Spotlight & Giveaway: Cupcakes and Corpses by Paige Tyler

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Paige Tyler to HJ!

Hi Paige and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Cupcakes and Corpses!

 
Thanks for having me! I’ve been coming to Harlequin Junkie to talk about my new books for years and always have such a wonderful time. I can’t wait to tell you all about Cupcakes and Corpses, the second book in my Pupcakes and Peril Series. I think you’re going to love reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Tassie Drake and her adorable four-legged lie detector Baxter are back on the case!

Juniper Larabee, Bluewater Bay’s internet sensation and celebrity judge on Cupcake Combat, is murdered right in the middle of filming the uber-competitive baking show with half the town watching. You’d think it would be easy to figure out who did it since the entire thing was caught on camera!

Unfortunately, it seems there’s no end to the list of people who disliked Juniper enough to kill her. Tassie and Baxter, along with Jack Sterling, Bluewater Bay’s handsome detective, are going to have their hands full working though all the suspects while also trying to find time for that first official date they’ve been putting off since book one.
 

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

This is a line from the beginning of the story where we get to meet Tassie’s friends, Gwen and Irene, who also happen to be two of the competitors in Cupcake Combat. In writer terminology, we call this foreshadowing. But is Gwen really the killer?

“Although,” Irene said, gaze sliding slyly to Gwen. “You might not want to make those signature cupcakes of yours for the baking contest since Juniper is deathly allergic to peanut butter. I wouldn’t want you killing her,” Irene added sweetly.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• My fictional Bluewater Bay is based on a real town in Maine. I frequently look at pictures from the town to get a feel for how I want things to look in my story. Based on the number of murder mystery stories I see set there, Maine is apparently the most dangerous place in the world. Who knew?
• The baking show in the book, Cupcake Combat, is loosely based on one of my favorite guilty pleasures when it was on TV called Cupcake Wars. Obviously, the show in my book is much more cutthroat (someone died after all!) of course. I love all things baking and dessert and the book is also my chance to vicariously live through my characters who eat all those yummy desserts that I don’t eat very much.
• Baxter is a Chiweenie and perhaps the cutest doggie in the whole wide world (IMHO). According to Google, studies suggest that dogs can sometimes tell when people are lying or being deceptive, potentially because they can distinguish between different human knowledge states and understand how their actions affect others. So, there you go. It’s completely legit that Baxter is a four-legged lie detector!

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

In the best of all meet-cutes in a cozy mystery, Tassie and Jack met each other over a dead body in Dog Biscuits and Dead Bodies, book one of the series. Against his better judgement, Jack finds himself attracted to her even though she wouldn’t keep her nose out of his murder investigation. But he has to admit she possessed some serious instincts when it comes to solving murders. And having a an adorable dog who can tell when people are lying is definitely a plus!

As for Tassie, she couldn’t deny the new detective in town was hot. Plus, there’s the whole mystery of why he gave up being a cop in the big city to come to little old Bluewater Bay. Tassie definitely loves a good mystery!

In Cupcakes and Corpses, Tassie is finally getting that elusive first date she and Jack have been putting off for weeks. Then Juniper goes and gets murdered just as the date is starting, throwing them right back into investigation mode.

Not that she minds solving murders with the man, but sometimes she wonders if she and Jack only attracted to each other due to the adrenaline that comes from investigating murders.

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

This is a cute little scene showing the slow burn romance brewing between our hero and heroine, as they bond over a shared love of peanut butter and jelly. I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about two people falling in love while talking about such a simple thing.

Jack finished his brownie, then wiped his hands on the napkin. “I don’t even want to think about that. Next to chocolate, peanut butter is the best thing ever. In fact, PB&J might just be the most perfect sandwich ever created.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“What kind of jelly do you go with?” Tassie asked.

“Strawberry preserves all the way,” Jack said without hesitation.

“Me, too! I know everyone seems to like grape, but I’m all about strawberry.”

“I think you’re the first person to ever agree with me on that.” His mouth curved. “Now, I’ll have to be sure to bring some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the next time we meet up at the dog park.”

A little flutter went through her. Even though they hadn’t been on an official “date” yet, it was still fun discovering all the stuff they had in common.

Readers should read this book….

If they love a great cozy mystery in a small-town setting, with charming characters, a hero and heroine who actually get along, and a darling Chiweenie who knows when people are lying (if you ask questions the right way!).

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

We’ve been busy writing the next book Pupcakes and Peril Series for a summer release. We’re also working on the next book in the SEALs of Coronado Series. We’ve also working on the next book in the Special Wolf Alpha Team Series.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away eight ebook copies of Cupcakes and Corpses! All you need to enter is an email address!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What do you love on your peanut butter sandwich? Grape jelly, strawberry jam, orange marmalade, mayonnaise, cheese, chocolate, marshmallow? Go crazy!

 
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Excerpt from Cupcakes and Corpses:

This is a cute scene between Tassie and her friend Lucy, where they discuss the very serious rules when it comes to rain checks, specifically in regard to dating. And when in doubt, they do what we all do. They check the internet!

Lucy leaned her hip against the produce case. “Speaking of things that’d be nice, when are you and Jack finally going out on an actual date?”

At the question, Baxter looked at Tassie quizzically.

“Well, we were going to have dinner after the Cupcake Combat taping the other day, but you know how that turned out,” Tassie said. “Then Jack asked if I wanted to get together tomorrow night, but Baxter and I are going to Mom and Dad’s for Nolan’s birthday.”

“Ah.” Lucy knew all about her brother mysteriously leaving home and how her parents celebrated his birthday even after he’d left. “Did you ask Jack to go with you?”

Tassie made a face. “I wanted to, but I figured that might be kind of weird so I asked him for a rain check.”

“You should have asked him if he’s free another night instead.”

“I don’t think that’s how rain checks work,” Tassie said. “I think the person who gets rain checked is supposed to suggest the next date.”

The minute she said it, she realized that Jack was the one who’d asked for a rain check for their first date and had also suggested their second date. So, maybe that rule didn’t apply? It seemed like it should, though.

“I’m pretty sure there aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to rain checks,” Lucy drawled.

“Sure there are.”

Lucy took out her phone. “I’m going to check.”

“What are you going to do, Google it?”

“Yup.”

Tassie couldn’t help being amused as Lucy proceeded to do exactly that. Admittedly, she Googled a lot of stuff too, but hadn’t ever thought of looking up rain check etiquette. It was actually a good idea.

“Hmm.” Lucy scrunched up her face as she read. “This person believes if you ask for the rain check, then it’s up to you to suggest another date. Another person says you should suggest rain check, then it’s up to you to suggest another date. Another person says you should suggest another date, but you don’t necessarily have to. There’s also someone who insists that if you rain check a guy, you should give him dates and times that you’re available for another date, but if you didn’t—and he’s into you—he’ll almost certainly ask you out again, so don’t worry about it.”

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Tassie grumbled. “Those answers are all over the place.”

“Which means I was right and that there aren’t any rules when it comes to rain checking someone.” Lucy slipped her phone back into her big, oversized purse. “The bottom line is you showed Jack that you’re still interested by asking for a rain check and he’s still interested by accepting the rain check. I think you’re good.”

That was a relief. Because asking him as an afterthought to her parents’ house for dinner now would be even weirder.

Lucy jabbed a finger in her direction. “But if you rain check him again, suggest another date, okay?”

Tassie laughed. “I will. Promise. Let’s just hope I don’t need to rain check him again.”

Because while there might not be rules when it came to rain checks, there might very well be a limit to how many of those aforementioned rain checks you could use.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Who had the most to gain from murdering the foodie?

Pupcakes Bakery owner Tassie Drake is ready for life to return to normal––or as
normal as possible, given just last month, she and her Chiweenie, Baxter, helped
the hunky new town detective, Jack Sterling, solve a murder. But spring is in full
bloom, and that means tourist season is too. Adding to the excitement, The Dessert
Channel is filming their TV show Cupcake Combat in the park. And Tassie’s a
firm believer that something sweet can fix just about anything. Except murder.
When one of the cupcake judges drops dead on set, all clues point to murder. But
who had the most to gain from the YouTube foodie sensation being killed?

Everyone on stage that day is a suspect––two of whom are Tassie’s friends. While
the last thing Tassie intended to do was get involved in another mystery, spending
more time with Jack is icing on the cupcake, especially since their official first date
keeps getting interrupted.

But as Tassie and Baxter discover, the dead woman made several enemies on her
climb to the top, and someone took sweet revenge. Someone who isn’t afraid to kill
again…
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Paige Tyler is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and paranormal romance. She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kick-butt heroines who fall in love with them.
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