Book Blitz! How to Solve a Murder with a Grump by Laura Pauling ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway! @laurapauling @XpressoTours #HowToSolveAMurderWithAGrump

 

How to Solve a Murder with a Grump by Laura Pauling
Publication date: October 8th 2024
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

Barrie:

I am determined to make my best friend’s wedding weekend perfect. That includes editing the best man’s speech and making sure he doesn’t drink too much.

Except, he’s the worst kind of grump with a capital G.

Not only that but when this perfect wedding unravels, I find myself the object of his wrath.

He blames me.

So I run.

And I’m wearing the wedding dress. (Don’t ask.)

As I hide out in a small town, following my dreams, I stumble upon a decades-old murder mystery.

Turns out texting the grump might be my only lifeline. And I’m definitely not flirt-texting. Nope. Not me.

Because falling for a grump can only lead to a broken heart.

Right?

Miles:

For the record, I am not a grump.

It’s not me. It’s them.

It’s women.

I’m looking forward to the wedding this weekend. My best friend is getting married.

And the maid of honor texts me.

Not just once.

Oh, no, because that would be much too sensible. Nope. Try a dozen. It felt like a hundred.

I can tell by a glance at the texts that she’s one of those micro-managing, in your business, thinks-she-knows-everything type of woman.

Forget it.

I don’t want her number. I don’t want coffee. I don’t want a date.

I don’t want a single conversation.

Okay, fine. I’m a grump.

But can you blame me?

How to Solve a Murder with a Grump is a full-length hilarious romantic mystery with a swoony, heart-thumping, happily-ever-after kind of ending complete with glitter bombs, snapping turtles (imaginary or not), a decades-old murder, and grand romantic gestures.

Goodreads | Amazon

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EXCERPT

I take one look at him. Oh yeah, he’s a grump.

Definitely.

But I don’t have time for grumps right now.

You see, I’m running late and the elevator is taking forever to get to the bottom floor. My best friend is getting married in two days, and I’m the maid of honor. I’m trying to compose a text to the best man so we can talk about the speeches. I should’ve reached out to him ages ago, but this weekend came fast. It snuck up on me.

Then, a man near me clears his throat, like he’s trying to send me a message. I take one look at him.

No doubt in my mind he’s a Mr. Grumpy Pants, because I can pick them out a mile away. They’re easy to spot once you know the signs.

Of course, sometimes you’ll get lucky. You’ll make a quick exit. Or he’ll spill his coffee. Someone else will grab his attention.

But there will be times you have to interact with this particular species of men.

Just so you know, there are many ways to deal with a grump. I could write a book on it.

First, don’t be fooled by those flashing white teeth and sexy smirks. Don’t be fooled by a blue shirt, almost the color of tropical ocean water that offsets the gray of his eyes. Don’t be fooled by the rippling muscles underneath the blue shirt.

Nope.

Sexy grumps are the most dangerous, because they’ll steal your heart then stomp all over it.

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About the author

I write about spies, murder, and mystery. I love a lot of things about writing and reading stories that have mystery and romance. I love the puzzle of a whodunnit and witty banter between characters who love to hate each other. Especially, when they don’t know they are falling in love.

There are about a gazillion books in the wilds of Amazon and maybe half of them are mysteries. If you want to make sure you know when I have a new release in a current series or the start of a new series then visit www.laurapauling.com and sign up for my newsletter.

Connect with Laura

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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A Royal Heist (Heist, Book 2) by Laura Pauling

A Royal Heist

A Royal Heist by Laura Pauling 
Series: Heist, book #2
ebook, 167 pages
Published March 10th 2015 by Smashwords Edition

Alternate timelines collide.
Only one will steal the jewels.
Only one will have a happy ending.

Annabelle longs for freedom, trapped in a life where she feels like nothing more than a vapor, a ghost flitting through time. Under the strict and often cruel direction of her grandmother, she travels back to famous heists and steals art.

In a moment of utter despair and rage she commits an unforgiveable act. As a result, she’s sent back to the 1600s on a royal heist—to steal the Crown Jewels—in nothing more than a state-issued nightgown. A death sentence.

In a second reality, in that moment, she receives a weathered scroll with instructions not to kill her grandmother and to pass a message onto Fiasco. But who is Fiasco? And how can he help? On her next big royal heist, she faces the stark reality that she is in a race to steal the Crown Jewels with another version of herself from a different reality.

It’s a race for survival.

My thoughts about A Royal Heist ~~

I am not sure what it is about time travel that fascinates me but I love stories whose characters travel back and forth through time and potentially change their lives and the lives of those around them. Would that be something that you'd want to be able to do? I'm not sure if I would but those possibilities sure make a good story. 

A Royal Heist takes us back to the world that we discovered in book #1, Heist. This story centers on Jetta, or Annabelle, one of the somewhat minor characters in Heist. A Royal Heist is her story but we do run across characters from book #1, so it all feels familiar. 

Annabelle is just trying to survive, with a grandmother who makes her time travel and steal valuable art for her. When she is not time traveling and stealing, grandma keeps her locked up in an institution. 

'What I thought would be my escape, ended up sentencing me to something worse. How worse? I don't want to know.'

Laura does a wonderful job weaving several threads of this story together with characters running into each other in different time periods. Will their actions help or hinder their other selves? She also paints very descriptive pictures with her words and I could see and feel exactly what her characters were seeing and feeling.  

'My words are like a taser to his chest, a bolt to his brain. Horror leaks from his eyes, and he whips around and sprints away, as if I'm the devil himself. I stand unmoving, frozen to the spot. He knew something. He knew me. I could tell, the flash of recognition on his face. And now he's gone.'

It sounds like Laura maybe has another story in the works to continue this series, focusing on another character. I sure hope so. I love this series and I love discovering how all of it fits together. 

'A strange sense of deja-vu falls over me, like I'm living the wrong life; somewhere out there, in some other reality, is the real me. I'm a mirror image, a fraud.'

You can read my thoughts about Heist (book #1) here. 

About the author

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery for the young at heart. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone.

And her kids wonder what she does all day while they're at school; or why on Monday mornings she's a bit grumpy. Living the life of a secret agent isn't easy, but someone has to do it.

This may or may not be what she really looks like. And she may or may not actually bake cookies.

You decide.

A Spy Like Me, her YA debut novel, and the sequel, Heart of an Assassin are now available. The Almost Assassin, the prequel to A Spy Like Me is a short story also found in the In His Eyes Anthology but now available separately.

Connect with Laura

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Cover Reveal: Prom Impossible by Laura Pauling

Great cover!!

This looks like it going to be fun read!

Prom Impossible 

Prom Impossible by Laura Pauling 
Publication date: May 2014

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Young Adult

1 girl. 1 prom. 3 guys.

Cassidy decides her senior year, including prom, will be about Michael Greenwood, the boy destined to be her soul mate. One problem. He hasn't figured that out yet.

But certain events like exploding smoke bombs—that weren't completely her fault—introduce her to Zeke, the reformed bad boy. And cutting deals in the boys’ bathroom with Jasper, the hottest guy in school, lands her in a complicated web of half-truths that spirals out of control.

At the end of the year, she’s dateless the day before the big night but risks a lot more than her pride if she can’t find a way to fix her mistakes.

PROM IMPOSSIBLE is a modern-day Shakespearean romantic comedy in the world of teens, true love, and life.

Coming May 2014!

About the author

Laura writes young adult romantic suspense and romantic comedy. She’s the author of the exciting Circle of Spies Series, and the time travel mystery, HEIST. She’s a former elementary teacher and currently lives in New England. After spending time reading books to her kids and loving a good plot turn, she put her fingers to the keyboard. Don’t ask her about the unfinished quilts and scrapbooks. Stories are way more exciting.

She writes to entertain and experience a great story…and to be able to work in her jammies and slippers.

PROM IMPOSSIBLE, a modern-day Shakespearean romantic comedy will be released in May 2014.

Connect with Laura

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Book Blitz: HEIST by Laura Pauling ~ a Guest Post and a Giveaway!

Heist by Laura Pauling
Genre: YA Psychological Thriller

Release date: August 11, 2013

Can one decision change the past?

Jack Brodie has a sixth sense that someone has been watching him. Following him.

One night he travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?

When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn’t been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe.

Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right.

Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.

My thoughts ~ I read this book and loved the idea of time travel mixed up in the art world. You can read my original post here. Laura explains a little bit about how she made time travel fit into her novel.

The science behind time travel.

I’ve always loved stories or movies that involve time travel. Not so much the science fiction aspect behind it, but how it affects the characters and the storyline. But, that didn’t mean I could ignore the science in my time travel novel.

At first, when Heist was going to be a humorous upper middle grade novel, there was going to be a science lab, a failed experiment, an explosion - and voila - time travel. That didn’t quite fit with the story that was coming out on the page. After the first draft, while doing more in-depth research, I stumbled upon a sickness called, the Stendhal Syndrome. This is a psychosomatic disorder causing dizziness, fainting, confusion, and even hallucinations, when exposed to a large amount of art, and more particularly, beautiful art.

I had my answer. In Heist, Jack Brodie, the main character, has this experience. Copies of the stolen art from the Gardner Museum Heist, bring him back to the night of the crime, March 17, 1990. Also, this fit better with my realistic, gritty time travel, then trying to have an actual futuristic time travel machine.

About the author

Laura Pauling writes young adult fiction. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone!

Her YA Circle of Spies Series includes A SPY LIKE ME and HEART OF AN ASSASSIN. Book three, TWIST OF FATE will be released in the fall of 2013.

HEIST, a young adult, psychological thriller, was released August 2013.

Connect with Laura

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Purchase HEIST

Amazon | B&N

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

HEIST by Laura Pauling

Can one decision change the past?

Jack Brodie has a sixth sense that someone has been watching him. Following him.

One night he travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?

When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn't been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe.

Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right.

Someone has been watching him and wants him dead. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

Genre: YA

Release date: August 15, 2013

My thoughts about HEIST ~~

What an amazing ride this book was! I have to admit that the story started out confusing for me. But that just made me want to continue reading. I knew it would all make sense eventually, that's the way it is with time travel. I love the idea of time travel and the opportunity of going back in time to make a different decision in your life and having the opportunity of seeing how things change, for the good or the bad.

That's what happens to Jack. He doesn't understand at first that he is time traveling, things are just different. In trying to make his own life come out differently, he totally changes the lives of those around him. Should one really try to change the past?

I love this part. Words to live by?

'I know truth. No one is perfect. No life is perfect. Someone has it worse. Someone has it better. Take each day and enjoy.'

I thoroughly enjoyed HEIST and love the way the author wrote about the mystery of the Garner heist and wove art history into her story. Laura is a wonderful writer and I am excited to read more of her stories.

About the author

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery for the young at heart. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone.

And her kids wonder what she does all day while they're at school; or why on Monday mornings she's a bit grumpy. Living the life of a secret agent isn't easy, but someone has to do it.

This may or may not be what she really looks like. And she may or may not actually bake cookies.

You decide.

A Spy Like Me, her YA debut novel, and the sequel, Heart of an Assassin are now available. The Almost Assassin, the prequel to A Spy Like Me is a short story also found in the In His Eyes Anthology but now available separately.

Connect with Laura

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Follow The Book Bag on bloglovin'
or by email (option on the sidebar)

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Cover Reveal: Heist by Laura Pauling

Heist by Laura Pauling

Genre: YA Psychological Thriller

No release date yet (will be in 2013)

Synopsis

Can one decision change the past?

Jack Brodie has a sixth sense that someone has been watching him. Following him.

One night he travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?

When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn't been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe.

Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right.

Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.

About the author

Laura Pauling writes young adult fiction. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone!

Her YA Circle of Spies series includes A Spy Like Me and Heart of an Assasin. Book three, Twist of Fate will be released in the fall of 2013.

Heist, a young adult, psychological thriller, will be released the summer of 2013.

Connect with Laura

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways.