Welcome to the Blog Tour for Bleeding Heart Librarian by Jackie Layton, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Bleeding Heart Librarian
Series: A Texas Flower Farmer Cozy Mystery #3
Author: Jackie Layton
Publisher: Level Best Books
Release Date: May 6, 2025
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Emma Justice is friends with the local librarian and brings her extra flowers once a week. On a hot July morning, when people are gathered outside the closed library past opening time, Emma calls the police. The librarian’s body is found in the building and beside the body is a pink and white bleeding heart plant. 

Tess Carranza was a lovely person dedicated to children and patrons of the library in Lutz, Texas. Tess recently confided to Emma about her fear someone was using the library to gather information to commit crimes. Emma didn’t get the entire story from Tess before her death, but now she’s determined to stop the crime and catch Tess’s killer.  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

More In This Series

Excerpt

  

  Tuesday morning, I walked to the library with a bouquet of fresh-cut sunflowers. It was

already humid, but I enjoyed walking at my pace. Since adopting Cowboy, I’d been forced to

move faster to keep up with him.

    My hand throbbed from an early morning bee sting, and doctoring it was the reason I was

ten minutes late. Surely, Tess would understand.

    A group of women stood under the library’s awning, chatting, and holding travel mugs.

    I slowed my stride.

    Faith Meier stepped away from the group. “Hi, Emma. Are you joining our group?”

    “What group?”

    “We’re the Tuesday morning coloring and coffee group. The library provides coloring

pages, pencils, and pens. We bring our own coffee, or whatever. It’s been a fun way for me to get

better connected in Lutz. Running the bed-and-breakfast has allowed me to meet interesting

people, but they always leave.” She chuckled. “I need more lasting friendships.”

    “It sounds fun, but I’m here to see Tess. Unfortunately, I’m running a tad late. Maybe I’ll

see you inside.” I went to the front door and knocked on the glass.

    There was no sign of life. I leaned closer to the glass and peered in.

    “Tess’s car is in the parking lot.” Faith joined me and pointed to an electric car.

    “Hmm. Have you seen her?”

    “No, but she makes it a habit to arrive early. When we enter, the event is prepared for us,

lights are on, and she welcomes us.”

About the Author

Jackie Layton is the author of cozy mysteries with Spunky Southern Sleuths. Her stories are set in Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina. She lives on the coast of South Carolina, where she enjoys walks on the beach and golf cart rides around the marsh. Reading, gardening, and traveling are some of her favorite hobbies. Jackie always keeps a notebook handy to write down ideas for future stories. Many of her ideas come from people watching and watching Dateline and American Greed.

Connect with Jackie by visiting jackielaytoncozyauthor.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a Texas-and-flower themed prize bundle which includes an ebook of Bleeding Heart Librarian, a $5 Starbucks card, lip balm and holder, a blue and white bag, a fabric coaster, a designer Wet-It swedish cleaning cloth, a journal, a car coaster and an alarm key chain!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight May 19, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on May 26, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

 

About the Book

Laney Eskridge worked to put her husband through dental school. Then he left with another woman. She’s on edge from the emotional scars and her parents’ deaths. Then she hears unexplained noises in her new tea house, and her anxiety is tripled. Add a budding romance with Eric—a guy with a fear of commitment—and it’s all too much to handle. She cuts ties with Eric and plunges into making her business pay off.

When Eric discovers that Laney’s in danger, he vows to protect her. But can he make a lasting promise? Will she trust him? . . .and when they overhear a threat that could cause national turmoil, will anyone believe them? There’s more brewing than herbal tea in Cooking up a Mystery.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts

About the Author

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner and a TopShelf 2020 Book Awards Finalist. She’s published six books, poems, short stories and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums.

More from Gail

In Cooking up a Mystery running a business with no background or formal training in accounting or management overwhelms Laney, the heroine. George, her assistant, tells her she has him and God, who knows her needs. Then he adds, “You … have your mom’s wonderful recipes and you whip them up like a pro.”

I chose the food industry for Laney, a woman entrepreneur succeeding against the odds, because I have lots of cooking experience. I learned the skill at age ten. The reason, according to my father—I’d know how when I got married. I didn’t marry until I was thirty. By then, I’d received lots of instruction, so I knew how to prepare some pretty good dinners. My husband said, “You could start a restaurant.” I wanted to do other things instead, such as write, but I started one in this book.

Mt first woman entrepreneur appears in Hair Calamities and Hot Cash, a romantic comedy about a hairstylist. It’s set in Eve’s Clips, a salon in Triville, a fictitious town in the North Carolina Mountains where Laney opens Laney’s Delectable Delights.

A section in the back of Cooking up a Mystery, Laney’s Chefs in the Making, features over two dozen recipes. Only Laney’s Pineapple Rice is mine. The rest are from a book, Heavenly Delights, authored by my friend, Pam Nichols Griffin, as a fundraiser for Mission Love Seeds, a charity that helps children throughout the world and responds locally after disasters to demonstrate God’s love.

Laney’s Pineapple Rice

Ingredients:

Rice (can be instant, but not boil-in-the-bag)

Cooking oil or spray

One small onion (chopped thin)

Five cloves garlic (or minced gloves equaling five cloves)

One tablespoon fresh grated ginger

One cup fresh pineapple

Small amount of pineapple juice

One teaspoon sugar

One lime

Cook rice according to directions on the box, but substitute a couple of tablespoons to 1/4 cup pineapple juice (depending on taste) for part of the water.

Chill rice

Coat a heavy bottom skillet with oil. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, pineapple and sugar and stir. Add cold rice, break up, squirt with the juice of one lime and stir until heated and blended.

Blog Stops

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Gail is giving away  the grand prize of a $40 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

 https://promosimple.com/ps/10a4e/cooking-up-a-mystery-celebration-tour-giveaway