Jane Reads: Scone Cold Killer by Lena Gregory | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Guest Post, and Giveaway

The Blurb

For Florida diner owner Gia Morelli, there’s no such thing as too much breakfast—unless it kills you...

When Gia Morelli’s marriage falls apart, she knows it’s time to get out of New York. Her husband was a scam artist who swindled half the millionaires in town, and she doesn’t want to be there when they decide to take revenge. On the spur of the moment, she follows her best friend to a small town in Central Florida, where she braves snakes, bears, and giant spiders to open a cheery little diner called the All-Day Breakfast Café. Owning a restaurant has been her lifelong dream, but it turns into a nightmare the morning she opens her dumpster and finds her ex-husband crammed inside. As the suspect du jour, Gia will have to scramble fast to prove her innocence before a killer orders another cup of murder...

Scone Cold Killer by Lena Gregory

Series: All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1516104659
e-Book File Size: 2997 KB
ASIN: B06Y52XG4B

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

The Excerpt

Another customer entered.

Since Willow was in the middle of taking an order, Gia turned around and went to seat him. A couple of minutes to cool off might be just what she needed.

“Good morning.” She forced a smile.

“Ma’am.”

The unmistakable New York accent caught her off guard, and she faltered.

“Uh…I mean, um…” She shook her head. She was going to have to get a grip on herself. She couldn’t break out in a cold sweat every time someone from New York walked into her shop. A lot of New Yorkers vacationed in Florida every year, many of them owning homes in both places. “Sorry, I was distracted for a moment. A lot on my mind.” And the tall, muscular stranger from New York just catapulted to the top of the list.

He narrowed his eyes. “No problem.”

“Will anyone be joining you today?”

“Nope. Just me.” After studying her another moment, he smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes—the darkest green eyes she’d ever seen, their irises surrounded by an even darker ring and framed by thick, black lashes any woman would envy.

“Would you like to sit at the counter, or would you like a table?”

“The counter is fine, thank you.”

She led him to the counter and handed him a menu. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please. Long flight.” He raked a hand through his stylishly disheveled dark hair. “Well, actually, that’s not exactly accurate. The flight wasn’t that long, the delay beforehand was.”

She laughed. “From New York?”

He shot her a charmingly crooked grin. “How’d you guess?”

“Hmm… I can’t imagine what gave it away.” Some of her tension eased. “So, what brings you to Florida?”

“A little business.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “Hopefully, a little pleasure.”

The Guest Post

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Lena Gregory

I always enjoy getting to know my readers, so I figure what better way to start than to share a little about myself. I’d love for you to leave a comment below sharing some things people don’t know about you and telling me if you share any of my interests!

1. My husband and I live on the south shore of eastern Long Island. We have three amazing kids, ages twenty-six, nineteen and seven. Yes, my little guy came as quite a very happy surprise! And I am extremely family oriented. I enjoy nothing more than spending time with my husband and kids.

2. I absolutely love big dogs. At the moment, we have a Golden Retriever, an Akita, a Weimaraner, and an Australian Shepherd. I lost my Bernese Mountain Dog/ Golden Retriever mix two years ago, and my heart is still broken. When my daughter and son-in-law finish building their house and move out, they’ll take two of the dogs with them, and then I’ll get a couple more. Of course, we’ll check out the animal shelter first when the time comes, but I would love another Bernese Mountain Dog, a Leonberger, or a Rhodesian Ridgeback. What do you think?

3. I am a master at procrastination. I don’t have a lot of writing time, but sometimes, when I do sit down to write, I just can’t seem to get going. So I tell myself there are important things I have to do before I can start writing. The first of those is usually Facebook, because there might be something interesting I “need” to know. I love to chat with readers, my agent, and other authors, so I often hang out there for a bit. Then I check all of my emails, because, you know, something really important that wasn’t there five minutes ago, might be there now. And then I head for Twitter. By the time I finish all of that, I’m usually hungry so, I grab a snack, then finally sit down to get started.

4. I am addicted to Diet Pepsi and chocolate!

5. I have worked many jobs, some I loved, others not as much. I was a dance teacher and choreographer for more than twenty years. When my daughter was in high school I choreographed and co-directed several high school musicals. I also worked in a deli, which will feature in a mystery I’m currently outlining. And I cleaned houses in the Hamptons, which gave me more material than you could imagine for a future cozy mystery series.

6. I am painfully shy. As much as I love socializing and even meeting new people, I do much better one on one than I do in a group.

7. I believe in ghosts, and they do feature in my first series, as well as a second series I am currently outlining.

8. I am very high strung and rarely relax. I go from the time I get up around 6:30 am until the time I go to bed, anywhere between 1:30 and 3:00 am. I talk fast, I move fast, and I always have a list a mile long of things I have to get finished in a day. Of course, I usually forget or misplace the list, so it doesn’t always help much.

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Y'all, Scone Cold Killer is so good! Click here for my Five Kitty review.

My January 25th blog post has another Guest Post from Lena Gregory and another excerpt.

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The Author

About Lena Gregory

Lena lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.

When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories.

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Email: lenagregoryauthor@gmail.com