Ramblings of a Bibliophiliac

~~~This contest is now CLOSED!~~~

LRC's Roast Mortem Publication Release Party Mega Giveaway

WHAT: A Party To Celebrate the Release of Roast Mortem by Cleo Coyle

HOSTED BY: Lori's Reading Corner

WHERE: Book Blogs EVERYWHERE

WHEN: August 3 - 16, 2010

A little about...

~Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) by Cleo Coyle~

Clare Cosi, manager and head barista of the landmark Village Blend coffeehouse, has perfected the pulling of steaming hot espressos. But can she keep New York’s Bravest from getting burned?

After the firefighters of Ladder Company 189 pull Clare’s friends out of a blazing café, she happily comes to their rescue. As a favor to the men, Clare visits their firehouse kitchen to teach them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But as she gets to know these fearless few, more than their coffee turns out to be hot. Somebody’s torching cafés around the city, and firefighters are beginning to die in suspicious ways.

Believing the two events are related, Clare investigates, staking out a five-borough bake sale and sniffing out clues in the pizza joints of Brooklyn. Then her detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, is pulled into the fire of a false accusation and Clare is desperate to put out the flames. But will she be able to come to Mike’s rescue before someone tries to extinguish her?

"Coyle's strong 9th Coffeehouse Mystery pays tribute to New York City firefighters." ~ Publishers Weekly

A Note from Cleo Coyle

My husband and I have been living and working in New York City for over twenty years. Our Coffeehouse Mysteries—a unique blend of crime, romance, humor, and action—are set here, too, around a landmark Greenwich Village coffee shop called the Village Blend.

Through eight books now, our quirky town has fueled us with strange-but-true ideas for characters and plotlines from criminal to culinary. For the ninth entry in our series, we drew inspiration from yet another local source: New York’s Bravest.

It’s hard not to admire New York firefighters (and I’m not even going to flash you with the annual hunks in hardhats calendar). Oh, sure, they can be as cranky and crazy as the rest of us. After all, most of them actually like running into burning buildings. But I think of them more as knights in bunker gear.

Every day, these men and women beat back a new fire monster, rescuing citizens from the jaws of its wreckage. Their firehouses look like castle strongholds. Even their symbol is a knightly one—the Maltese Cross. “Every firefighter works in courage,” states the FDNY, “a ladder rung away from death, willing to lay down his life for you.”

Now that’s the stuff of heroes and (crazy or not) heroes inspire writers. In fact, the very idea of running into a burning building to save an innocent victim struck me as the perfect analogy for what Clare Cosi does in our Coffeehouse Mysteries.

A divorced single-mom in her forties, Clare is a coffee shop manager by day, an irrepressible snoop by night. When something is wrong, she considers it her mission to right it—and arson that leads to murder is as wrong as it gets.

At the start of Roast Mortem, an unknown arsonist begins torching cafés around the city. When an FDNY ladder company comes to the rescue of Clare and her co-workers, she returns the favor by rescuing these fearless few from some seriously bad coffee. Then her new firemen friends begin dying in suspicious ways, and Clare finds reason to believe their deaths are connected to the “Coffee Shop Arsonist.” Unfortunately, an overly-flirtatious member of the FDNY stands in her way. This strapping captain clearly has something to hide. But as Clare starts to dig deeper, someone threatens to extinguish her.

If you've never read a Coffehouse Mystery, don't let that stop you from picking up a copy of Roast Mortem. You can certainly enjoy it as a stand-alone novel. If you’ve been a fan of the series, this is one you won't want to miss because this is more than just another murder mystery for Clare Cosi. The events of the story trigger highly personal consequences that keep her reeling until the very end.

Read with joy!
~ Cleo

CLEO’S TASTY RECIPES

Like Cleo’s previous Coffeehouse Mysteries, Roast Mortem has a culinary theme and includes delicious recipes of foods mentioned in the story. CLICK HERE to get a sneak peek at the book’s recipe section, partly inspired by some firehouse kitchen favorites.

And speaking of firehouse kitchens, Cleo invites you to meet some real FDNY firefighters as they prepare the most important meal of the year—Thanksgiving Dinner. (Video courtesy of YouTube)

WIN FREE COFFEE!

Sign up for Cleo’s FREE
E-newsletter and you will be entered in all of her weekly coffee drawings. Just send an email to VillageBlend@aol.com that says “Sign me up”

To find out more about Cleo

or download her free bonus recipes, visit her virtual coffeehouse at: Coffee House Mystery

Praise for Cleo Coyle’s
Coffeehouse Mysteries…

“Clare and company are some of the most vibrant characters I've ever read. Coyle is also a master of misdirection and red herrings. I challenge any reader to figure out whodunit before Coyle reveals all”
—Mystery Scene

Starred review. “Coyle's Coffeehouse books are superb examples of the cozy genre because of their intelligent cast of characters, their subtle wit, and their knowledge of the coffee industry used to add depth and flavor to the stories...Highly recommended for all mystery collections.”
—Library Journal

CLICK HERE to read Roast Mortem’s

Prologue and First Chapter.

Bonus excerpt below…

First came the sound, a monumental whoosh followed by a hissing roar. The white-hot concussion rippled through the air, the cafè's front window exploded outward, and the blast washed over me.

My eyes had been at keyhole level while I worked that stupid, stubborn lock, and the force of the firebomb knocked me right through the doorway.

Sprawled on my back on the debris-strewn sidewalk, I turned my head, stared at the carpet of glass shards. Blood was pumping through my system so fast I could barely recognize voices yelling, a car horn beeping.

I was unhurt. Small scratches maybe, a few bruises, a little bleeding—big deal—I was okay otherwise, and I focused on throwing off the shock.

Wheezing and coughing, I got back on my feet. Smoke rolled out of the cafè, the noxious fog billowing upward in a succession of black, misshapen balloons. I scanned the sidewalk for my beer-filled barista.

“Dante!” I shouted, rushing back to the doorway. “Dante!”

Flames painted the cafè’s walls, spilling their colors onto its tables. The searing light in the urban night would have been beautiful if it weren’t so deadly.

“Dante! Answer me!”

Smoke stung my eyes. I gritted my teeth, swiped at my cheeks, peered harder into the chaos.

Up front, the heavy marble espresso bar counter appeared undamaged. But in the rear of the shop, the embroidered fabric that had masked the utility room was a raging curtain of flame. Finally I spotted him—or, rather, his big, black Diesel boots—sticking out amid a cluster of overturned tables. Taking a deep breath (and praying to God it wouldn’t be my last), I went in....

Roast Mortem: A Coffeehouse Mystery

Now Available in Hardcover

from Berkley Prime Crime

How the giveaway will work

Lori has decided to try this little experiment where we will cross promote this giveaway across the blogosphere while at the same time spreading the word about the release of Roast Mortem. If this is the success Lori hopes it is, she will be be hosting at least one per month and maybe two.

Lori's Reading Corner will be the Grand Hostess for this giveaway. All book bloggers out there are welcome to join. Each blogger will host the same contest on their site. After your contest is set up you will come back to Lori's Reading Corner and place a link to your contest in the Linky.

**** YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A BLOGGER TO ENTER THE CONTESTS, ONLY TO HOST THEM. NON BLOGGERS CAN CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW AND ENTER THE CONTEST ON THIS SITE. FOR MORE CHANCES TO WIN OR INFO TO HOST THIS GIVEAWAY, CLICK ON THE LORI'S READING CORNER LINK FOR A LIST OF MORE CONTEST HOSTS. *****

Each person may enter the contest ONE time per blog. HOWEVER they may enter the contest on as many blogs as they wish in order to increase their chances of winning.

When the contest is over, each host will choose one person from those that have signed up on their blog and come back to Lori's Reading Corner blog. She will have a google document set up where each host will then put the name, their blog name, and the email and mailing address of the entrant they chose to be a finalist to win one of six (6) amazing prizes. AND, don't you hosts worry - there is a GRAND prize, just for one of you!! The blog hosts will have 72 hrs to submit their entrants before the winners are chosen.

PRIZES PRIZES PRIZES

MEGA Prize ~ awarded to one HOST of the giveaway

$100 gift card to online bookseller of his or her choice
1 Personally inscribed copy of Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) by Cleo Coyle
1 Firehouse Cookbook
1 Gimme! Coffee 12 oz Latte cup and saucer
1 Bag of Cops coffee (regular or decaf, their choice!)

Grand Prize ~ awarded to ONE entrant

$50 gift card to online bookseller of his or her choice
1 Personally inscribed copy of Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) by Cleo Coyle
1 Firehouse Cookbook
1 Gimme! Coffee 12 oz Latte cup and saucer
1 Bag of Cops coffee (regular or decaf, their choice!)

Runner-up Prize ~ awarded to five (5) entrants

* 1 Personally inscribed copy of Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) by Cleo Coyle
* 1 Firehouse Cookbook
* 1 Gimme! Coffee 12 oz Latte cup and saucer
* 1 Bag of Cops coffee (regular or decaf, their choice!)

~~~~~To enter my giveaway, fill out this FORM.~~~~~~

+1 for following Lori's Reading Corner blog
+3 for following my blog

*Entrants must be over 18 years old, include a mailing address in the entry form, PO Boxes will NOT be accepted. I do not sell or give away your information-all information will be deleted after the contest.

Good Luck to you all!

Not going to the 2010 Blogher Conference is naturally a bummer. BUT they ladies @ ToBeThode and MarfMom have put together a No-Go Blogher hop instead. This allows all of us to socialize and meet new people and blogs! What do I have to do, you ask? I just answer 5 simple questions and hop around to different blogs! That's all! Simple and fun! So, below are my answers! Leave a comment if you stop by so I know you came and I can visit your blog!

When did you start blogging?

I began blogging a couple months ago in May. I'm loving every minute of it!

Why did you start blogging?

I read ALL the time. It's a rare occasion if I don't have a book to read. When I finish reading a book, I always write a review, typically on Amazon or B&N because I base a lot of my book choices off the reviews of others. I cam across a book blog back in April and really liked it! Not only did the blog post reviews, but people actually conversed about the book. Instead of a stagnant book review, people could chat about different aspects of the book, likes and dislikes, etc. After scoping out more book blogs, I realized that I could follow blogs that reviewed books in the genres I loved reading! After following several blogs for several weeks, I decided to start my own book reviewing blog in May.

What is one thing you are going to do this week that is WAY cooler than going to BlogHer?

Way cooler? Hmmm...well I'm definitely going to lay by the pool and read a little. School starts in two weeks, but teachers and staff have to report next week so this is my last week to fully enjoy summer!

Share a post that you think says a lot about you or is your favorite. (share the link in YOUR post so we all can see)

I'm not sure that I have a favorite post. This POST is a summary about myself but this POST is about my love affair with coffee. Then there are several posts about the books I've read!