Four Charming Spells from Guest Lynn Cahoon

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News Flash: Kathy Lawyerson is the lucky winner! Kathy, please check your email for a message from Lynn.

Edith/Maddie here, writing from nearly April north of Boston.

The prolific Lynn Cahoon has a charming new book out, and she’s giving away a copy to a lucky commenter! Take a look at this cover.

Here’s the blurb: Before Mia Malone can sip tea at Time for a Cuppa, the charming new shop in Magic Springs, Idaho, her life changes course in downright supernatural ways. First her blossoming catering business and cooking school get a boost with the addition of an enchanting cake decorator. Then she catches the attention of the tea shop owner herself, local coven member Mahogany Medford, who’s set on immersing Mia in a twisted mystery that appears all but unsolvable without a special kind of help . . .

Still reeling from the recent loss of her mother and believing there was more to the abrupt death, Mahogany urges Mia to cast light on the truth. But old secrets might come back to haunt her in an investigation that demands conjuring up phantoms from the past on the property of Mia’s Morsels. Now, wearing Gran’s protective stone and empowered by a circle of trusted confidants, Mia must reveal who—or what—killed Ms. Medford as another deadly surprise brews!

Uprooting Everything While Still Writing

Hi, I’m Lynn Cahoon and I was born in Idaho. Moved to St. Louis after a time. Now, I live 10 miles from the North Carolina border in eastern Tennessee. My next (and final) move will be to a cottage by the sea.

I write cozy series set in California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, and Arizona. And I’ve got one that keeps hanging around my head that will probably be set on the North Carolina coast in my all-time favorite vacation spot – the Outer Banks. I like to travel and have talked to my husband about my  bucket list. He’s not interested in most of my plans, except Scotland and New Zealand.

Then the year (or two) of No Travel occurred so I’m just now getting back to going to readers events and signings. The last event I did in 2020 was in February and Nashville had a tornado a few days after I left town. (It wasn’t my fault, really.)

Anyway, I did a couple of events in 2021 and then four in 2022. This year I’m doing a lot more. As I’m writing this, I’ll be driving to Suffolk Mystery Festival tomorrow. Then the next week, flying into Arizona for a writer/reader convention. With two local(ish) events in North Carolina and Kentucky on my schedule for after that, I’ll end my FOUR CHARMING SPELLS release tour.  With the local event I attended in February, I’ve already surpassed last year’s trip count.

I have a trip to California and a family trip to OBX planned. Like I said, I love traveling, but I’m looking forward to May when I’ll be at home for at least a month.

So what does this travel discussion have to do with writing? A lot. One, as an author, we visit readers where they are. I love meeting new readers and have made several long-distance friendships from events like the ones I’ve attended. At one event, I met up with a cousin for dinner that I hadn’t seen in forty (?) years. Building a reader base is part of the job description so as my promo button says – TRAVEL IS MURDER.

But also, I start thinking about plots and settings and new series as I travel and see new things. The Kitchen Witch series is set in Magic Springs, Idaho. The actual town may be fictional, but the Sun Valley area isn’t. It’s beautiful in all seasons and was (is) a popular place for California movie stars to buy ‘cabins’ and hang out in the mountains. My husband swears he met Bruce Willis and Demi Moore in the bar they owned when my husband was locating utilities in the area. It was before we were married so I can’t verify the tale.

My first visit to Sun Valley was for a high school state convention for Future Homemakers of America. I was a state officer. After we had our meetings, we ran to the outdoor hot tub and climbed in. It started to snow. The woods were quiet, and it was magical. Until we had to get out and run to our rooms.

Magic Springs is a place where you’d expect magic to be real. And in my town, half the locals attend the coven but not my main character. She likes being independent. Her focus is getting her catering business going. Her grandmother is busy whipping up potions in her bathtub. Yep, it’s that kind of place.

So what about you? Are you a homebody or a traveling soul?  Leave a comment and enter to win a signed print copy of FOUR CHARMING SPELLS (US Only – but if you’re outside the US and win – I’ll send you a digital copy of another book.)

Lynn Cahoon, author of FOUR CHARMING SPELLS, a Kitchen Witch mystery, is a NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Kitchen Witch, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at her website www.lynncahoon.com 

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

52 Thoughts

    2. Congratulations on the new book, Lynn! For my day job, I work from home, so traveling helps keep me reasonably sane. My wife and I love warm, sunny beaches so we’re headed to the Florida Panhandle next month. Then, I’ll be at Sleuthfest in July. Cheers!

  2. Like Dru Ann, I love to travel but really like to be home, too! I live in Maine, but have also lived in California and sothwest Virginia. I’m more suited to Virginia’s weather but my husband can’t stand any kind of heat and he doesn’t enjoy traveling at all, so I don’t travel much at all now except to visit my daughter in upstate New York. I still dream of visiting Italy, Scotland and Egypt!

    1. Hi Kathy. My husband doesn’t like to travel either. We’re loving the warmer TN weather. I have all three of those places on my bucket list too!

  4. I’m a bit of both. I love traveling and visiting new to me places but then I’m happy to be home again. We are thinking of taking a river cruise through Germany for our next adventure. Thank you for this chance at your giveaway. pgenest57 at aol dot com

  5. can one be both? i do love having some open space and seeing new things and yet find comfort in the old as well.
    Fruitcrmble AT comcast DOT neg

  6. I don’t mind being home, but there’s so many places I want to visit someday when I have the time/money.

  7. We love to travel! When I was a kid growing up as an Army brat, vacations were only once a year event. Plus my Dad had this idea to get from point A to point B there was no excuse or reason to stop anywhere along the way. Example – We lived in California for 9 years. Relatives lived in AR, TX and OK. Vacations were spend on visiting them all. So for 9 years I was driven by places like the Grand Canyon twice a year (going and coming home) without stopping to see them. After our marriage, we had a trip planned for Tombstone, AZ for a function. I laughingly told hubby that if he drove past the Grand Canyon that there would be a funeral – his. We not only stopped, but a few years later, we went back for an extended stay.

    After retirement, we were determined to see as many places on our bucket list as was possible. I didn’t want to be like my parents who in their last years would say “I wish we had….”. I want to be the person that when no longer able to travel say “Boy wasn’t that fun!” We made several trips, including a 34 day trip to the New England states to see all the fall colors as well as the sites (like the ocean hubby had never seen). Folks asked why 34 days. Well, at the time and including days off and holidays, that was as long as the post office would hold our mail. LOL We made several trips a year for several years and then we had a few years of no travel due to you know what. Couldn’t do much traveling last year due to medical issues. We have two big trips planned this year besides those to go visit dear friends and are hoping world situations and medical issue allow with no cancellations. There are still too many places on our list to give up completely yet. My only problem now is that our computer crash and I lost my tried and true packing list. So having to work my brain to remember everything again. LOL

    FOUR CHARMING SPELLS sounds fabulous and is already on my TBR list. LOVE the cover! Thank you for the chance to win an autographed copy. I would love the opportunity to read, review and to spread the word about how great it is after reading.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  8. I like to travel, but my husband does not. We did manage to go on an amazing cruise through the Panama Canal. That was a long time ago, and before kids.

    1. Hi Deborah – A cruise through the Panama Canal sounds lovely. My step brother was stationed there when he was in the service YEARS ago.

  9. Congratulations on the new book, Lynn! I like to travel and went to OBX for the first time this February. It is lovely. Since my husband spent part of his growing up years in Idaho, I’ve been to Ketchum. And my daughter and I are convinced we saw Demi in a big black SUV.

    1. Hi Sherry – Ketchum is beautiful. We used to go to Redfish Lake which is nearby. I’m hooked on OBX which is good since my husband likes to go there.

  10. Congrats on the new book, Lynn! I like being where I’m going, but the getting there and back is often not that fun. Unless I’m traveling with someone.

  12. Welcome to the Wickeds, Lynn. And congratulations on four charming spells. Like so many here, I love to travel and I love to be home. On Friday, my husband and I start our annual drive home from Key West to Maine. It will be the first time (going in that direction) in our fully electric car, so it will undoubtedly be an adventure. In September we’re off to Europe.

    1. Hi Barbara! Good luck on your electric adventure. Does it mean you need to plan your stops more? Europe should be lovely. I’m jealous.

  13. Four Charming Spells sounds delightful! Definitely on my TBR

    I was born with wanderlust in my soul. It was so bad at one time that my boss would confiscate my passport if we had a long term project on tap. They used to joke about my inability to drive past an airport. Now I’m married to a man whose idea of travel is getting from point A to point B by the most direct route. Go figgur!

    1. Hi Kait! Funny about the passport. My husband would rather not travel, but I’ve got him making our plans for a trip to Colorado next summer to see the ghost towns.

  14. Definitely both! I love being at home but since I work from home, its nice to get out and travel a bit!

    Love the book cover. Thanks for the chance!

    1. Hi B – thanks for posting. I started working from home in the pandemic so when they started talking about going back to the office full time, I made plans to be a full time author. At home. Unless I’m traveling. LOL

  15. Congrats on the new book, and I also love the cover art! I live in SE Virginia, and vacationed on the OBX for more than 20 years (started back when you could have actual encounters with the wild horses in Corolla). Had to do a lot of travel for various jobs, so I’m mostly content to stay home (work from home). I’m lucky that many natural wonders and interesting sights are within day-trip range; just have to find time away from work to enjoy them. Thanks for entering me in your contest!

  16. I definitely also fall into the homebody who loves to travel group. I do like to be home, and enjoy it when I can do nothing but veg. But I also have really been enjoying travel the last few years and want to do more of it. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)

  17. I have incredible wanderlust. I have traveled a lot, but am always ready to leave at the drop of a hat. My husband likes to travel within the US, and no farther than Canada. I want to see the world. Right now, it isn’t possible for him to travel farther than a few hours nor be left for more than a few days, but we hope that will be changing soon.

    I wish Magic Springs was real. I’ve had some amazing spiritual experiences, but no real magic. I look forward to traveling to Idaho in Four Charming Spells.

  18. Hi Lynn! I like to take day trips. Congratulations on the new book and I look forward to reading your OBX book when you write it.

  19. Congratulations on the new book! I can’t wait to read it! I am a homebody with a traveling soul. I travel through the books I read, so it’s fun that through your travels you create stories for us to enjoy! Thanks for the chance on the book!

  22. I’m definitely a homebody, but will leave home to travel. I’m looking forward to reading “Four Charming Spells”. Love the cover also.

  24. I am a homebody for the most part but I do enjoy traveling occasionally to break up the monotony.

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