Everly Swan first appeared in Live and Let Chai and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so letā€™s get to know Everly.


What is your name?
Everly Swan.

How old are you?
29.

What is your profession?
I own Sun, Sand & Tea, a seaside iced tea shop on the first floor of my historic Victorian home.

Do you have a significant other?
Not unless you count Lou.

What is his name and profession?
Lou is the big gray gull that Iā€™m pretty sure came with the house.

Any children?
No.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
No.

Do your parents live near you?
My parents both passed when I was very small, but my great-aunts Clara & Fran live nearby.

Who is your best friend?
Amelia Butters.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
Thereā€™s a fluffy white cat who lives in the house, at least I think she does, but Maggieā€™s more like a college roommate than a pet. She does what she wants.

What town do you live in?
Charm, NC.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
Own my house.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
My decks and gardens are lovely because they overlook the sea, but my iced tea shop is literally my dream come true, so Iā€™m not sure which I like more. Maybe the deck outside my tea shop!

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
I love food, so I guess my favorite is anything I get to share with my great aunts or friends.

Lemon cake. The women in my family have been making the same Lemon cake for three hundred years, and itā€™s absolutely magical. Thereā€™s a direct, delicious connection to my past in every single bite.

Favorite hobby?
I love creating new twists on the recipes in my familyā€™s ancient cookbooks. Especially the iced teas and desserts.

Favorite color?
Blue like the sea.

Favorite author?
Emily Bronte.

Favorite vacation spot?
I was away from home for a few years, but now that Iā€™m back, I canā€™t imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

Favorite sports team?
No.

Movies or Broadway?
Movies.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Morning.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Amateur.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
I like to work with Detective Grady Hays, but he likes to brood about it and throw around words like ā€œobstruction.ā€ I think Shakespeare would say the man doth protest too much.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I like to wake up early, sit on the deck and watch the sunrise with Lou. After that, I take a walk on the boardwalk because I love being outdoors. I love the feel of sun on my skin, the rush of an ocean breeze in my hair and that uniquely seaside scent of salt air, local flora and sunblock. I also walk because my pants are tight, but thatā€™s another story. I visit my great aunts at Blessed Bee, their shop on Main Street, where they sell all sorts of amazing products made of wax and honey from their personal hives. Then I wave to my best friend, Amelia, at her bookstore, and head home to open Sun, Sand and Tea for the early lunch crowd. I serve my familyā€™s delicious teas and favorite recipes until around seven, then I head back out to enjoy the town. Thereā€™s always something interesting to do after sunset. Street fairs and art festivals, book clubs and community events. I like to visit with friends after work, look at the local cowboys and chat with our hunky detective. Heā€™d be my total dream guy if heā€™d stop threatening to lock me up for meddling. I donā€™t even think thatā€™s a thing.


Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a signed copy of Live and Let Chai. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends February 27, 2019. Good luck everyone!


You can read about Everly in No Good Tea Goes Unpunished, the second book in the ā€œSeaside CafĆ©ā€ cozy mystery series, coming February 26, 2019.

Don’t marry into murder. . .

Catering her childhood friend’s beachfront wedding was a dream come true for Everly Swanā€”and, with hundreds of guests in attendance, great exposure for her new iced tea shop and cafĆ©. But when the well-to-do groom is found floating facedown in the surf, the locals of Charm, North Carolina, turn their suspicions to his new bride. Could she have been so desperate to lay her hands on his fortune that she arranged for his murder before they even set off on their honeymoon?

Everly knows her love-struck friend couldn’t be behind the murder, but with clues pointing in several directions, she can’t decide which wedding guest is the most likely culprit. Meanwhile, the frustratingly handsome Detective Hays has made it clear that Everly should stay out of the investigation altogether. But with a killer on the loose and a feeling that someone is watching her cafĆ© very closely, Everly knows that if she can’t solve this murder soon, her cake might be iced for good.

The second book in Bree Baker’s popular Seaside CafĆ© Mystery series, o Good Tea Goes Unpunished is a delightfully deadly cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Kate Carlisle.

Purchase Link
# # # # # # # # # # #

About the author
Bree Baker is a Midwestern writer, obsessed with small town high jinks, sweet tea and the sea. She’s been telling stories to her family, friends and strangers for as long as she can remember, and more often than not, those stories feature a warm ocean breeze and recipe she’s sure to ruin. Now, she’s working on those fancy cooking skills and dreaming up adventures for the Seaside Cafe mysteries. Her debut title, Live & Let Chai released from Sourcebooks in July 2018. Bree is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers and the Romance Writers of America. She is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Visit Bree at breebaker.com

All comments are welcomed.