The Secret Spice Café Trilogy
by Patricia V. Davis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: magical realism, women's
paranormal fiction, mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Book One: Cooking For Ghosts
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.
Book Two: Spells and Oregano
A mother desperate to save her twin sons, a
war veteran in torment, a beautiful young psychic with a terrible secret, a
powerful magician with a shattered soul, and a Queen steeped in history and
glory. These extraordinary beings cross paths and set off a remarkable chain of
events in Spells and Oregano: Book II in The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy.
Overcome
by despair after a trauma when she was sixteen, Sarita Taylor has spent the
past ten years isolated and lonely aboard her beloved RMS Queen Mary. Fearful
of outsiders, she dedicates her time to managing The Secret Spice Café, now an
award-winning restaurant. Until Luca Miceli, a man with a dark past, steps on
board.
Patricia
V. Davis deftly spins past and present, mystery and magic, into a potent story
of passionate longing and family tragedy all at once. Spells and Oregano is a
compelling tale of atonement, devotion, and undying love, set aboard one of the
world's most magnificent, haunted ships.
Don’t
miss Cooking for Ghosts: Book I in The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy. The Secret
Spice Trilogy is an Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection
Book Three: Demons: Well
Seasoned
Dare to Believe
in Your Power...
A long-lost
grandmother. A stay-at-home mom. A comic book fan. A five-year-old girl with a
star-shaped birthmark. And nine more.
The cast is
bigger, the stakes are higher. When Sarita's grandmother, a Vodou priestess,
foresees a terrible evil, Cynthia, Jane, Angela, and Rohini reunite on a
heart-rending mission to save all that's precious to them, including the iconic
ship, the RMS Queen Mary. They cannot do it alone--the priestess tells them
there must be thirteen on the night of the thirteenth moon. in this
life-or-death pursuit. Yet, can she be trusted?
Spiced with
history and the supernatural, Demons, Well-Seasoned takes us from 1930s
Glasgow, to New Orleans and Harlem in the 1950s, to present day southern
California, and back again, on a metaphysical voyage that is both exhilarating
and poignant. But before you embark upon this final sail with the denizens of
The Secret Spice, be warned: expect to lose sleep, and keep tissues at hand.
These valiant characters might just stay with you long after their story comes
to a close.
Don't miss
Cooking for Ghosts, and Spells & Oregano, Books I and II in The Secret
Spice Café Trilogy. The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy is an Official Pulpwood
Queens Book Club Selection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
The temperature outdoors was rising to what would be a
ghastly hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit. Inside the sumptuously-appointed
penthouse, the air conditioning circulated cold air rank with the mingled odors
of spoiled food, pricey booze, designer perfume and stale pot. The glass-walled
living room was strewn with empty bottles. Any liquid left in them had leaked
out hours before onto the expansive travertine tile flooring, or soaked into
the pile of the thick Persian carpet. Cut crystal glasses stained with
lipstick, or filled with wet cigarette butts, delicate china plates sticky with
leftover chocolate mousse or dried-out caviar, made rings of crust on the
marble dining table. More dishes were stacked high and unwashed in the kitchen
sink, along with grimy piles of sterling silverware.
He lay sprawled on his back on one of the Italian leather
sofas, his six-foot frame stretched from end to end. He was still wearing socks
and trousers, but sometime during the night, he'd taken off his shirt, exposing
the muscled, yet too thin arms and chest. The party had started on Saturday
night, and he’d collapsed onto the couch early Sunday morning, so hungover that
he didn’t even stir when the chambermaid opened the door to the suite, took one
look, swore loudly, and then stomped back out again, slamming the door behind
her.
A cloud shifted, and the light coming in from the panoramic
windows above the Strip beamed straight at his closed eyes. He could sense it
even in his stupor, and all at once he was dreaming again. Neither the pills
nor the alcohol had thwarted that. His arms and legs twitched fitfully and his
breathing became uneven.
It was always about the fire.
“Luca! Wake up.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patriciaVdavis
TikTok:
@patriciavdavis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERVIEW
Where do you find inspiration to write?
There is inspiration to write everywhere. Many people ask
this question, but for me, it’s like someone asking me, why do you love your
children? It’s effortless to love them, just as it’s effortless for me to come
up with ideas. My muse works overtime. She is always busy pumping ideas into my
head.
What does your writing space look like?
Due to the fact that my husband is a part-time professional
poker player and a full-time rice farmer, I spend half my year in southern
Nevada, and half in northern California. I have two writing spaces, and I love
both, as I am surrounded by nature, and my desks each overlook a vista of
beauty. One is of the Mojave Desert, with its mountains and clay and cacti, and
the other is a walnut orchard.
What is a must have while writing?
A notepad and my favorite pen, so I can jot down ideas/to
dos/questions, a mug of strong coffee in the morning, herbal tea throughout the
day, and when things are not going well, one shot of rum, which puts me to
sleep almost right away. I then wake up, refreshed and ready to start again. In
between a meal or two would be nice, if someone else makes it for me. (That
never happens.)
What
is your writing-in-progress about?
At the
moment, it’s a secret project, but I will tell you that it is unique and
different for me. I love it so far, but it’s a challenge to do something new.
Still, it keeps my spirit motivated and my brain limber!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY:
$25
Amazon/BN gift card
DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE TOUR AND COMMENT
ON EACH STOP TO EARN MORE ENTRIES TO WIN!
June 23: Rogue's Angels
June 23: Long and Short Reviews
July 7: Fabulous and Brunette
July 14: Kit 'N Kabookle
July 21: Danita Minnis
July 28: Unabridged Andras
August 4: Andi's Book Reviews
August 11: Viviana MacKade
August 18: T's Stuff
August 25: Seven Troublesome Sisters
September 1: Joanne Guidoccio
September 8: Locks, Hooks and Books
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting my trilogy!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate hearing about your book, thanks and for the giveaway also. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed following the tour for The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy and can't wait to read these books! Thanks for sharing all of the great posts along the way :)
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt. They sound like really interesting books. Thank you for sharing.
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