BLOG TOUR: Murder in Merino by Sally Goldenbaum

Why hello there!

Welcome back to the site that aims to please the reader in you with a variety to satisfy the most particular of palettes....Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're sampling from the Cozy Mystery side of things with a book belonging to the Seaside Knitters series.  Never heard of it?  No worries!  There's a first time for everything.  Thanks to Lori over at Great Escapes Book Tours, I have the chance to shine the spotlight on the eighth addition and between knits and purls, there's a murder most heinous!  Ready to read all about it?  Please join our blog tour already in progress and today's book of choice....

Murder in Merino

by

Sally Goldenbaum

9780451415363

NAL Hardcover

About the book....

It’s autumn in Sea Harbor and as the tourists leave a mysterious guest arrives. When she’s implicated in a crime the Seaside Knitters must quickly table their knitting project and search out a motif for murder.

Fall is usually a relaxing time in Sea Harbor, but it’s turning out to be a busy season for Izzy Chambers Perry. Not only is she helping the Seaside Knitters make a magnificent throw to celebrate the fortieth wedding anniversary of her aunt and uncle, she and her husband are finally selling the cottage she lived in before they married and had a darling baby girl. To Izzy’s surprise, newcomer Julia Ainsley seems determined to buy the home—although she’s never set foot inside.

But on the day of the open house, things take a tragic turn. A body is uncovered in the cottage’s backyard. When the police find Julia’s name and phone number in the victim’s pocket, this slender thread of evidence makes her a person of interest. Soon the spotlight of suspicion widens to include old friends and town leaders, as a tragic happening, long buried in the sleepy seaside town, is slowly brought to the surface.

Before the Endicotts’ joyful anniversary celebration can be realized, the Seaside Knitters must work to unravel the real reason Julia Ainsley has come to their town and the tangled and tragic ties from the past that bind friends and townsfolk together.

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Alrighty guys, it's time to break out the pros and cons list.  Why?  Well, because sometimes that's just the best way to tackle things and for me, it'll help break this one down.  Ready?  Set?  List!

Pros

1.)  Despite not having been to Sea Harbor physically, I DO feel as though it would be a great community to live in, grow in, and just in general, build a life around.  The sense of love felt throughout the town between neighbors, friends, and even acquaintances (well, except for those killing off those that weren't meant to make it through the story...*ahem*...and even still, there IS love), was palpable through the pages and heart warming across the miles.  The author surely built a place we'd all love to find one day.

2.)  The incorporation of other hobby interests into the story allows readers a chance to continue the experience after the final page is turned.  The ladies favorite pasttime (well, aside from gossip ^_^) of knitting as well as the gents interest in cooking are worked into a special addition which includes both a pattern or two and a recipe so the next time your reading or craft group meets, TADA!  Instant party perker upper.

3.)  I'm sorry but that cover is just perfection for the series name.  It blends the craft with the location, the beauty of nature with the comfort of settling in for a spell with a furry friend and a hobby at hand.  Definite points for this choice!

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Cons

1.)  TOO MANY CHARACTERS.  Whoops.  I didn't intend to type that in capital letters and yet, I'm leaving it.  I'm a minimalist person when it comes to the cast of characters I want to see in a story.  No, I'm not telling ANY author how to write their work of wordy art, I'm simply saying FOR ME, if you're going to introduce a slew of characters, they need to have something memorable to keep their persona in my mind, or perhaps be introduced story wise over the course of a series.  Now, this IS the eighth addition to this series, so perhaps, just maybe that IS the case with the other books...but being brought into the fold at this point, I kinda knew how Jules felt; outsider looking in.

2.)  The storyline really drags more than necessary.  Honest to Abe truth here, I found myself skimming parts and just for kicks at one point, I literally flipped several chapters ahead....without missing a beat.  *blink*  To me, that says there's a lot of filler, a lot of things that maybe sorta kinda survived the final edits that didn't really need to be there.  I'm not saying they don't serve a purpose in perhaps building up a scene or connecting past and present, but to the story at hand, it mattered not.

3.)  It's a cozy but in the usual sense.  It's not the same old same old story or anything but it follows the usual formula thereby I have my seemingly recurring complaint.  Parts of the plot, persons of suspicion, and even bits of the final outcome are predictable.  It takes 30 pages to come to a written conclusion of what the reader has already picked up on with the first page and a half.  I'm one for story building, but I like my mysteries to have a little more mystery.

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So, in conclusion, though not the series for me (*sigh*), I can definitely see it hitting a home run with fellow knitters (*makes note to share with one particular friend*) and those with a bigger cozy repertoire under their proverbial belts.  DO get swept away by the location.  DO try to solve the murder as it unfolds while putting the other mysterious pieces in order....just don't look TOO deeply lest it spoil itself before the final reveal.  

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About the author....

Sally Goldenbaum is a sometime philosophy teacher, a knitter, and an editor, and the author of more than thirty novels. Sally became more serious about knitting with the birth of her first grandchild and the creation of the Seaside Knitters mystery series. Her fictional knitting friends are teaching her the intricacies of women’s friendship, the mysteries of small-town living, and the very best way to pick up dropped stitches on a lacy knit shawl. 

SITE   |   TWITTER   |   FACEBOOK

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Special thanks to Lori at Great Escapes Book Tours for the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!) To catch the rest of this bookish train as it makes its way through the blogosphere, be sure to check out all the stops on the official tour page.  This title is available now via NAL Hardcover, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf near you.  Looking for a quick virtual shopping trip?  Check out Amazon and Barnes & Noble (to name a few) for a quick bookish fix.

Until next time....happy reading!

BLOG TOUR: Two of a Kind by Yona Zeldis McDonough!

Hi there!

Welcome back to the place that's never too busy for a little bookish fun...well, by choice any way...Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

So, we've been having a bit of blog tour love on the site this week starting with a heart mover, jumping to a life chaser, and now landing squarely on the shoulders of a life building, dream making, reality bringer that will have you invested in the story from the start.  Please join me in welcoming today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Two of a Kind

by

Yona Zeldis McDonough

NAL Trade Paperback

9780451239532 

About the book...

Ten years after losing her husband, Christina Connelly has worked through the pain, focusing on raising her teenage daughter and managing her small decorating business. But her romantic life has never recovered. Still, it’s irksome to be set up with arrogant, if handsome, OB/GYN Andy Stern at her friend’s wedding. If he wasn’t also a potential client, needing his Upper East Side apartment redesigned, she would write him off.
This is never going to work, Andy thinks. Still grieving his wife and struggling with a troubled son, he’s not looking for a woman, and certainly not someone as frosty and reserved as Christina. Their relationship will be strictly business. Yet to everyone’s surprise–including their own–these two find themselves falling in love.
But if reconciling with their pasts is difficult, blending their lives and children to create a new family is nearly impossible. They’ve been given a second chance…but can they overcome all the obstacles in the way of happily ever after?

We start out attending a wedding and end up with a chance at an ever after unanticipated by all; talk about full circle!

Christina, our leading lady, is smart, responsible, a wonderful Mom, and a fabulous interior decorator.  She rocks simple elegance and knows how to hold her own...some of that particular skill being learned by necessity rather than choice with the passing of her husband.  Andy, our leading fella, is the product of a loving home...to which he never wanted to lay eyes on again. at least not without having achieve some massive levels of success, which he certainly does.  He's a renowned surgeon with a smile to stop hearts and  mad skills enough to assist couples seeking to be more than just two.  He's also quite possibly the most foot-in-mouth ridden man there ever was (at times) but at heart, he's well meaning.  When they meet, nothing could bring them together.  When they relate, it seems as though nothing could pull them apart.  Whether true or assumption, only time will tell...as well as READING the book....but suffice it to say that their points of crossing DEFINITELY amount to way more than simply time passed, but memories to be cherished forever.
One of my favorite scenes is the lobster getaway.  One of my least favorite things...the fact that the book skips the details on their gradually growing relationship.  There seemed to be chunks missing here and there along the way.  It didn't detract from the overall experience, but it DID make you curious as to what happened during that time frame.

In conclusion, a book well worth the read that reminds us that happily ever after doesn't simply end when we're awakened from our dreams come true.  Sometimes, even when tragedy strikes, there's another path leading to a future equally bright...if only we let our hearts see the light.  Recommended read for older teens through adult readers.

ARC for review courtesy of Alexis at New American Library, Penguin Group USA.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as their full catalog, be sure to stop by their official site.  To discover more about the author, be sure to check out exploits online.  Speaking of the author...

Ms. McDonough was kind enough to entertain my request for a guest post to share with all of you.  It centers on weddings and her previously released novel, A Wedding in Great Neck.  Please join me in a great big SFIR welcome for author Yona Zeldis McDonough!

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GUEST POST:  Author Yona Zeldis McDonough

I've always been a sucker for weddings. It doesn't matter whether they're being held in a fancy, Park Avenue club, complete with caviar and exquisite champagne or in someone's backyard, where lemonade and barbecued chicken are the bill of fare--I just love them. Weddings get me teary-eyed, solemn, jubilant, and reflective all at the same time. I guess you could say that I'm a wedding junkie.  So it's no surprise that I decided to build my fourth novel, A Wedding In Great Neck, around a nuptial day.

Some back-story is in order: for some time, I had been toying with the idea of writing a novel that took place in a single day.  I liked the formal challenge this presented, a kind of literary puzzle.  And when I got the notion to make the single day a wedding day, I knew I had found the armature on which to hang a story.   Weddings are inherently dramatic because a wedding represents a radical shift in the family dynamic: everyone must readjust to this new unit, and incorporate a new person into the existing structure.  And since marriage is often the gateway to children--who further reorder the existing family unit--a wedding contains in it the possibility of new generations, and a whole new family order.  Even though all this is good stuff, happy stuff, it requires a willingness to accept change--and change, even good change is scary.  Which is why weddings, and all their trappings, can easily become crucibles for every latent family resentment, jealousy, and anxiety.  Those screaming matches over the seating arrangements or choice of location?  The tears shed over the dress/shoes/flowers?  All evidence and proof of how weddings shake us up, and rattle our bones.  We focus on the small stuff, and blow it out of proportion, because it's easier to deal with than the larger stuff it conceals.

I knew I could use all this roiling emotion in service of my novel, which centers on the Great Neck wedding of Angelica Silverstein, the youngest and most accomplished daughter of the Silverstein clan.  I decided to tell it from several different points of view, because I thought that would allow me the opportunity to get inside the emotions of several main characters and create drama on a number of different fronts.  I chose the bride's older sister, Gretchen, a slow-starter who has long resented her perfect sibling, her mother and father--now divorced--her grandmother and her fifteen year old niece who is determined to throw a monkey wrench into the day and ruin the wedding entirely.  Everyone has an agenda here, his or her own story to advance.  The one point of view that I deliberately chose to avoid was that of the bride herself.  Angelica is the object of everyone's attention but she is not the subject.  I thought this would be an interesting twist on the more expected bride-centric treatment that such a theme usually gets.

Once the characters were set in my mind, the story took on a life of its own; they began to act independently of my will.  I ended up being surprised by some of the things that happened on that fateful wedding day--and hope you will be too.

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Pretty cool, right?

It's always fun to learn more about the beginnings that shaped a story...and in this case, possibly add not just one but TWO titles to your own too-read list thanks to today's share.

Until next time...happy reading!