LET'S GET YUMMY COZY: THE COCOA CONSPIRACY - A PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

THE COCOA CONSPIRACY

A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery

BY ANDREA PENROSE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Chocolate mixed with conspiracy is a recipe for death…

Lady Arianna Hadley, now the Countess of Saybrook, is slowly settling into married life with her new husband, the Earl of Saybrook. To celebrate his birthday, she finds the perfect gift——a rare volume of botanical engravings on Theobroma cacao, or chocolate . . . but she is forced to fight off a mysterious stranger who tries to steal it away from her.

The incident is forgotten until Arianna and Saybrook are asked to attend a gathering of international dignitaries at a country estate, where she is shocked to discover that her erstwhile assailant is among the guests. But other events quickly prove even more ominous. And when the chocolate book yields a bitter surprise, someone they hold dear is incriminated in a plot to betray Great Britain at the upcoming Peace Congress in Vienna.

Murder, treason, money, power. Once again, Arianna and Saybrook find themselves drawn into a deadly web of international intrigue. To unmask the real traitor, they journey to Vienna where amidst the seductive pomp and pageantry of Europe’s reigning royalty they must root out a cunning conspiracy—armed only with their wits and their expertise in chocolate…

AN EXCERPT FROM THE COCOA CONSPIRACY:

The book’s binding was crafted out of dark, finegrained calfskin, its richly tooled embossings age-mellowed to the color of . . .

“Chocolate,” murmured Arianna Hadley. Removing her gloves, which were still sticky from foraging through the food stalls at Covent Garden, she traced the delicate leaf design centered beneath the gilded title. “How lovely,” she added, and then carefully opened the cover.

Dust motes danced up into the air, tiny sparkles of sunlight in the shadowed corner of the alcove. As she shifted a step closer to the diamond-paned window, the scrape of her sturdy half-boots on the Aubusson carpet momentarily disturbed the hush that hung over the ornate bookcases.

Her heel snagged, and to her dismay she realized that a streak of mud—and something that looked suspiciously like squashed pumpkin—now marred the stately pattern.

To finish reading this excerpt from THE COCOA CONSPIRACY,  go to Andrea Penroses website HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I began my writing career at age five, creating a number of Westerns lavishly illustrated with crayon drawings of horses and cowboys. However, I have since moved on to Regency England, an era that has fascinated me ever since I picked up a copy of Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice.

Books have always been an important part of my life. I have always been a voracious reader, and I have always had a very vivid imagination . . . so much so that I think at times it worried my parents that I was so happy in my own little world, drawing pictures and creating stories. My teachers will also tell you that I was the class history geek, even in grade school. I don’t really know why, but I have always been fascinated with the past.

As an undergrad at Yale, I majored in art—though I took enough history courses to have majored in that subject as well—and went on to get a MFA in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art, concentrating in publication design. So I guess you could say I have always had a left brain-right brain sort of love affair with the printed page.

So why did I choose the Regency time period for my mysteries? I love the era because it was such a fabulously interesting time and place—it was a world aswirl in silks, seduction and the intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars. Radical new ideas were clashing with the conventional thinking of the past, and as a result, people were challenging and changing the fundamentals of their society. For example, you had Beethoven composing emotional symphonies, Byron composing wildly romantic poetry about individual angst, J.M.W. Turner dabbling in impressionistic watercolors and Mary Wollstonecraft writing the first feminist manifestos . . .

In so many ways, it was the birth of the modern world, and for me, its challenges, its characters and its conflicts have such relevance to our own times . . . and hey, who can resist men in breeches and boots!

In Lady Arianna Hadley and Allesandro de Quincy, the Earl of Saybrook, I've sought to create two individuals who embody the the intellectual curiosity—and courage—of the times. They'll be setting off on some devilishly daunting adventures. So lace up your corsets, tweak the tails of your cravat and let's enter a world of glittering ballrooms and deadly intrigues . . .

 
I hope you enjoy my books!....from Andrea Penrose's website bio HERE.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KAYLEIGH AND THE GOOD 

FOLKS AT PENGUIN PUBLISHING, I HAVE

ONE COPY OF THIS YUMMY

MYSTERY, THE COCOA CONSPIRACY,

TO GIVE AWAY

 
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HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT THE COCOA CONSPIRACY THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 29

 GOOD LUCK!