Blog Tour: Trouble in the Tarot by Kari Lee Townsend (Review, Interview and Book Giveaway!)

Genre:
Cozy Mystery

Format:
Paperback

Publisher:
Berkley Prime Crime Mystery

Release Date:
March 2013






As the annual Summer Solstice Carnival is about to begin, Sunny Meadows is ready to read the people of Divinity, New York’s tarot cards. While everyone might not be a believer, there are a few that put their faith in her hands. However, things go a bit haywire at the carnival and the only conclusion Sunny can come up with is that someone is sabotaging it.

Things really take a strange turn when Sunny’s Granny Gert starts arguing with her rival, Fiona Atwater. Their groups Sewing Sisters and Knitting Nanas are at odds and the older women take this very seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously as Gert and Fiona are the prime suspects in the death of a local baker. To make matters worse, the court releases both women to Sunny’s custody, complete with ankle bracelets preventing them from leaving the house. To say Granny and Fiona are driving Sunny crazy is putting it mildly. She has no choice but to help the police move the investigation along at a faster pace so she can be free of the mischievous duo.

Meanwhile, Sunny is also trying to get Detective Mitch Stone to go on a date, but he has a few problems with her interfering in his police work. While Sunny would love to oblige, her grandmother’s freedom is on the line. She refuses to turn her back on Granny Gert. With the help of her beautiful and magical white cat Morty, Sunny is determined to get answers.

This is the third book in Kari Lee Townsend’s “A Fortune Teller Mystery” series and this is the best yet! I loved the first two books but this is by far the best. As I watch Sunny’s character develop more and more, I can’t help but fall in love with her. She’s a strong character. Although she gets herself into many difficult predicaments, isn’t that her job as a cozy heroine?

This story takes many twists and turns, but I did start to guess the culprit in the last couple of chapters. The storyline moves quickly and there’s never a dull moment. One of my favorite characters is Granny Gert. She gives Stephanie Plum’s Grandma Mazur a run for her money. Gert gives us many LOL moments – couldn’t we all use more of those? Granny Gert is as important to this series as Sunny Meadows. Two great female characters that I’ve come to truly care about. I can’t wait to red their next adventure!

For reading challenges:

2013 A to Z Reading Challenge
2013 ARC Reading Challenge
2013 Where are you reading challenge? (New York)
2013 What an Animal Reading Challenge
2013 Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge


FTC Disclosure: The author and publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book Blurb

TROUBLE IN THE TAROT (book 3 of the Fortune Teller Mysteries – March 5, 2013)

For psychic Sunshine Meadows, sometimes fortunes can be deceiving…

Lately Sunny has been experiencing a period of big opportunity: her business in Divinity, New York, is thriving, and Detective Mitch Stone has finally agreed to take Sunny on a date. But thanks to her clairvoyant abilities, Sunny knows better than anyone that life deals out bad cards along with the good.

When Sunny agrees to read tarot cards at the annual summer Solstice Carnival, she meets her Granny Gert’s “arch nemesis” Fiona Atwater, and is overcome by a vision of Fiona in a violent argument. Sunny knows trouble is brewing when Granny and Fiona start having squabbles all over town. But the fighting comes to a head when a local baker gets run over by a big white Cadillac—and Granny and Fiona are found at the crime scene.

Sunny knows she should step aside and let Mitch handle the investigating, but she’s not about to ignore her visions and leave her granny’s life in fate’s hands…

Author Interview

I’d like to welcome back author Kari Lee Townsend to the Socrates’ Book Review Blog and Socrates’ Cozy Café.  Kari is the author of the cozy mysteries series the “Fortune Teller Mysteries”.  She has graciously agreed to be interviewed for my blogs.

Here we go…

1)               Who is the greatest influence in your writing career?

Actually my mother Marion Harmon is the biggest influence in my writing career. She has always encouraged me right from the start to follow my dreams. She made

me believe that if I set my mind on something and worked hard enough, I could accomplish anything.

2)               How long does it take for you to write a book?

I write about 2000 words a day for 5 days a week, so that's 10,000 words per week. My books are around 70,000 words, so that's 7 weeks. Add in research and

polishing and I'm looking at about 3 months.

3)               Do you have any favorite authors or books?

I like a lot of different authors, too many to mention, but mostly I like books with humor in them. No matter which genre I'm writing in, you can be sure you will find

humor and romance.

4)               What do you think about e-books vs. traditional publishing?

I think there's a place for all kinds of books. And I think it's important for authors to explore as many avenues as possible. These are exciting times we live in, yet scary

with how rapidly this industry is changing. It's hard to predict where things are headed next.

 

5)               The covers of your Fortune Teller series are lovely.  Do you get any say in them or is it strictly the publisher’s decision?

Thank you. I love the covers, too. Berkley always asks what I would like to see on the cover. I try to think about what might showcase that particular book, and then I

email my editor my ideas. They have an illustrator who paints the cover based on my ideas. I don't get final approval, but I always love what they come up with anyway.

6)               Can you tell us anything about your other series, Samantha Granger?

I am working on book 3 of Samantha Granger which will come out this summer. The series is called Digital Diva. It's about a 13 year old girl who is obsessed with her

cell phone. After a freak accident happens, and she gets zapped by a radio active meteorite. Her cell phone fuses to her spinal cord, and she becomes a walking

breathing piece of technology with all the capabilities of a smart phone. Talk to the hand takes on a whole new meaning :-)

7)               Where do you do your writing?  Can you describe the setting for us?

I work on a laptop, so I can pretty much write anywhere. When my kids were little, I always wrote during nap time. I still do my best work during that time. I usually write

in my front room with a view. It's bright and sunny and we never used it, so I made it into my office.

8)               Do you have any other books coming out?  Can you tell us anything about them?

I write romance novels under the name Kari Lee Harmon. I have one series called The Comfort Club. Book 1, Sleeping in the Middle, is already out, and book 2, To

Have and To Hold, is coming out in April. Destiny Wears Spurs and Project Produce are stand alone romantic comedies and also available now, as well as a short

story called Love Lessons and a Christmas novella called Naughty or Nice.

Thank you so much for visiting us at the Socrates’ Book Review Blog and Socrates’ Cozy Cafe!

 Thank you so much for having me. It's been fun :-)

Author Bio

Kari Lee Townsend lives in central New York with her understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter :-) She is the National Bestselling Author, Agatha & RT Reviewer's Choice Award nominee for her Fortune Teller Mystery series. Kari also writes romance under the name Kari Lee Harmon. Small towns, mystical elements, quirky characters and a few chuckles along the way are what her books are all about. To find out more about Kari and all of her books, check out her websites at: www.karileetownsend.com & www.karileeharmon.com

BOOK GIVEAWAY !!!!

Now you can win a copy of this book for your very own. Thanks to author Kari Lee Townsend and Berkley Publishing, I can offer two paperback copies of Trouble in the Tarot to two lucky winners.

Just a few simple rules...

1) You must fill out the form below (including a valid email address).

2) US residents only.

2) For an extra entry: Follow this blog

3) For an extra entry: Follow me on Twitter

4) For an extra entry: Follow me on Goodreads

5) For an extra 2 entries: Post this giveaway on your blog.

6) For an extra 2 entries: Tweet about this giveaway.

The giveaway begins on March 8th (midnight est) and ends on March 16th (midnight est).

The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!




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