Fun with Weddings and Murder by Vicki Batman #WickedWednesday #RomCom

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Murder and marriage, you can't have one without the other? How wickedly fun is that? Let's hear a bit about it from my guest, Vicki Bateman.

Hi, Brenda, and thank you so much for hosting me today.

In Temporarily Out of Luck, our intrepid Hattie Cooks’s, sister, Tracy Cooks, is marrying for the second time. As is Tracey’s ex-Jonson Leggett. He’s pretty despicable. A serial philanderer, always out of money, and has a terrible temper. On his third time on the marriage-go-round, he is engaged to Barbie Fenster former Miss Sommerville Auto Parts.

Hattie, her friends, and family—especially their mother- can’t stand Jonson. When Tracey’s divorce is final, the girls celebrate by burning a pinata which resembles him and drink a lot of margaritas. 

The label Horrible-Nasty-Awful-Dreaded-Appalling-Terrible-Bad-Vile-Disgusting-Marriage-Material should have been stapled to Jonson Leggett the Third’s forehead. I more than detested him and with good reason.

Honestly, couldn’t someone do away with him? Raise a little dough. Call in the Russian Mafia. Finito.

Here’s a bit of an exchange between Hattie and Jonson when he shows up with Barbie at the wedding salon Hattie works at:

“How exciting for you, planning—what? Your third or fourth trip down the aisle?” I pressed a finger to my jaw. “No, no, no. I had it right the first time—your third visit to the altar—that I know of. My, my, my. This will be your third marriage, not your second, not your fourth. Your third. I bet Ms. Fenster believes she’s a lucky gal. Wouldn’t she love to hear war stories about your prior nuptials?”

I scrubbed my palms in a deliciously wicked way and, for a fun effect, swiveled toward Miss A. and his fiancée.

“Stay. Away. From Barbie. Bitch.”

I spun about. Bitch—me? I squinched my eyes and glared. Jonson hadn’t seen anything—yet. Like most women, I could channel my inner bitchiness if I wanted, and, oh, how I wanted to. I rubbed his skin raw, but I always had. We never-never, ever-ever liked each other. From our first meeting, something intuitively inside me recognized how he embodied a snake oil salesman. Totally untrustworthy.

He knew I knew. I knew he knew I knew.

And this scene is positively icky:

Jonson pushed in front of Barbie. “I’m here first.”

Creep. He didn’t even utter an “excuse me” or “please” or anything nice.

“Sir, you…” Tracey turned to face Jonson. In a flash, recognition fanned over her face. Her eyes bugged. “Y-Y-You!” Her spittle flew, landing on Jonson and Barbie’s shoulder.

I extended a tissue box toward them.

If Jonson could have murdered my sister right then, he would have. Every facial feature of his morphed into an ugly shade of reddish-purple. His pupils darkened in a more beady and dangerous way. He bared his teeth like a snarling wolf.

“Back. Off. Tracey. We’re first,” he said.

Barbie plucked a tissue and crumpled it against her mouth. She stared at Jonson and stared and stared.

Had Barbie not seen this side of her fiancé before, the monstrous scary one my family and I knew of?

Temporarily Out of Luck: Great job. What man? And murder. Newly employed at Wedding Wonderland, Hattie Cooks is learning the industry from a woman she greatly admires. When her former brother-in-law is found dead in his luxury SUV, all fingers point to Hattie’s sister, who is planning her own I Dos.

Detective Allan Wellborn is caught between a rock and a hard place—Hattie’s family and investigating the murder of a well-connected Sommerville resident, the same loser who was once married to Hattie’s sister. Determining who’s the bad guy—or gal—isn’t going to be easy and sure to piss off someone.

Can Hattie beat the clock to find out who murdered Tracey’s ex before she is charged with the crime and her wedding is ruined?

Funny, sweet, and quirky, Vicki Batman’s stories are full of her hallmark humor, romance, and will delight all readers. She has sold many award-winning and bestselling romantic comedy works to magazines and most recently, three humorous romantic mysteries. An avid Jazzerciser. Handbag lover. Mahjong player. Yoga practitioner. Movie fan. Book devourer. Cat fancier. Best Mom ever. And adores Handsome Hubby.

Website: https://vickibatman.blogspot.com/p/more-about-me.html/

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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/vickibatman/  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4814608.Vicki_Batman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickilbatman/

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Find Temporarily Out of Luck at: https://www.amazon.com/Temporarily-Luck-Hattie-Cooks-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08T7YSSRJ/