Marriage and Murder by Penny Reid Blog Tour

The Devil is in the details...

Cletus Byron Winston wishes to marry Jennifer Anne Donner-Sylvester (aka The Banana Cake Queen) posthaste! He’s spent the last year wanting nothing more than for the celebrations to be brief, libations flowing, and BYOB (bring your own blueberries). His future mother-in-law has other plans, plans his intended has been willing to indulge, much to Cletus’s chagrin. Therefore, so must he. To a point. But truth be told, he wouldn’t mind if the meddlesome matriarch disappeared, at least until the nuptials are over.

On the night of Cletus and Jenn’s long-awaited engagement party, just when the surly schemer is of a mind to take matters into his own hands, a shocking event upends everyone’s best laid plans and sends the small hamlet of Green Valley into complete disarray. The final months leading up to Cletus and Jenn’s matrimonial bliss are plagued with chaos and uncertainty. Will Cletus and Jenn finally make it to the altar? Or will murder and mayhem derail their happily-ever-after?
And most importantly, who done it?

Marriage and Murder is the second book in the cozy mystery series Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries. It is best read after Winston Brothers #3, Beard Science (which can be read as a standalone) and Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries #1, Engagement and Espionage.

Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries!
For book one, Engagement and Espionage, click HERE.

 

 

Book 2
Buy Links

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Paperback (US)

 

 

“Here.” Cletus suddenly appeared, looking devilishly handsome in the dim light and seemingly all put back together—like we’d been in here holding hands instead of... ANYWAY.

He held out my underwear. His eyes were bright even in shadow, and I could see they were half-lidded as they lazily trailed over me. He looked at me like he was hungry, and I was dinner. Despite all the encore orgasms I’d just had, the effect hit me right between my legs.

I wondered what he was thinking, watching as he licked his bottom lip and drew it into his mouth. Was he just as insatiable for me? And if so, was he okay with that?

Tearing my eyes away, I pulled on the lace and fixed my skirt, telling my body to settle down. We were getting married for hootenanny’s sake!

Cletus cocked his head to the side while I smoothed my hands down the red fabric, working to get a hold of all this raging want always coursing through my veins whenever he was near. Maybe it was because he was my first, and I guess, my only. Was that why I felt so crazed for him all the time?

“Miraculous,” he said.

I surmised he meant the dress. “Right? The wrinkles are hidden, if there are any. It’s ‘cause they ruched the outer fabric at the seams, see?” I turned to the side to show him the seam, and he stepped forward as though he were going to investigate.

Instead, his hands cupped my face and tilted my chin back. He stared at me with a vibrant intensity I felt all the way to my fingertips. “No, Jenn. Not the dress. You.” Cletus gave me a soft kiss, ending it by gently nipping my bottom lip. “You are my miracle.”

I sighed. And I smiled. And I felt like I was walking on a cloud instead of in four-inch heels, which was also probably something of a miracle. “You say the sweetest things.”

“I think you mean, I say the truest things.”

I laughed, and he kissed my forehead. He held me there, in the dark with his lips pressed to my forehead. “I love you so completely, with every cell in my body. I wonder sometimes if I’d cease to exist—just evaporate or disappear—if anything ever happened to you.”

“No.” I anchored my hands to his wrists and squeezed. “Don’t think like that. We’ve got our whole lives in front of us. There’s nothing anyone can—”

Three bangs in quick succession pierced the quiet moment, and not a second later Cletus had me on the ground beneath him, covering my back with his body.

“Gunshots,” he whispered in my ear. “From the parking lot. Don’t move.”

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Cletus’ reaction to his own engagement party had me grinning. Cletus left the organisation of the party to Jenn, Jenn’s mum, and his sister, Ash, and didn’t get the party he was expecting. Cletus is all about making Jenn happy and there is an amazing scene where he describes what Jenn is to him and means to him and it totally melted my heart.

Unfortunately for Jenn and Cletus, their engagement party is interrupted with a murder and Cletus, Jenn, and Jenn’s mother are among the suspects. Cletus is usually the guy who knows everything that is going on, but he is out of the loop as his priority is taking care of Jenn and we see Cletus flustered and not as on top of his game as usual.

On the way to solving the murder, a secret relationship is revealed, an unexpected arrest, blackmail, a kidnapping, and more. There is also a beautiful and sometimes very hot romance with Cletus and Jenn, who are so in sync with each other, they are just perfect. I love them.

We also get to spend time with the members of the Winston family who we already know and love. It isn’t all murder and mayhem. There is plenty of love and family mixed in with the murder mystery.

There is never a dull moment in Marriage and Murder. It was a fun mystery and such a wonderful romance between two soulmates which totally melted my heart. I cannot wait to read the next book and spend more time with Cletus and Jenn and see what trouble they end up in next. A solid four stars from me.

 

 

PENNY REID is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full-time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Marriage and Murder (Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries #2) by Penny Reid to read and review for this tour.