Ro Bergeron from Beds, Breakfasts and Beta Blockers, a Three Dogs mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about how she decided to run a bed and breakfast and got her dogs.

Welcome, Ro. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

The dealer thrust the bag in my direction, noting the tremble in my hands. I lunged forward to clasp the precious purchase. “Thank you! Thank you so much. And I’ll see you tomorrow, if not sooner.” My tennis shoes squeaked against the tile as I headed for the back door.

“Ro, we’ve had this conversation before. You’ve got to dial it back, decrease your intake. I make my living off addicts, but you need it more than most. And that’s a real problem. Not to mention, the coffee shop doesn’t open for another hour. If you weren’t my cousin…”

“But I am, and you love me!” I hoped my brilliant smile would lighten the mood. Yep, that’s me, Ro Bergeron. Thirty-two years old, still single, not a man darkening my doorstep. My grandparents were the only parents I’d known, and losing them had ripped a jagged hole in my heart. They spent their golden years raising me while my parents traveled the country chasing music careers.

At thirty-two I had little to show for my life, but that was about to change. I’d turned my childhood home into a bed and breakfast, but with a twist. I’d cater to dog loving guests. It was brilliant, except for a tiny detail, insignificant, really. I’d never owned a pet. Yes, I couldn’t boil an egg or keep a plant alive, but I’d figure it all out. No, what I really needed was a dog—maybe two. After all, I wouldn’t want my dog to get lonely while I was out and about doing, uh, important business owner things.

Enter Merle Akins, a lanky octogenarian with a straw hat, overalls, and a red bandana. He had a dog to re-home. A brindle boxer mix padded toward me from the corner of the porch. Her fur was mostly gray and white, but there was a good deal of old age mixed in. Her brown eyes focused on me as her tail wagged. The spots in her eyes told me she was, well, old. But I took her. I was all set, ready to go, when I heard the barking.

Merle told me, “My nephew bought these fancy Labrador retrievers, but he ain’t got time to mess with them. He brought them over here, told me they’d be good watch dogs. They’re too friendly to guard anything!” And that’s how I got Ruger and Rebel, the Labrador Retrievers.

Please email jann@jannfranklin.com, and let me know a few things. First, has that ever happened to you—you’ve taken on a small project but somehow it morphed into a bigger one? And second, how many pets do you have? And are they all according to the plan you had in mind?

Thank you for sharing this with us, Ro, and good luck to you and your author, Jann Franklin, with Beds, Breakfasts and Beta Blockers, the first book in the Three Dogs mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Ro Bergeron and her author, Jann Franklin by visiting the author’s website and. her Facebook, Instagram, BookBub and Goodreads pages.

The book is available online at  Amazon 

About Jann Franklin: Jann is a faith-based cozy mystery writer living in northwest Louisiana with slightly less than three hundred other people. Many of her stories are based on the tales she hears from residents.

She and her husband John enjoy Sundays at church, dinner with family and friends, and watching the lightning bugs in their backyard. Their kids come to visit, when they aren’t too busy living their big-city lives.