FEATURED AUTHOR: LIBBY KLEIN

ABOUT THE BOOK

Cape May, New Jersey is the site of a big culinary competition—and the knives are out . . .
 


Poppy McAllister is happy about opening a Jersey Shore B&B—but working in a professional kitchen has always been her real dream. Now it’s coming true, at least briefly, as she teams up with her former fiancée, Tim—and his condescending partner, Gigi—during the high-profile Restaurant Week challenge. Poppy’s specialty is pastries, despite her devotion to a Paleo diet. But if anyone can make glorious gluten-free goodies, it’s Poppy.
 


Things get heated quickly—especially when some ingredients get switched and Tim’s accused of sabotage. Relatively harmless pranks soon escalate into real hazards, including an exploding deep fryer. And now one of the judges has died after taking a bite of Poppy’s cannoli—making her the chef suspect . . .  
 


Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!

Book Details:


Title: Restaurant Weeks Are Murder   

Author: Libby Klein   

Genre: Cozy mystery

Series: A Poppy McAllister Mystery, book 3

Publisher: Kensington (February 26, 2019)

Print length: 304 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours





LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH LIBBY KLEIN

A few of your favorite things: My fur babies, French press coffee, my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, Rose vanilla body scrub, UGGS, fuzzy blankets, and my award winning book, Dayton the Rabbit (2nd place in the fourth grade creative writing contest)
Things you need to throw out: Twenty-seven pairs of socks with holes in them.
Clothes that I haven’t fit into for thirty-five years.
Self-esteem issues.
Receipts from 1989 – I just know I’ll be audited if I get rid of them.


Things you love about writing: I love laughing at things my characters say and do. Aunt Ginny is always surprising me.
Things you hate about writing:
I hate when the day job gets in the way. I have an anxiety attack just thinking about missing a deadline.

Things you never want to run out of: Coffee, Peanut butter, bacon
Things you wish you’d never bought: Quinoa – this tastes nothing like rice
Tofu – what was I thinking?
Psyllium husk bread – just no.


Favorite foods: Peanut butter, chocolate, pasta, cheese, bread, TOAST
Things that make you want to throw up: Seafood, organ meats, snails, kombucha

Favorite music: I love Motown, 70s Rock, 80s Hair bands, Alternative – Right now my favorite artists are Imagine Dragons and 21 Pilots.
Music that make your ears bleed: Rap, Acid, Folk.

Favorite beverage: Coffee! But I’ve recently fallen in love with Thai iced tea. OMG
.
Something that gives you a pickle face: Green Tea – yuck!

Something you’re really good at: Baking, Dancing with an aerobics video.

Something you’re really bad at: Knitting, crochet, needlework, throwing a ball, dancing without an aerobics video
.

Things you always put in your books: Humor – We have enough sadness in the world.
Body Confidence themes – We need to learn to love ourselves just the way we are.
Feel good themes – I want my readers to finish my books happy and uplifted.

Things you never put in your books: Animal cruelty.

Things to say to an author: I loved your book. It meant so much to me on a deep, personal level. 
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: You had a mistake on page 284.

Favorite places you’ve been: French Polynesia, Paris, Venice, Maui, Scotland
.
Places you never want to go to again: Pisa, North Hollywood, The Piggly Wiggly in Bonifay, Florida.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Carol Burnett, Betty White, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson
.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Every single political Talk Show host – if I want drama and unbridled opinion sharing I’ll invite my family over.

Best thing you’ve ever done: 
Cooking lessons in Paris.
Biggest mistake: Helicopter tour over Kauai where I learned the meaning of motion sickness.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR 


Libby Klein graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School sometime in the '80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten free goodies, and befriend random fluffy cats. She writes from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard. Most of her hobbies revolve around eating, and travel, and eating while traveling.




Connect with Libby:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon


Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble



a Rafflecopter giveaway

FEATURED CHARACTER: LIBBY KLEIN’S GIAMPAOLO GUISEPPI LARUSSO

ABOUT THE BOOK

When her sleepwalking aunt is accused of committing murder, Poppy McAllister finds out there's no rest for the weary . . .
 


Between trying to get her gluten-free baking business off the ground and helping her aunt remodel her old Victorian into the Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, New Jersey, Poppy is ready to call, “Mayday!” And now Aunt Ginny—who's a handful wide-awake—is sleepwalking on her new sleeping pill prescription and helping herself to neighbors’ snacks and knickknacks.



Even more alarming, a local humanitarian who worked with troubled teens is found murdered, and the police suspect the “Snack Bandit.” Other than a bad case of midnight munchies and some mild knickknack kleptomania, Aunt Ginny is harmless. Someone’s  trying to frame her. Poppy will need to work tirelessly to uncover the killer and put the case to rest—before Aunt Ginny has to trade in her B & B for a bunk bed behind bars . . .



Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!

Book Details:

Title: Midnight Snacks Are Murder

Author’s name: Libby Klein   

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Poppy McAllister Mysteries, book 2

Publisher: Kensington (July 31, 2018)

Print length: 304 pages 

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH LIBBY KLEIN’S GIAMPAOLO GUISEPPI LARUSSO

Giampaolo, how did you first meet Libby?
I was minding my business, running my coffee shop and listening to some Dean, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime," when a bright light came on and there was the sound of a keyboard clacking in the background. From that moment I knew I was not alone.

Want to dish about her?
Libby is a train wreck. She laughs at her own jokes, watches too many cat videos, and if you cut her she will bleed coffee. She is the hot mess, but I kind of like all of those things about her.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
I think Libby’s obsession with coffee is how she found me. All those hours spent in cafes was bound to end up in a book one day. I like to think that I’m her dream man. I’m sexy, I’m suave, and I make perfetto cappuccino.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
My favorite scenes are the amore with Poppy.

Did you have a hard time convincing Libby to write any particular scenes for you?
No, but Libby stops very early. I want to see where things will go if she’d give us more time. What can I say, I am Italian, no?

What do you like to do when someone’s not reading about you?
I do not have a lot of free time. I have my coffee shop, and we stay busy all year even though Cape May is a seasonal resort town. I come from a grande famiglia, so I spend a lot of time trying to avoid drama. Plus, I have Henry, my five-year-old bambino. He is good boy, but handful. It’s been just the two of us for most of Henry’s life, so this is all he knows.
    
If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
I would remove this how you say, deadbeat, Tim. We do not need him. Nobody likes this triangolo amoroso, or love triangle. Especially me.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
The sun rises and sets on Poppy.  I call her my Bella because she is beautiful. I find myself thinking about her all the time. Her happiness is everything to me. And her Aunt Ginny is hilarious. I just want to make a latte, pull up a chair, and watch. She’s old enough to be my Nonna, but she can run in circles around me. I think you know how I feel about Tim, the “rivale.” Basta.

Do have any secret aspirations that Libby doesn’t know about?
Oh, si si si. But I cannot reveal them in case Libby might see.

What impression do you make on people when they first meet you?
Mostly the women, they throw themselves at me. I have had some interesting propositions, but I am not interested. They would just find out I am very boring anyway. They think I am some kind of playboy since I’m European. I just want to relax with a glass of wine and a good book, snuggled down with someone I love. Gia is a one-woman man.

What are you most afraid of?
Not being a good father. I lost my father when I was young. I would give anything to have him back. I am right here for Henry, and I do not want my business to get in the way of raising him and being there for him no matter what life throws his way.

What’s the best trait Libby has given you?
Libby understands that I’m sensitive without making me less manly, but she’s made me too good looking. It’s all the ladies notice. I am not a piece of meat.

What do you like best about Poppy?
Poppy is gorgeous. She has absolutely no poker face. Every emotion is on display. Her eyes are so expressive. You can see that she’s full of love just waiting to unleash it, but something holds her back. She cares about people very deeply. Even with the customers in the shop that she just met. If someone has an allergy she will find a way to make them something special, so they do not feel left out. She made Henry a special birthday cake when she barely knew him. She has had a few tough turns in life, but she is stronger than she knows. I wish she could love herself the way other people do. She thinks she needs to change before she will be beautiful. That is pazzo - insane. She is stunning. If she knew what she was doing to me she would bring the chaperone with her.

What’s Libby’s worst habit?
Libby checks social media constantly, so she can respond to her readers. Always with the Twitter and the Facebook. She needs to focus on writing the next book, so I can see if Poppy and I end up together. 


If your story were a movie, who would play you?
A great Italian actor like Raoul Bova.

Will you encourage Libby to write a sequel?
Libby is always thinking of ways to get Poppy and Aunt Ginny in trouble. I do not think she needs any encouragement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Libby Klein graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School in the '80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. She has worked as a stay at home mom, climbing the ranks to the coveted position of Grandma. She also dabbles in the position of Vice President of a technology company which mostly involves bossing other people around, making spreadsheets, and taking out the trash. She writes culinary cozy mysteries from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard. Most of her hobbies revolve around eating and travel, and eating while traveling.

Connect with Libby:
Website  |  Cozy Mystery Crew  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |   Pinterest  |   Instagram  |  Amazon 

Buy the book:

Amazon  |  B&N  |  Kobo  |  Google Play  |  BookBub
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway