Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for Drape Expectations by Karen Rose Smith

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for Drape Expectations by Karen Rose Smith.  Please leave a comment or question for Karen to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway, where Karen will be giving away (2) Print Copy of Drape Expectations and HobbyReads Travel Sewing Kit, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You can also follow all of the stops on Karen’s tour by clicking on the banner above.  

Drape Expectations

By Karen Rose Smith
A Caprice Deluca Mystery (Book 4)

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date:  July 28, 2015

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Length:  352 pages

Format: Print/eBook
ISBN-13: 978-1617737701
ASIN: B00P53E0G2

Buy Links:  Amazon   B&N    Kobo    iTunes  Google Play    Book Depository    IndieBound

Caprice De Luca’s former client and now friend Ace Richland–an 80’s rock star–asks her for a favor.  Can she quickly stage his girlfriend’s house to sell?  Widow Alanna Goodwin, a transplanted Southern beauty, will be moving in with him!  Immediately Caprice realizes Alanna’s southern charm can be turned on and off at will.  Caprice agrees to stage Alanna’s Kismet antebellum-styled mansion for Ace’s sake.  But she soon learns Alanna doesn’t have a genuine love for her cat Mirabelle and also uncovers a plot her new client is hatching to sabotage Ace’s comeback.  However, before she can tell Ace, Alanna is murdered and Ace is the prime suspect.

As Caprice investigates, she learns Alanna had more secrets than pie safes.  With her Cocker Spaniel Lady by her side, she tracks down clues and adopts Alanna’s cat.  In the midst of some of her own family upheaval–her uncle has moved in with her parents–she finds herself with a dilemma.  Grant Weatherford, her brother’s law partner, advises Ace and reveals more of his past to her.  Seth Randolph, the doctor she dates, wants her to meet his family.  She must choose between them.

Danger stalks Caprice.  Will her refresher self-defense course save her life?  Only if she keeps her wits about her and Lady by her side.

Caprice De Luca Mystery Series Books 

Staged to Death

Deadly Décor

Gilt by Association

Drape Expectations

Silence of the Lamps - April 2016

About This Author

Award winning and best-selling author, Karen Rose Smith’s plots are all about emotion. She began writing in her early teens when she listened to music and created stories to accompany the songs. An only child, she spent a lot of time in her imagination and with books–Nancy Drew, Zane Gray, The Black Stallion and Anne of Green Gables. She dreamed of brothers and sisters and a big family like her mother and father came from. This is the root of her plotlines that include small communities and family relationships as part of everyday living. Residing in Pennsylvania with her husband and four rescued cats, she welcomes interaction with readers on social media.

Author Links:

Webpage:  http://karenrosesmithmysteries.com/

Blog:  http://karenrosesmith.blogspot.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KarenRoseSmithBooks

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/karenrosesmith

GoodReads:   https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21863.Karen_Rose_Smith

Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/karosm/

A fun cozy filled with colorful characters, lively dialogue and plenty of suspense, Drape Expectations, the fourth book in the Caprice DeLuca Mystery series by Karen Rose Smith, is the perfect escape for mystery lovers.  Set in the fictional town of Kismet, Pennsylvania, Ms. Smith’s “crime solving house stager” finds herself drawn into solving a murder and placing her life in danger.  While the fourth book in a series, this is a book which can be enjoyed on its own.

Ms. Smith does an excellent job developing Caprice DeLuca’s character right from the start.  While I have not read the previous books in the series (something I’ll be correcting shortly), I was able to connect with Caprice right away.  An attractive woman with a quirky sense of style, Caprice uses her knowledge and training in home design to “stage” her client’s homes in order to help them sell.  While her business is thriving, and she’s got it mostly under control, Caprice is also trying to deal with some personal issues; a love life that’s definitely heating up a lot quicker than she expected and some family drama involving her uncle.  When a former client asks her to take on an additional client and she agrees, she soon finds herself involved in solving a murder, trying to choose between two romantic rivals and trying to stay one step ahead of a killer who suddenly sees her as a threat. 

The secondary characters are also well developed and I really enjoyed getting to know Ace Richland, the 80’s rock star who has become her personal friend, Grant Weatherford, her brother’s law partner and one of her romantic interests and Lady and Sophia, her two pets.  I also enjoyed getting to meet some of Caprice’s family members and I really liked how everyone she seemed to interact with ended up with either a rescued dog or cat, curtesy of Caprice’s efforts.  Even the less than likeable characters, such as Alana Goodwin, Ace’s girlfriend, who later becomes the murder victim.

The mystery of who killed Alana is well developed and there are plenty of twists and turns.  There is enough suspense and action to keep you guessing as to who the killer is and why Alana had to die (and I have to admit that I really didn’t mind her dying).  The story’s pace is good and I found myself turning the pages quickly to find out what was going to happen next.  Especially with the additional emotional angst from Caprice’s love life and the danger she eventually finds herself in.  Overall Ms. Smith does an excellent job developing her story and drawing the reader into the world she’s created. 

Will Caprice solve the murder before anyone else gets hurt?  Will Caprice decide which man she wants in her life forever?  You’ll have to read Drape Expectations to find out, I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading Silence of the Lamps when it is released in April 2016.   

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Crowns

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