Spend Christmas at the HEARTACHE MOTEL (and a giveaway)

You know one of the nicest things about ebooks? If you are a last minute Christmas shopper you can get an ebook at the last minute. Heck, you can sit in the car outside of Aunt Gert’s on Christmas day, order one on your phone and go to the door and wish Aunt Gert a Merry Christmas and tell her her present is sitting on her Kindle. And if Aunt Gert is a fan of cozy mysteries and Elvis (and who isn’t?) then Heartache Motel would be the best last minute gift for her! And here today, on tour with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, are the lovely ladies who wrote it. (enter giveaway at the end) Welcome Terri Austin, Larissa Reinhart and LynDee Walker and Merry Christmas.

Terri: Thanks so much for having us! *waving madly* 

LynDee: It’s always fun to chat with you, Kate! Merry Christmas! 

Larissa: Hey Kate! And Aunt Gert! So glad to be here!

How did this collaboration come about? Had the three of you met somewhere and you came up with the idea yourselves or was it something your publisher came up with?

Terri: Larissa originally came up with the idea. She wondered what it would be like if our characters met around Christmastime. It sort of evolved from there. I can’t remember who had the Memphis idea. Was that you, LynDee?

LynDee: It was. My mom was a big Elvis fan, and I have great memories of going with her to Graceland. Since Memphis was kind of in the middle of where all our heroines are, and we could each find a way to get them there, it fell into place. I’m so glad. I love these stories!

Larissa: We’d like to claim a professional study that led us to believe readers would love a Christmas anthology set at a sketchy motel filled with Elvis and female impersonators. But we can’t. This book came from the three of us goofing around.

Who came up with the constants in the stories like Man-Margaret?

Terri: I think we all sort of came up with a few ideas and we threw them out to the group. I know the Suspicous Minds Bar was Larissa’s brainchild. Along with the Rock-a-hula cocktail—which I need to try. What’s in this concoction, Ris?

LynDee: I honestly can’t remember how the drag queens came about, but I love every one of them. I think it was Ris, because it just sounds like one of her brilliant ideas. And then we all swapped emails giving them names and outfits and such. I’m pretty sure Terri christened Man-Margret. Right?

Larissa: Rock-A-Hula cocktail. One part everything in your liquor cabinet, spin yourself around, and your hips will shake on their own accord. That’s the Rock-A-Hula baby! Which is why I stick with beer.

I have always been an Elvis fan but not a FAN so I never wanted to go to Graceland but I have to admit since reading your stories, I think I’m adding it to my bucket list. Have any of you actually been to Graceland?

LynDee: I have! It’s awesome, and I highly recommend that everyone go. It should be on the Great American list of things to see. My mom and I went for spring break my freshman year of college. I was eighteen, and just way too cool to go with my mom to Elvis’s house. Until we got inside. It was just super cool, being in the place where such talent had lived.

Larissa: Terri and I had to live vicariously through LynDee and Google for this one.

Terri, what can we expect to follow DINER IMPOSSIBLE and when?

I’ve been working on a romance trilogy. HIS EVERY NEED comes out next May, so that’s kept me pretty busy. While I don’t have a date yet, different storylines for Rose and the gang are tumbling around my brain.

Larissa, I’m starting to feel like I should be giving you co-billing on the blog. What’s next after HIJACK IN ABSTRACT?

LOL! Because I love being on this blog! You won’t see me again until Juneish, when Cherry’s number four, DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE, comes out. This time she’s on to a cyber bullying caper turned deadly at a posh, private school.

And last but not least, LynDee, after BURIED LEADS what can we expect from Nichelle?

I’m finishing up galley proofs of the third Headlines in High Heels novel now. It’s called SMALL TOWN SPIN, and it’ll be on sale in April (not too long, y’all!) Nichelle gets pulled into the death of a superstar athlete’s son in a teeny town out on the coast. The local sheriff is quick to write it off as a suicide, but the deeper Nichelle digs, the more she suspects there’s something to the story the police aren’t seeing.

Merry Christmas to all three of you and your families. Before you go, is there anything else you want to tell your readers?

LynDee: Y’all have made 2013 an amazing year for me, and I’m thankful this holiday for every one of you. I hope your season is filled with warmth and laughter.

Larissa: Merry Christmas to you and your readers! Hope none of you get any coal in your stocking. *wink*

BIOS 

TERRI L. AUSTIN

As a girl, Terri L. Austin thought she’d outgrow dreaming up stories and creating imaginary friends. Instead, she’s made a career of it. She met her own Prince Charming and together they live in Missouri. She loves to hear from readers!

WEB: www.terrilaustin.com

FOLLOW: www.twitter.com/terrilaustin

LIKE: www.facebook.com/terrilaustin

LARISSA REINHART

After seeing Paper Moon as a child, Larissa Reinhart fell in love with stories about confidence capers. QUICK SKETCH is the Cherry Tucker prequel to PORTRAIT in the mystery anthology THE HEARTACHE MOTEL. HIJACK IN ABSTRACT is the third in the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series from Henery Press, following STILL LIFE IN BRUNSWICK STEW (#2) and PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY (#1), a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist. She lives near Atlanta with her minions and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit.

WEB:  larissareinhart.com

Follow: twitter.com/RisWrites

Like: facebook.com/RisWrites

LYNDEE WALKER

LynDee Walker grew up in the land of stifling heat and amazing food most people call Texas, and wanted to be Lois Lane from the time she could say the words “press conference.” An award-winning journalist, she traded cops and deadlines for burp cloths and onesies when her oldest child was born. Writing the Headlines in Heels mysteries gives her the best of both worlds. LynDee adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel.

WEB: www.lyndeewalker.com

FOLLOW: www.twitter.com/LynDeeWalker

LIKE: www.facebook.com/lyndeewalkerbooks

BLURB 

Heartache Motel: Three Interconnected Mystery Novellas
Genre: Women Sleuths, Cozy Mystery, Humorous Mystery, Short Stories
Number of Pages: 225
Published by: Henery Press (December 10, 2013) 

Elvis has left the building, but he’s forever memorialized at the Heartache Motel. Filled with drag queens, Rock-a-Hula cocktails, and a vibrating velveteen bed, these three novellas tell the tales of three amateur sleuths who spend their holidays at the King’s beloved home.

DINERS KEEPERS, LOSERS WEEPERS by Terri L. Austin
A Rose Strickland Mystery Novella (follows Diner Impossible)

When Rose and the gang head to Graceland right before Christmas, they get all shook up: the motel is a seedy dump and an Elvis impersonator turns up dead. Rose discovers missing jewels tie into the death and her suspicious mind flips into overdrive, questioning her fellow guests, the staff, and even a cute impersonator who keeps popping up. Will Rose be able to find the murderer and get home by Christmas day? It’s now or never.

QUICK SKETCH by Larissa Reinhart
A Cherry Tucker Mystery Novella (prequel to Portrait of a Dead Guy)

Sassy Southern artist Cherry Tucker and her poker-loving boyfriend, Todd, pop into Memphis to help Todd’s cousin who’s been hustled out of his savings, right before Christmas. Staying at the shady Heartache Motel, Cherry can’t tell a shill from a mark and fears everyone is playing them for chumps. Cherry and Todd quickly find themselves in a dangerous sting that could send them to the slammer or mark them as pigeons from cons looking for an even bigger score.

DATELINE MEMPHIS by LynDee Walker
A Headlines in Heels Mystery Novella (follows Buried Leads)

Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke thinks she’s going home for Christmas. But a quick stop at Graceland proves news breaks in the strangest places. When the King’s home gets locked down with Nichelle inside, she chases this headline into the national spotlight, and the thief’s crosshairs. Christmas dreams of blue suede Manolos fade, and all Nichelle wants from Santa is to land the story before the thief cuts off her news feed for good.

MY REVIEW

I’m not a big fan of short stories or novellas but this trio of stories was great fun. The stories all take place at the Heartache Motel – a dump would be an upgrade. But the regulars, who appear in all three stories are a lot of fun. Starting with the desk clerk Man-Margaret, a seven foot tall drag queen done up as Ann Margaret. Rose, Roxy and Ma take a break from the diner for Christmas and go to Graceland with Axton and his stoner roommate, Joe, tagging along. They meet Ron, an Elvis impersonator with some “special order” rhinestones on his cape. Then we get to meet Cherry and Todd on their way to what we know (this one is a prequel) will be their very eventful  Vegas visit and they get involved with what might generously be called a ‘charity’ poker game – or maybe a con. And finally we have Nichelle stopping at Graceland, while en route home to Texas, for a Christmas present for her mother. She is stuck there when Graceland is locked down because one of Elvis’s magnificent belts has gone missing. These were three very light, funny stories that will appeal to readers of any of the three series or will introduce you to a new series you should be reading. My only disappointment was I thought Rose, Cherry and Nichelle would bump into each other at some point. hmmmmm …. Perhaps next Christmas? ♥♥♥♥½

For the giveaway of several ebooks, a Barnes and Noble gift card and some other goodies, first leave a comment below then go HERE and scroll down the page to the Rafflecopter giveaway. Have a Happy Holiday everyone!

Tour Participants

December 10 – A Chick Who Reads – Review
December 11 – Socrates’ Book Review Blog – Socrates’ Cozy Cafe – Review, Interview
December 12 – Christy’s Cozy Corners  – Review
December 13 – Musings and Ramblings – Review
December 14 – Books-n-Kisses – Review
December 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
December 16 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review December 17 – fuonlyknew – Review
December 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
December 19 – Mochas, Mysteries and More – Interview
December 20 – My Recent Favorite books – Review
December 21 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Interview
December 22 – Jane Reads – Review, Interview
December 23 – Chloe Gets A Clue – Interview
December 23 – Queen of All She Reads – Review