Hi! Dani Sloan here.

I am the brand new owner of Chef-to-Go in Normalton, IL. Chef-to-Go is a sort of hybrid catering company. In addition to doing events, I rent myself out as a personal chef to wealthy couples who don’t know a waffle iron from a food processor and I also sell box lunches out of the kitchen of the mansion I inherited from my grandmother’s sorority sister (long story).

The Lunch-to-Go arm of my business works because Normalton is a college town and if there’s one thing I learned when I lived in an apartment building full of college kids, they’re always hungry.

I had quit my job in HR around the same time that I inherited the mansion. And once I saw that the previous owner had been remodeling it to run as a bed and breakfast, I knew that the universe was telling me to return to my first love cooking. What I didn’t realize was that the universe was also going to send me three boarders.

Ivy, Starr, and Tippi had been my neighbors when I lived in my apartment and after an incident with their fourth roommate they needed somewhere to live. And I needed some cheap labor for my new company. A match made in heaven. Sort of.

Ivy came with Spencer Drake, her uncle who had promised her parents to keep an eye on her. Spencer is the chief of campus security and a real hunk. Too bad we both have so much baggage keeping us from exploring the attraction between us.

I thought I was all set and on the road to success until my first big catering client turned up dead. Nowhere, in the extensive business plan that I drew up before starting my business, was a strategy for dealing the murder. And when it turned out that the detective on the case had me in his crosshairs as the prime suspect, things got even worse.


You can find out if Dani manages to find the real killer in time to save herself in Tart of Darkness. The first book in the brand new “Chef-to-Go” mysteries. It debuted on April 3 and is available as an e-book, mass-market, or audible book.

Right when Dani thinks she’s hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion—cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students attending the nearby university, as well as providing personal chef services and catering events for the local community. To help support her new business, she opens her home to a few students, renting them rooms and becoming almost like a big sister figure in their lives.

But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, the friend of one of her boarders is murdered, and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects! She’ll have to scramble to clear her name and save her business before the killer reappears—perhaps to silence the new chef forever.

Purchase Link
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Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a signed book by Denise. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends April 5, 2018. Good luck everyone!

About the author
New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson lives in rural Illinois with her classical composer husband and whatever wildlife wanders into her yard. She writes the Scumble River, Devereaux’s Dime Store, and the Chef-to-Go mystery series. Denise also writes the Change of Heart and Delicious Love romances.

All comments are welcomed.