Giveaway, Guest Post

Guest Chick: Tina Kashian

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Tina Kashian, author of the Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean mystery series, who is generously offering a giveaway today!

Favorite Summer Vacations

Summer is coming! Do you have a favorite quick getaway? I live in South Jersey and we escape to the Jersey Shore every summer. I vacationed there as a kid, and we continue to visit with my two teen girls every summer. We can’t imagine a beach vacation without going to one of the eateries, enjoying frozen custard, or riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel and roller coaster, and even splashing in the water parks.

When it came time to write my Kebab Kitchen series, I also knew I wanted to set it at the Jersey shore and I created a fictitious town of Ocean Crest (a combination of Ocean City and Wildwood Crest).

As for food? That was an easy setting as well. I grew up in a family-owned restaurant in South Jersey, and my Kebab Kitchen cozy mystery series is set at a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey shore. My mother used to carry me around greeting customers as a baby. As a tween I rolled silverware in napkins. As a teenager, I worked as a hostess and waitress. The tips paid for my prom gown. The food was to die for! We had a full-time chef, and my mother was a talented cook. She also spoke five languages! English is my second language.

In my Kebab Kitchen series, Lucy Berberian is a thirty-something refugee of a Philadelphia law firm. She returns home only to find herself sucked back into her family’s Mediterranean restaurant. But after realizing the business isn’t so bad and her true friends are in Ocean Crest, she steps up and manages the restaurant so her parents can ease into retirement. There’s a vast cast of characters, including her ex-beau and the new head chef Azad, and the good-looking motorcycle riding Michael Citteroni who runs a bicycle shop next door to the restaurant. Managing a restaurant is challenging enough, but solving murders makes it even more exciting…

Here are some pictures I took of the Wildwood, NJ beach with its iconic boardwalk. You can see the eclectic mix of shops and entertainment.

 

Quick Jersey shore getaway for our anniversary.

The boardwalk

 

This is the famous Wildwood tramcar that passengers can ride up and down the boardwalk.

The amusement pier with the large Ferris wheel.

Our girls ready here to spend a day at the beach with their boogie boards.

Dear Readers: What are your favorite summer vacations? Or what are you looking forward to this summer?

Giveaway! Win a signed, print copy of hot-off-the-press anthology, MURDER AT SEA. It includes my story, The Sail of Two Continents which features my Kebab Kitchen sleuth, Lucy Berberian. Where is your favorite place to vacation or a quick getaway? Please share for a chance to win! (U.S. Only to win)

BUY LINK: https://books2read.com/mas2023

When the murder of a Greek tycoon mars a sail on a luxury yacht on the way to Greece, amateur sleuth, Lucy Berberian, has to solve the crime before all the evidence washes out to sea…

Thank you again for featuring me!

Tina Kashian, also published as Tina Gabrielle, writes the best-selling Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean mystery series, and her first book, Hummus and Homicide, spent six weeks on the B&N bestseller list. Tina is an attorney and a mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Please visit her website at http://www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!

You can also connect with Tina at:

Website: www.tinakashian.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaKashianAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaKashian1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinakashian/

41 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Tina Kashian”

  3. My favorite summer getaways are leaving NYC to visit friends or family in upstate NY or my son’s family in Seattle. When I’m home, outdoor dining with friends is always a treat.

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  4. I grew up in Jersey and spent considerable time down the shore. We stayed in a boarding house in Asbury Park for a number of years when I was very young. I remember that the owners had a large cat named Butch who came and went by window next to a board fence, which I thought was just the coolest thing. There’s a great start for a cozy series right there.
    Later on we moved to Atlantic City in the pre-casino age. I remember Taylor Ham sandwiches and salt-water taffy on the boardwalk, and the famous diving horse of Steel Pier.
    I also remember what it was like to be stuck in traffic on the Garden State Parkway in a car with no AC. By the time I was in high school we no longer went to the shore – we shifted to the Catskill Mountains instead. That’s probably why even though I now live in NC, that I’m not a beach person. Luckily, NC has beautiful mountains too!

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    2. Hi Tina!
      I really don’t have a favorite summer vacation spot, because I don’t usually take summer vacations. Plus, I’m allergic to everything simmer anyway.
      My favorite vacation spot overall? If we are talking city wise, Las Vegas. Not because of the gambling, but because all the exploring available.
      If we are talking activity spot, I like finding places that get all decked out for Christmas, because it’s my favorite holiday. The lights, the food, the decorations, the crafts and unique presents you can find. And of course, there’s Santa! Yes, I still believe in Santa Claus.

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      1. Ah, Las Vegas! I haven’t been there in years and want to go back so bad. I keep telling my hubby we need to take a trip. Just walking the strip is so exciting!

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    3. We visited Asbury Park a few times and liked it! Atlantic City is also fun and the Steel Pier! We also recently visited NC to see colleges and liked it.

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  6. Tina, as soon as I finish typing this comment, I am buying this anthology. It sounds like the perfect summer read, and what an author lineup! I already love your Kebab Kitchen series. I just got back from a chilly weekend in the Adirondacks, which was very refreshing. I’m also a big beach fan–no shore vacay this year, but we’re planning for next. One of my favorite destinations is New York City–I miss the vibe and need to get my “fix” every few months.

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    1. Hi Lisa! I’m happy to hear you like the series! I’ve never visited the Adirondacks but it’s on my “travel list.” I’m also a beach person for sure!

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  7. Hi Tina! The second weekend in June (every year since forever), our little town has a festival—food, concerts, rides, craft fair … everything! We live near the park where it’s held so every year I watch as the carnival goes up. And every year I get misty with nostalgia because my kids got so wiggly with excitement waiting for it. Second only to Christmas! But now I look forward to my annual autumn Oregon beach vacay with my daughter.

    I’ve been seeing the anthology everywhere! Can’t wait to read it!

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    1. Hi Becky! We look forward to our town carnival every year. I also have memories of when my two girls were young and would love to go on the Ferris wheel or kiddie coaster. They still go, but not to walk around with friends. There is a “beer garden” where older people, like John and I, can see our former high school friends. It’s always a fun time!

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  8. Tina, these pictures! I’m SO jealous! The anthology looks fantastic.

    I’m looking forward to a trip my husband and I are taking to the tip of Gold Rush Country so I can research my new series.

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  10. I do love spending time at the beach. We camped every year in the redwoods, and I miss them.

    The anthology is wonderful! (Please don’t include me in the giveaway since I’ve already read it.)

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    1. The Redwoods are fabulous! I didn’t know you could camp there though. How fun. Thanks for reading the anthology!

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    1. Hi Jennifer! Enjoy your summer camping! I’m more of a beach gal, but we do want to rent an RV and drive west one day.

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  12. So happy to have you visit the Chicks today, Tina–and I love your Kebab mysteries!

    As for summer, I hope it arrives here in Santa Cruz soon (where we have our own terrific Beach Boardwalk), as the past month has been foggy and cold!

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  13. Key West, Charleston, New Orleans, or Savannah are my favorite places. I would love to win your book.

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  14. I am looking forward to my weekend getaway for my 23rd anniversary which is coming up Saturday, June 10th. Hubby and I are going to nearby Alabama for some R & R.

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  17. After my grandparents retired to Florida, near Ocala, my family would visit there most summers, spend time at the beach and local attractions, like Disney World or Sea World. We toured NASA at Cocoa Beach once. And Grandma and Granddaddy grew the best watermelons and cantaloupe!!
    Thanks for hanging out today with the Chicks, Tina!

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  18. Tina! So great to have you here!!

    I love getting away to…well…pretty much anywhere! This summer, I’m looking forward to a three-day cruise with my kids and their two friends. Four teens and moi–heaven help me!

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  19. Looks like such a wonderful vacation! I honestly would be happy to go anywhere for a few days…right now, it’s just work work work. *off to plan*

    Thanks so much for visiting us, Tina!

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