ABOUT THE BOOK:

It’s wedding week and as mother of the bride, Glory wants her daughter’s wedding to be a day she’ll never forget. But when her address is found in the pocket of an unidentified body in a car crash, Glory’s biggest nightmare becomes reality. The past has followed her to Sweetwater Springs and it’s not going away without a fight. Can she solve the mystery and maybe even her husband’s two-year-old cold case murder in the process?  

 

 

I’m so happy to be a part of S.C. Merritt’s blog tour for Cake and Corruption. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet myself, but it sounds great and I have an excerpt for you to check out below. When you’ve finished reading the excerpt, be sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to win an ebook copy!

Excerpt from Cake and Corruption by S.C. Merritt Cake and Corruption (A Sweetwater Springs Southern Mystery Book 6)

Early mornings at the bakery usually meant a lot of baking, but since this was such a short week, we didn’t have nearly as much work to do. Macy had made batches of blueberry scones and strawberry cream cheese pastries yesterday, so she popped them in the warmer while I flipped the switches on the coffee makers.

“Lunch today will be easy, Mom. Lemon Chicken Orzo is the soup of the day and I’m serving a Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing.” She walked out of the commercial cooler, arms loaded down. “They can add grilled chicken if they like. It has candied pecans and mandarin orange slices, too. It’s so light and yummy for this time of year. Of course, we will still offer a house salad if they prefer that with the soup.”

I relieved her of a couple of the items and set them on the prep table.

“The only thing we’ll have to do is throw the soup together and grill some chicken for the salads,” she added.

“I hope the guys had fun last night. I can’t wait to hear all about it,” I said, looking over the recipe for the soup while she started prepping the chicken for the flat top grill.

“I’m sure they’ll have some stories to tell. I don’t think Tony has ever seen a tent, much less spent the night in one!” Macy laughed. “It was nice of Pastor Dan to let you off the rest of the week. I appreciate all your help with the wedding stuff. I’m sure you must have had a busy day yesterday getting a week’s worth of work done in one day.”

“Yes, it was busy for sure,” I said, recalling the mess of multi-colored sticky notes all over my desk. “But I got it all done even with the phone ringing off the hook.” I laughed. Our time spent in the kitchen was one of my favorite things about working here with Macy. After having her so far away during college, it was nice to have her close again. I never wanted to take these times for granted. I finished adding the last of the soup ingredients to the big pot on the stove and gave it a good stir, then wiped my hands on my apron. I took my phone out of my apron pocket to check the time and noticed I had one voicemail message. I’d been so exhausted last night, that I guessed I’d missed it somehow. I remembered the call I’d declined at work yesterday. I was sure it was just another spam call. I tucked my phone back into my pocket. I’d deal with it later. It was almost time to open the bakery.

“What is Steph doing this morning?”

“She’s getting ready, then she’s headed up here to hang out and give us a hand during lunch. She’s excited to see how the bakery turned out.” Macy beamed as she took the scones and other pastries out of the warmer.

“I’ve been expecting Hunt and Jake to walk through the back door any minute. They’re usually here by now,” I said. “They must’ve had quite the bachelor camping trip.” I winked playfully at Macy.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Macy said, smiling. “I trust them, but you know boys.”

“I’ll go out front, unlock the door, and flip the sign.” I hurried through the swinging door into the bakery, giving the place a good once over before I opened for the day. The scent of Macy’s special blend of dark roast along with the smell of blueberry scones warming up, made the beautiful place come alive. She had rescued a beautiful, old furniture store on Main Street and turned it into a vintage showplace. Macy’s on Main was her dream and she had worked hard to make it come true. I turned on all the lights, flipped the sign to OPEN and unlocked the door. I picked up the sidewalk sign with today’s specials written on it and walked out into the cool spring morning. It was going to be a gorgeous day.

About the Author

S.C. Merritt writes cozy mysteries featuring female sleuths, plots with a twist, lots of humor, and a little sprinkle of romance. Her Sweetwater Springs Southern Mystery Series is set in a small, Alabama town full of quirky characters, delicious restaurants, and lots of murder. Recipes are included in each book.

When not writing, she is traveling, watching classic movies and tv shows, or collecting flamingos.

She lives in Mississippi with her husband and miniature Schnauzer, Izzy and dreams of living in a tropical locale someday.

Online links:

Website:  https://www.scmerritt.com

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scmerrittauthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19874419.S_C_Merritt

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/scmerritt

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/s-c-merritt

Enter here for a chance to win an e-copy of S.C. Merritt’s latest book, Cake and Corruption (Book 6 in the Sweetwater Springs Southern Mysteries) PLUS The Sweetwater Springs Southern Mysteries: A Cozy Mystery Box Set E-Books 1-3 

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