FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND by Sparkle Abby (and a giveaway!)

Posted byKate Eileen ShannonPosted inBlog Tour, Book Reviews, GIVEAWAY, Spotlight

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UPFRONT ADDENDUM:  We were supposed to have an interview today. But as sometimes happens in publishing, there was a slight delay in getting the book out which resulted in the tour being cancelled. But then it was back on, sort of at the last minute. As a matter of fact, I was finishing reading the book at a doctor’s appointment yesterday. Somehow, in all of that, the interview was forgotten about. Apologies!!!! So let’s salvage this! Mary Lee and Anita are around – why don’t we ALL interview them. Ask them a question in the comments and you will be entered to win an ebook copy of FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND. I’ll start us off with the obvious, why Sparkle Abbey – where did the name come from?

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write the popular pet mystery series which features whodunits set in the wacky world of pampered pets, precious pedigrees, and secrets. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon mystery series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 national bestseller, was followed by Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and Yip/Tuck.  Fifty Shades of Greyhound is the latest installment. They are on tour with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and for a chance to win  a $50 Amazon gift card, go HERE. 

Fifty Shades of Greyhound by Sparkle Abbey
Cozy Mystery
205 Pages

SYNOPSIS 

It was a killer party.

Caro Lamont, Laguna Beach’s favorite pet therapist is thrilled to support the elite fundraising gala for Greys Matter, a SoCal greyhound rescue group. All the guests in the couture-attired crowd are clad in varying shades of grey, the champagne and donations are flowing, and there are fifty gorgeous greyhounds in attendance. But before the evening ends a stranger in their midst is dead.

Caro sets out to help the rescue group find out the identity of the mystery guest, but soon finds herself in the doghouse with homicide detective, Judd Malone. And federal agent, John Milner. When there’s a second death, Caro is convinced she’s on the track of someone who wants a secret to stay buried, but it’s a race to see whether Caro can uncover the truth before the killer decides she’s next up.

MY REVIEW

I would say they had me at the title, but the truth is, I fell in love with this series back with the first book. But even if it is new to you, don’t be afraid to jump in here as it works well as a standalone. The characters are well written and interesting – with a nice cross between the more serious ones and the quirky ones – like Betty. The story opens at a fundraiser for greyhounds (a personal favorite animal fundraiser of mine – and greyhounds make wonderful pets to adopt, to find out where you can do so in your area and lots of great info, check HERE) and Caro has the first victim falling literally at her feet. But not before he grabs onto her shoulder and manages to pull off a brooch that is the cause of an ongoing feud between Caro and her cousin Mel. The story moves along quickly and would be perfect reading for a day at the beach. ♥♥♥♥♥

AUTHOR LINKS

www.SparkleAbbey.com

http://www.sparkleabbey.com/category/blog/

www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey

https://twitter.com/sparkleabbey

https://www.goodreads.com/sparkleabbey

http://www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey/

 PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

May 15 – Mystery Playground – Guest Post, Giveaway
May 16 – Kelly P’s Blog – Interview
May 17 – off
May 18 – off
May 19 – Thoughts in Progress – Review, Giveaway
May 20 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading  – Review, Interview
May 21 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle – Review
May 22 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog – Guest Post
May 23 – deal sharing aunt – Interview
May 24 – off
May 25 – off
May 26 – Community Bookstop – Review, Giveaway
May 27 – Books-n-Kisses – Review, Guest Post
May 28 – Brooke Blogs – Review, Guest Post 
May 29 –
May 30 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post
June 4 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Guest Post

 

Published by Kate Eileen Shannon

Artist, Crafter, Writer, purveyor of ephemera and bagatelle™

26 thoughts on “FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND by Sparkle Abby (and a giveaway!)”

  1. I always love to find new (to me) Authors. Will need to put all you books on my TBR list.

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  4. Kate – We hadn’t planned on a pen name but when our publisher asked us to use one, we came up with the idea of using the names of our rescue pets. Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog.) We also had other pets Chewbacca (Anita’s Yorki) and Matisse (ML’s dog) but somehow our publisher didn’t think Chewbacca Matisse was quite as catchy. 🙂

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  5. I am sorry to say I haven’t read your books yet since I just discovered you. That will change. Since I am a lone writer I was wondering how difficult or how easy it is to co-write with a friend. Does it draw you closer or does the friendship sometimes get in the way of the writing because of creative differences and not wanting to upset the applecart?

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    1. Hello sprinklednotes – Just liked saying that… 🙂 Because of the way we work together the creative differences are few and we work them out. It helps that we have two protagonists. Caro, the pet therapist (which ML writes), takes the lead in the odd-numbered books and Mel, the pet boutique owner (which Anita writes) takes the lead in the even-numbered books. We do a lot of advanced plotting to make sure the storylines fit together.

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    1. Lori – The stories come from different places. Desperate Housedogs came from thinking about what might actually make a dog go a little crazy. What might be going on in someone’s house or neighborhood that could make a pooch (and his owner) desperate. (We couldn’t use our own dogs because they are know to bark at leaves blowing by. LOL)

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  11. The name Sparkle Abbey interested me. When I read about the book, I knew I wanted to read them. Have one of the ladies ever owned a greyhound?

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  12. Pat – Neither of us has had a greyhound. In fact, we knew very little about the breed before beginning the research on this book. We did a lot of reading but really wanted more of a sense of what it’s like to own a greyhound and so we contacted several owners who agreed to talk with us. After talking with them and hearing their stories, we’re convinced they make wonderful family pets and so, you never know, there may be a greyhound in our future!

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  14. From the first time awhile back that I saw your combination name of Sparkle Abby, ladies, I just knew that your series was going to be a fun/good one. I have read the first book in this series and it was great. Have so many other authors that I follow, I have gotten behind in many of my series, but I will be planning on catching up very soon. Keep up the great work; the story is so original and so much fun to read. Fun for me is the key word right now as I have had to be homebound for three months and off my feet for all but one hour a day for absolutely necessary reasons 🙂 and that is tough to take for this long and probably double this time to come. So thank goodness for books and chocolate. 🙂

    Cynthia

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  15. I donno, I kinda like the pen name Chewbacca Matisse. 😉 How many more books do you have plans for?

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  16. Does the title or the story come first? I have read the first two in the series and enjoyed them. Thanks

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  17. I just wanted to thank you for writing about two of my favorite things…animals and Laguna Beach. I don’t have a dog and can’t afford to live in Laguna Beach, but you make it all seem possible.

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  18. I love to find new authors. I will now need to add your books to my TBR list on goodreads and then start reading.

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