Bitter Chocolate and a Giveaway

It’s a pleasure to be participating in author Dawn Greenfield Ireland’s Premier Virtual Author Book Tour for her latest release, BITTER CHOCOLATE, the second installment in her Alcott Family Adventures series.

As part of the tour, I’ll be sharing some background information on the author and my thoughts on her delightful book. In addition, Dawn is giving away one eBook to a lucky visitor to Thoughts in Progress. Please see the end of the post for more details. You can also follow Dawn’s tour by clicking HERE.

Now let me tell you a bit about the author.

Dawn Ireland is the CEO of Artistic Origins Inc., a 100% woman-owned publishing and technical writing service company that has been doing business since 1995. She’s an award winning independent publisher and author of The Puppy Baby Book , Mastering Your Money, and Amazon Bestseller Hot Chocolate (the first in the series, and her fifth novel). The Hot Chocolate audio book was awarded the Audio File Earphones Award on Valentine’s Day 2014.

Her family feature film screenplay A Girl and Her Dog was awarded a Kids First! Endorsement by the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media in October 2012 and optioned by Shadow Cave Productions in February 2013. 

Originally from Feeding Hills, MA, Dawn migrated to San Antonio in 1968, then when her first son was one-year-old, her family moved to Houston where work was more plentiful. After 40+ years of heat and humidity, she has her sights on the Pacific NW.

Dawn is the co-author of the animated screenplay Memoirs of a Dog which won the Spirit Award of the Moondance Film Festival (children’s category) September 2011. Her dark comedy Plan B was a finalist in the Table Read My Screenplay script competition in 2010 and years before that, Standing Dead won the Women in Film and Television (Houston Chapter) screenplay award.

For more on Dawn and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Now for my thoughts ……

BITTER CHOCOLATE by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

The escapades of three middle-age sisters will keep you laughing as you try to solve the murder mystery in author Dawn Greenfield Ireland’s BITTER CHOCOLATE.

The story centers around the Alcott sisters – Lila Mae (the youngest), Dorthea (the middle and pregnant sister), and Madge (the oldest). There’s also their 92-year-old father, Bernie, and his former nurse, soon-to-be mother of his child, Bambi. In addition, there a slew of zany characters that round out the fun in this cozy murder mystery.

Heirs to the Alcott Chocolate fortune, the sisters are rich, but down-to-earth in a fun sort of way. Some of their staff is treated like family and their acceptance of Bambi is enduring.

When a dead man is discovered on Lila Mae’s kitchen floor, the ladies will stop at nothing to find the killer. They have their hands full with the annual Chocolate Ball, Dorthea’s unexpected surprise of twins, caring for a family member in a catatonic state, the antics of their father and now chasing a killer.

Ireland does a wonderful job creating characters that are well-developed and likable. While there’s murder involved, you can’t help but laugh at some of the sisters’ activities.

The River Oaks setting in Houston is brought to live on the page through the author’s rich descriptions. The story flows smoothly and at a steady pace holding your attention as the mystery unfolds.

BITTER CHOCOLATE is the second installment in the Alcott Family Adventures series, but can be read on its own. Be warned, however, once you get to know these characters you’ll have to find out how it all started in HOT CHOCOLATE.

The characters are enduring and the storyline intriguing. An added bonus is the abundant yummy recipes included at the end. For a sweet cozy murder mystery, be sure to visit with the Alcott sisters.

Bitter Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland, Alcott Family Adventures Book #2, Artistic Origins Inc., @2014, ASIN: B00KQ6C2JA, Digital Download, 405 Pages, 2171 KB 

FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this book was sent to me by the author as part of her virtual book tour in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one eBook copy of BITTER CHOCOLATE. The giveaway is open internationally and will end Sunday, July 27. 

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Dawn Ireland’s Tour’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder). Once the tour has ended and all winners have been notified, the author will be sending out the eBooks.

Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope I’ve enticed your reading taste buds a bit with this fun read. Do you like having extra bonus material at the end of books – recipes, tips, previews of the next book, etc.?

*This post contains affiliate links.
a Rafflecopter giveaway