The Promise of Tomorrow by AnneMarie Brear Book Tour and Excerpt! @hfvbt @AnneMarieBrear

The Promise of Tomorrow by AnneMarie Brear

Publication Date: September 1, 2018

eBook; 390 Pages

ASIN: B07GHCXQ8Y

Genre: Historical Fiction

Perfect for the fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin. Charlotte Brookes flees her lecherous guardian, McBride, taking her younger sister with her. After a year on the road, they stumble into a Yorkshire village where the Wheelers, owners of the village shop, take them in. This new life is strange for Charlotte, but preferable to living with McBride or surviving on the roads. Harry Belmont is an important man in the village, but he’s missing something in his life. His budding friendship with Charlotte gives him hope she will feel more for him one day, and he will marry the woman he yearns for. When McBride discovers where Charlotte lives, his threats begin. Harry fights to keep Charlotte safe, but World War I erupts and Harry enlists. Left to face a world of new responsibilities, and Harry’s difficult sister, Charlotte must run the gauntlet of family disputes, McBride's constant harassment, and the possibility of the man she loves being killed. Can Charlotte find the happiness that always seems under threat, and will Harry return home to her?

Available on Amazon

About the Author

AnneMarie has been a life-long reader and started writing in 1997 when her children were small. She has a love of history, of grand old English houses and a fascination of what might have happened beyond their walls. Her interests include reading, genealogy, watching movies, spending time with family and eating chocolate – not always in that order! AnneMarie grew up in Australia but now lives in the UK. For more information please visit AnneMarie Brear's website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads.

Excerpt

‘I arrived home yesterday.’ Harry stared around the warm, neat shop. He moved to the fire and put his hands out to the flames, not wanting to think about the disastrous visit to London. ‘How’s everything in the village?’

‘All is well, as far as I know, anyway.’ Wheeler held up one of the tall glass jars of boiled sweets. ‘For the children?’

‘Yes, thank you. A quarter of each that you have, please.’

‘Those pit children are fortunate to have such a generous employer as you.’ As Wheeler started weighing out the brightly coloured sweets, a young woman walked out from the rear doorway and paused beside him.

Harry stared at her, never having seen her before. His heart gave a jolt, surprising him. A tingle of physical awareness gripped his whole body.

‘Master Harry?’

Realising that Stan Wheeler had been speaking to him, Harry gave a little cough and tried to recapture his reeling senses. The young woman before him was a delicate beauty. ‘You-you have a new assistant, Mr Wheeler?’

‘Indeed, Master Harry, for nearly six weeks now.’ Wheeler grinned, his whole demeanour showing his happiness. ‘Charlotte, this is Mr Harry Belmont, of Belmont Hall. Master Harry, may I present Miss Charlotte Brookes.’

Harry held out his hand and she tentatively took it for a second before slipping her hands behind her slender back. She wore a huge white apron over a simple black dress. Her hair, the colour of deep chestnut mixed with copper was wound in a tight bun at the back of her head, but a few stray tendrils had escaped and hung over her small ears. Her eyes were a blend of green and dark gold. Colour heightened the unblemished skin on her cheeks. It took him but a moment to notice all these things and wonder at his own astonishment to her appearance. She was attractive, certainly, but he’d seen beautiful women before. So why did this one, a shop girl, rob him of both breath and sensible thought?

‘Charlotte and her younger sister, Hannah, are staying with us, you see. They are now without family.’ Wheeler gave her a pat on the shoulder in sympathy before regaining his sunny nature once more. ‘But they have settled in so well here. Bessie and myself can’t think of how it once was without them. Such help they are to us.’

Harry watched Miss Brookes as she smiled softly at Wheeler, the affection between them was mutual it seemed. He wanted to speak to her but didn’t know what to say. A first for him.

Wheeler continued to fill up the small brown paper bags of sweets. ‘See here now, Charlotte. Master Harry comes in every now and then and buys sweets for the children of the pit rows belonging to his mine. They are the children of the men he employs.’ He opened a new jar of humbugs. ‘A quarter of each kind from the boiled sweets and a dozen strips of liquorice cut again into smaller pieces. It goes on the Belmont Hall’s account.’

‘I see, yes.’ She watched him intently as he used tongs to separate the black liquorice lengths.

‘Are you staying in the village long, Miss Brookes?’ Harry finally managed to say, absorbing the way she absently tucked her hair behind her ear.

She looked up at him, startled, her eyes wide as though speaking to him was alarming. ‘I hope so, sir.’

He cringed at the ‘sir’. He didn’t want her to cower before him like a servant. For some reason he sensed she wasn’t made that way. He didn’t know why he thought so, or what proof he had, but he instinctively believed she was strong, determined and in no way ordinary. The manner in how she stood straight-backed and watched Wheeler; the pert thrust of her chin as she helped him to weigh and bag the sweets. Her movements were neat and precise and Harry knew at that instant that he could watch her for the rest of his life.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 1

Review at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, October 2
Review at Bibliophile Reviews

Wednesday, October 3

Excerpt at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review & Guest Post at Clarissa Reads it All

Thursday, October 4
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Friday, October 5
Interview at Donna’s Book Blog
Feature at Maiden of the Pages

Monday, October 8
Feature at The Lit Bitch
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Interview at Love Books Group
Excerpt at Short Book and Scribes

A Mother's Lie by Jo Crow Audiobook Blast!

Audiobook Blast on October 2, 2018

Synopsis:

When her child’s life is at stake, a mother will do anything to save him.

Clara McNair is running out of time to save her son, James. When the two-year-old is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, only an experimental treatment can save his life. She desperately needs money to pay for the surgery, but she’ll have to travel back to the site of her darkest memories to get it.
Clara has escaped the demons of her youth—or so she thinks. It’s been ten years since the mysterious disappearance of her parents. Widely suspected of murdering her mother and father, Clara fled west to start a new life. Now, a documentary film crew is offering cold, hard cash—enough to pay for James’s treatment—in exchange for the sordid secrets of her past.
With no other choice but to delve into a long-ago tragedy, Clara must unravel the lies surrounding that terrible night. Facing hostile gossip, Clara is fighting to clear her name and learn the truth about what really happened. But how far will she go into the dark to save her son—and herself?

Click Here to get your Audiobook copy of A Mother's Lie, today!

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by: Relay Publishing
AudioBook Release Date: April 23, 2018
AudioBook Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
ISBN: 978-1979295420
Purchase Links: Amazon | Audible | Goodreads

 Read an excerpt:

Chapter One
Dense red clay was pushing between the teeth. Pond mist drifted across the manicured lawns, wisping through the dark eye sockets. Parts of the cranium were shaded a vile yellow-brown where decomposing leaves clung to its surface like bile expressed from a liver. The jawbone was separated from the skull, its curved row of teeth pointing skyward to greet the rising sun.
Two feet away, closer to the oak tree, other bones were piled haphazardly: a pelvis, high iliac crests and subpubic angle. A femur, caked with dirt, jammed into his empty skull. Sunlight decorated the brittle bones in long, lazy strips and darkened hairline fractures till they blended with the shed behind them.
It was peaceful here, mostly. The pond no longer bubbled, its aerator decayed by time; weed-clogged flowerbeds no longer bloomed—hands that once worked the land long ago dismissed. Fog blanketed the area, as if drawn by silence. Once, a startled shriek woke the morning doves and set them all into flight.
It was the first time in ten years the mammoth magnificence of the Blue Ridge Mountains had scrutinized these bones; the first song in a decade the morning doves chorused to them from their high perch.
A clatter split apart the dawn; the skull toppled over as it was struck with another bone.
In a clearing, tucked safely behind the McNair estate, someone was whistling as they worked at the earth. The notes were disjointed and haphazard, like they were an afterthought. They pierced the stillness and, overhead, one of the morning doves spooked and took flight, rustling leaves as it rose through the mist.
A shovel struck the wet ground, digging up clay and mulch, tossing it onto the growing mound to their left. The whistling stopped, mid note, and a contemplative hum took its place.
Light glinted on the silvery band in the exposed clay—the digger pocketed it—the shovel struck the ground again; this time, it clinked as it hit something solid.
Bone.
A hand dusted off decayed vegetative matter and wrested the bone from its tomb. Launching it into the air, it flew in a smooth arc, and crashed into the skull like a bowling pin, scattering the remains across the grass. With a grunt of satisfaction, the digger rose and started to refill the hole from the clay mound.
When it was filled and smoothed, and the sod was replaced over the disrupted ground, the digger lifted the shovel and strolled into the woods, one hand tucked in a pocket as they whistled a cheery tune lost to the morning fog.
***
Excerpt from A Mother's Lie by Jo Crow. Copyright © 2017 by Jo Crow. Reproduced with permission from Jo Crow. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

Jo Crow gave ten years of her life to the corporate world of finance, rising to be one of the youngest VPs around. She carved writing time into her commute to the city, but never shared her stories, assuming they were too dark for any publishing house. But when a nosy publishing exec read the initial pages of her latest story over her shoulder, his albeit unsolicited advice made her think twice.
A month later, she took the leap, quit her job, and sat down for weeks with pen to paper. The words for her first manuscript just flew from her. Now she spends her days reading and writing, dreaming up new ideas for domestic noir fans, and drawing from her own experiences in the cut-throat commercial sector.
Not one to look back, Jo is all in, and can’t wait for her next book to begin.

Catch Up With Our Author On: Facebook & Goodreads!

 Tour Participants:
Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!  

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jo Crow. There will be 5 winners of one (1) A MOTHER'S LIE by Jo Crow audiobook. The giveaway begins on October 2, 2018 and runs through October 8, 2018. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

Death Logs Out by E.J.Simon Book Spotlight! #DeathLogsOut #EJSimon @JimEJSimon @iReadBookTours

Book Details:

Book Title: Death Logs Out by E.J. Simon
Series: Michael Nicholas Book 3
Category: Adult Fiction, 300 pages
Genre: Thriller & Suspense., Technothriller
Publisher: Endeavour Media (UK)
Release date: July 27, 2018
Tour dates: Aug 13 to Oct 12, 2018

Content Rating: PG-13 + M (Includes some f-words, religious profanities (such as "God d*mn", "Jesus Christ!" and other terms such as "*sshole", "f*ck", "sh*t") non-explicit sex scenes (no description of the sex act or private body parts), and violence. Deals with mature themes such as adultery, murder, church abuses.)

Book Description:

Is Alex Nicholas really dead?

Two years since the brutal shooting of Alex Nicholas, a gambling underworld boss in Queens, NYC. But his brother, Michael, a respected CEO, struggles with a secret: his murdered brother has been communicating with him via his laptop using AI. This AI-Alex can foresee dangers in Michael’s path, and appears to be trying to help him – even controlling machinery and electronics via WiFi. Meanwhile, trouble is stirring in the historic capital cities of Rome, Berlin and Paris. Inside the Vatican, Monsignor Kurt Schlegelberger has designs to build his power and prepare for the sudden ascension of the Free Forces Party, a throw-back to the Nazis.

Schlegelberger will stop at nothing, but first he must deal with a new threat: someone appears to know the true story behind a series of murders in the US, committed by clergy to cover their tracks of child abuse within the Church. Alex’s re-appearance puts Schlegelberger’s plans in jeopardy. Dead or alive, the way to finish off Alex for good can only be to get to his close family, namely his brother Michael…

This fast-paced third instalment of E.J. Simon’s Death series will keep readers guessing to the very end.

Praise for E.J. Simon

‘A fine technological thriller that only gets better as it goes along.’ – KIRKUS REVIEW

To read reviews, please visit E.J. Simon's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Meet the Author:

E. J. Simon is the author of three commercial fiction thrillers, Death Never Sleeps, Death Logs In and Death Logs Out. He has just completed his fourth manuscript, Death in the Cloud.

He is a member of the Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America and the North Carolina Writer’s Network. He holds an M.A. in Corporate & Political Communications from Fairfield University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of South Carolina. He lives with his family in Cary, North Carolina in the United States. For more information, visit his website: www.ejsimon.com.

Connect with E.J.: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends Oct 20, 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Death Never Sleeps

Book Details:

Book Title: Death Never Sleeps by E.J. Simon
Series: Michael Nicholas Book 1
Category: Adult Fiction, 291 pages
Genre: Thriller & Suspense., Technothriller
Publisher: Endeavour Media (UK)
Release date: July 2017
Tour dates: Aug 13 to Oct 12, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (contains f-words, religious profanities and crude language)

Book Description:

Where does life end, and death begin?

Brothers, Alex and Michael, weren’t particularly close in terms of their careers in their later years. But when Alex is murdered, Michael finds it necessary to keep Alex’s business running, at least for the foreseeable future.

With very little knowledge about what Alex actually did for a living, little does he envisage the level of complication this entails. Working closely with his cousins, Fat and Skinny Lester, Michael starts to get a sense of what needs doing … in whatever way Alex would have dealt with things.

But, when Alex’s current wife, and his two ex-wives, surface and start to dish out demands, Michael finds himself going deeper and deeper into Alex’s personal space. All his ex-wives knew there was money left hidden … but only Alex knew of its exact location.

When Russell, an old friend of Michael’s, and Alex’s most trusted person, offers to help Michael find the money, Michael feels he can start closing up on Alex’s loose ends and move on with his own, increasingly complicated life.

Until … Russell is brutally murdered …

Someone else is after Alex’s money … and it’s not a friendly person.

But is Alex really dead? Or is he as dead as he has prepared himself to be?

Michael is beyond confused … is he imaging the conversations he’s having with Alex? But Alex was shot dead in his own restaurant, one filled with policemen. Surely, Alex is dead?

Whichever way Michael tries to rationalize things in his head, Alex’s support is beyond what he needs. Finding himself face to face with a crook, Sharkey, one who has no qualms about killing people, one Alex was in debt to, Michael takes on Alex’s advice … dead or not!

As the number of deaths rise, Michael and his wife, Samantha, are left on their toes. Would they ever feel safe again? Is anyone safe? And how far did Alex go with his new venture?

To read reviews, please visit E.J. Simon's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Book Title: Death Logs In by E.J. Simon
Series: Michael Nicholas Book 2
Category: Adult Fiction, 340 pages
Genre: Thriller & Suspense., Technothriller
Publisher: Endeavour Media (UK)
Release date: Dec 14, 2017
Tour dates: Aug 13 to Oct 12, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (contains f-words, religious expletives and crude language)

Book Description:

Some of the most powerful people in the world want to kill Michael Nicholas. Only his brother Alex can save him—the problem is that Alex is dead.

It’s been almost a year since Alex Nicholas, a Queens-based underworld boss, was gunned down. After Alex’s brutal murder, Michael inherited not only his brother’s business, but his enemies. Michael is now a key player in a world he once feared. By day, he is the head of a Fortune 500 company. By night, the CEO of Tartarus, one of the world’s largest illegal gambling operations.

Before his death, Alex invested heavily in breakthrough artificial intelligence software so that he could live forever. It worked. In his virtual form, Alex can communicate with Michael and monitor information—and people—in ways the NSA would envy.

It is Alex who discovers Michael’s life is in danger. He detects plots that reach from the darkest corners of Queens to the highest officials in the Vatican—and they all want Michael dead.

Michael is now in a race to save his life, but he is never alone. Alex is there to help him navigate through this maze of life and death. Also protecting Michael from the forces closing in around him is Sindy Steele, a beautiful and lethal bodyguard.

How far is Michael willing to go to save his own life and that of his family? Guided only by a familiar face on a computer screen, will the information Alex discovers allow Michael to go from being the hunted to the hunter?

To read reviews, please visit E.J. Simon's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Add to Goodreads

Returning to Eden By Katy Ames Book Tour and Giveaway!

 

RETURNING TO EDEN is a fast-paced, sexy second chance romance with all the feels. Eden Ellis is on the brink of starting her adult life when the one person she loves most betrays her in a way she never saw coming: he marries her stepsister. Heartbroken, she does the only thing she can. She starts over thousands of miles away. But old loves die hard and Jude isn’t going to let theirs go down without a fight.

Rafflecopter for RETURNING TO EDEN Blog Tour Giveaway:

Katy is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner a $20 Amazon Gift Card and eCopies of After the Island, After the Fall, After the Storm, and Returning to Eden. One lucky Runner-up will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card and an eCopy of Returning to Eden. Another Runner-up will receive a $5 Amazon Gift Card and an eCopy of Returning to Eden. To enter for your chance to win one of these awesome prizes, please fill out the Rafflecopter link below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b050ef29576/

About RETURNING TO EDEN:

Title: Returning to Eden

Author: Katy Ames

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: September 28, 2018

Publisher: Katy Ames

Format: Digital eBook / Print

Digital ISBN: 9780999105566

Print ISBN: 9780999105573

Synopsis:
A conversation I was never supposed to hear.

A bargain I had no right to make.

A promise I couldn’t break, no matter the consequences.

It cost me what I love most.

Her.

I know Eden thinks it’s all my fault.

And it is.

But it’s hers, too. Because she ran, vanished, before I had a chance to explain.

Before I had a chance to tell her the one thing that could’ve saved us.

Now she’s back and I’m determined to make up for all the years we lost.

Determined to win back the woman who’s always been mine...

Consequences be damned.

Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

Available at:  Amazon

Excerpt:

Copyright© 2018 RETURNING TO EDEN

Katy Ames

I blame it on jet-lag. On lack of sleep and food. On grief. On the simple fact that I’m back in this goddamn town, facing down all these tired ghosts. Any or all explain why I’m seeing things.

Seeing him.

For a split second my memory supplies a snapshot of the boy I grew up loving. I see the curl of hair on his neck, that one that would never straighten, no matter how many times he smoothed it. I glimpse his newly-muscled shoulders, too broad for his teenage body and the reason why his arms hung slightly away from his sides. And there’s the shadow of stubble dancing around his mobile lips, the ones I dreamed about for more years than I dare count. The image is so clear, so perfect, so forbidden, I have to haul in a breath. And, God help me, I swear I catch a hint of grass and sun-baked sweat and sweet summer air.

My knees buckle under the sheer joy that memory evokes. But it’s the realization that it’s a mirage, a long-lost dream, that almost sends me crashing to the sidewalk.

That boy is long gone. As is the girl who worshiped him. Here, now, we’re just two people in the same place.

Eyes wide, lungs tight, I watch Jude, all long limbs and powerful body, stride across the gallery before stopping in the center. His back is towards me, his head turned as he scans the photographs lining the wall.

It doesn’t matter how many times I blink or how many times I curse, he doesn’t disappear. A battle blazes to life inside me. One of foolish hope and familiar despair. My feet demand I leave as fast as possible. But my traitorous fingers beg to get closer, to slip into that thick mahogany hair, longer than it once was, and see if it’s as soft as it used to be.

However fierce a fight my body is waging, my mind is unhelpfully blank. A problem, I realize, when Jude begins to turn towards me and I have only seconds to decide if I’m going to flee. Or if I’m going to stay and face the man who made me run away from home.

About Katy Ames:

Katy Ames has spent most of her life on the East Coast and hopes to spend more of it in the UK, primarily so she can indulge in her serious plaid obsession. There isn’t a teenage drama or a period British TV show she hasn’t binge-watched at least twice. And she can be persuaded to do almost anything with the promise of bourbon, chocolate, or a nap (not necessarily in that order).

Katy is mom to a small human who has an obscene amount of energy and a blissful ability to ignore swear words, and wife to a man whose reading habits are way too serious. Katy and her family reside in Washington, D.C., a city she where never intended to live and loves so much she’d be happy to talk about it for hours. Just ask.  

Katy writes contemporary romances with heroines who aren’t afraid to be kickass, heroes brave enough to love them, and stories that get a little messy before they end happily ever after.

Connect with Katy:  
Website  | Facebook  | Instagram  | Goodreads  | Amazon  | BookBub

http://www.barclaypublicity.com:

The Exers' Revenge by Jo Jakeman Book Spotlight!

Formerly know as Sticks and Stones

Imogen’s (hopefully) soon-to-be ex-husband Phillip Rochester is controlling, abusive, and determined to make things for her as difficult as possible. He’s a seemingly well-respected police officer, so Imogen has endured his physical and emotional abuse for years in silence. Now that he has officially left her and moved in with his new girlfriend Naomi, Imogen is moving on with her life with hers and Philip’s son – until he threatens to sue for sole custody and attempts to kick them out of their home. In a moment of anger and frustration, Imogen does something unthinkable—something that puts her in control for the first time in years.

But she wasn't expecting both Naomi and Philip’s first wife, Ruby, to get tangled up in her dilemma. These three very different women form an unlikely alliance to take revenge. How far will they go to punish the man who has made them all miserable?

A wickedly dark debut thriller about three women who've all been involved with the same man and realize the one thing they have in common is that they all want revenge against him...

Julia Heaberlin, the international bestselling author of Paper Ghosts, said it best: “THE EXES' REVENGE is a thriller for the #MeToo era. It's a fast-paced game of cat-and-mouse as three women form a slippery and dangerous alliance to break free from the man who has lied to and manipulated all of them. T

his is a modern revenge tale with a beating heart.” Publishers Weekly calls it “emotionally satisfying” and PopSugar says “Hell hath no fury like THREE women scorned.”

Described by many in-house as Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris meets Thelma and Louise,THE EXES’ REVENGE is a wickedly fun thriller that turns the “woman in peril” trope on its head in a fresh way with multiple women aggressively taking charge of their lives.

Goodreads

https://www.jojakeman.com/

Jo was the winner of the prestigious Friday Night Live competition at York Festival of Writing. Her debut Psychological Thriller was published in the UK as Sticks and Stones by Harvill Secker (Penguin Random House) and as The Exes’ Revenge in the USA and Canada. Her second thriller is due in summer 2019.

"Jo Jakeman's assured debut is a revenge thriller...a cracking pace, plenty of twists and some well-judged dark humour."--The Guardian (UK)

Read an Exerpt from Website Dead Good Books 

Chapter 1

The day of Phillip’s funeral

I expected to feel free, unburdened, but when the curtains closed around Phillip Rochester’s satin-lined coffin all I felt was indigestion.
        Naomi perches on the front row, shifting uncomfortably as the congregation whispers at her back. There are creases under her eyes where cried-out mascara threads its way through the cracked veneer. I wonder what she’s crying for because, after all he’s done, I am certain that it is not for him.
        The vicar talked of a man who bore so little resemblance to the Phillip that I knew, that I almost shed a tear. It was a time for lies and cover-ups, not truthful observations.
        I twist my wedding band with my left thumb. No engagement ring. ‘Too flashy, Immie. You’re not that kind of girl.’ Five hundred and forty eight days have passed since Phillip left me. I know I should take the ring off, but no amount of soap can free me from the snare. Years of marital misuse have thickened my hands, my waist and my heart.
        I am sitting five rows back, in the seat closest to the wall, as befits the ex-wife. Though, in reality, am I his widow? We never did finalise the divorce. Fancy that. Me. A widow. Some might say I shouldn’t be here at all. Friends from my old life try not to stare at me but they can’t help themselves. When our eyes bump into each other there is a timid acknowledgement, an apology of sorts, before a gosh-look-at-the time glance at wrists and a scurrying for the chapel door. Nobody called when Phillip traded me in. They went with him into his new life along with the Bruce Springsteen CDs and the coffee machine.
        Mother sits by my side alternately tutting and sighing, unsure whether to be angry or sad. She promised not to speak during the service and, though the effort is nearly crippling her, she has kept her word. Her eyes burn holes into my temples. I know that her nostrils will be flaring like they always do when she is displeased. Mother tends to convey more through her eyes than her mouth, and I regret not telling her to keep those shut too.
        We disagreed on whether Alistair should attend his father’s funeral. She says that, at six years old, he is too young. I say that he should be here to say goodbye, to pretend Phillip will be missed. Mother won. Some battles aren’t worth fighting. We wrote notes attached to helium balloons instead. Up, up and away. Bye-bye Daddy. Rot in hell, Phillip.
        There are simple flowers at the front of the crematorium and Pachelbel’s Canon is piped in from an invisible source. Everything has been carefully orchestrated to white-wash the darkness of death and disinfect the walls against the smell of decay. A palate cleanser, if you like, between death and the wake. Naomi has booked the function room at the Old Bell but I won’t go in case the sherry loosens my lips and I smile a smile that shouldn’t be seen at a funeral.
        As the mournful parade passes us by, we file out of our rows with the order of service in hand. Phillip’s photograph on the front is a grotesque smiling spectre. Mother stands in line to pay her respects to Naomi. It will be a brief conversation as high opinion is in short supply.
        Rachel is talking to DC Chris Miller although, as far as I can tell, they haven’t met before today. She refused to wear black. As she rightly points out, black is a sign of respect. Both she and Chris held Phillip in the same regard.
        I am aware of Ruby, though I am careful not to make eye contact with her. She is wearing a diaphanous frock of fresh-bruise purple, the most sombre outfit she owns. Today she’s wearing shoes though it’s anyone’s guess whether this is a nod to conformity or all-the-better to dance on Phillip’s grave. She sits on the back row, as far away from the coffin as she can get, and commensurate with her ex-ex-wife status. The first Mrs Rochester, the woman that Naomi and I have been measured against, holds an icy-white tissue under her nose, a pomander against the contagion of grief.
        I stand and edge my way past the eye-dabbers and the head-shakers until I feel the weak sun on my face. I squint against the sudden sunlight over the Garden of Remembrance and a treacherous tear escapes my eye. A stranger touches his cold hand to my elbow in a shared moment of I-know-how-it-feels, but how could he? There are only three of us here – Naomi, Ruby and I – who know how satisfying it felt to watch Phillip Rochester die and know that he got the death he deserved.

The Secrets of Chateau Swansea by R.C.Matthews @RCMatthews123

THE SECRETS OF CHATEAU SWANSEA

R.C. Matthews

Genre: Gothic Romance
Publication Date: October 1, 2018

A grisly murder leaves a haunted estate without an heir, and a powerful medium scrambles to find answers from beyond the grave.

Determined to escape the nightmarish memories of her childhood, heiress and psychic Maribeth Sommerset pursues the adventurous life of a psychic investigator, beginning with a murder and the spirits who hover behind at the haunted Chateau Swansea

Meanwhile, devoted steward of the chateau Arthur Dunn plays a dangerous game of deception to shield his employer's good name, landing himself at the top of Maribeth's suspect list.

Amid scandalous secrets and destructive lies, will Maribeth uncover the secrets of Chateau Swansea before the killer strikes again?

Don't miss out on this thrilling Victorian gothic romance!

Add to Goodreads

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

Book Excerpt

The Meet Cute

“Is that a dead body?” Edith suddenly whispered. “God in Heaven…”

Maribeth pounded her fist on the roof of the hired hack. “Stop the coach!” She grasped the handle to the door.

“What are you doing?” her friend shrieked, tugging on Maribeth’s sleeve. “We must leave at once. You heard the gentleman. The chateau is closed to visitors.”

But not investigators. This might be the luckiest evening of her existence. She had less than a month to prove to her guardian that she could support herself in her chosen path in life. A bit of rain and a bad-tempered servant wouldn’t hold her back.

“Wait here,” Maribeth said, jumping from the moving coach. “I’ll only be a moment.”

She lifted her skirt and trudged through the knee-length grass toward the men gathered near the pond. Goodness, but her dress was a nuisance. Before she managed five steps, someone caught her arm from behind and yanked her to a halt.

“Where do you think you’re headed?” The surly man from the road glared at her, his steely blue eyes boring into hers. He was so close she could make out the silver whiskers interspersed in his black sideburns.

“I beg your pardon,” she said, yanking free of his hold. “I’m here to offer my services. Where might I find the master of the house?”

“That’s enough, Webber,” another man said from behind. “I’ll handle this matter.”

Maribeth whirled around, coming face to face with none other than Mr. Dunn. What business did he have here? Not that she cared one whit about him, except that he owed her a favor. Webber’s footsteps receded behind her, and the odious man resumed barking orders for the coaches to evacuate the premises.

“I apologize if Webber alarmed you,” Mr. Dunn said, folding his arms at the base of his lower back. “The butler is distraught at present. What can I do for you, Miss…?”

“Maribeth Sommerset,” she said with a lift of her chin. “And you are Mr. Dunn. You stole my hired hack earlier at the Inn at Oxwich. Don’t even try to deny it. The bellman confirmed the truth. That wasn’t well done of you!”

His eyebrows lifted, and a spark of amusement ignited in his lovely brown eyes. “I beg to differ, madam. Hired hacks are, by definition, ‘for hire.’ The driver accepted my generous offer to pay a premium fare.”

Cheeky fellow. Men shouldn’t steal coaches from ladies. His mama would be appalled by his behavior.

“Even so,” she said, tugging on her gloves, “I’m sure the bellman informed you that the hack was ordered by me and my dear friend. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

He coughed into his hand and glanced away, but not before she saw the undeniable curve of his lips. Running off with a lady’s carriage wasn’t amusing. After months of planning this trip, she’d almost missed her opportunity to tour Chateau Swansea on his account.

“Excuse me,” he said, meeting her gaze once again. “I do apologize for any inconvenience. I’m the steward of Chateau Swansea and had urgent business to attend here.”

Steward. Well, that changed everything. He was the right-hand man of the master of the estate. Bloody hell. Had she offended him with her quick temper? She dug inside her handbag and plucked out one of her trade cards.

“Apology accepted,” she said with a smile. There was no reason to quibble over a silly coach. She thrust the card into his hand. “As I said, I’m Miss Maribeth Sommerset. Private psychic investigator, at your service.” She gestured to the group of men near the pond. “I communicate with the dead. I’m staying at the Inn at Oxwich through Saturday should you need my assistance. My rates are reasonable and negotiable.”

Book Tour Schedule

Follow the book tour from October 1 - 14, 2018.

Visit each tour stop daily and discover more features, excerpts, reviews, interviews, fun facts and more!

To check the latest tour schedule, visit the The Secrets of Chateau Swansea Book Page at Book Unleashed.

About R.C. Matthews

R.C. Matthews is the author of contemporary and historical romances featuring bold, sassy heroines and magnetic alpha heroes. Warning! The chemistry between her characters is off the charts hot, so read at your own risk. She resides in the Midwest and is surrounded by men: her husband and three sons. During her free time you'll find her watching The Walking Dead, reading a fabulous book or hanging out with her family.

Official website: http://www.rcmatthews.com

Social Media Links: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway

WIN FREE EBOOK BY R.C. MATTHEWS

Winner's Prize:

Devil's Core by R.C. Matthews (eBook) - The first book in a related series in which we first meet the heroine of The Secrets of Chateau Swansea when she is a little girl.

Contest runs from October 1 - 14, 2018.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

---

In partnership with

Book Unleashed Blog Tours