Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: The Calmest Dachshund Puppy

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a good day!  I've had a busy week, so I will be short and sweet with my post here today.

I found a cute video about a very calm little dachshund puppy.  He has shiny black and tan fur and great big eyes.  This video is from the Loulou and Coco channel on Youtube, and the doxie lives with his family in the Netherlands.  It is a quiet, restful little video.



I hope you enjoyed watching this little puppy video!  It reminded me a bit of my puppy days, which were (ahem!) a few years ago.  One of my friends has a young dachshund puppy (shout out to Emily the doxie!) and I enjoy hearing about her adventures and mischief.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review and Giveaway - Killing Time (A Dodie O’Dell Mystery) by Suzanne Trauth

My Review
Killing Time is a cozy mystery set at Halloween on the Jersey Shore.  Dodie O'Dell manages a restaurant called the Windjammer and works with the Etonville Little Theatre.  She's currently working on a production of Dracula, but when a mysterious murder takes place that may involve one of her actors, she starts sleuthing ...

I wanted to read Killing Time because of the community theater setting.  I worked in theater years ago and love books with theater settings.  I also love cozy mysteries and Halloween, so this sounded like a fun read!

This was my first read in the Dodie O'Dell Mystery series.  I picked up on the characters and setting very quickly and enjoyed this book as a standalone.  That said, I have now added the rest of the books in the series to my "to read" list!

I throughly enjoyed this mystery.  It is especially well paced, with Dodie balancing work at the theater, work at her restaurant job, and planning a wedding with her police chief boyfriend, Bill ... all while doing some great sleuthing.

Dodie is a talented amateur detective who manages to get herself in jeopardy several times by taking chances.  She's a likable character, smart, hard working, and relentless about solving the case.

The mystery aspect of this book was well done.  There were a couple of surprising little twists along the way, and the denouement was exciting.

I recommend Killing Time for fans of cozy mysteries, and especially for anyone who enjoys Halloween mysteries or back stage theater settings.  It's a fun read!

Book Synopsis

With Halloween just around the corner, Dodie O’Dell is making preparations to transform the Windjammer Restaurant on the Jersey Shore into a haunted house, while the Etonville Little Theatre is staging Dracula. But casting the titular Transylvanian is proving challenging. The amateur actors in the company are not shy about chewing the scenery, but who among them can convincingly sink their fangs into a victim’s neck? When a mysterious newcomer with a transfixing Eastern European accent lands the part, rumors that he might be an actual vampire start to take flight—not unlike the bat who’s recently been spotted in the town park.

But everyone’s blood really runs cold when a stranger is found in the cemetery with a real stake in his heart. Dodie decides to put her Halloween theme menu on the back burner and stick her neck out to bring the killer into the light of day. She’d better keep her wits about her, though—or Dodie may be the next one to go down for the Count . . .

Author Bio

Suzanne Trauth is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and a former theatre professor at a university. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and League of Professional Theatre Women. When she is not writing, Suzanne coaches actors and serves as a celebrant performing wedding ceremonies. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

Author Links 
Webpage: www.suzannetrauth.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneTrauth/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuzanneMTrauth
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6187623.Suzanne_M_Trauth

Purchase Links
Amazon – B&N – Kobo

Giveaway
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Book Spotlight and Giveaway - Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree by Lillah Lawson

Book Synopsis
It’s an unusually warm autumn, 1929, and O.T. Lawrence is about as content as a cotton farmer can be in Five Forks, Georgia. Nothing—not poverty, drought, or even the boll weevi—can spoil the idyllic life he shares with his doting wife and children and his beloved twin brother Walt. Until illness and Black Tuesday take everything O.T. ever held dear in one fell swoop. Grieving, drinking, and careening toward homelessness, O.T. is on the brink of ending it all when he receives an odd letter from a teenage acquaintance, the enigmatic Sivvy Hargrove, who is locked away in Milledgeville’s asylum for the insane. Traveling through desperate antebellum towns, O.T. and his daughter Ginny are determined to find Sivvy and discover her story. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a love story to Georgia and the spirit of its people—a story of family, unconditional love, poverty, injustice, and finding the strength inside to keep on going when all is lost.

 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

Author Bio

Lillah Lawson has been writing since she was 8 years old, when she won a short story contest at her elementary school. The story was about a Princess who gets tired of waiting for the Prince to show up and saves herself. Once she saw her words printed in the local newspaper, she knew she wanted to be a writer.

Having written professionally as well as dabbling in poetry, children’s books and blogging, Lillah finally completed her first novel, Aroha, as part of a NaNoWriMo challenge in 2012.

She lives in Georgia, in the United States, with her partner and son and three rambunctious animals. She is currently working on another novel.

 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway  
During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree! To enter, please use the Gleam form below. 

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on May 22nd. You must be 18 or older to enter. 
– Paperback giveaway is open to the US only. 
– Only one entry per household. 
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion. 
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.  
Sassafras Tree 

Dear Abby - On Height

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a good week!  I am doing fine.  It is beautiful spring weather here, and I am enjoying walks these days.

My Uncle Dave sent me a funny meme to share with you this week.   It shows a dachshund on stilts:  "Quarantine Day 58: I built myself a Doberman." 

This meme made me think about height.  As most of you know, I am a rescue and traveled across country to live with my Momma.  When she first saw me she loved me and she also said, "she's so tall!"  I am, of course, not tall by dog standards, but I am tall by dachshund standards.  I am a proud dachshund - Jack Russell mix dog.  Momma says I am the height of a Jack Russell and the length of a dachshund.  That sounds about right.  You can see my height in this picture -- I am standing (ahem, rear view of me!) by my late, great brother Barney Fife.  He was a standard dachshund.

I am not allowed to walk stairs or to jump up and down, although I do climb onto the (low) bed in the bedroom I share with Momma.   Here is another picture I found of me from my early days.  I was about one year old here.

I hope all is well with you and your pups, whether they are long and low or tall!  And I wish you a happy weekend.

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review and Giveaway - Dali Summer by T.J. Brown

My Review
Dali Summer is a historical novel set in 1917 Cadaques, Spain.  It is the story of Dolors Posa, a quiet, reserved librarian who is living her life with tremendous caution.  Dolors was born out of wedlock and her mother committed suicide;  her grandmother, who raised her, instilled a sense of shame in Dolors. One summer Dolors' life changes as she meets a brother and sister who are "summer people" in Cadaques. The sister is a beautiful fortune teller and the brother is handsome, mysterious, and a bit more reserved. Dolors also meets a young painter (13 years old) on the beach named Salvador Dali.

I wanted to read this novel because the setting and characters sounded unique and interesting.  I love novels that feature art history and was intrigued by the Dali character.

This is a really unusual book.  Dolors became color-blind (she only sees black, white, and gray) as the result of a childhood accident. During the summer of 1917 she begins to have visions and headaches and sees vivid colors.  This is a big part of the story.  The visions add a bit of a magical realism element to the storytelling.

Dolors is a unique character.  She has such a strong sense of decorum that she is repressed and afraid to live.  Her grandmother is a thoroughly awful person who has treated Dolors badly all her life, and Dolors still lives her life according to her grandmother's wishes.  There are a couple of other characters in this book who are highly unsympathetic and who cause harm to Dolors (I won't say more, no spoilers) and I found some of these scenes difficult to read.

It was heartening to see Dolors break free of her grandmother's grip over the summer as the result of her new friendship with the summer people and a young Dali.  I enjoyed the book more as Dolors felt more freedom to live her life and pursue her own dreams.

The sense of time and place in Dali Summer is beautifully evoked by T.J. Brown.  I could really picture the small beach town from the author's description.

Dali Summer is a novel that will interest readers who are intrigued by art history and the early life of Salvador Dali, fans of historical fiction, and anyone who wants to spend some time in 1910's coastal Spain.

Book Synopsis
Her wild and vivid visions inspire an icon…
 
Nothing is more important to prim, colorblind Dolors Posa than family and living down the shame of her illegitimate birth, but when the sudden onset of fantastical visions threaten her sterling reputation, she must search for answers before the inhabitants of the tiny village of Cadaqués brand her as demente– crazy like her mother. In a quest to stop her hallucinations, she befriends a beautiful, intoxicating fortune teller and her handsome anarchist brother, as well as becoming a reluctant muse for thirteen-year-old Salvador Dali. In a summer that changes everything, Dolors must choose between her family’s reputation and a life filled with adventure, friendship, rapturous color and the possibility of love.
 
Set against the political upheaval of 1917 Spain, Dali Summer captures the fierce spirit of Catalonia, the generosity and stubbornness of its people and the blossoming promise of a woman who thought life was bland and empty and had long ago had passed her by.

 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Author Bio
Well behaved women rarely make history. Teri Brown lived that quote way before she ever even heard it. The two things she is most proud of, (besides her children), is that she jumped out of an airplane once and she beat the original Legend of Zelda video game. She is a novel writer, head banger, pet keeper, math hater, cocktail drinker, booty shaker, book reader, city slicker, food fixer, French kisser, rule breaker, wine sipper and word scribbler. She loves her husband, kitties and chocolate.
 
Find out more about Teri at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.


Giveaway 
One lucky reader will win a copy of Dali Summer (your choice - print or eBook).  The winner will be chosen to Rafflecopter entry (see below).  Giveaway ends midnight, 5/21.  The winner will be notified by email and needs to respond within 48 hours or a new name will be drawn.  Good luck!

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