First Chapter First Paragraph Tueday Intros - A Killer's Guide to Good Works, The Semi-Sweet Hereafter

Hey everyone! I know I know, right after I said I was going to post at least once a week, I disappear again. In my defense, not only was I super busy at BoucherCon from Tuesday - Saturday, my boyfriend and I ended up making this crazy decision the Sunday before my trip:

Two rescue dogs!

My boyfriend's pick: 6-year-old Bayley (named after a female wrestler he loves)

My baby: 5-year-old Max Power (Simpsons reference)

Seriously, how adorable are they? Ever since my dad stole my dog (not really, but there's a story there), I've missed having a dog. My bf and I had been looking to adopt for almost two years now, but hadn't found the right dog for our household. There was a brief, disastrous interlude involving a puppy that had to be returned, so we decided to exercise more caution when choosing our next family member. 

There was an adoption event near us on the 11th, and I told him that if we couldn't find a dog at this event, we would hold off until after we move to L.A. (a plan for the near future, hopefully within the next 2 years). Who knew that we would fall in love with not one, but two dogs? And senior dogs at that, though Max has the energy of a dog half his age (which makes me wonder if the lady from that shelter was lying to me...) The most surprising part was my bf's reaction. He likes dogs, but he was really only entertaining the idea because I wanted one so badly. He was always the practical one, making sure I wasn't rushing the decision like I did with the puppy. And yet adopting two dogs was his idea; he immediately fell in love with Bayley, and when he heard what usually happens to senior dogs at shelters, he decided both of them needed to come home with us. Two dogs is a LOT of work, but snuggling up with them on the couch while reading a book or playing video games has been such a comfort. Puppy love <3

I also need to talk about my New Orleans/BoucherCon trip, but so much went on, I think I'll save that for it's own post. Moving onto my Tuesday meme...

                                                         Hosted by Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

I'm focusing on some NetGalley picks this week, so first up is:

A Killer's Guide to Good Works; Shelley Costa

Henery Press - 2016

PROLOGUE

Veracruz, 1595

The Franciscan friar lifted his eyes to the open window in the room he had rented by the harbor. Veracruz was a coastal town, more liberal in its ways, and only an outpost of the Inquisition. So it suited his purposes. After working in secret for the last two days, he set down the goose quill and stared impassively at the final page of his work, a satire about the Inquisition he titled "The Entertainment of Spain." Then he carefully set the pages inside the acacia wood box that used to hold family papers.

Hmm, doesn't really give you a whole lot, does it? I guess that's the problem with prologues, particularly ones that start way in the past with the main work taking place in present day.

My other pick is a culinary cozy (surprise surprise):

The Semi-Sweet Hereafter: A Chocolate Whisperer Mystery; Colette London

Kensington - 2016

When most people find out what I do for a living, they have one of two reactions. Either they think my life is a nonstop vacation (because of all the traveling I do), or they think I must have a sweet tooth the size of Texas (because of all the chocolate I sample). The truth is, those people are not wrong.

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So which of these openings catch your attention? And who are the pets in your life and how did you name them? 

My bf had Bayley's name picked out from the get-go, but since we never pictured adopting a boy dog, we had no names chosen. I tried out a bunch (some contenders were Mr. Peanutbutter from the show Bojack Horseman, and Kanji, a character from my favorite video game), but his name at the shelter was Maxwell and he responded best to Max. I figured I had to geek it up at least a little, and what better than a random Simpsons reference?

Check back in tomorrow for a review of Murder Most Fowl by Edith Maxwell (I love that stupid pun title):