I’m awakened by the growing hum of a lawnmower. Did I make it to the afternoon?

After stretching all my limbs in every direction and sucking in a deep yawn, I roll over and glance at my alarm clock. Seven minutes after eleven. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

Friday nights tend to be the busiest nights at Subplot, my literary-themed mixology lounge, located in the basement of D’Amico’s Italian restaurant in my hometown of Hope Mills, Pennsylvania. The lounge closes at two, and by the time I closed up shop, drove home, and ate my ceremonial bowl of late-night (or early-morning, depending on how you look at it) cereal, I slunk into bed just after four a.m. Seven hours of sleep. I’ll take it.

Subplot opens at six tonight, but I’ll probably stroll in right around four. That will give me about two hours to do some chores around the lounge before customers start to arrive to our secret bookcase entrance and trickle downstairs to our literary wonderland.

I’m so excited to be launching our spring beverage lineup tonight. My favorite of our new seasonal cocktails is called Green Gables, a tequila-based cocktail featuring matcha and mint.

We insert our Fiction cocktail and Non-fiction non-alcoholic mocktail menus inside of hardcover books. In line with the spring theme, I’m wrapping our menus with dust jackets of books that tell stories of new beginnings, like Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

Before I head to work, though, I’m swinging by my parents’ house on the other side of town. I’m very close with them, and I try to visit a couple of times every week.

Today, we’re meeting up for a leisurely hike along the Delaware Canal Towpath trail which cuts through town and extends for dozens of miles through scenic woods. We’ll walk for about a mile and stop in downtown Hope Mills for lunch. My dad hinted at having a hankering for a Full Irish Breakfast, so I’m sure we’ll eat at the Dublin Ale House. Knowing my mom’s sweet tooth, we’ll have to save room for dessert, which we’ll probably get at Jackie and Jill’s, the bakery down the street.

At three, I’m meeting up with my best friend Nate at Riverside Roastery for coffee. The Roastery’s back patio is situated along the Promenade, a wide stretch of sidewalk which parallels the Delaware River. The view is incredible, especially on a beautiful, cloudless day like today. Nate is a trusted, in-demand handyman in town and works odd hours, so I always make an effort to get together with him when our schedules align. Plus, I have a feeling I’ll need a dose of caffeine before I head into work. My mouth is already watering for their honey lavender latte.

I better get out of bed and get moving. I have a very full day ahead of me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only do I love to keep busy, but staying productive also helps distract me from the heartbreak I feel over my recent broken engagement with my ex-fiancée Chloe. But that’s a long story. I’ll save it for another day …

Whiskey Business – A Mixology Lounge Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Reece Parker is a mixologist—shaken by his recent breakup, stirred up in a mystery, and searching for proof of his innocence…

After breaking off an engagement with his fiancée, Reece Parker opens Subplot, a literary-themed underground cocktail lounge in his quaint hometown of Hope Mills, Pennsylvania.

While launching a new business temporarily distracts him from self-pity, Reece’s regret is compounded when he stumbles upon a customer’s body behind the lounge after a whiskey club meeting gone wrong. As if he wasn’t already on the rocks, his ex-fiancée’s big brother is a police officer on the case.

Reece takes matters into his own hands to prove his innocence, save his new lounge’s reputation, and restore peace in his beloved town. But as he seeks out the victim’s killer, will he meet his own bitter end?

Meet the author
Adrian Andover is the author of WHISKEY BUSINESS, his debut novel and the first entry in the Mixology Lounge Mysteries series. Growing up, Adrian spent countless hours reading mysteries from Cam Jansen to The Boxcar Children and watching Murder, She Wrote with his grandma. Fast forward to 2020. Andover was living alone in a 200-square-foot studio apartment at the height of the pandemic when he found a joyful respite in cozy mysteries. However, not seeing many gay men represented in the genre, he set out to write his own novel. When he’s not reading, writing, revising, or publishing a story, he enjoys taking long walks, attending live music events, spending time with friends, and tasting new craft cocktails around his chosen hometown of Asbury Park, NJ.