RED VELVET REVENGE
A Cupcake Bakery Mystery
BY JENN McKINLAY
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Someone Wants to Bake a Killing...
It may be summertime, but sales at Fairy Tale Cupcakes are below zero—and owners Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are willing to try anything to heat things up. So when local legend Slim Hazard offers them the chance to sell cupcakes at the annual Juniper Pass rodeo, they’re determined to rope in a pretty payday!
But not everyone at the Juniper Pass is as sweet for Fairy Tale Cupcakes as Slim—including star bull-rider Ty Stokes. Mel and Angie try to steer clear of the cowboy’s short fuse, but when his dead body is found face down in the hay, it’s a whole different rodeo.
With a vengeful murderer on the loose, the ladies are quickly realizing that while they came to save their business, they may have to save themselves—and that’s no bull.
INCLUDES SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPES!
AN EXCERPT FROM RED VELVET REVENGE:
AN EXCERPT FROM RED VELVET REVENGE:
Chapter One
“What are we going to do about the business?” Angie DeLaura asked. She was sitting across the table from Melanie Cooper, dishing up her 23 Skiddoo sundae while Mel sipped on her Camelback soda.
“What are we going to do about the business?” Angie DeLaura asked. She was sitting across the table from Melanie Cooper, dishing up her 23 Skiddoo sundae while Mel sipped on her Camelback soda.
They had escaped their cupcake bakery, leaving it under the supervision of their two employees, and were sitting in the Sugar Bowl, Scottsdale’s landmark ice cream shop. Mel always had the Camelback soda, vanilla ice cream scooped into old fashioned soda with a pitcher of extra soda water on the side, it was her long time favorite.
She glanced around the pink and chrome interior and noted that the Sugar Bowl hadn’t seemed to age a day since it opened in 1958. Not that she had been around then, but her mother Joyce had been, and she remembered coming here when she was a little girl just like Mel remembered coming here with her father and her brother when they were kids. There was something about the thick glass ice cream dishes served on paper doilies on the classic white plates that was charmingly nostalgic.
Growing up, the Sugar Bowl had been a favorite hang out of Mel and Angie’s along with their other childhood chum Tate. The three of them had practically owned the table by the window, where Mel and Angie now sat enjoying the respite from the scorching hot July day outside.
Summer in the Valley of the Sun was as mean as an old man with sciatica. The sidewalk was so hot, Mel was sure the bottom of her flip flops were going to melt. Just walking around the corner from their shop Fairy Tale Cupcakes had made both Mel and Angie sweat like marathoners, which they clearly were not given that the relentless heat had them moving about as fast as a pair of desert tortoises. To finish reading this excerpt, visit Author Jenn McKinlay's website HERE.
To read more about Jenn McKinlay's "Bio", visit her website HERE.
A SAMPLE RECIPE FROM AUTHOR JENN McKINLAY:
RED VELVET CUPCAKES...WITH BEETS!
A red velvet cupcake made with beet puree and topped cream cheese frosting and an edible flower (optional).
INGREDIENTS:
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup beet puree
1/3 cup canola oil 1egg, room temperature
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup beet puree
1/3 cup canola oil 1egg, room temperature
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Put 12 cupcake liners in muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, add in the oil, lemon juice, vanilla and egg to the pureed beets. Pour the beet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix just enough to combine. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake for 18 – 22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Put 12 cupcake liners in muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, add in the oil, lemon juice, vanilla and egg to the pureed beets. Pour the beet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix just enough to combine. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake for 18 – 22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until frosting is smooth. Put frosting in a pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes in thick swirls, using an open tip. Decorate with an edible flower, such as a nasturtium.
Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until frosting is smooth. Put frosting in a pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes in thick swirls, using an open tip. Decorate with an edible flower, such as a nasturtium.
SOME OTHER BOOKS BY JENN McKINLAY (aka Lucy Lawrence/Josie Bell):
GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO KAYLEIGH AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT BERKLEY PRIME CRIME AND PENGUIN BOOKS,
I HAVE ONE COPY OF RED VELVET REVENGE,
TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY READER
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT RED VELVET REVENGE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, AUGUST 11
GOOD LUCK!
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