A warm welcome to author Bru Baker joining us today here at Love Bytes to talk about her newest release together with fellow author Lex Chase.
Welcome Bru 🙂
We had a great time with the premise, which puts purgatory inside a popular, worldwide home goods store. Basically the kind of place where hope goes to die amid paperboard furniture and affordable, eye-catching modern plastic kitchenware. And meatballs. We called it CASA.
Benji views CASA as his happy place, so he’s shocked when he finds out it’s actually purgatory. He and longtime CASA veteran Patrick get up to some amusing shenanigans while Benji is adjusting to life or would it be death? inside the store. Some of my favorite scenes are Patrick waxing poetic about his bed, which seems pretty normal until you realize it just so happens to sit on the showroom floor.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always daydreamed about what it would be like to live in a store. Or at the very least, to have the opportunity to wander around after hours, bouncing on beds and snuggling up in 1,000-thread count sheets. Not surprisingly, Corduroy was one of my favorite books growing up, not because of its heartwarming ending, but because he got to explore the store after closing. I never understood why he wanted to give that up, but I suppose life against the backdrop of a store would get old pretty quickly.
It does for Benji, even though CASA is one of his favorite places. But who can blame him, since the purpose of a home goods store is to build better lives? It’s a torturous place to be stuck when you’re dead.
Give me a Super Target with a Starbucks any day, that’s heaven on earth, and I’d buy the Dollar Spot as a parallel plane Pearly Gates. I’m pretty sure Target saved my sanity when my kids were really young. After staying home all day with them I’d head out after bedtime when Hubs got home and take myself on a retail therapy date. I spent many an evening browsing the store, latte in hand as I pushed my big red cart around and filled it with throw pillows I didn’t need and shoes I’d probably never wear. Hell is hands-down a certain multinational corporation based out of Bentonville, Arkansas. It’s not a place I’d ever willingly shop, so waking up there would definitely fit the bill of eternal damnation.
What store would be your idea of heaven?
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Comedy
Length: Novel
Published: February 8, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 978-1-63476-810-8
Buy: DSP – ARe – Amazon – Barnes and Noble
Blurb:
Everyone wishes they were dead when wandering the purgatory of a home furnishings store, but these guys actually are.
Benji Goss is the quintessential good guy. When his boyfriend dumps him and moves out, Benji obligingly keeps the cat,even though he’s allergic,because his ex’s new place doesn’t accept pets. He’s always joked the cat would be the death of him, but not in a way he expects when a feline mishap crushes him under a DEL TORO bookcase.
Snarky loner Patrick Bryant is in such a rut he barely remembers the life he used to lead. The last thing he recalls is being decapitated by a DEL TORO bookcase in a freak accident. As a spiritual CASA resident, he haunts the aisles of affordable Italian furniture, assisting fellow spirits in moving on to their final destinations.
When Benji appears in the CASA cafe, Patrick considers the naive spirit just the man to cure his boredom. Benji’s relentless optimism chips away at Patrick’s sarcasm, making him question if there’s something beyond what he can see. But the heart is like CASA furniture, there’s always some assembly required.
About the Authors:
Lex Chase once heard Stephen King say in a commercial, “We’re all going to die, I’m just trying to make it a little more interesting”. Now she’s on a mission to make the world a hell of a lot more interesting.
Weaving tales of sweeping cinematic adventure,depending on how she feels that day,Lex sprinkles in high-speed chases, shower scenes, and more explosions than a Hollywood blockbuster. Her pride is in telling stories of men who kiss as much as they kick ass. If you’re going to march into the depths of hell, it better be beside the one you love.
Lex is a pop culture diva, her DVR is constantly backlogged, and she unapologetically loved the ending of Lost. She wouldn’t last five minutes without technology in the event of the apocalypse and has nightmares about refusing to leave her cats behind.
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Lexchase.com
Bru Baker got her first taste of life as a writer at the tender age of four when she started publishing a weekly newspaper for her family. What they called nosiness she called a nose for news, and no one was surprised when she ended up with degrees in journalism and political science and started a career in journalism.
Bru spent fifteen years writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now works in reference and readers’ advisory in a Midwestern library, though she still finds it hard to believe someone’s willing to pay her to talk about books all day. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a mug of tea, some fuzzy socks, and a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
www.bru-baker.com
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Tell us what your store would be your idea of heaven?
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A ghost story comes in a pair! THIS I shall have to read! Adding this to my TBR shelf! 🙂
Thank you for the post!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
My heaven would be a bookstore lots to reads and people to watch.
I work in a library, Shirley, and that’s pretty heavenly too! I spend my day surrounded by books. 🙂
I love shopping online – so Amazon but with the frequent shopper program ARe has would be my heaven. Plus pizza and a glass of wine. 🙂
Can’t go wrong with books, wine, and pizza. 🙂
Normally, before I started reading almost exclusively ebooks, I would say a book store with a Starbucks. Now, I think I have to go with a Super Target with a Starbucks as well.
There would be so many things to keep you entertained! *g*
Oh boy, I’d like a hybrid store a B&N with a Starbucks combined with a Super Target.
Sounds like heaven to me, Laurie!
I’d love a combination bookstore/record store/chocolatier/bakery/artisanal coffeehouse!
You can’t go wrong with coffee, books, and chocolate! 🙂
I’ll want to be in a warehouse store like BJ’s, Sam’s Club or Costco.
I have so much love for Costco! Good choice.
I always have a thing for stationery….don’t know why, as it’s not like I need it
….and books but I’d be quite happy to browse for them online
I suppose any place could be heaven as long as it had WiFi! *g*
A book store (with MM books) that has morphed into a superstore with a cafe and other writing implements (like stationery). And wifi. And has a men’s gym (gay friendly) across the road with all glass across the front.
Hi Blackrose! I’m filling in for Bru. 😀 But holy crap I totally have a thing for stationery too. Books and journals I’ll never use are like my crack. I can’t help it! It sounds like you need a whole heavenly shopping complex!
it would have to be a high end jewelry store
Oooooh Jodi. Would it be Pandora? My Mom finally completed her first bracelet and is now on her second. She’s obsessed.
My idea of heaven would be a bookstore with a coffee shop attached and my bedroom would be upstairs.
Oooooh. I am on this boat Kc! Bonus if I can wander the bookstore in my pajamas and no one judges!
I would have to say a bookstore.
Definitely Sherry! A bookstore that goes on for all eternity. <3 <3
My heaven would be a bookstore next to IKEA, because that would be my friend’s heaven, lol.
IKEA is totally my idea of heaven. The closest one to me is 6 hours away in Atlanta. When I visit once a year, going to IKEA is always part of the trip. During one visit, I spent three days shopping there once. Open to close. Even ate all my meals there. Most amazing weekend of my life. Disney World being a close second. HAH!
Well, I have never visited but a book that I recently read Harrods in London. It sounded fascinating and I would love to just see it.
Oooh. I have been to Harrod’s, and it’s a great choice! 🙂
My idea of heaven is a nice and warm place, maybe a sunny garden with shadowy trees or a cozy living room with a fire in the hearth and a comfortable sofa, where I can spend my time reading without having to worry about anything at all…
You can’t go wrong with cozy reading spaces. I’m with you on warmth being key, whether it’s inside or outside! *g*
It would probably Costco.
Definitely a classic choice. I do love Costco. 🙂