will end at 11:59 p.m. CST on July 20

Winners will be chosen using Random.org

Followers will receive an extra 2 entries!!

Leave a comment for Jenn for an additional 5 entries!!

Just fill out the form below to enter.

But first I want to give you a peek at the next book in this series set to release on March 6, 2012.

Man these books have outstanding covers!!!

Due or Die (A Library Lover's Mystery)