Linda Lovely joins me once again on Help From My Friends Friday. She’s got a new series to promote, this one featuring an HOA mystery series. I’ve sat on two HOA boards in my lifetime, and personally, I can’t think of a better setup for mystery…or murder ;). Knowing Linda, we better fasten our seatbelts…or… better yet, grab a life preserver. ~ Donnell
When Your Home (Intentionally) Floats
By Linda Lovely:
Author Linda Lovely
Kylee Kane, the heroine of With Neighbors Like These, the first book in my HOA Mystery series, lives on a 38-foot Island Packet sailing cruiser. The fifty-year-old retired Coast Guard investigator rents a slip at the downtown Beaufort (SC) marina to be close to her widowed mother, Myrt, who lives on Hullis Island.
The Coastie’s love for sailing was passed down by her dad, who taught her to sail on the Mississippi River in a little day sailor named River Rat. Her mother would rather set up housekeeping in an underground cave than bunk on her daughter’s boat.
Kylee admits owning a home that floats doesn’t eliminate “homeowner” headaches. But you can hoist anchor and sail to a new marina should neighbors start fighting. Not an option for Kylee’s mom. As a result of a feud in her homeowner’s association, Myrt’s receiving anonymous threats and hate mail. This danger coupled with Kylee’s discovery of a corpse blocks from her mom’s house explain why the retired investigator agrees to work security for an HOA management company owned by a long-time friend.
While Kylee takes on the new joy, she still must deal with boat ownership challenges, including:
Space. An avid reader, Kylee prefers printed books, but there’s limited shelf space below deck. The public library’s location a few blocks from the marina solves her dilemma. Still, frequent library visits and grocery shopping excursions take time. The boat’s small refrigerator doesn’t permit once-a-week restocks. Good thing Kylee isn’t a clothes horse. Otherwise, her shoe-horn closet would prove more than a minor annoyance.
Watery Losses. Like most boat owners, Kylee can recite a long list of personal items that now rest in watery graves. Gravity is no aid to recovery when you drop a cellphone on deck and the wind shifts. Kylee now keeps three extra pairs of sunglasses aboard. The probability of loss and wanting a holiday from high-tech are among the reasons she prefers her inexpensive flip phone to a sophisticated smart model.
Showers. Renting a marina slip assures Kylee of regular access to electricity and, therefore, a supply of hot water on board. When hot water is in short supply—as it is at sea or when boats are moored away from access to dock electricity— “Navy” showers rule. The routine? Boat owners turn on the hot water only long enough to get wet. Then, they suds up. After scrubbing themselves head to toe, they turn the hot water back on to rinse off.
Maintenance. Know what BOAT stands for? Break Out Another Thousand! Maintenance is constant and costly. For starters, the boat must come out of the water at least every other year to repaint the bottom with an ablative paint designed to gradually flake off. Why? Barnacles are shed in the process. Another routine maintenance chore is the annual need to pair sacrificial “zincs” with metal parts that are prime corrosion candidates. The zincs attract the corrosive salts to spare their more expensive partners. While electrical, navigation, and communication systems are relatively simple, one of them always seems to need repair.
The Upside. In addition to the ability to easily switch neighborhoods, a boat owner can sail to locations beyond the reach of mere landlubber mortals. In With Neighbors Like These, this comes in quite handy when the clock is ticking, no ferries are running, and a killer is stalking a victim on a remote island.
Hope you’ll come aboard Kylee’s boat—also named River Rat—and join her in solving the Lowcountry’s HOA Mysteries. You don’t even have to pay maintenance bills.
About the Book: 
MANAGING AN HOA IS MURDER…
He championed shooting deer inside the HOA’s nature sanctuary. Now his corpse is posed curbside, cradling a trophy deer head. The theatrical murder panics residents, and Ted Welch asks Kylee Kane, retired Coast Guard investigator, to help his HOA management firm calm fears. Kylee agrees. Her own mother is getting death threats over her crusade to protect the deer.
HOA=DOA TERROR REIGNS…
When a belligerent owner in another HOA is murdered, terror reigns. The Sheriff’s Department blames Ted for letting HOA feuds spiral into homicide. Kylee discovers links between the victims and suspects a recently-pardoned general is next. Authorities and the arrogant general dismiss her warning. Can she foil the third act in the crafty killer’s death-as-theater game or will she be the next corpse on display?
Praise for With Neighbors Like These:
“Linda Lovely delivers another twisty mystery with the perfect mix of wry humor and quirky characters. Anyone looking for a fun, fast page-turner, here it is!” — Tami Hoag, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“HOA communities seem deceptively safe, but the mix of gossip and politics in rule-bound groups can be a fertile breeding ground for murder. For the gutsy Kylee Kane, a fact-finding gig in South Carolina’s Lowcountry turns increasingly complex and dangerous. With Neighbors Like These offers a distinctive setting, a tenacious female sleuth and captivating suspense.” –Katherine Ramsland, bestselling author of How to Catch a Killer
“Low Country murder, intrigue, and even a little romance abound in With Neighbors Like These. Kylee Kane is a welcome addition to the genre, and author Linda Lovely knows how to stir the pot with crackling dialogue and a tidy little mystery. Highly recommended!”
–Richard Helms, Derringer and Thriller Awards winning author of Brittle Karma
About the Author:
A journalism major in college, Linda Lovely has spent most of her career working in PR and advertising—an early introduction to penning fiction. With Neighbors Like These is Lovely’s ninth mystery/suspense novel. Whether she’s writing cozy mysteries, historical suspense or contemporary thrillers, her novels share one common element—smart, independent heroines. Humor and romance also sneak into every manuscript. Her work has earned nominations for a number of prestigious awards, ranging from RWA’s Golden Heart for Romantic Suspense to Thriller Nashville’s Silver Falchion for Best Cozy Mystery.
Thanks for letting me visit today, Donnell! I wonder if any of your readers have lived on a boat. My info comes second-hand, though the idea has strong appeal until I think about rocking and rolling in a storm.
Welcome, Linda! A good friend of mine, Rolynn Anderson, lives on a boat and writes romantic suspense with boat themes. I think her latest series is: Women at the Helm.
Sounds like a great story — and educational about boats as well! Learning something new while enjoying a good read is always a plus for me.
I would love to visit on a boat but don’t think I’d want to live there! Linda, may I come visit Kylee’s on hers:) this series sounds fantastic! Can’t wait to read!
Sarah, I’ll have to check out Rolynn’s books. Barbara and Donnell, my husband and I have owned sailboats, a pontoon boat, and kayaks. But we haven’t ever lived on one. Not even overnight. I think for the two of us the quarters would be a little cramped. But my heroine is single and having spent years in the Coast Guard seems okay with more spartan accommodations.
WITH NEIGHBORS LIKE THESE was such a great read. Entertaining, suspenseful and informative. Kylee is a wonderful protagonist.
Cannot wait to read!
donnell