I can’t sleep. My first wedding is tomorrow and I’m immensely excited. I can’t wait to succeed at my wedding planning business, and thank goodness my sister Rachel is here. She’s always been a bit of a wild child, but she has great ideas, and she’s the one who convinced me to make a go at wedding planning. Rachel doesn’t take no for an answer.
Being a wedding planner is the best gig I’ve ever had. As a former corporate attorney, I can tell you it has all the excitement of working at a firm, but instead of spending all day in mountains of paperwork, I help to marry people. Still, there are similarities. There are hard-to-please clients, bridezillas, and cutthroat vendors, just as there are hard-to-please partners. In the last few weeks, I’ve learned that pulling off large weddings with intricate menus, elaborate floral arrangements, and feuding families is every bit as complicated as handling large cases from the first deposition all the way to trial.
Tomorrow’s not just my first wedding. It’ll be bittersweet because it’s also the day I was supposed to get married. I ended up giving away my wedding. Some Good Samaritan tipped me off about my dirty, rotten, no-good snake of a fiancé Keith cheating, and after I called of my engagement, I was stuck with the reception. But I made a delicious lemon chiffon cake out of the lemons life gave me, so now a bride in need has a wedding.
I thought I’d never see him again, but I inherited my ex-fiancé’s grandmother’s dilapidated mansion in the small town of Port Quincy, Pennsylvania, along with an adorable family of cats and a heaping helping of trouble.
Although almost everyone in Port Quincy has welcomed me with open arms, I’m nervous about staying here permanently. I mean, a dead guy turned up on my front lawn the first night I spent here. . . I better get going if I hope to pull off my first wedding and solve the mystery of the man who expired in my petunias.
Engaged In Death is the first book in the NEW Wedding Planner mystery series, published by Kensington, June 2016.
All appears peaceful in sleepy Port Quincy, Pennsylvania–but in this small town, old grudges die hard. . .
After dumping her cheating fiancé and cancelling the wedding, Mallory Shepard can’t bear another disaster. So when the former bride-to-be unexpectedly inherits Thistle Park, a ramshackle mansion in her ex’s hometown of Port Quincy, it’s a problem she can’t afford–literally. Abound with stray cats, peeling wallpaper, and nosy neighbors, Mallory is dying to sell it off–once she finally fixes up both the place and her messy life. . .
Turns out, Thistle Park has its charms. But the honeymoon phase is abruptly cut short when an unwanted visitor is found dead on the front lawn. Enlisting the help of her sister Rachel, Mallory vows to unveil the killer before she herself becomes married to the suspect list. . .
# # # # # # # # # # #
Meet the author
A native Pittsburgher, Stephanie Blackmoore now lives in Missouri, with her husband, son and two spirited cats. She was an attorney in Pittsburgh and a librarian in Florida before becoming a writer. Stephanie is a fan of everything black-and-yellow. She is hard at work on her next Wedding Planner mystery. Connect with Stephanie at stephanieblackmoore.com, on Twitter and on Facebook.
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Engaged In Death. US entries only, please. The giveaway will end July 4, 2016 at 12 AM EST. Good luck everyone!
All comments are welcomed.
Looks like a fun read, since I read the first line, thought you were give up book blogging and became a wedding planner yourself, before I realize it was the intro of a book.
Love trying a new series at book one. Thanks for the giveaway.
Sounds like a great new series. Thanks for the giveaway.
I would love to win a copy of this book! Thanks for the post and the chance!
I’m always up to trying a new series. Thanks for the chance to win.
Woo Hoo…..this sure does sound like a really awesome and exciting new book to read…..first in the series…..woo hoo….means there are more to come….and on top of that this is a totally new author to me and I love finding new authors! The cover is super awesome and I am a huge cat lover, so just know this book is meant for me! Thanks so much dear Dru Ann and Stephanie for the chance to win!!! God bless you both!
Another fun read for my t-b-r list.
Yea – new series and it sounds terrific!
Ii would be be great to win a copy of this book. I will be adding this one to my TBR list.
It would be great to win a copy of this book. I will be adding this book to my TBR list.
I always love to get my hands on new series. This sounds good. Can’t wait to read more similarities of a lawyer and wedding planner.
Yes please Dru, any story with a dilapidated old mansion draws me like flies to honey. I’d love to win this book for my personal home library.
I am happy to learn about a new series and author! Thanks, Dru! This is sure to be a hit series and the dilapidated mansion sounds a lot like one I know about. Thanks Stephanie for the generous offer of a free copy of your book. I have my fingers crossed. 🙂
Lots of writing about wedding planners. Lets read this one and see how it shapes up. Thanks!
I want ENGAGED IN DEATH.
Sounds delightful. Thanks.
Living in the northeast corner of Ohio, Pennsylvania is my neighbor. I enjoy reading books that focus around areas near me. Thanks for including Stephanie’s book on your blog and also to Stephanie for her generous offer of a free book. robeader53@yahoo.com
Thank goodness there are still some cozy series I haven’t read yet! This sounds great!
Cute cover! Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this new cozy.
wfnren at aol dot com
A new to me author, and this new series sounds a lot of fun. Anxious to read. Love the cover art. Love the premise of these 2 sisters working together, and working on a dilapidated mansion, with the help of a family of cats! Hmmm. OK, I’m intrigued.
I love the idea of passing an unusable wedding on to someone else.
I always enjoy “A Day in the Life.” Thanks for the giveaway!
A attorney now a wedding planner, sounds good, would love to win, ty for the chance.
I’m a native Pittsburgher too, so I have got to read this. I’ve never tried a wedding planner series, sounds like it will be fun.
such a fun sounding read and a new-to-me author. Thanks for the chance!
Sounds like a great read.
Love the premise. Great giveaway.
Sounds like a great new series! Thanks for the chance to win!
Engaged In Death sounds great. Stephanie Blackmoore is another “new-to-me” author … thank you for the introduction to her books. Thank you for the chance to win a print copy of Engaged In Death.
A cozy mystery with a wedding planner in the storyline sounds like a great summer read. Looking forward to reading.
Thanks for the intro & review of this debut in what looks to me to be a fun series!
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity! Love the theme!
Good thing she’s a wedding planner, or I’d worry about her use of ‘first wedding’ before it’s even happened! Looking forward to the debut! Thanks for the chance to win!
Sounds fun. Interested in why she inherited her ex-fiance’s grandmother’s mansion.
This one sounds like a great series for my tbr list. Thanks for the chance.
Mary Jane Hopper
>
A great book to add to my cozy challenge list. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.
Looks like great cozy mystery. Love then books cover.
This sounds like another good one and I am looking forward to reading it. The cover is great – love that little kitty. My pile of books to read is getting larger!
Sounds like a wonderful cozy mystery! I like wedding theme mysteries. Thank you for the giveaway.
There’s the cat on the cover! LOL.
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
Oh the craziness of it all for a wedding planner. This may have great detail in reading, so I would love to win a print book. Thanks.
Added to my WishList…..
Thank you for the giveaway…..
So love wedding planners and the cat on the cool looking book cover 🙂 Thank you for a chance to win a Awesome sounding book !
Love the post. And the cover. Feel for Mallory. she is in a fine mess, isn’t she