Springtime! Hey ding a ding time! And new releases

 I can't believe it's so long since I've visited here!  Winter has seemed long and dreary, full of deadlines and trying to get our new house into rights (my office is still basically a junk room, but it's getting there!)  I have lots of books news!

Flora Flowerdew and the Secret of the Sarcophagus, Book 3 in my Victorian Mysteries series is out NOW!  It was quiet an adventure getting Flora and her posse corralled and sent off to the Nile to find out who did in Aunt Imogen's old lover, archaeologist Lord Crosbie.  I am a sucker for tales of desert adventure and ancient Egypt, to this was a fun tale to write.  I hope you enjoy their adventures as much as I have!  (and more info to come this week, I'm putting together a "history behind the scenes post)

1889. With the winter season, Flora's séance society is quiet and life looking dull. A late-night visit from the too-handsome Benedict, Duke of Everton, and his aunt Lady Imogen changes all that. Imogen's long-ago lover, the renowned archaeologist Lord Crosbie, is missing, and she fears the worst.

Flora agrees to accompany them to a mummy unwrapping at the British Museum to see if anyone knows about the disappearance. It's the shock of the town when Crosbie himself is found in the ancient sarcophagus—murdered! Adventure awaits when Flora, Benedict, Imogen, the faithful Pomeranian Chou-Chou, and Mary the Cockney maidservant, set off for Egypt—and find a large cast of suspects who all had good reason to send the archaeologist off to his own underworld...

Buy link 

The second book in my Regency "Matchmakers in Bath" series also came out this winter!  Their Convenient Christmas Betrothal  is a fun "will they or won't they?" make their pretend engagement real!  Mary and Charles get their HEA at last.  (and look for the third in the series How to Court Your Wife in October)

A festive romance to fool society… 

But are they fooling themselves too? 

Mary St. Aubin is a stellar matchmaker, but society has decided that, as a spinster, Mary can no longer be trusted with their matches! After watching her parents’ cold marriage, she refuses to wed for anything but love. 

 Then at a Christmas house party she encounters dangerously attractive Scottish laird Charles. He needs Mary’s help saving his ward from a reputation-ruining liaison with a rake. But when Charles’s own rakish past starts to get in the way, is there another match that must happen first…between Mary and Charles?

Buy Link

If you want to venture to the drama of Renaissance Florence, Betrayed by his Kiss is .99 right now.  If Elizabethan England is your things, Murder at the Princess's Palace is 2.99

And, last but not least, the book of my heart, Secretary to the Socialite, a historical novel about icon Millicent Rogers and bohemian mid-century Taos, will be on sale in August!!!  I am soooo excited for this one, it's been a long journey...

In the glittering world of mid-century America, Millicent Rogers is a woman ahead of her time—Standard Oil heiress, fashion icon, patron of the arts, wife, mother, lover to men like Ian Fleming and Clark Gable. Her beauty and intelligence captivate the world. But behind the scenes, she harbors secrets of ill health and loneliness that only one person knows—her secretary Violet Redfield. A quiet but artistic woman who left her Iowa farm family to pursue dreams of being a writer, Violet navigates a delicate balance between devotion to Millicent and her own dreams of independence.

As their lives become intertwined in a tangle of love, betrayal, and ambition, both women must confront the hidden costs of their powerful alliance. From lavish Hollywood parties to the mountains of bohemian Taos, Secretary to the Socialite explores this intricate bond between a woman of privilege and the one who keeps her world from falling apart.

In this captivating, immersive historical novel, two women from very different worlds find themselves at a crossroads where loyalty and personal desires collide, and where their choices could alter the course of their lives forever...

Look for info about my newsletter giveaway in a few days!  You can sign up for it here

Contest time!

 We just moved in at our new house in January, and I am finding sooo many hidden treasures!  So let's have a giveaway.  There are several Ausen movie DVDs (plus one P&P 2005 poster I found at a yard sale!  Just a bit creased).  I have several of my own titles, autographed, and a bio of Princess Margaret.

More contests to come!

Just sign up to join my rarely-sent newsletter (I'm lazy, but they do have info on upcoming releases, historical tidbits, contests) at my website.  (You'll also receive a free 1920s novella, "The Girl in the Beaded Mask"!  If you're already subscribed, you're automatically entered)

Thanks so much for helping me clean out the new house!!!

Weekend Links

 Happy weekend, everyone!  It's cold and snowy here, perfect writing in my pajamas weather.  Here are a few things to read as we stay warm and cozy... 

(and as I'm slooooowly unpacking here at the new house, I'm finding lots of reading-related goodies that need new homes!  Giveaways coming up)

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married on this day in 1840

The great conductor Seiji Ozawa passed away

How to throw the ultimate fondue party!  (I am thinking about this for a housewarming...)

Mary Queen of Scots was executed on February 8, 1587 (lots of royal landmarks this month!)

A new Fawlty Towers stage play is coming!

Walking tours around Literary London

6 rare Audrey Hepburn in Paris photos

And best wishes to King Charles for a swift recovery

Contest Winner

 The winner of the bag of books and movie goodies is--June Calvin!!  Congrats, and watch this space for more giveaways soon...

Contest!!!

 I am such a slacker!!!  I blame deadline and revisions (now turned in, hooray).  Let's have one more day for this contest.  A sort-of Austen theme, with DVDs, an address book, a notebook, plus a signed copy of my own Christmas book (if you're in the mood for the holiday a little early), in a cute tote bag.  Just comment here, and/or sign up for my newsletter (which also has some contests and sneak preview content), at amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com with Newsletter in the subject...

Book Launch Day!!!

Today is that most exciting of author days--a new book is toddling its way out into the world!  I'm particularly excited about this new series, written as my Amanda Allen self, because it has to of my favorite things--my hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the 1920s.  My friend and fellow Crooked Lane Mysteries author Dorothy McFalls is joining me to talk about her own book release, and a town that holds her heart.  Comment on this post (or any for the rest of the week, where I'll be talking about the history and characters behind my book!) for a chance to win signed copies of either book (Dorothy will be giving away the first in her series, Asking for Truffle....)

From Amanda:

I've lived in Santa Fe with my husband, dog, and cat for just a few years, but I feel like I've been here my whole life!  My family started visiting Northern New Mexico (mostly Santa Fe and Taos) since I was about 3, and the place has been in my heart ever since.  It's a special land, with many different kinds of natural beauty (mountains, deserts, forests) and endless, bright blue skies.  It's filled with history, as well, the blending (harmonious and sometimes distinctly not so) of Spanish, Native American, and Anglo culture.  It's also a mecca for artists and writers, creative people of all sorts.  In the summer, I'm constantly going to the opera, chamber music concerts, and free music on the Plaza (which my dog Abigail also enjoys!0, as well as enjoying the great restaurants.  For a town of less than 70,000, it's a lot in a little.

I've also always loved the 1920s.  10 short years full of astonishing change!  New fashions, new haircuts, innovative music, cars, bootlegging.  Coco Chanel!  Phryne Fisher!  (okay, she is fictional, but I love her).  What's not to love??  But as I looked deeper, I saw it had a dark side, too.  The war, a terrible war that claimed millions of lives and left families devastated, was just over, along with a flu outbreak that killed millions more.  The certainties of old ways of life were gone forever, and no one knew what was going to replace them yet.  A person couldn't even get a legal cocktail to forget the pain!  (though there was always laudanum...)  It seemed like the perfect time for a murder mystery, and so I switched from my Elizabethan Mysteries series (another time period of enormous change and progress, which I also love) to 1922.

Maddie Vaughn-Alwin is a young woman, but she's seen upheaval for herself.  Born into a wealthy New York family, she always felt different.  She wanted to be an artist, not a society matron, and to marry her childhood sweetheart.  Her husband killed in the war, she leaves NYC for a new world, a world where she can find new freedom--Santa Fe.  Far from the culture mecca it is now, with million dollar vacation homes and tony shops, it's a dusty small town with great natural beauty (and cheaper lodgings--I often wished I had a time machine to go back, scoop up a place on Canyon Road, and then come back to the present with deed in hand, LOL).  It's also full of free spirits just like her, artists, writers, and family black sheep who feel they've found a new home where they can be themselves.  And Maddie does, too--until her housekeeper Juanita's husband is killed at La Fonda, the nicest hotel in town, and his teenaged son is accused of the crime.  Then she glimpses the darker side of her new home.

I hope you'll enjoy Maddie's journey as much as I have!  For the next week, I'll be posting about the history of some of the real-life places I've used in Santa Fe Mourning--La Fonda, the Museum of Art, Canyon Road, even my favorite grocery store, Kaune's (still in business!)

From Dorothy:

Back in the early 1990s, my husband and I designed and built a small one-bedroom beach house on the somewhat overlooked, artsy island of Folly Beach in South Carolina. We made our home there for the next twenty years. When we moved there, the town was still attracting those who saw the world a little differently. It was a hotspot for surfers, artists, and those who simply didn’t want to subscribe to society’s norms. It’s also a place for vacationers to flock to in the summer. Most of the houses around us were vacation rentals. Our joke to ourselves was always, “Don’t like your neighbors? Wait a week. You’ll get new ones.” It’s been quite a shock to move into a neighborhood and have to learn to deal with neighbors who aren’t transient.

I love this little island town with its downtown that spans just a few blocks. I love that it’s not a perfect resort community. There are still shacks interspersed among the newly built beachfront mansions, although those are rapidly disappearing. One this island you can find a house that was built around an old ship. You can also find the house where Gershwin stayed while writing Porgy and Bess. It’s not a fancy mansion, but a modest island home.

There’s a wildness to the island. The lawns aren’t neatly manicured. There’s a time in the spring when the islanders know to stop mowing in order to let the wildflowers grow and bloom. Bobcats, minks, raccoons, otters, and eagles have all visited our tiny yard.

When I set out to write my latest mystery series, the Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery series, I knew I wanted to feature this town and the quirky residents it’s attracted over the years. But I couldn’t really set it on Folly Beach, because the town I’d moved to and fell in love with twenty years ago is rapidly changing. As pressure to develop the coastline increases, the specialness and the undeveloped nature of the island is slipping away. So I decided to set the series on Camellia Beach, which is inspired by my experiences on Folly Beach. But it’s an island caught in the net of time. It’s more like the Folly Beach that existed in the past instead of even the Folly Beach that I left three years ago after my daughter was born.

At first glance, my main character Charity Penn, sees Camellia Beach as many viewed Folly Beach for years—a shabby community with very little value. But the more time she spends in this special little town, the more she comes to value the untouched and unpolished nature of the community. Within the confines of this series, I hope to capture and preserve a piece of Main Street Americana that is slowly disappearing from our nation’s landscape.

In Playing with Bonbon Fire, the second book in the Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery series, Penn is at it again—cooking up treats while working to keep everyone town of Camellia Beach safe. A threatening note, a dead musician, and decades of secrets put the town’s first beach music festival and its band members in grave danger. With the help from her meddling half-sister and a new flavor of chocolate sweets to ignite the senses, Penn follows the shifting tide of evidence to uncover a long-buried secret.

Dorothy St. James, known for the White House Gardener Mystery series, has gone back to her roots and setting a mystery series in a Southern beach town much like the one she’s called home for the past 20 years. The Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries combine her love of fine chocolates, quirky Southern charm, with a dash of danger. Asking for Truffle is the first book in this exciting new series. Playing with Bonbon Fire came out in March 2018 and In Cold Chocolate is scheduled to release September 2018.

What are some places that have been special in your life?  And most important--what kind of chocolate is your favorite???

Order Playing With Bon-Bon Fire

Order Santa Fe Mourning

Another giveaway....

The holidays are all about giving, right???  Well, that and reading, at least around my house.  (I love curling up under the quilt my grandmother made, with a peppermint patty drink and a good holiday story to make the cold outside go away!).  Today at the Risky Regencies, I am giving away a download of my new novella, A Very Tudor Christmas!!!  Leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win...

Risky Regencies