Friday, May 21, 2021

Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: Dachshund Puppy Learns to Skateboard



Dear Friends,

I hope you have had a good week!  My post today is short and sweet.  I was on Youtube and found a video of a dachshund named Knox learning to skateboard! He is still a puppy and his person gives him a treat every time she says "skate" and he moves the skateboard along.  He is so smart! He scoots the board along and gets lots of treats.

I have my Momma trained the same way about pet steps. There are some little carpeted steps by my bed. I know how to go up and down them but I only choose to do so when there are treats involved.  Momma puts little kibble bites on the steps and says "good girl" as I step up or down and eat them.

When there are no treats involved it is way too much trouble to use those steps!  I wonder if there are any other dogs out there who have found the same?

Here is Knox skateboarding:

Have a great day!  Talk to you again next week.

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

 

Book Review and Giveaway - Beyond a Reasonable Donut (A Deputy Donut Mystery) by Ginger Bolton


My Review

Beyond a Reasonable Donut is a cozy mystery set in Wisconsin. Emily is a young widow who owns a coffeehouse named Deputy Donut. When she and her assistant are working a donut concession at a traveling carnival, they unexpectedly become involved with a number of seedy characters ... and end up working to solve a murder back in town.

I wanted to read this book because I enjoy foodie cozies, and the carnival setting sounded very appealing. I have not read the previous books in this series. It took me a few chapters to learn the characters and their relationships, but after I did I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a standalone.

Emily is a very likable protagonist. She is tenatively romantically interested in a local detective, Brent, but she plays amateur detective herself to solve a complex murder with lots of suspects. She puts herself in jeopardy a couple of times, but I was cheering for her to solve the mystery.

The author did a good job with setting the small town scene. I felt like I had visited Fallingbrook from all the charming descriptions. I especially enjoyed the latter part of the book set at a resort with old fashioned cabins and lodge.

There is a storyline about a mysterious antique locket with an old photo and a coded message. I found that particularly intriguing and it pleased my inner Nancy Drew.

Beyond a Reasonable Donut was lots of fun to read. I hope to catch up with more books in this series in the future. I recommend this cozy mystery for fans of food mysteries (yes, there are recipes in the back of the book!), small town settings, and lots of cozy charm.

Book Synopsis

Selling her corn fritters at a carnival, Deputy Donut CafĂ© owner Emily Westhill faces off against a murderer who doesn’t play fair . . .  

Emily and her assistant, Nina, are looking forward to manning the Deputy Donut tent at the Faker’s Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin—a festival held on Friday the thirteenth to celebrate good and bad luck. But Emily has barely dropped the corn fritters in oil when bad luck boils up. First, their bucket of confectioner’s sugar disappears—and then while a mime creates a distraction, a magician robs their cash register.  

After the carnival, their misfortune continues. Emily discovers that someone has broken into artist Nina’s loft and vandalized a large painting in progress with the bucket of stolen sugar, which is now on the head of the mime, who seems to have been suffocated. Emily would bet Nina was the intended victim, but the cops think Nina silenced the mime. Now Emily must catch the killer white-handed—before someone else kicks the bucket . . .


Author Bio

Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mystery series—coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat. The first four books in the series are SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS, GOODBYE CRULLER WORLD, JEALOUSY FILLED DONUTS, and the latest, BOSTON SCREAM MURDER. JEALOUSY FILLED DONUTS was chosen as the Woman’s World Best New Cozy Mystery of the week and was named as one of Dollycas’s Best Reads of 2019. BEYOND A REASONABLE DONUT will be on store shelves May 25, 2021. When Ginger isn’t writing or reading, she’s crocheting, knitting, sewing, or generally causing trouble. She’s also fond of donuts and coffee. As Janet Bolin, Ginger wrote the Threadville Mysteries—murder and mayhem in a village of crafty shops.

Author Links

Website – https://gingerbolton.com

Facebook –  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGingerBolton

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ginger_bolton

BookBub –  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ginger-bolton

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16834862.Ginger_Bolton/

Purchase Links: https://gingerbolton.com/where-to-buy

AmazonB&NKoboGoogle PlayIndieBound

Giveaway

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Book Spotlight and Giveaway - The Body in the Beaver Pond: A Keri Isles Event Planner Mystery by Cathy Perkins


Book Synopsis

Even an event planner doesn’t plan on murder . . .   

Keri Isles desperately needs to sell the Christmas Tree farm her cheating, rotten ex convinced his buddy, the judge, to saddle her with in the divorce settlement. Stuck in the Cascade Mountains, she’s lost her Seattle-based job and local job prospects are as scarce as internet service. When she finds the arrogant professor in charge of the local archeology dig floating face down in her beaver pond, however, unloading the property becomes secondary to staying out of prison.  

A savvy—and scheming—attorney may be able to keep her head above water, but the personal price of his retainer may be too high. It’s up to Keri to use her mad networking skills and deploy a team of archaeology students, a bad boy photographer, and assorted eccentric neighbors to find the killer and clear her name.


Author Bio

Cathy Perkins’s suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflage, hide-in-plain-sight skills employed by her villains. A member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers, she has coordinated conferences, contests and debut author programs, and is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill. When not writing, she can be found doing battle with the beavers over the pond height or setting off on another travel adventure. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

Author Links

Social Media

Facebook         http://www.facebook.com/CathyPerkinsAuthor

Facebook Page                https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCathyPerkins

Twitter            @cperkinswrites  https://twitter.com/cperkinswrites

BookBub – follow me!  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cathy-perkins

Instagram                    https://www.instagram.com/cathyperkinswrites/

Goodreads                  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5367341.Cathy_Perkins

Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Cathy-Perkins/e/B006K0IKUQ

Website                        https://cperkinswrites.com

Purchase Links

Amazon  Nook   Kobo

Giveaway

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