Tag: Anna Romano Mystery Series

Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman: A light, cozy snack of a mystery novel to kick off a new series.


Cats, Cannolis and a Curious KidnappingCats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping

by Cheryl Denise Bannerman
Series: Anna Romano Mystery Series, #1

eARC, 122 pg.
2018
Read: September 25, 2018

I tried so hard to work in a Clemenza joke here, even if it seems a bit obvious to do so. But I just couldn’t.

Anna’s a mystery writer — successful enough that she can be a full-time author (a rare breed nowadays) — a doting cat owner, and a pretty decent cook. All in all, the kind of person you’d want to spend time with (especially if you don’t have to deal with cat hair). She’s single, and is trying hard to convince herself that she’s okay with that (but it’s getting harder). We first meet here when she has an odd encounter with a man at a signing at a bookstore, but doesn’t think much about it.

Not long after that, however, that man shows up in her life here and there — and she starts to get worried. After one incident where he grabbed her momentarily, Anna tries to report it to the police, and is brushed off. So she’s driven to take the skills her characters display and use them for herself to try to figure out what this man could be up to. While Anna is pulling her Ian Ludlow act, the stalker steps up his act and next thing Anna knows, she’s been kidnapped and is going to have to fight to survive and get back to her cats. Meanwhile, the one police officer that took her seriously finds himself practically obsessed with her case once she goes missing.

We get this story told to us from three first person narrators — Anna, her stalker, and Det. John Solace. Solace is the detective who takes the stalker report seriously and investigates when things get more threatening. Sometimes I find that kind of thing to be a choice that doesn’t help a story, or sometimes I think it hurts — but here, this really helps. This novel wouldn’t work as well if you took one or two of these narrators out. Anna’s voice is the strongest, the most approachable — but even our villain is someone you can enjoy reading. Even when things get dangerous, the voices (to varying degrees) stay breezy, conversational and approachable. There is a sense of fun that pervades this work, and it’s what makes this as successful as it is.

I do wonder about the rapid nature of the romance, it seemed a bit rushed. Then again, it’s more satisfying than the 5+ years that the Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott build-up has gone on (at least for the readers) — so who’s to complain?

I do think that this book needed an editor — and I’m not talking a copy editor (although, that could’ve helped, too) — a strong critical pass or two to strengthen the strength points and cut the weaknesses from this and I can easily see this gaining fans by the bucket-load and even jaded guys like me being able to be effusive with praise. But as it is, I can just say that this is a cute story with a lot of charm — and charm goes a long way. I could list the issues this book has — and under different circumstances, I might. But why? Bannerman’s not trying to be the next Don Winslow or Jacqueline Chadwick. This is supposed to be a breezy little cozy, and if you sit back and let it be that, it succeeds.

If you’re looking for a light, sweet literary snack — a cannoli, if you will — this’ll hit the spot. Give it a whirl. The sequel is set to come out in January, so you won’t have to wait too long for another bite.

My thanks to damppebbles blog tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.

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3 Stars

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman

Today I welcome the Book Tour for Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman which features more cats than we’ve ever seen here. Along with this spotlight post, I’ll be giving my take on the novel here in a bit. Before you go on — be sure to check out the Giveaway below!

Book Details:

Book Title: Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman
Release date: September 21, 2018
Format: Paperback
Length: 122 pages

Book Blurb:

Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping is the first novel in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a funny, whimsical, murder mystery series that appeals to ‘mystery readers’ of all ages.

Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a lover of cats, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey.

When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course!

In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna’s somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid?

About Cheryl Denise Bannerman:

Cheryl Denise BannermanWriting under pen name, Cheryl Denise Bannerman, Ms. Powell is an author of two self-published books, and an owner of a 22-year-old Training and Development company, specializing in eLearning, called Learn2Engage.

In her personal life and relationships, Ms. Powell has learned how to turn tragedies into triumphs through her strong will, faith, tenacity and most importantly, her quirky sense of humor. She now turns that keen knowledge of relationships and people, along with her various degrees and experience in Training and Development, into fun, engaging online courses for ‘Corporate America’, and, of course, in her works of fiction.

Within each of her works of fiction, a topic of social concern is addressed. From addictions to domestic violence, and suicide to molestation.

Her writings inspire people to live, laugh, love, learn and grow. She believes that when the world laughs at you, laugh harder. In Ms. Powell’s real and fictional world, she has learned how to create her own ‘happy ending’…one day at a time.

Cheryl Denise Bannerman’s Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbannerman01
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BannermanBooksdotCom/
Website: http://www.bannermanbooks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bannermanbooks18/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Cheryl-Denise-Bannerman/e/B003YVCJ74/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1536333632&sr=8-1

Purchase Links for Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=978-1724260857+
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cats-Cannolis-Curious-Kidnapping-Mystery/dp/1724260855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537700445&sr=8-1&keywords=cats%2C+cannoli+and+a+curious+kidnapping
Cheryl’s website where US readers can purchase a signed paperback copy: http://eepurl.com/dGgyET

Giveaway!

US residents: There are two prizes up for grabs; entrants can win either a $10 B&N voucher or a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping. To enter the giveaway to win one of these prizes click here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
If the Rafflecopter thing above doesn’t work for you, click here.

Terms and conditions: One US winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping and one US winner will receive a $10 B&N voucher. The draw will be random and you cannot choose your prize. There is no cash alternative. The giveaway will close at midnight BST on Saturday 29th September 2018. The winner of the paperback will need to provide their postal address. The winner of the B&N voucher will need to provide their email address. These addresses will be passed onto Cheryl Denise Bannerman for her to distribute the prizes. The addresses will not be kept. Good luck.

Non US residents: For your chance to win a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping please click the following link: a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
If the Rafflecopter thing above doesn’t work for you, click here.

Terms and conditions: One non-US winner will receive a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping. The winner will need to provide their Kindle email address and add damppebbles@gmail.com as a Safe Sender to their Kindle account (information on how to do this can be provided upon request). There is no cash alternative and the winner’s name will be selected at random. The giveaway will end at midnight (BST) on Saturday 29th September 2018. Good luck.


My thanks to damppebbles blog tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

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