Hello and Welcome All!
Today we have Lana Lewis from Live and Let Grind here today to talk with us.
Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Hi! My name is Lana Lewis. I’m a former journalist, and the owner of Perkatory, the best coffee shop on Devil’s Beach. Well, that’s my opinion and obviously I’m biased, because I’m the co-owner. My father is the other owner — he and my mother started the cafe several years ago, and I feel like I’m continuing her legacy. I love coffee, small dogs, roller skating and reading. I was born here on Devils Beach and moved away for several years during college and my first job at a Miami newspaper. When I was laid off, I returned home to Devils Beach and decided to work at the family business. It was the best decision I could have made, and I’m thrilled to be here.
What’s it like going from being a journalist to a proprietor of a coffee shop?
I won’t lie, it was a bit difficult. I didn’t want to leave journalism. I was laid off from my job like so many journalists have been in recent years. But actually, it turned out to be the best thing for me. Shortly after I was laid off, my husband left me for a younger woman. Yeah, that makes me sound like a loser, but I’m not. Or maybe I am. I don’t really care. I came home to the island and my father, Peter Lewis, asked me if I wanted to manage the cafe. I started to really enjoy it. I hired an excellent woman named Erica, who’s become my best friend, and she’s the most talented barista I’ve ever met. It’s been a smoother transition than I anticipated, and now I feel as though I’ve found my place in the world.
What challenges are you facing in your relationship with Noah?
The biggest challenge is that I keep sticking my nose into places where it doesn’t belong. Surprise, surprise, I’m a former journalist. But when something happens close to me, like my next-door neighbor is murdered, or my best friend Erica becomes a suspect in a murder, I feel like I have to ask questions. It doesn’t help that my friends at the local newspaper keep asking me to poke around as well, doing freelance articles. It’s like I just can’t stop investigating. Erica says that I should write a book, maybe a true crime story about one of the murders that has happened here on Devils Beach, but I’m not sure that would go over well with Noah. Other than my nosiness, we don’t have any challenges. We have an amazing relationship and laugh and have fun together on the regular.
Tell use a bit about Stanley?
I wasn’t in the market to adopt a dog, but when my barista Fabrizio was murdered, someone had to take his puppy, and that someone was me. I couldn’t resist Stanley’s brown eyes or his soft fur or his little woofs. He is my heart dog. And he saved my life once, not long after Fabrizio died. I will forever be indebted to Stanley. He is my constant companion and I love him so, so much.
Last, how do you feel about your author and the events that she has happening to you in your book Live and Let Grind?
I think the author did a pretty good job considering there were so many suspects and red herrings that we had to wade through in this case. From what I understand, the author is a former journalist herself. So I felt like she accurately portrayed everything that I have gone through and the efforts I undertook to solve the crime. I also like how she didn’t make Noah seem like an incompetent cop because he’s not. But sometimes he just needs a little bit of my instinct to solve a case, and I really feel the author portrayed that quite well.
Lana thank you for visiting Angel’s Guilty Pleasures and speaking with me today.
Live and Let Grind
(A Coffee Lover’s Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Florida
Crooked Lane Books
(October 11, 2022)
Hardcover : 320 pages
Laid-off journalist Lana Lewis is thriving as the proprietor of Perkatory, a coffee shop on quirky Devil’s Beach island, Florida. She’s juggling a relationship with police chief Noah Garcia, enjoying the company of her best friend, Erica, and relishing the companionship of her golden Shih Tzu, Stanley. Only problem is her neighbor, Gus, who incessantly uses his leaf blower, disturbing everyone in the neighborhood. Lana has learned to tune it out, but Erica’s rage boils over and she confronts Gus.
Then Gus is found dead, killed when his leaf blower explodes. Erica immediately becomes suspect number one. But there are plenty of other candidates as well: Gus’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Honey Bailey, who thinks she’ll be written out of his will; Mickey Dotson and Doug Beck, who were scalded financially after purchasing a pirate-themed tourist cruise business from Gus; and plenty of angry neighbors who’ve had run-ins with him.
As the clock ticks down will Lana get someone to spill the beans on the killer so she can clear her friend’s name, or will Erica go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit?
Purchase Links
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Apple – Kobo – Indiebound – Google Play
Tara Lush is a Rita Award finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and a George C. Polk Award winning journalist. For the past decade, she’s been a reporter with the Associated Press, covering crime, alligators, natural disasters, and politics. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations. A fan of vintage pulp-fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, and 1980s fashion, she lives with her husband and two dogs on the Gulf coast.
Author Links
(1) $25 Amazon Gift Card
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Barbara Montag
October 26, 2022 at 7:14 am
Did you get a lot of encouragement when you decided to become an author?
Barbara Montag
October 24, 2022 at 11:25 am
Do you reward yourself with something special when finishing a book?
Sophia Rose
October 23, 2022 at 6:05 pm
Fun character interview!
Nina Lewis
October 23, 2022 at 5:46 pm
Sounds like a great read. Love the cover! 🙂
Barbara Montag
October 23, 2022 at 10:52 am
Where do you get your ideas for writing?
Barbara Montag
October 22, 2022 at 9:18 am
When did you discover you have the gift of writing?
Debbie P
October 21, 2022 at 8:15 pm
This sounds like a great read.
Nancy
October 20, 2022 at 9:00 am
Terrific cover
Barbara Montag
October 20, 2022 at 7:24 am
I love everything about this book – title genre and cover!
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Bea LaRocca
October 17, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Thank you for sharing your character interview, bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading this post and I am looking forward to meeting Lana
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer
October 17, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Love the character interview. Ya for coffee and coffee shops!
Eva Millien
October 17, 2022 at 10:50 am
I enjoyed the character interview and I can’t wait to read Live and Let Grind!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a fabulous week!
Amy Woolard
October 17, 2022 at 9:20 am
I can’t wait to read this one in my comfy chair with a cup of coffee!