Spotlight & Giveaway: Cut To The Chaise by Karen Rose Smith

Posted December 6th, 2018 by in Blog, Spotlight / 58 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Karen Rose Smith to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Karen and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Cut To The Chaise!

 
Hi Everyone! It’s so good to be here again to spotlight the release of Cut To The Chaise, the eighth book in my Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mysteries.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Caprice De Luca and Grant Weatherford are getting married! They are supposed to have their reception at a local winery, Rambling Vines, that Caprice’s brother Vince, an attorney in Kismet, Pennsylvania, recommends and Caprice has decorated. But a few weeks before the wedding, the winery owner Travis Dodd, is murdered in the tasting room at Rambling Vines. His wife Michelle, an old flame of Vince’s, asks for his help when she’s taken to the police station for questioning. It’s quite possible that Caprice’s best friend Roz Winslow will have a problem with Vince helping an ex. Their live-in relationship might not hold up under the burden of Vince advising a woman he was once involved with. Caprice intends to make sure her brother’s romance doesn’t hit an insurmountable speed bump by solving this murder mystery quickly…before her marriage to Grant.
 

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

“I think about how much easier it would have been for you to marry someone else, not to have to go through the whole annulment process, not to have to deal with the expectations from my family.”

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • Many of the scenes take place in the tasting room of Rambling Vines Winery. The tasting room is decorated in my favorite colors…shades of teal and claret.
  • Caprice has two wedding veils…a cathedral-length veil for the wedding in the church and a shorter one for the reception.
  • Caprice’s sister Bella designed her wedding gown.
  • The schnoodle who Caprice finds a home for in this mystery is based on a therapy dog in my dentist’s office.

 

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

The hero is attracted to my heroine’s quirky personality, honesty and family ties. My heroine is attracted to my hero’s integrity, compassion and wounded soul.

 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

When the hero and the heroine confront the murder suspect with a shotgun.

Moldavan crossed his arms over his chest and was silent until he said, “I didn’t tell the police nothin’ and I’m not telling you nothin’.”
“Why won’t you give the police information to help capture the killer?” Caprice asked.
Uncrossing his arms, Moldavan glared at the two of them. “I want you to leave.”
“If you sort of like Michelle, you should help her. If she sells the winery, there’s no telling what the next owners could do.”
Now the man took a step towards them, and when he did, Grant caught Caprice’s elbow. He gave it a squeeze. “Come on,” he urged her.
They both turned their backs on Moldavan and hurried down the walk. Grant closed the gate behind him.

 

Readers should read this book….

if they want a combination of romance, mystery and compelling characters.

 

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

I have just finished final approval on my Pet Rescue continuity book for Harlequin Special Edition…The Nanny Clause. My upcoming releases are The Nanny Clause (April 2019, Harlequin Special Edition) and my third Daisy’s Tea Garden cozy mystery, Murder With Cucumber Sandwiches (June 2019, Kensington Books).
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card and an autographed copy of Slay Bells Ring

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Do you like when the hero or heroine’s family is involved in the romance or mystery?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from Cut To The Chaise:

Nana’s small table between two wing chairs near the window was already set with delicate tea cups, a plate of biscotti that Nana had made herself, and a teapot wearing a tea cozy.
As Caprice sat in one of the chairs, Nana poured tea into their cups. “So tell me, what did you think of your wedding gown? Your mom and I can’t wait to see it.”
“I love it! It looks like yours in some ways, but then Bella added her own design to it. And the veil… Oh, Nana. That veil is just beautiful. We were all in tears.”
“Hopefully you’ll be wearing a smile on your wedding day and the rest of us will be in tears.”
Caprice laughed.
“Tell me, tesorina mia, are you ready to get married?”
Caprice didn’t hesitate for an instant. “Oh, yes. I’d run off with Grant today if a church wedding didn’t mean so much to us and the family.”
“Anticipation is good,” her Nana told her. “On your part and his part. Does Grant seem nervous?”
“Not about the wedding.”
“About something?” Nana prompted as she seated herself in the other chair.
“He’s nervous or anxious about his family. His brother has agreed to come but he doesn’t want to be in the wedding party. I know that upset and disappointed Grant, but he is glad Holden is coming. And his parents… They haven’t decided yet whether they’re staying here with Mom and Dad, or if they should reserve a room at the bed and breakfast. They also haven’t made any arrangements for the rehearsal dinner so I don’t know what’s happening with that. Do you think it would be all right if Mom called them and asked about it?”
Nana thought about it, took a sip of tea, then set her cup down carefully. “It might be better if Grant calls them, honey. You know, it is the groom’s family’s tradition to host the rehearsal dinner.”
“Yes, I know, but I don’t think Grant wants to come right out and tell them that.”
Nana touched the bun at her nape as if she were thinking about what she wanted to say next. “So I suppose what you’re telling me is that Grant and his family don’t communicate well.”
With anybody else but Nana, Caprice might not say anything at all or answer her question. But this was Nana who always gave her wise advice.
“The truth is—I think they avoid conversation about subjects that matter…difficult subjects. I don’t think Grant ever talked to them about his marriage to Naomi or his divorce or what he felt afterwards.”
“That’s such a shame.”
“I think his decision to get engaged to me was a surprise to them too,” Caprice admitted.
“Did he think they would disapprove?”
“Most probably. And disapproval was the first feeling I got from them when I met them at the restaurant. Not that they disapproved of me so much, but they didn’t like the idea of the annulment and Grant marrying again.”
“I can understand that,” Nana said. “But on the other hand, I don’t think man and woman were meant to live alone. Grant’s marriage was a mistake and then he had tragedy on top of that. If anyone deserves a fresh start, he does. And I think he’ll have it with you.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Blood red is the season’s hottest color .

With her wedding day mere weeks away, home stager Caprice De Luca is busy arranging every last detail for the reception at Rambling Vines Winery–a stylish venue she redecorated two years earlier. But the closer the bride-to-be gets to saying, “I do,” the more a celebration at Rambling Vines seems like a terrible mistake. As financial mishaps and unhappy customers put the winery in the red, an unidentified criminal plots to sour the business’s already ailing reputation. Worst of all, a romance from co-owner Michelle Dodd’s past could leave a permanent stain on Caprice’s best friend’s current love life. When Michelle’s aloof husband is found stabbed to death on a chaise lounge in the tasting room, Caprice vows to name the calculating culprit and set things right before her dream nuptials dissolve into a deadly nightmare . . .
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Today Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith’s 100th novel is a 2018 release. She writes both cozy mysteries, romance novels and women’s fiction. One of her romances was aired as a TV movie on the UP tv network. Her passion is caring for her five rescued cats. Her hobbies are gardening, cooking, watercolor painting and photography. An only child, Karen delved into books at an early age. Even though she escaped into story worlds, she had many cousins around her on weekends. Families are a strong theme in all of her novels. She’s recently working on her Caprice De Luca Home Staging mystery series as well as her Daisy Tea Garden mystery series. If you’d like to chat with her, you can find her on Facebook at KarenRoseSmithBooks and on Twitter @karenrosesmith.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |
 
 
 

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58 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Cut To The Chaise by Karen Rose Smith”

  1. Didi

    I don’t mind family involvement in a story be it romance/mystery. It might spice up or heighten – in emotional way – the overall story. I’m pretty down with anything, really.

  4. Marie C

    It depends on the type of story and genre, really. But I’m certainly not completely against it!

  6. Tonya Lucas

    I live it when a family member is involved it seems to make the storyline plot deeper.

  13. John Smith

    “Do you like when the hero or heroine’s family is involved in the romance or mystery?” Hmm, don’t families basically exist to make troubling plot developments?

  14. Debra Branigan

    Do you like when the hero or heroine’s family is involved in the romance or mystery? It depends on how it is written. It can really add to the book sometimes.

  18. Natalija

    I don’t like books with many secondary characters because they tend to destract from the main couple.

  19. laurieg72

    Yes family involvement can be humorous, offensive, argumentative, helpful and/or add interest to a story’s development.

  20. Janie McGaugh

    I like it, because it often makes the story more interesting.

  25. Joye I

    Yes, I like to read stories where the secondary characters add to the character of the hero or heroine

  44. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    I don’t mind. I like it when they are quirky and funny.
    Thanks for the chance!

  45. Cherie J.

    Yes, I do. Family is important to me so I really enjoy it when they are involved,

  48. Amy Donahue

    Yes. I think meeting family members helps you understand the main characters better.

  49. Sharon Forrest

    I usually like when family members are involved with the mystery.

  52. Caro

    Yes, but not too much. I don’t want to get distracted from the main characters.

  53. Christina

    Depends on the family and family members. Not too keen on male family members telling female relatives what to do with their sex lives, but genuine concern for one another in a family is important.