Monday, April 22, 2013

Blog Tour: Payne & Misery by Catherine Leggitt (Review)



About the Book

Publisher: Ellechor Publishing House, LLC
Release Date: November 11, 2011
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Kindle (also available in hardcover and paperback)


Christine Sterling has developed a reputation for jumping to wild conclusions. With such an imagination, who is likely to take her seriously when she discovers a bruised and neglected neighbor named Lila Payne? Try as she might, she cannot interest anyone in Lila's dire need for immediate rescue. Something about crying wolf once too often.

But then Lila and Christine's beloved dog Molly both disappear the same night.

If no one will help her, she must find Lila and Molly herself. Heedless of possible consequences, Christine dives headfirst into a dark pool swirling with muddy secrets and misery. Her best friend throws her a lifesaver of prayer and soon she begins to sense God at work. But even with God's help, can Lila and Molly be saved before it's too late?

Watch the Trailer



My Review


Christine Sterling is not happy with retirement in the small town of Grass Valley, California.  For starters, her husband Jesse is more interested in his new hobby than in her.  Feeling lost and on her own, Christine takes an interest in her mysterious neighbors and becomes suspicious when Lila Payne appears scared, hungry and bruised.

Used to his wife's overactive imagination, Jesse brushes off Christine's concerns, which only frustrates her more.  When their beloved dog Molly disappears, along with Lila, Jesse realizes his wife was right.  They work together to get to the bottom of things and find them. 

This is a light inspirational cozy mystery with a wonderful cast of characters. I must admit, though, that Christine reminded me very much of Mrs. Kravitz, the nosey neighbor on the old tv series "Bewitched".  LOL  Christine has a good heart and means well, but she does jump to conclusions with very little evidence, which is why the police couldn't take her seriously.  Of course, in the end, she was right on the money.

Christine is a character readers can truly care about and a person you can meet in everyday life.  I think readers will love her.  The story is fast-paced and will keep readers engrossed.  Catherine Leggitt has a great talent for storytelling.  This is the first book in this series and I am certainly looking forward to reading the next one.

Stop by tomorrow as the author will be by to guest blog about the animals featured in the book.



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




For reading challenges:
2013 A to Z Reading Challenge
2013 ARC Reading Challenge
2013 E-Book Reading Challenge
Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge
What An Animal Reading Challenge
Where Are You Reading Challenge (California)
What's in A Name Reading Challenge (Emotion)

Purchase Link:

AMAZON


About the Author

Catherine Leggitt is an author and inspirational speaker. A native Californian born in the Bay Area, she raised two daughters, taught school, and cared for her aging parents in southern California before retiring to the north end of the state. Proud grandmother of six brilliant children, Catherine studies the Bible, reads, serves as a leader in Bible Study Fellowship, and sings in the church choir.

Catherine wrote a trilogy called the Christine Sterling Mysteries, which include PAYNE & MISERY, THE DUNN DEAL, and PARRISH THE THOUGHT. The first book won 2nd place at the Orange County Christian Writers Conference in May, 2010. It was published by Ellechor Publishing in 2011. THE DUNN DEAL and PARRISH THE THOUGHT were published in 2012 by Ellechor Publishing. PARRISH THE THOUGHT made the quarterfinals in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.

In addition, Catherine has completed a fourth novel with different characters called DYING TO BE NOTICED and coauthored a memoir for Sam Contino called STREET SMARTS.

When called upon to share her story, Catherine’s main themes come from Christine’s struggles in her books, which also happen to be some of the things Catherine struggles with. Thus, since PAYNE & MISERY addresses complaining, the first message, titled Always Choose Joy, centers on how to be thankful and choose joy instead of misery. The spiritual theme of THE DUNN DEAL exposes with the nature of truth. Merely having faith is not enough. What we believe matters. Catherine named the second talk, Always Choose Truth. In PARRISH THE THOUGHT, Christine learns to love unlovable people, so Catherine calls the third message, Always Choose Love.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK



Payne and Misery Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

—————————————————————
Thursday, March 7
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Monday, March 11
Interviewed at Review From Here
Wednesday, March 13
Guest blogging at The Story Behind the Book
Thursday, March 14
Book reviewed at Geo Librarian
Friday, March 15
Interviewed at Free Ebooks Daily
Tuesday, March 19
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Wednesday, March 21
Interviewed at Literal Exposure
Thursday, March 22
Interviewed at Yahoo News
Monday, March 25
Interviewed at Digital Journal
Tuesday, March 26
Guest blogging at The Paperback Pursuer
Wednesday, March 27
Interviewed at Vic’s Media Room
Thursday, March 28
Guest blogging at Vic’s Media Room
Book reviewed at A Year of Jubilee Reviews
Friday, March 29
Book reviewed at Vic’s Media Room
Wednesday, April 3
Book reviewed at Community Book Stop
Friday, April 5
Book reviewed at Reading to Know
Monday, April 8
Book reviewed at Must Read Faster
Tuesday, April 9
Book reviewed at Mom in Love With Fiction
Wednesday, April 10
Interviewed at Melina the Reader
Thursday, April 11
Book reviewed at Melina the Reader
Friday, April 12
Monday, April 15
Book reviewed and Guest blogging at Jersey Girl Book Review
Tuesday, April 16
Book spotlight at Celtic Lady’s Reviews
Wednesday, April 17
Book reviewed at My Devotional Thoughts
Thursday, April 18
Book reviewed at Waiting on Sunday to Drown
Friday, April 19
Book reviewed at The Mary Reader
Monday, April 22
Book reviewed at Socrates Book Reviews
Tuesday, April 23
Guest blogging at Socrates Book Reviews
Wednesday, April 24
Guest blogging at Parenting 2.0
Thursday, April 25
Book reviewed at Musings by Maureen


3 comments:

  1. This sounds fun! And I'm always excited for a book set in good ol' Cali. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent review, Yvonne! I'm glad you enjoyed the characters in this cozy mystery.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This does sound like a fun animal themed cozy.

    ReplyDelete

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