by Ellery Adams
Q: Describe yourself in five words.
A: Observant, empathetic, stubborn, nerdy, hopeful
Q: Of what are you most afraid?
A: Book banning.
Q: What’s your biggest regret?
A: Nearly killing a mother and child after having way too much to drink and getting behind the wheel.
Q: What’s your biggest dream?
A: To put the right books in the hands of readers who most need them.
Q: What’s your favorite recipe in Paper Cuts book?
A: Vanilla Bean Glazed Earl Grey Tea Scone. In Paper Cuts, the ladies of The Secret, Book, and Scone Society give these scones to a newcomer to Miracle Springs.
Q: What do you want readers to know about your book?
A: I become a murder suspect. With good reason.
Q: Pick one song that describes you best.
A: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” because I believe I can be the bridge between people who are hurting and the books they need to help them heal.
Q: Last song you listened to?
A: Cuban song called “Dos Gardenias.” My friend and employee, Sheldon Vega, is half-Cuban and is in charge of the shop’s playlist.
Q: Name your celebrity crush.
A: If you mean celebrity author crush, because those are the only celebrities I care about, then it’s a tie between Michael Connelly and a young F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Q: Who do you love most?
A: Sheriff Grant McCabe.
Q: What is your most-used emoji?
A: Don’t use them. I prefer words over emojis.
Q: Name an event that changed your life.
A: The day a nurse at the burn unit showed me a real estate listing for an old train station. That building became Miracle Books, the heart and soul of the town.
Q: Place you most want to travel?
A: Bookseller’s Row, London
Q: On a scale of one to ten, how good are you when it comes to keeping secrets?
A: Ten. I’m not the founding member of The Secret, Book, and Scone Society for nothing.
Q: What is your Hogwarts house?
A: I have no idea, but my favorite character is Minerva McGonagall, so I hope I’d be in her house.
Q: What’s your life’s motto?
A: If you have a spare moment, spend it with a book.
Q: Share your favorite quote.
A: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Q: Name three things that inspire you.
A: Books, friends, and a great cup of coffee.
Q: Name someone that inspires you.
A: My friends. June, Hester, and Estella are incredible women.
Q: You can only read one genre for the rest of your life. Which do you choose?
A: That’s an impossible question for a bookseller, but I could survive on the classics.
Q: What is the bravest thing you ever did?
A: Cutting off everyone in my old life and starting over again. I never looked back. Unfortunately, my past found me. You’ll see how that worked out in Paper Cuts.
Q: Do you believe in love at first sight?
A: No. I believe love sinks into you like sand soaking up the rain.
Miracle Springs, North Carolina, is famed for its healing springs, but bookstore owner and bibliotherapist Nora Pennington has a tendency to land in a different kind of hot water. When she isn’t prescribing the perfect book to cure her customers’ maladies, she’s solving local crimes with the help of her Secret, Book, and Scone Society members. Just a touch of magical realism and strong, female-driven stories are winning this series raves from readers and fans of Kate Carlisle and Lorna Barrett.
Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh—the woman her ex-husband left her for—walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is forgiveness.
Shockingly, however, this woman who’s been the victim of so much misfortune is about to become a murder victim. Who would do such a thing? Certainly not Nora, but that doesn’t stop the gossip and suspicion—especially after Kelly’s brother claims that he saw the two women arguing.
In seeking justice for Kelly, The Secret, Book, and Scone Society joins forces with the sheriff’s department, but they’ve barely begun their probe when life throws another wrench. After serving a twenty-year sentence, Estella’s father returns to Miracle Springs. And when his past comes back to haunt him, it might be more than the four friends can handle.