Sandra's Book Club: Blog Tour: LOVE POTION #999 by C.S. Edwards

Love Potion #999

by C.S. Edwards

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GENRE: Paranormal Romance

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BLURB:

Did you hear what happened when a witch doctor met a witchologist in a bar? Well, mayhem ensued! What else did you expect? It's all because everyone had too many Gnome Island Iced Teas, not to mention the cloud of intoxicating glitter that put everyone under the table even if they didn't drink a drop. But the real punch line in that fateful tale were the two potion-filled arrow toting cupids. For one witch, after that night, stuff got real.

You see, the witch doctor was none other than the famous apothecary and alchemist, Betsy Babington. She's a celebrity! Famous, successful, single, and... bored. Before she walked into that bar, Betsy was itching to change things up. So, she enlisted her coven of misfits and two mischievous cherubs to make a rogue love potion recipe — destined to be the next big thing in her famous potions brand. She never once thought about making Love Potion#999 for herself! Definitely not! Well, maybe she did, just a little...

For the whole truth, you'll have to read the story. All I can really say is some magical historians have said Betsy Babington's tangle with the trouble of Love Potion #999 was like opening Pandora's box. Now that was a little extreme. For the folks who were there, it was more like a weekend in Vegas.

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Excerpt One:

She was tired of the same ole same ole. The truth was, Betsy Babington was tired of a lot of things in her life. She was tired of working so hard. She was tired of being famous. Some days, she was tired of being a witch doctor. But most everyday Betsy was tired of being alone. Of course, she had her coven, Ron, Lola, April and Jessica—which she loved. Charles, her ogre bodyguard, was truly like family. Her baby boy cherubs were total stinkers, but she totally adored them. But that one true special someone in her life was missing. She was 135, and single. That fact, coupled with the news of her younger sister falling for a hunky, mysterious, mystic angel, made Betsy jealous. Jealously was not an emotion she was used to having or liked. She’d never been jealous of either of her siblings. Bart and Betty Babington were awesome witch doctors, in their own right. But she had the life to be jealous of—that’s what she used to think. Lately, Betsy Babington felt green with envy at the mention of Betty and Gates, or any couple, and that icky feeling was stuck in her crawl.

A red blush crept across her face — brought on by envy and jealousy. She rubbed her cheek, desperate to temper the color before any member of her coven caught a glimpse of it. Ron, Lola, April and Jessica never noticed. They were oblivious, busy arguing about measurements.

“Not too much honey, that’s the key.” Ron measured the thick gooey liquid in a beaker.

“And just a drop of artemisia. We wouldn’t want to poison anyone.” April fussed. “It’s only for the silver color, anyway.”

Betsy strolled across the room to join her team as she gently folded the loose-leaf paper and tucked it in her lab coat pocket. “April’s right. Artemisia can be dangerous. But not the way we use it to tint the potion. Just a drop and a quarter should be all you need to make the Mirror Me potion sparkle.”

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GUEST POST

What are the elements you consider when writing your stories?

It’s a funny question really… the elements of the stories that spill out of my brain are kind of random and all over the place. Sometimes, I’m inspired by a title that pops in my head. Literally, just a phrase that sounds like a great book. I’ve built entire worlds around just one phase, or song lyrics! I love song lyrics – like the new book Love Potion #999.

For example, this whole book was inspired by The Searchers 1964 release, Love Potion Number Nine. If you listen to that song, you find all the elements I’ve built into this story. It’s a crazy romp about a bad love potion that causes all sorts of bad behavior. So, once I had that general feel and theme of the story as my backdrop, I could really layer in my characters. What they say. What they do. And how they feel, all tie back to that gypsy-like rock tune – it’s catchy, sexy, and makes you want to sing along. So, the dialogue in this book had to be all of those things. It really moves quick and propel the story. I always rely heavily on dialogue in shorter stories to reveal as much about my characters as possible.

Lastly, I’m not necessarily a plotter, but I like to have a vague idea of where I’m going. That’s it. And trust me it changes constantly. This makes planting elements like red herrings and foreshadowing a bit difficult – but I do love them!! So, you’ll find I drop hints about what’s to come throughout each story – even when I’m not writing mysteries!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I was born in Ashland, Kentucky, the youngest of three children, and grew up in the small Eastern Kentucky town of Inez. I moved to Lexington to finish high school. Attending Transylvania University for two years, before graduating from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia - with a degree in Economics - go figure! After a stint in New York City, I moved back home to Kentucky and have since built my life around family.

Living just outside of Cincinnati with my husband, Sean, and our five amazing kids, and a precious goldendoodle, I work hard to find time to balance family, work, and writing.

My first passion is weaving mysteries and I'm working on several new fiction projects now. This past year, I also found great joy in creating useful journals, trackers, and planners. I have big plans for publishing more of these creative notebooks in the future! As always, I cannot wait to share my next novel with you. I hope you enjoy, and welcome hearing from you!

https://csedwardsauthor.com/

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https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/c-s-edwards/

https://www.amazon.com/author/c.s.edwards

https://books2read.com/ap/nmOXwE/CS-Edwards

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GIVEAWAY

C.S. Edwards will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.