I’ve never been a morning person. It takes me a good three cups of coffee to fuel up my day. Only – I’m currently undergoing an experimental treatment to cure my asthma, and that requires me to severely limit my caffeine intake. So since you’ve made all the effort to visit me for the day, I’ll pour the one fully leaded cup I’m allowed to have coffee with you. We’re at my aunt’s most recent flip house – a half-remodeled Victorian on Galveston Island. I grew up here, but I’ve been away for about a decade, living a completely different life in Seattle with my husband.

Only – Kevin died a year ago, so I came home to regroup and to find a way out of my grief. We had had so many plans for our future. He had been aiming for early retirement, and then we were going to travel the world as craft chocolate makers, bringing home souvenirs of our trips in the form of cacao beans bought directly from the farmers we had visited. That wooden box on the table – that’s full of maps. Maps of the places Kevin and I were planning to go together – and one from Colombia, where I went on my own, a few months ago. Because I’ve decided to follow the dream. In Kevin’s memory.

But enough of dwelling on the past – before the grief paralyzes me, let’s head down to the shop. Greetings and Felicitations houses both my chocolate factory and my retail store. It’s located on the historic Strand. A lot of the buildings on this street survived the Great Storm of 1900. This island has always had a love-hate with the ocean. I grew up here, so those feelings are ingrained in me too.

On an ordinary day, you’ll find me setting up the shop, along with my two assistants Carmen – who makes our baked goods, coffee drinks and horchata – and Emma, who runs the register, and is going to help me curate the travel book collection. I’ve trusted both of them with my dream – and now we’re about to have the shop’s grand opening party. It should be quite the event – if I can avoid my aunt setting me up with a customer, she implied she might be sending into the shop. So just hang out with me until the party. Have a sample of the chocolate I made from those beans from Colombia. Help yourself to some more coffee, and one of the besos carmen made. The pan dulce is the best you’ll ever have, I promise. And you’re in a great spot for people watching.

Glad you’ve had so much fun watching the tourists wandering on the strand. Carmen has brought the cupcakes out, which means the party is about to start. And here comes the customer my aunt promised: Logan is 6’4”, with green eyes and a chiseled jaw. Which – as Aunt Naomi knows, is soooo my type. But I’m not interested in a setup – and I’m going to let him know that. Just give me a minute.

Okay. Logan wasn’t the guy my aunt was setting me up with. He’s a puddle jump pilot who used to be a bodyguard. So THAT was embarrassing. Never mind. Come check on the chocolate with me. I’ve had it conching in the big melangers for several days, and it is ready to go into the molds during the chocolate making demonstration that will kick off the party. There’s a lot that goes into making chocolate. Which is why there’s a big difference between being a chocolate maker and a chocolatier. A chocolate maker’s skills are more a cross between a coffee roaster and a wine maker. I specialize in making two ingredient chocolate: just cacao beans and sugar. I do make truffles using my chocolate and ingredients that pay homage to the Cajun side of my heritage – to tempt in customers new to craft chocolate.

Everyone’s coming in for the demo, so grab a seat and Emma will be by with some samples of drinking chocolate in a moment. Only – she’s in my office. Where she’s not allowed. I’ll be right back.

Okay. The demo can proceed as planned. Emma’s got the tray of drinking chocolate for all of you. Only – she’s collapsed. And she’s not breathing. I was a physical therapist back in Seattle, before I quit my practice to follow my dream, so I try to use my medical knowledge to help. But Emma’s dead. It’s obviously murder. And since I just had that fight with her in my office, I’m a suspect.

Sorry. This typical day isn’t turning out to be so typical after all. Especially because – see that guy who just walked in? He’s the detective in charge of the case – and my ex-boyfriend, from high school. I have an idea that Logan – the ex-bodyguard with the green eyes the same shade as my late husband’s – can keep me from becoming the killer’s next target. But Kevin would never have approved of either of these guys. So how can I trust them to help me?

Grand Openings Can Be Murder, Bean To Bar Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2021
Purchase Link

Felicity Koerber has had a rough year. She’s moving back to Galveston Island and opening a bean to bar chocolate factory, fulfilling a dream she and her late husband, Kevin, had shared. Craft chocolate means a chance to travel the world, meeting with farmers and bringing back beans she can turn into little blocks of happiness, right close to home and family.

She thinks trouble has walked into her carefully re-built world when puddle-jump pilot Logan Hanlon shows up at her grand opening to order custom chocolates. Then one of her employees drops dead at the party, and Felicity’s one-who-got-away ex-boyfriend – who’s now a cop – thinks Felicity is a suspect. As the murder victim’s life becomes more and more of a mystery, Felicity realizes that if she’s going to clear her name in time to save her business, she might need Logan’s help. Though she’s not sure if she’s ready to let anyone into her life – even if it is to protect her from being the killer’s next victim.

For Felicity, Galveston is all about history, and a love-hate relationship with the ocean, which keeps threatening to deliver another hurricane – right into the middle of her investigation. Can she figure it out before all the clues get washed away?

Meet the Author
Amber Royer writes the “Chocoverse” comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the “Bean To Bar” Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like A Journalist: A Workbook For Novelists, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate at www.amberroyer.com. She also teaches creative writing for both UT Arlington Continuing Education and Writing Workshops Dallas. If you are very nice to her, she might make you cupcakes.

All comments are welcomed.