Blame it on an itch! When Norrie tried to scratch it, she ended up volunteering to be on Catherine Trobert’s subcommittee for WOW, Wineries of the West. Norrie was not going to be alone with Catherine, who tirelessly tries to set Norrie up with her son Steven, so a well-place kick landing on her friend Theo’s ankle, and the group became three.
The South Carolina island town of Camellia Beach is battening down the hatches as they prepare for the arrival of what is to be the hurricane of the century. One of the last to leave is Charity Penn, who has recently fallen in love with her new home and especially her Chocolate Box specialty chocolate shop.
Chocolate. Ooohhh, yes. This delicacy has been around for over two-thousand years, and it’s as powerful as it ever was. Just the word alone conjures up all kinds of imagery, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s the miniature candy bars in your trick-or-treat bag on Halloween or a big bunny in your Easter basket. It has been featured in literature and film: a sensual pleasure in Chocolat, concealing a hidden treasure in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and administered as medication in the Hogwarts infirmary in the beloved Harry Potter series. Ancient civilizations used it for currency and as components in rituals. This delicious treat is also one of the most frequently given gifts for Christmas. I’m not surprised – are you?
Toby Moran is not a nice guy. He’s the guy who flirts, romances, and sweeps a woman off her feet—and then his real personality shows itself. When the woman breaks up with him, he gets even worse. Still, he manages to find another soon, and the cycle repeats.
Caitlyn Le Fey has been adjusting to the fact that she’s a witch, and after receiving an awkward response when she shared that secret with the handsome Lord James Fitzroy, life in Tillyhenge is weird…well, more than usual. But she still accepts an invitation to attend a dinner party up at Huntingdon Manor with her young cousin learning her BFF Pomona will be there, too
Lord Fitzroy is passionate about proving to the Tillyhenge citizens that he has their best interest at heart. They were reticent when he became Lord of Huntingdon Manor that he might introduce too many modern ideas effecting their heritage and traditions. But everyone seems thrilled with the new Tillyhenge Open-Air Cinema presented on the manicured lawn of the estate.
Our bewitching story begins with Caitlyn Le Fey sitting with her cousin, Pamona, savoring her tea and scones and pondering the somewhat shocking revelations of her birth. Her mother recently died in a tragic accident, and surrounded by her mother’s lawyers she was handed a letter—a letter that announced she was adopted, well, it turns out she was really found abandoned on the side of the road near a little Cotswold village called Tillyhenge with an unusual runestone around her neck.
This week we have 4 new food mysteries from Penguin & Kensington authors for your holiday reading-The Chocolate Bunny Brouhaha by JoAnna Carl, The Good, the Bad, and the Guacamole: A Taste of Texas Mystery by Rebecca Adler, A Killer Kebab: A Greek to Me Mystery by Susannah Hardy, and Dying for Strawberries: A Berry Basket Mystery by Sharon Farrow. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win copies of all 3 books, and links to purchase them.
Chocolate Whisperer may be a made-up job title, but there’s nothing fictional about Hayden Mundy Moore’s expertise at perfecting all things chocolate. Her client list is discrete, but growing, with restaurants and businesses hiring her to improve their recipes and final products. Her latest assignment takes her to Sloane Square, London, where Hayden’s skills have been engaged to stop Primrose restaurant’s slow decline in quality.
As Halloween approaches, Michelle Serrano isn’t surprised that her business partner in Chocolates and Chapters has been enlisted in organizing the West Riverdale Halloween Festival. The organizing whiz runs the rare-and-used bookstore half of their combination chocolate shop and bookstore, and Erica Russell is more than capable of helming the planned haunted house at the Boys and Girls Club. For Michelle, Halloween is the opportunity to elevate the traditional candy to gourmet status, and she loves nothing more than blending flavors and designing new innovative truffles.
