Cooking for Ghosts
by Patricia V. Davis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: magical realism, women's paranormal fiction,
mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Do hearts broken long ago
forever leave a tangible trace?
A Vegas cocktail waitress. An Indian herbalist. A British chemistry professor. An Italian-American widow. Four unique women with one thing in common: each is haunted by a tragedy from her past.
Cynthia, Rohini, Jane, and Angela meet on a food blogging site and bond over recipes. They decide on impulse to open The Secret Spice, an elegant café on the magnificent ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, currently a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Rich in history and tales of supernatural occurrences, the ship hides her own dark secrets.
The women are surrounded by ghosts long before they step aboard, but once they do, nothing is quite what it seems. Not the people they meet, not their brooding chef's mystic recipes, and not the Queen Mary herself. Yet the spirits they encounter help them discover that there's always a chance to live, as long as one is alive.
An Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection, and read by Ann Marie Gideon, COOKING FOR GHOSTS is an unforgettable tale of love, redemption, and divine female power.
A Vegas cocktail waitress. An Indian herbalist. A British chemistry professor. An Italian-American widow. Four unique women with one thing in common: each is haunted by a tragedy from her past.
Cynthia, Rohini, Jane, and Angela meet on a food blogging site and bond over recipes. They decide on impulse to open The Secret Spice, an elegant café on the magnificent ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, currently a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Rich in history and tales of supernatural occurrences, the ship hides her own dark secrets.
The women are surrounded by ghosts long before they step aboard, but once they do, nothing is quite what it seems. Not the people they meet, not their brooding chef's mystic recipes, and not the Queen Mary herself. Yet the spirits they encounter help them discover that there's always a chance to live, as long as one is alive.
An Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection, and read by Ann Marie Gideon, COOKING FOR GHOSTS is an unforgettable tale of love, redemption, and divine female power.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Unconcerned with what her business partners were up to,
Rohini was giggling with excitement. Hugging herself, she whirled in circles,
then flung her arms up over her head and collapsed back in dizzy elation onto
the enormous bed in the glorious stateroom. Everything was glorious. She was
here. This was her room. The Secret Spice was, in part, her restaurant.
Hers.
And when she’d first seen the Queen from the back seat of
Cynthia’s preposterous little car, she knew she was headed to exactly where she
should be. She couldn’t stop smiling, until, abruptly, a lump formed in her
throat and her eyes misted with tears.
“I made it, Zahir,” she whispered. “I made it.”
She sobered as she thought of him, of all he’d done for her,
and all that she might still need to do on her own.
But that wasn’t for today. Today was for celebration and
thankfulness. Getting up from the bed, she opened her case, pulled out all the
little plastic sacks of spices and herbs she’d packed, and sighed with relief.
Not a one had opened or torn. Even so, she could smell their pungent bouquet
right through the protective wrappings. Rauvolfia, Serpentina, Jaiphal,
Javitri, Khus Khus, Ashwagandha and more — why did cinnamon always smell the
strongest? There were dozens of varieties that she’d stuffed inside shirt
sleeves and trouser legs and white cotton gym socks, just like a drug dealer
might hide a stash. The TSA had missed them completely. They’d even affixed a
sticker to the top of her bag: “Checked by Homeland Security.”
Giggling again at that, Rohini placed all the smaller sacks
into a large white bag she’d found in the wardrobe. The bag had a price list
for various laundry services printed on it. With that mission accomplished, she
took her treasures downstairs to the kitchen.
But she wasn’t two steps in before she stopped stock still
and remained right where she was, listening.
“Oh, my,” she murmured to herself. “Oh, my, my, my.”
Now she understood why she’d felt that the ship had summoned
her. To anyone else who might peek in, the kitchen appeared silent and empty.
But not to Rohini. She could hear the walls sighing.
Gradually, she walked further inside, and the sighs turned
to whispers. She stood still, breathing cautiously, waiting, watching. In
unison, the stainless steel cooking utensils dangling from the long, narrow
cylinders that were screwed to the walls began to sway, soundlessly. The copper
pots that hung from the ceiling over the two spanking-new ovens and eight burner
stoves began to twirl, gracefully. Every inanimate object in the room that
wasn’t bolted down was waltzing eerily, on its own. To Rohini, the dance seemed
sad rather than ghoulish.
Walking quietly, listening carefully, she followed the
hushed sounds as they moved along the walls, leading her back to the scullery.
As she approached, an ancient, enormous, floor-to-ceiling freezer blew out a
puff of ice cold air as its door swung wide open as though it were greeting
her, then gently clicked closed again.
Unafraid, Rohini observed it all. Still clinging to the
laundry bag filled with her precious sacks of spice, s she turned in a full
circle, leisurely, so as not to miss any of it. After a while, she set the bag
down on one of the gleaming stainless steel work tables. Bending into a full
and formal curtsy, she spoke aloud.
“It is my great honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
TikTok: @patriciavdavis
Buy link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY:
Patricia
V. Davis will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly
drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE TOUR AND COMMENT
ON EACH STOP TO EARN MORE ENTRIES TO WIN!
July 28: The Reading Addict
August 4: Iron Canuck Reviews and More
August 4: Seven Troublesome Sisters
August 11: Locks, Hooks and Books
August 11: Our Town Book Reviews
August 11: Long and Short Reviews
August 18: Fabulous and Brunette
August 18: Gimme The Scoop Reviews
August 18: Andi's Book Reviews
My Review
I give Cooking for Ghosts four and a half stars. I can not wait to read the other two books from The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy in the near future.
I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for the incredibly generous giveaway!!!❤❤
Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt & review!
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I appreciate getting to find out about another great book. Thanks for all you do and for the hard work you put into this. Greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI like the cover! The colors are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteNice cover. I liked the excerpt. It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cover, with an unusual plot and a great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThe cover reminds me of the Titanic and al the ghosts, that would surround her.
ReplyDelete