Month: July 2025

 

Rocky Road to Murder (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries)
by Lena Gregory

About Rocky Road to Murder

Rocky Road to Murder (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – New York
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (July 1, 2025)
Number of Pages – 220
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F7MV3JW5

From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty summer murder mystery…

Danika Delaney is thrilled that her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, has gotten a catering contract for the biggest party of the season, the Rutherford Manor Fourth of July gala. She’ll be providing desserts for the party as well as attending the exclusive event on Eastern Long Island.

However her path to the gala quickly becomes a rocky road…

Dani arrives at the event, only to find the gala’s hostess, Cressida Rutherford, dead! What’s worse, one of Dani’s signature parfaits sits next to the dead woman, with what looks like peanuts in it—a food Cressida is severely allergic to. Amid the melted ice cream mess, Dani initially blames herself, thinking she made a mistake while rushing with the desserts. However she quickly learns that what appeared to be an accident was actually foul play, and suddenly Dani has to spring into action proving that she isn’t the perpetrator. Along with her friends, Dani uncovers a string of people in Cressida’s life who might have wanted the socialite dead. Can she prove her innocence and make sure the killer gets their just desserts?

GUEST POST

My Writing Journey by Lena Gregory

I suppose you could say my writing journey began when I was in the fifth grade and wrote a story using my vocabulary words about a couple of girls getting lost in the woods. To this day, I can remember the only place I lost points—using petrified to mean scared instead of turned to stone. I also remember my teacher’s reaction to my story. She said there was no way I wrote it. Looking back, I still don’t know if she meant it as a compliment or an accusation, but instead of being flattered that she thought my story was so good I couldn’t have written it myself, I was hurt and discouraged. Thus ended my writing journey (unless you count a spiral notebook full of terrible poetry I wrote as an angsty teenager and kept to myself) for the next thirty-five years.

When my youngest son, who is now fourteen, was born, he didn’t sleep through the night. Since my daughter was seven before she started sleeping through the night, I figured I was in for a lot of years of sleepless nights, which was fine by me because I rarely sleep anyway. I’ve always loved reading, but with all those nights looming ahead of me, I decided to give writing a try. I knew nothing about the writing process, didn’t own a computer, didn’t know what Microsoft Word was, didn’t know how to send an email…never mind using track changes for editing. But I wanted to write, so I set up a loose-leaf binder with a divider for each chapter and began writing my first novel by hand.

Once my husband realized I was serious about writing a novel, he set me up an office and bought me a computer. My best friend taught me how to work Microsoft word, and I took off from there, researching everything I could get my hands on about the writing process.

The first book I wrote was contracted with a small press. and I was thrilled. Of course, that brought a whole new set of learning experiences; editing, using Track Changes, cover art sheets, writing blurbs, and marketing. I was very eager to learn, and I absorbed everything I could over the next few years.

I’ve dreamed of being a published author since I first learned how to read. I’ve always loved to make up stories and often entertained myself that way when I was younger. When I finally signed with my agent, Dawn Dowdle, who sadly passed away last November, she suggested I give writing cozy mysteries a try, and I loved them!

I’ll never forget the call from Dawn saying Berkley was interested in Death at First Sight the first book in my Bay Island Psychic Mystery series. I was standing in the middle of the Magic Kingdom with my husband and kids when the call came in on my cell phone. That was the best vacation ever, even though much of it was spent working on rewrites and working out the details of the contract. I will admit, I cried the first time I walked into Barnes & Noble and found my book on the shelf. I still get emotional when I have a new book release.

Now, I work full-time as a writer and freelance editor. Even though I know what I’m doing more now than I did back then, my writing life isn’t without challenges. I am homeschooling my younger son. My older son, who is twenty-six and on the autistic spectrum, is trying to write his own children’s book and needs help. To make things easier for me to do everything at once, my husband (who is amazing and one of the most supportive men ever, so I am very blessed to have him) built an office in our new house with three work stations, so all of us can work together, and I have never been happier.

About Lena Gregory

Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, the Mini-Meadows Mysteries, set in a community of tiny homes in Central Florida, and the Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, which take place in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, New York.

Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

Author Links

• Newsletter: http://lenagregory.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9765d0711ed4fab4fa31b16ac&id=49d42335d1.
• Website: http://www.lenagregory.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lena.gregory.986
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lena.Gregory.Author/?fref=ts
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/LenaGregory03
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14956514.Lena_Gregory?from_search=true
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lenagregoryauth/

Purchase Links – Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Kobo

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

July 1 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST

July 3 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

July 3 – Frugal Freelancer – SPOTLIGHT

July 4 – OFF

July 5 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW

July 5 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 6 – Salty Inspirations – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 6 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW , CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 7 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

July 7 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

July 7 – Baroness’ Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 8 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 8 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW

July 9 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – AUTHOR GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 10 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 10 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT

July 11 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

July 11 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 12 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW

July 13 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

July 14 – Rebecca M. Douglass, Author – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 15 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

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