Hoodoo Money [Paperback]

Sharon Cupp Pennington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2008

Things are not always as they seem in The Big Easy...

After her almost-wedding to a bigamist, successful children's author Braeden McKay has given up on love. She's content to live vicariously through her imaginary heroine, Platypus Pearl, and a gaggle of adventurous, web-footed cohorts--until a working vacation in New Orleans shakes up her quiet, structured world. Had she known that souvenir nickel stolen from the grave of a hoodoo gypsy would catapult her into a nightmare of betrayal and murder, she would have insisted her friend put it back.

Cursed nickel or unfortunate happenstance? Sanderson Montgomery isn't one to discount the supernatural beliefs of others. This is The Big Easy, after all, Mecca to the spiritual and the superstitious. As a veteran detective, neither does he ignore cold, hard fact. And the fact is, someone or something is bent on harming Braeden McKay, and it's up to him to protect her while keeping his heart out of the mix.

Can love, the very thing Braeden wants no part of, be the one force greater than any adversary--even a hoodoo curse?

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Draumr Publishing (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933157240
• ISBN-13: 978-1933157245
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,412,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like most writers, I always had a head bursting with scenarios and a...drawer, shoebox, folder...of unfinished manuscripts. My first short story, "McTammany's Bed of Roses," appeared online in The Emporium Gazette, Issue 46, February 2003. With that sale, I earned enough to buy a novel in the paperback section at Wal-Mart or a couple of trade-ins at the local paperback swap-n-shop.

But I was a published author at age 54--and I was flying!

Why did I wait so long? I grew up during a time when parents believed daughters should take typing and shorthand, master a keypunch machine, become competent fodder for the secretarial pool. You can't make a living as a writer, you know.

So I worked in office and museum and university settings, where I typed words dictated by others. I became a file clerk, an executive secretary, an office manager. I married my favorite protag--no regrets there--raised three most excellent children, who later blessed us with five most excellent grandchildren.

But in my head and heart, the dream still simmered. And my favorite protag knew this. When I left my last job, he said enough, and threw his full support behind me.

Now my short stories have appeared in numerous online and print venues, with anthology contributions to The Rocking Chair Reader in the Coming Home edition (2004) and Family Gatherings (2005), A Cup of Comfort for Weddings: Something Old, Something New (2007) and Good Old Days Magazine (March, 2007). Finally, after years of rewrites and the unwavering patience of my "do or die" critique group (Writing Well), my debut novel Hoodoo Money was released by Draumr Publishing in 2008.

One of my earliest fiction heroines was Nancy Drew. I couldn't get enough of her. Nancy was self-confident and clever and always, ALWAYS eyeball deep in trouble. Oddly, she was the direct opposite of me. Hoodoo Money is the kind of romantic suspense novel I loved to read then, and still do. Hopefully, I've succeeded in filling its pages with enough mystery to spark the imagination and ample romance to stir the heart. With a dose of sizzle thrown in for good measure.

My novels are set in contemporary Louisiana and Texas, so there's plenty of southern culture and visits to local "hot spots."

For a change of pace, I cooked up Caribbean love and adventure in the second installment of this series, Mangroves and Monsters (released November 6, 2009). The third installment is my current WIP, tentatively titled Reparation.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HOODOO MONEY STRIKES IT RICH July 22, 2010

By C. Hope Clark

Format:Kindle Edition

Sharon Cupp Pennington's debut novel strikes it rich in Hoodoo Money. Love, culture, setting and a brilliantly crafted mystery plot make this a one-day, can't-set-it-down, page turner. With heroes to die for and evil lurking from all corners of New Orleans and Galveston, Hoodoo Money contains all the ingredients for a summer beach read or a cozy day in front of a fire. Either way, you won't put it down until the last page. I've read it, I own it, and I don't intend to let someone borrow it for fear I won't get it back. - C. Hope Clark, [...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The cost of true love July 21, 2010

By Boffin Baz

Format:Kindle Edition

Pennington's book is a breath of fresh air in the genre. Her subtle yet uncompromising characters weave a unique story of unrequited desire, power and lust, which spiral into self-fulfillment, the hope of love, ultimate loss and murder. Every facet of the human condition is painted skillfully across the broad canvas of a vibrant and often dark New Orleans, where curses are weighed on a single nickel - or are they? A pure delight to read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun! October 7, 2008

By Rebbie Macintyre

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

HOODOO MONEY is simply a fun, great read! Romance, the tradition and history of New Orleans and a lead character that's as spunky and spicy as Cajun food all combine to make Sharon Cupp Pennington's book a page turner.