Spotlight & Giveaway: Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea by Karen Rose Smith

Posted August 30th, 2021 by in Blog, Spotlight / 62 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, Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea!

 
Hi everyone! It’s so good to be here again to spotlight the release of Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea, the seventh book in my Daisy’s Tea Garden Cozy Mystery series.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea highlights several themes:

A young man left his Amish roots behind, but can a man ever abandon his upbringing?
A couple had their dreams destroyed by an “accident” at a fertility clinic.
Some of the residents of Willow Creek believe a homeless shelter is a right thing to do. Others don’t. Will the conflict break apart the town?
Daisy’s beau Jonas wants to adopt a dog from the local animal shelter. Daisy imagines her and Jonas living together with her two cats and his rescued pup.

A murder in Willow Creek ties all these themes together. Daisy follows the clues to discover how any of it might have lead to murder.
 

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

The detective tells Daisy, “I have to live with my choices and you have to live with yours. In your case it all worked out well. Be grateful for that.”

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • One of the recipes included in this cozy is for Chocolate Espresso Cookies. My teenage neighbors taste-tested them for me!
  • I enjoyed visiting furniture stores in Lancaster County Pennsylvania towns such as Bird In Hand, Paradise and Intercourse. Daisy’s beau makes wood furniture.
  • I learned a lot about stun guns researching this cozy!

 

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

Daisy is attracted to Jonas’s strength, integrity and compassion. Jonas admires Daisy’s ability to handle tea garden business as well as her two teenage daughters.

 

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

The section I wrote when Jonas and Daisy introduce Felix, his rescued golden retriever, to Daisy’s cats, Marjoram and Pepper. I had to laugh. We’ve introduced animals many times and it’s never easy.

As Daisy reached the staircase, silence prevailed. Everyone was frozen in place.
Marjoram was the first one to budge. After all, she liked Jonas, and she was the more curious of the two cats.
“Go to it,” Jazzi said. “You’re more ferocious than he is.”
Marjoram glanced at Daisy and then Jazzi as if their coaxing helped. She drew herself up tall and pranced down the rest of the stairs. After she leapt off the bottom step, she slowly crossed two feet toward Felix, then arched her back, hissed, and straightened her tail until it arrowed straight up in the air.
“Oh, this is going well,” Jonas muttered. “Felix, stay.”

 

Readers should read this book….

Readers should read this book…because it’s filled with family interactions, romance and intrigue.

 

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

I am currently working on Daisy’s Tea Garden book 9, Murder With Earl Grey Tea. My next release after Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea, will be Murder With Darjeeling Tea set for release in June 2022.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: $10 Amazon e-gift card

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever visited Amish country?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea:

“You’re having a reaction to the adrenalin crash after the event.” Jonas stood, took the afghan from the back of the sofa, and spread it out over Daisy. As he folded it down under her neck, he said, “You just have to relax. Think of Jazzi and the college she wants to go to…think about Felix and playing ball with him out in the backyard. Remember how much fun it is to play with Sammy. Good thoughts, Daisy. Your body just needs time to recover from the shock. The best way for it to do that is for you to relax.”
Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he took her hand. He stroked her palm and then the top of her hand.
“That feels good,” she said, letting her eyes drift closed.
He continued to stroke her wrist and palm. “It would be better if you don’t go into work tomorrow.”
Her eyes opened and she almost sat up. But he pushed on her shoulders so she tilted back again.
“I’m not going to let whoever did this win. I’ll be fine in the morning and—”
Jonas cut her off. “Maybe you will be. Maybe you won’t be.”
“Jonas, I’m not someone who curls up into a ball after a scare.”
“I know that better than anyone,” he assured her.
Her eyes grew moist with determination. Then she let out a sigh. “I can take the day off tomorrow. But I’m not going to just sit around.”
“Of course, you’re not. But I’m going to check in often.”
“You’re a good man.” All of the feelings she had for Jonas made her voice wobbly.
Jazzi had been making another pitcher of iced tea in the kitchen but now she came into the living room area and eyed the three of them. “I just got a text from Vi. She’s on her way.”
“That’s fine,” Daisy assured her.
Jazzi returned to the kitchen and in the few minutes it took until Vi arrived, Jonas leaned down and kissed Daisy. She knew when he straightened and gazed at her, her cheeks definitely had more color.
The doorbell rang and Jazzi went to open the door.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson is serving hot tea at a fundraiser for a homeless shelter–but tempers are getting heated too…

Daisy’s orange pekoe is flowing at a fundraiser—and she’s also made a new friend, Piper, a young woman whose hopes for motherhood were dashed by a foul-up at a fertility clinic. But before they can settle into a long conversation, the event is disupted by masked protestors who object to building a shelter in Willow Creek. Among the angry crowd is Eli—who left his Amish community some time ago, with help from a lawyer named Hiram.

It just so happens that Hiram is also representing the fertility clinic in a class-action suit—and soon afterward, he turns up dead, felled by an insulin injection. Daisy can’t help but get drawn in, especially since Piper’s husband had been pretty steamed at the victim and didn’t hide it. She’d love to spend some time with the dog she and her boyfriend have just adopted—but first she ‘ll be straining to find a killer…
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Hi! I’m Karen Rose Smith. I write mystery, romance and women’s fiction. MURDER WITH ORANGE PEKOE is my 106th novel. Besides writing, my passion is caring for our seven rescued cats. An only child, I delved into books at an early age. I learned about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew, and wished I could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even though I escaped often into story worlds, I had many aunts, uncles and cousins around me on weekends. My sense of family and relationships began there. Maybe that’s why families are a strong theme in my novels, whether mysteries or romance. One of the highlights of my career was to see my romance turned into a movie—A Very Country Christmas. Readers often ask me about my pastimes. I have herb, flower and vegetable gardens that help me relax. In the winter, I cook rather than garden! And year round I spend most of my time with my husband, as well as my cats who are my constant companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding me life isn’t all about work, awards and bestseller lists. Everyone needs that rainbow to chase.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |
 
 
 

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62 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea by Karen Rose Smith”

  7. Jeanna Massman

    Yes, we lived near an Amish community in Northeastern Iowa. We enjoyed visiting an Amish store and purchasing delicious bakery items.

  14. Marcy Meyer

    I have never visited the Amish, but there are a lot that live in my area. My husband knows some of them and has been to their homestead.

  25. Brenda Ellis

    I’ve never been that far north, so I haven’t visited Amish country.

  30. Anna Nguyen

    No but I would love to some day. I used to go to the reading terminal market in Philadelphia and some of the Amish would sell their goods there. Delicious baked goods.

  31. Diana Tidlund

    Yes years ago with hubbies bestie and his wife. We went there and ate at a great place !

  37. Nina Lewis

    Nope. I buy their products at the local farmer’s market, though. 🙂

  42. Dianne Casey

    Yes, I have visited Amish country. Lancaster PA, Holmes County OH and Shipshewana IN.

  46. Patricia B.

    We have passed Amish families, buggies, and farms in various parts of the country and have a Mennonite community here. We travel I-81 from TN into NY, but have never veered East up through Amish country. I have asked many times but we always seem to be in a hurry to get to my family or get home. I am hoping to have a relaxed trip just to visit Amish country and enjoy it, maybe next year.

  57. Terrill R.

    I’ve never visited Amish Country, but I’ve read a number of Amish books and they always have me interested in visiting. Although, I don’t want to be a touristy gawker.