I received a complimentary ARC copy of Live and Let Grind (Coffee Lover’s Mystery series #3) by Tara Lush from Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books in order to read and give an honest review.

… a fun, fast-paced mystery, filled with an abundance of red herrings, quirky characters, and fun dialogue …

In this third entry in the Coffee Lover’s Mystery series, we continue to see Lana adjust to life back in her hometown after leaving her ex-husband and high-profile journalism job in Miami. As the owner/manager of her family’s coffee shop Perkatory in Devil’s Beach, Florida, as well as a freelance reporter, Lana Lewis has been thrust into the role of amateur detective since returning home. When Lana’s ornery neighbor Gus insists on using his leaf blower excessively and at all hours, he gets into arguments with everyone in the neighborhood including Lana’s roommate and best friend Erica. When Gus is blown up by said blower after it has been rigged to explode those near and dear become suspects with Erica being a prime suspect. Her inner circle is small, other than Erica the three main loves of her life are her widowed hippy father, her boyfriend Police Chief Noah Garcia and her pup named Stanley. When Lana hopes to write a story to clear her friend’s name, Chief Garcia tries to block her from writing the story in an attempt to protect her. While her romantic relationship hits a bit of a rough patch, Lana will not back down and continues to work with Erica and find the real murderer. Gus was involved in some shady business practices and enemies seemed to be in abundance. When a second attempted murder points directly to Erica, Lana is under the gun to solve the case placing her and Erica in the cross hairs of the real murderer.

I enjoy the series as a whole and although not my favorite entry in the series to date Live and Let Grind is a fun, fast-paced mystery, filled with an abundance of red herrings, quirky characters, and fun dialogue. Live and Let Grind in my opinion is a fantastic and fun cozy mystery read which I definitely recommend.

The third book in this series and somehow I managed to read the first book but missed the second.

Live and Let Grind is a fun read about Lana, the owner of a coffee shop called Perkatory in Florida. She is currently dating Noah, the local police chief but her previous job as a reporter and her inquisitive nature combine to cause some conflicts with him. When her next-door neighbour is murdered and her best friend is a suspect she cannot help herself from investigating and getting herself into serious trouble.

It is an easy read, full of quirky characters, some humorous dialogue, a lot of amazing ideas to do with coffee, and a cute dog. I gave the first book three stars but I am giving this one four.

The only time I have been happy to hear a leaf blower? When my neighbor was clearing out my gutters before the rainy season. The rest of the time I confess I can see Erica's frustration with the neighbor, Gus. He has no boundaries but is the noise issue enough to drive a person to commit homicide? After his death the police see her as the prime suspect because of a loud confrontation with him but her friend Lana knows it's not possible. Time to start investigating despite the cautions said to her by her boyfriend, the police chief.
Lana just wants to run the family coffee shop, Perkatory along with her father and settle back into living on Devil's Beach Island, Florida, her home town. Erica has moved in with her while her boat/home is having work done on it. If Lana can't help catch the killer, Erica won't be living on her boat but in a jail cell.
Not only is this a well written mystery with a quirky cast of characters but the setting sounds like the perfect place for my next vacation. It also has a good dose of humor. It has everything I look for in my cozies.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Erika, the barista, is staying with Lana while she does some work on her boat. The next door neighbor is vigilant about running his leaf blower at all hours and Erika and the neighbors are really frustrated. When the neighbor is found dead, after his leaf blower explodes, Erika becomes the main suspect. Lana begins her sleuthing, without approval of her policy chief boyfriend. Another fun read in this series set on a Florida island. There is a lot of humor and joy in this book along with the mystery. These gal pals get themselves in funny situations but in the end all is well.

I love it when a cozy mysteries' location becomes a character in the story. I want to move to Devil's Beach at least for the winter. The gang are bundling up for a Florida winter when another murder takes place in the quaint town. Can Noah and Lana's relationship handled an eccentric Dad, a short tempered roommate, busy coffee shop and an investigation? Find out when you read the third Coffee Lover's Mystery.

Lana Lewis, owner of Perkatory, the best coffee shop in Devil's Beach Island, Florida lived near to the cafe and her best friend and top barista, Erica was staying with her while her boat home was renovated. The morning their peace was disturbed by the next door neighbour, starting a war of words between Erica and Gus, was the beginning of another episode of murder and mayhem for Lana and her police chief boyfriend, Noah Garcia.

Trying to discover who had murdered Gus, Lana knew she shouldn't sleuth - but her previous career as a reporter saw her quite unable to stop. When another person collapsed, this time inside Perkatory, Lana was shocked. And then Erica was high on the police suspect list. Lana knew they needed to find out what was going on, so much against Noah's wishes, Lana and Erica dug deep. All the while, Stanley, Lana's golden Shih Tzu, was keeping them company. But would they put themselves in danger while locating the killer?

Live and Let Grind is the 3rd in A Coffee Lover's Mystery by Tara Lush and it was fun, entertaining and fast paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lana and Noah's relationship is sweet but complex. Stanley is adorable! And I wish I had a Perkatory nearby - some of their concoctions sound delicious! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book and this series!

Lana Lewis and her BFF Erica run Perkatory, a coffee shop on Devil’s Beach island first opened by Lana's late mother. They are also temporary roomies while repairs on Erica's boat (aka home) are being made.

Recently Lana's grouchy neighbor has been torturing the neighborhood with his noisy leaf blower. Early Sunday morning Erica confronted him and it became very loud. A neighbor called the police and the Chief of Police (aka Lana's boyfriend) stopped the argument. For that reason, Erica was a suspect when the neighbor was murdered.

Lana, Erica and Lana's dad start investigating so Erica's name will be cleared. There's no shortage of suspects so they divide tasks and are making progress... until Erica's temper takes over. Now it's up to Lana to rescue Erica from a killer.

Again, a great book. Can't wait for the next in the series!

LIVE AND LET GRIND is the third book in the Coffee Lover’s Mystery series by Tara Lush. Fast-paced with quirky characters, I was engrossed in the story from the very first page. The protagonist, Lana Lewis, is the owner of the Perkatory coffee shop in Devil’s Beach Island, Florida. The author does a fantastic job with her descriptive voice in making the reader feel like they’re right there, experiencing the beach community vibe. But, even more importantly, her witty, often humorous repartee keeps the dialog lively and the characters interesting. While I enjoy Lana, it’s her hippy dad that steals each scene he inhabits. He brings a breath of fresh air to the cozy mystery genre, and I can’t wait to see more of him in future books.

The murder mystery itself is quite creative… murder by leaf blower! As a former journalist, Lana has experience in interviewing people and putting stories together. It’s not a stretch of the imagination that she’d be interested in finding out why it happened and who committed the crime. She’s methodical and knows how to research, and it all makes sense as she pieces the clues together. Thrown into the mix for maximum entertainment is senior citizen true crime podcasters, a disco roller-skating social media influencer, a pirate party ship, and much, much more. It makes me wish the next release was right around the corner!

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Copaganda/police involvement: "....juggling a relationship with police chief Noah Garcia"
Narrator: Lana Lewis
Main sleuth(s): Lana Lewis
What kind of animals are involved: Little brown dog, shih tzu, Stanley
Location: Devil's Beach Island, Florida
Sub-location: Perkatory, coffee shop
Recipes: No :/
Notes on the puns of the title: I don't get it :/
Series #: A Coffee Lover's Mystery 3
Magic?: No
Theme: Coffee

Two stars for: setting in Florida, mediocre plot, and I don't like the name of the coffee shop.

I love this series, everything about it! The characters are fun, the setting is interesting, the storyline is entertaining and the books are just plain good! Highly recommend!

Rounded to 4.5 stars.

CONTENT WARNING: murder

This is such a fun and cute series, and it embodies everything I love about a cozy mystery. Quirky small town, adorable pet, memorable characters, a sweet romance that’s developing, and punny titles, this book has it all.

In this third book of the series, Lana is still struggling with the changes in her life. After a devastating divorce and the end of her journalism career, she’s returned to her slow-paced hometown of Devil’s Beach, Florida, where she now runs her family coffee shop, cleverly called Perkatory. She’s a through and through coffee lover, but hasn’t fully given up on her journalist tendencies, even when it causes her to butt heads with her police chief boyfriend, Noah.

Speaking of Noah, there’s something going on in their relationship. He’s a total keeper—sweet, smart, handsome, and thoughtful, except that he seems to be somewhat reluctant to have Lana meet his family. And he’s definitely not too keen on having her snoop around crime scenes. Which appear to be popping up regularly. Especially now that Lana’s overzealously leaf-blowing neighbor has been murdered.

But when Lana’s best friend becomes the main suspect, she just can’t help herself, and starts to do some detective work of her own. Lana is actually pretty good at figuring things out, making this an intriguing story. I loved the way she conducts her own research, enlisting the help of certain quirky characters in her town.

I especially enjoy the way that the author leans in to Florida’s weird reputation, even going as far as to have an alcohol shot called “The Florida Man.” There’s no shortage of strange characters in the story, and Lana and her crew just kind of shrug it off, like … it’s just Florida. Since the story takes place in winter, she also pokes some fun at the way the characters bundle up for the “cold weather.” I couldn’t help but giggle at the visual of people walking around in chunky sweaters and puffer coats and boots with shorts, because I’ve been to Florida in the winter and people actually do that, while as a New Yorker who has seen *actual* winter weather, I’m usually attired in shorts and a tank top, sweating my butt off.

The story was funny and intriguing, and I loved the way there are so many red herrings. I couldn’t stop reading, and loved the ride. The plot twists surprised me and had me on the edge of my seat to find out who it was, and I was also wondering what was really going on with Lana and Noah. This was the first time I saw a queer couple represented in the story, which was nice to see, even if I couldn’t help but giggle when their names rhymed. I also love the choice to have Noah be Cuban-American, and the beautiful representation of his heritage, which was done thoughtfully and it felt naturally. He isn’t the only character of color, either, which was great to see. This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series, and while I definitely don’t want to see more people die, I certainly hope that this series sticks around for a long time, because I can’t wait for more books in this great series!

Live and Let Grind by Tara Lush is a nice cozy mystery. This is the third book in the Coffee Lover's Mystery series. This series is set in Devil's Beach, Florida, and mostly takes place around a local coffee shop, Perkatory. Lana is the main character. Her neighbor Gus is found dead, and Lana's best friend Erica is the prime suspect.

The characters are well developed, and the setting is super cute and quaint. I liked getting to know these characters and did not feel I missed out on anything by not reading the other books in the series.

For a quick, fast-paced cozy mystery, you can't go wrong with Live and Let Grind. I would recommend this book. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

#LiveandLetGrind #NetGalley @crookedlanebks

My favorite cozy mystery series, Lana and her crew are back to solving a murder while navigating her relationship with the perfect police chief. There’s something about the setting of Devil’s Beach, Perkatory, and the characters that I find comforting and fun. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Lush has done it again, not only is this book laugh out loud funny but the mystery plotting is spot on. The MC, Lana, is incredibly relatable and whip smart and it’s a joy to revisit Devil’s Beach and loveable supporting cast of characters. And can I just say Stanley the Shih Tzu is just the cutest dog ever. Whether you drink coffee or not you’ll want to visit Perkatory. This is the third book in the Coffee Lover´s Mystery series, to get caught up read Grounds for Murder, book one.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

It was so nice to visit Devil’s Beach again. I always enjoy hearing what fancy new coffee that Perkatory is serving. The Orange Blossom in this one is creative and fun to read about.
The mystery had me guessing almost the whole time! Even with some of the later clues, I still couldn’t be sure. And as it turns out the motive was more complicated than it seemed.
The best part of this book was the character development. Several of the characters let their worst characteristics out to the point of annoying me. However, there were people around them to call them on it. Then there was a conversation that they had and they realized they were being ridiculous. Then they apologized and tried to do better. I really appreciated that their ridiculousness was not drawn out.
Noah and Lana’s relationship is developing nicely as well. I think they might be my favorite cozy mystery couple. And in this one we get to see a little bit of Erica and Joey’s relationship as well.
Good mystery, good romance, and good character development.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ARC copy of #LiveandLetGrind that I received from #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks. Tara Lush has penned a fast-paced and fascinating mystery that keeps you guessing to the very end.
I had not read the first two books in the Coffee Lovers Mystery series, by Lush includes just enough details of what came before to inform the new reader while not allowing the information on previous books to overwhelm the current one. The characters are realistic and relatable, with plenty of suspects in the murder to keep the question of who the guilty party is engaging.
The cover of the book is lovely, tempting those who see it to open it and read the well-written page-turner.
I did find some of the descriptions to be overly wordy, but all in all, I recommend this book to coffee and mystery lovers alike.

Live and Let Grind is the third installment of Tara Lush's Coffee Lovers' Mysteries. This series is set in Devil's Beach, Florida and is centered around a local coffee shop, Perkatory. Lana Lewis, the coffeeshop's owner, has invited her head barista, Erica, to stay with her while Erica's boat that she lives on is being repaired. This book opens with Erica confronting the next door neighbor about his penchant for using his leaf blower at all times of the day or night without consideration for anyone else who lives in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, when the neighbor is found dead the next day, Erica soon becomes the prime suspect to be investigated by Noah Garcia, the local police chief and Lana's boyfriend.

Throughout this series the author has done an excellent job of creating a core group of characters that are able to be woven into each installment as their lives expand and develop in the community, demonstrating deep roots for each of them and crossing gender and cultural lines. Much of this series has been focused on the deepening relationships and the characters dealing with emontional baggage that they have brought forward to their current situations and the storylines that the author has created so far have been well-thoughtout and developed so as to not distract the reader from the core of the mystery but also letting them be an insider into the relationships and the way the characters work through the inevitable conflicts that arise from trying to mesh several different histories into a compatible present and future.

In this installment, the storyline that developed was intricate enough to allow the reader to form their own opinions as to the identity of the killer as well as the motive and just as a clear picture was forming the addition of another attempted murder twisted the plot to consider additional suspects and motives as well as pulling Erica further into the sights as the police's primary suspect. As Lana continued to investigate, the red herrings that the author produced increased my interest in the story as it led to new evidence and motives for several of the characters. In the end, the identity of the culprit for both crimes was someone who flew under the radar and the motives were very basic and quite frankly as "old as crime."

I hope that the author continues this series as she always introduces a number of conceivable plot twists and red herrings to delve deeper into the characters and their individual development leading them to resolve the conflicts that inevitably arise in everyday life.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books and am leaving this review voluntarily.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

And here we are, the third book in this fantastic series and upfront I can say it did not disappoint at all!!! What a great book again!

In this third book, Lana is enjoying life. Perkatory is doing great, she is trying to find a balance in her relationship with police chief Noah Garcia and why he is being secretive about his family and enjoying the company of her best friend, Erica, who temporarily lives with her. The only knack about all this goodness is her annoying neighbor Gus who constantly uses his leaf blower, disturbing the whole neighborhood. While Lana blocks out the noise, Erica becomes so annoyed, she confronts Gus.

The problems start when Gus is found dead and Erica becomes the number one suspect as she had the big fight with him over the leaf blower. But Lana finds out there is a long list of people who could have done it and believes in the innocence of her best friend. So what else is there to do than find out who really did it?

I absolutely love the characters in this book. They all have their own unique personality, like Lana's dad who is obsessed with a monkey protest walk. They all work so well together and you can feel how they think. The story itself was also very good although I did figured out the who dunnit quickly. But it did not do harm to the story, the story is just great and this is another amazing installment to an already fantastic series!

Interesting and well-written cozy mystery with great character development and an intriguing mystery. What more could you want or need?

Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Lana runs a coffee shop on Devil's Beach Island with her dog, Stanley. She has a pretty good life, except for her pain-in-the-butt neighbor, Gus. Gus is found dead, and Lana's BFF is suspect number 1! Lana works to clear her besties name, and there's lots of fun along the way!

I love coffee shop mysteries. This book has great characters, a great story, and made me laugh. I can't wait to read more in this series!