Spotlight & Giveaway: A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR by Molly Harper

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Molly Harper to HJ!

Hi Molly and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR!

 
Hi! Thanks for having me!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Jess Bricker is a wedding proposal planner, who is trying to save her office/home by taking a job for a former high school classmate, Diana. Unfortunately for Jess, this means participating in Diana’s pre-bridal retreat at a luxurious mountain retreat, the Golden Ash. Jess is expected to arrange Diana’s proposal to pecan heir, Trenton Tillard IV, while dodging lecherous fellow guests, venomous former colleagues and Diana’s demands. Making her life even more complicated is the fact that she keeps finding dead bodies around the property. Something stinks at the Golden Ash, and it’s not the kombucha. The one bright spot is the Osbourne family, the spa’s owners, who are eager to help Jess accomplish her professional goals – if for no other reason than to get Jess off the mountain so she’ll stop stirring up trouble. And then there’s reclusive resident chef Dean Osbourne, who can’t decide whether he wants to chase Jess away from his family or make long-term commitments to her, based entirely on cheeseburgers. Jess has to shift through the deadly secrets at the Golden Ash, otherwise her plans could be cancelled.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I really like this conversation between Jess and her elderly assistant at the proposal planning firm, Mavis.

“I’m always nice,” Mavis groused. “Even with Jeff Laudermilk, who is being really stubborn about his baseball-game plan.”

“Respect the sign, Mavis,” Jess said, sure that Mavis was sitting at her desk next to the well-worn placard on the lilac-striped wall that read “Management Maintains a ‘No Jumbotron’ Policy.”

This time, it was Mavis’s turn to snort. Typically, Jess went along with whatever the client wanted. She’d planned proposals by fireworks, proposals by Scrabble tiles, and even a proposal via a customized bowling ball. But she’d seen way too many public Jumbotron proposals go terribly wrong at sporting events to do one herself.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This is my first murder mystery and I felt the need to do a lot of research. Numerous reference books on creepy, murder-y subjects arrived in the mail. My family had questions.
• Proposal planning is a real job and I spent several days falling down the online rabbit hole, studying the subject.
• The scene where Jess is menaced by a shadowy figure while she’s immobilized in a treatment room is based on my own anxiety spiral at a day spa, while swaddled for a body wrap. (The spiral was ENTIRELY self-induced. The spa staff couldn’t have been more professional.)

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Dean rarely comes into contact with people who aren’t high-maintenance guests. Jess is different, because she’s also working. In the divide of have and have-nots, she’s on the same side as Dean. And unlike most people who sort of tiptoe around Dean and his long-unresolved grief, she snarks back when he’s surly. She challenges him and she makes him laugh, even when he is fighting not to.

Dean is also dryly funny, but he’s just as work-driven as Jess. He understands why she pushes herself so hard. But he is the first person in a long time who insists that she say no to demanding people, that she take time to enjoy herself – even if it’s just a cheeseburger. He doesn’t ask anything of her, except that she stop wandering around the woods at night.

They clash. They change. They walk away having learned a lot of lessons about appropriate work-life balance and well-lit hiking paths.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

As always, I love writing dialogue scenes where the cast of characters is sitting around, bouncing jokes off of each other. Because the Osbournes are helping Jess arrange Diana’s proposal and Jess is helping the family figure out the murders, there are several opportunities for this. I particularly love a dinner where Jess is invited to “Meatball Night” in the Osbournes’ private quarters. I giggled all the way through because of the loving frustration the cousins have for each other and the clues I get to drop.

Excerpt:

Sis picked up her own wineglass and said, “So, Jess, about Dean . . .”

“There’s no way for me to get out of this, is there?” Jess sighed as Poppy pointedly refilled Jess’s wineglass.

“I’m just saying, he talks to you. We like that he talks to you,” Sis replied. “But I have concerns.”

“He’s your brother.” Jess told Sis. “I don’t need you to give me the ‘if you hurt him, I will bury you in a shallow grave so the scavengers will turn your femurs into chew toys’ speech.”

Sis blanched. “Well, that was more graphic than I expected.”

Jess took another sip of wine. “I’m saying, I understand that if this flirtation goes wrong, there’s a lot of woodland acreage available to you.”

Sis looked vaguely uncomfortable. She looked to her cousins. “She’s threatening herself. It sort of takes the fun out of it.”

Readers should read this book….

…if they enjoy a mystery with as much humor as intrigue. Jess is a smart, capable, and adaptable heroine. Readers will enjoy watching her chase answers, despite the ridiculous obstacles thrown in her way – while also finding romance and friendship.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I am revising my second-ever murder mystery, which is currently untitled. And I’m working on the third title in my Moonshadow Cove series. The first title, THE WRONG WITCH TO HEX WITH, will be released by Audible on May 29. It’s available for pre-order now. Amanda Ronconi and Teddy Hamilton will narrate.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A finished copy of A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR by Molly Harper

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Book Info:

A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).

Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it’s clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.

Quotes:

“Molly Harper serves up a smart, hilarious mystery in A Proposal to Die For, complete with a remote and luxurious setting and a sexy romance. Pitch-perfect banter and compelling twists will keep readers turning the pages as Harper (gently) pokes fun at the wedding industry without sacrificing charm or heart.”—Tirzah Price, USA TODAY Bestselling Author of In Want of a Suspect

“A Proposal to Die For is a fun, enticing union of murder, mayhem, and mindfulness. A spa retreat is anything but relaxing when a proposal planner starts to trip over dead bodies…and it turns downright anxiety-producing when she is the one marked for murder. Go ahead, say YES to A Proposal to Die For!”—Juliet Blackwell, New York Times Bestselling Author of Asylum Hotel

“Everything I love in a Molly Harper story—quick wit, strong characters, laugh-out-loud moments—with a little murder mixed in. This was a delight from start to finish. I want a dozen more books just like this!”—Kristen Simmons, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

“A light-hearted murder mystery with plenty of twists to keep you guessing, a heroine to root for, a hunk to drool over, and everything–and I do mean everything–you could ever want to know about the cut-throat world of wedding-proposal event planners. And while this may be a rom-com, but Harper uses her trademark snark to get in a few sly winks at influencer culture, the clueless rich, and the inviolate code that is southern etiquette. Charming, delicious–and deadly.”—Alma Katsu, author of Red London

“Hooray for this charming and funny mystery from Molly Harper! Buckle up for a love-to-hate-her bridezilla, a winning heroine-slash-amateur sleuth, and an entertaining and satisfying story. A Proposal to Die For is endless fun.”—Kathleen West, author of Making Friends Can Be Murder

“A Proposal to Die For is a fast-paced, clever mystery that’s perfect for a weekend escape. With a lovable cast and twists that keep you guessing, it’s an entertaining whodunit that delivers just the right amount of intrigue and fun.”—Melissa Holtz, author of A Charming Touch of Tarot

“I’m a long time fan of Molly Harper’s work and A Proposal to Die For doesn’t disappoint! Harper’s trademark humor and snarky-but-kind characters are there on every page, alongside a satisfying murder mystery plot. Cozy mystery fans will be snickering while reading this page-turner. An absolutely deadly delight!”—Lish McBride, author of Red in Tooth and Claw
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Meet the Author:

Molly Harper is the author of more than forty paranormal romance, contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and young adult titles. A lifelong romance reader, she graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from Seton Hill University, focusing on writing popular fiction. She lived in Kentucky for most of her life before recently moving to Michigan with her family…and she’s still figuring out how to choose outerwear and play complicated winter card games.
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