Welcome to the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Risky Whiskey (Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries) by Lucy Lakestone. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, spotlights, reviews and more!
Stirring up trouble in New Orleans …
Risky Whiskey (Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries)
by Lucy Lakestone
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Risky Whiskey (Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Velvet Petal Press (July 21, 2020)
Print Length: 250 pages
Eager to shake up her drinks and her life, mixologist Pepper Revelle jumps at an invitation to join the elite Bohemia Bartenders. Leader Neil thinks she’ll be the perfect advance gal for his team at a colorful cocktail convention in her hometown of New Orleans, but the job turns out to be more bananas than a drunk monkey. Setting up the key tasting for their distiller client, she and Neil discover their whiskey has gone dangerously bad. But how? And was this shocking poisoning more than an accident?
As Pepper and Neil try to figure out what happened, keep the drinks flowing and help distiller Dash Reynolds survive the weekend, they find themselves the target of increasingly scary attacks. Maybe it’s the danger, or maybe it’s the drinks, but Pepper also can’t help an inconvenient attraction to cocktail nerd Neil as they stir up trouble and try to figure out who’s out to get them — before they’re sliced and squeezed like a lemon twist in a Sazerac.
Risky Whiskey is the first book in the Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries, funny whodunits with a dash of romance set in a convivial collective of cocktail lovers, eccentrics and mixologists. These cozy culinary comedies contain a hint of heat, a splash of cursing and shots of laughter, served over hand-carved ice.
Book trailer
Guest post: Finding costumes and mystery character ‘Pinspiration’ on Pinterest
by Lucy Lakestone
I’m a visual writer. I like to describe my characters well. So I often scour the internet for just the right face, as if I’m casting a movie, and I save these irresistible faces to my Pinterest board of character inspirations. Even better, I get to dress them, and Pinterest is a great place to save my fantasy wardrobes.
In Risky Whiskey, the first novel in the Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries, the characters range from Pepper Revelle, with her penchant for vests and poofy vintage dresses, along with cat’s-eye glasses, to her more daring friend Melody, her handsome colleagues Barclay and Luke, and the bartender who’s really caught her eye – the reserved but irresistible Neil. At least, he’s irresistible to Pepper, who’s made the mistake of being interested in a guy whose personality couldn’t be more different from hers.
The result is comedy, but even if Pepper is blundering into wild and dangerous situations, I want her to dress well.
In the Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries, I’m writing about mixologists who make craft cocktails at colorful events. I’ve been to a lot of similar events, and the costumes often have a vintage vibe. Whether it’s a retro party at an art deco airport in New Orleans in Risky Whiskey or a South Florida tiki event in Wrecked by Rum, my bartender characters have a delicious sense of style.
Pinspiration
Finding these clothes all over the internet is like a treasure hunt for me. A retro party where everyone on the team has to wear black, white and gray? A tiki event where wild colors and floral patterns are de rigueur? There’s always “Pinspiration.”
Suppose Pepper’s friend Melody has to dress like a sea siren? Yeah, the internet has that. Fins for arms and head. A bejeweled, scaled bikini top and skirt. It’s like visiting a costume shop or playing the ultimate game of dress-up dolls.
I wasn’t into dress-up dolls as a kid, but I do love my characters in just the right costumes.
I found one gorgeous black and white dress and inverted the colors in my head to create the dress Pepper wears for the climactic scene in Risky Whiskey. (On Amazon: https://amzn.to/390kyBs)
Some outfits I’ll save for later – maybe even for me. Like a retro pineapple dress that is definitely something a tiki bartender might wear. (On Amazon: https://amzn.to/30g0EPa )
I’m not going for shares on Pinterest, but interestingly, the outfits on the costume board get re-pinned more than any others. Maybe because other folks have the same sense of fantasy I do. It might be a while before I get to dress up and attend a convention, but in the meantime, I can live vicariously through my stylishly fun bartenders. Want to come to the party?
You can find my Pinterest page at https://www.pinterest.com/lucylakestone/ and get a peek at some of the faces I’m imagining for my characters (including the Cavapoo Astra, an adorable dog who appears in Wrecked by Rum), as well as their costumes.
Of course, I share more than costumes. Whenever I need to visualize a setting, a boat, a historic bottle of rum, a beautiful cocktail – you name it, it ends up on the Bohemia Bartenders inspirations board. It’s fun to get lost in my imaginary world. These days, especially, I like visiting alternate realities.
See you at the bar!
About Lucy Lakestone
Lucy Lakestone is an award-winning author who lives on Florida’s east central coast, among the towns that serve as an inspiration for the hot romances of her Bohemia Beach Series and the jumping-off point for the Bohemia Bartenders Mysteries. She’s been a journalist, photographer, editor and video producer but prefers living in her imagination, where the moon is full and the cocktails are divine. Learn more at LucyLakestone.com.
Author Links
Web: https://lucylakestone.com
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lucy-lakestone
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13843719.Lucy_Lakestone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucylakestone/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lucylakestone/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mslucylakestone/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucylakestone
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClSRQN-IpqkmJnwcQ9jv-rA
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Lakestone/e/B00WFG6Y8Y
Purchase Links for Risky Whiskey
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Risky Whiskey Tour Participants
July 29
Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
The Pulp and Mystery Shelf– GUEST POST
July 30
FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
July 31
Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
August 1
Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
August 2
Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
August 3
Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
August 4
StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
eBook Addicts – REVIEW
Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTIGHT
August 5
I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
Cassidy’s Bookshelves – REVIEW
August 6
Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
The Book Decoder – REVIEW
August 7
Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Author Elena Taylor’s Blog – GUEST POST
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Julie Ann Lundstrom says
I like the cover of this book.
Nancy says
This book certainly has an interesting premise about it!
Leela says
It looks like a good read.
Julie Waldron says
This is a new author to me, sounds like a fun book.
gloria patterson says
Just reading the description made me smile. This is a lot of my niece so I would pass this on to her to read