About the books:

Houston, We Have a Problema

Jessica Luna has man trouble, mom trouble, and not a clue what to do with her life. As the baby of her family, she’s never been trusted to make the right choices. So now Jess bases all her life decisions on signs—seeking guidance from the Virgen de Guadalupe hanging from her rearview mirror or what Madame Hortensia, her psychic, sees in the cards.

When her sort-of boyfriend Guillermo disappoints her again, Jess wants to call it quits. Just to be sure, she checks in with Madame Hortensia, who tells her it’s time for a change. Right on cue, Jess meets Jonathan. He’s successful, financially stable—and the total opposite of all her past boyfriends. Jonathan should be her dream man, but as he helpfully advises her on every aspect of her life, Jess can’t help but wonder if the changes he’s suggesting are ones she wants.

For the first time in Jess’s life, there’s no one who can tell her what to do. But if she wants to have any say in her future, she’s going to have to learn to make decisions. All on her own. 

A Dash of Death:

Bad news for Samantha Warren: The plucky Houston, Texas, reporter lost her job and her fiancé in rapid succession. But Sam has a way of making lemonade out of the bitterest of lemons. At a meeting of the local historical-homes council, she serves up the homemade bitters that she made as gifts for her wedding party. She intends to use that as her “in” to become an in-demand party mixologist. But the party’s over for one of the council members, who keels over dead soon after he sips the bereft bride’s bitter brew.

It turns out that the victim, Mark, was poisoned—his drink spiked with oleander. Since Sam mixed the drink that Mark imbibed right before his demise, she finds herself at the front of the suspect line. Now, she’ll have to use all of her reporter’s wisdom and wiles to clear her name.
 
Who could have wanted Mark dead? His wife, Gabby? His girlfriend, Darcy? Someone who wanted his seat on the council? Or another citizen of this sweet Texas town that holds some seedy secrets?

Job hunting, building her mixology business, and fending off late-night phone calls from her nearly betrothed don’t leave much time for sleuthing. But if Sam can’t “pour” over the clues to find the killer, it may soon be last call for her.

About the authors:

Gwendolyn Zepeda:

Gwendolyn Zepeda was born in Houston, Texas in 1971 and attended the University of Texas at Austin. She began her writing career on the Web in 1997, with her long-running site gwendolynzepeda.com and as one of the founding writers of the entertainment site Television Without Pity. Her first book was a short-story collection called To the Last Man I Slept with and All the Jerks Just Like Him (Arte Público Press, 2004).

Michelle Hillen Klump:

Michelle Hillen Klump began her writing career as a newspaper reporter, traveling the back roads of central Texas and Arkansas, reporting on everything from natural disasters to crime and corruption. She’s interviewed former presidents, covered a midnight manhunt through the Ozark Mountains, and learned the finer points of how to break a car window from a looter while covering a hurricane. Now, she uses her experiences as fodder for fiction, writing a cozy mystery series about a former reporter turned craft cocktail caterer.

Michelle lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and young daughter. When she’s not writing or working her day job, she enjoys gardening, reading, exploring Houston’s neighborhoods, hiking and biking, and creating craft cocktails for friends and family.