Blurb:Rachel James' ex-husband is released from prison determined to reclaim her and her little girl -- his key to the James fortune. Frightened, Rachel flees to Denver with the child who hasn't uttered a word since her daddy went to prison.
Contractor Patrick Thorne wants nothing to do with another of his parents' charity cases. He failed his own wife so abysmally she took her own life as well as his unborn son's. After two years, it's time to concentrate on the bid he's won and the saboteur trying to destroy his construction firm.
There is no room for trust in either of their hearts. But trust is all that will untangle the secrets that dominate their lives, free a little girl of her silent prison, and save them all from a serial killer who stands too close.
Excerpt:
Prologue
Four weeks….
Two days….
Sixteen hours….
…‘Til death.
The first time
he laid eyes on her, he stood on the threshold of a doorway he dare not
cross. He fell into her fathomless dark
gaze, unable, unwilling to shake his
soul free and, in that one moment, he knew.
She was meant
for him to love.
Untouched by
the sordid life that flourished around her, she was sunlight in a gray
existence. A smile in a dingy room. A joy such as he’d never known. She was a gift from a cold, unforgiving
God. Forever innocent.
Why God would
give him such a precious angel, he didn’t know.
But he suddenly knew what he was willing to die for. What he’d kill for.
In that
instant of clarity the monster that lurked in the dark recesses of his mind was
freed. A creature designed to kill. To live and die. Over and over again. Until his angel ascended once more to her
place in Heaven at God’s feet where he couldn’t reach her.
‘Til death
parted them, she was his and his alone.
Certain she’d been lost to him, the
shock of spotting her again in LoDo, a lower downtown section of Denver, nearly
brought him to his knees. His brain
tried to tell him he was mistaken. She
had more curves than he remembered. Her
hairstyle and clothes were different.
The
others were different, too.
He shook his head against the monster’s
treacherous whisper. He refused to
listen. Couldn’t listen. His angel smiled at him. His soul recognized her. Somehow, some way, his fractious God had been
appeased and given him yet another chance.
The past seven days were hell. Watching her.
Wanting to take her. Knowing he
couldn’t screw up and lose her again.
Tonight, his preparations in place, she’d return to his side where she
belonged.
Breathing slow and measured through the
full-face ski mask he’d bought at a thrift store, he sucked in a lungful of
musty stench. In this uncommon late-May
heat wave, he was sweating bullets but the wool soaked it up before it could
sting his eyes. The itching would drive
him insane, though, if she didn’t come home from work soon.
The LoDo sports bar where she waited
tables closed almost an hour ago. She
couldn’t have gone on a date at two o’clock on a Thursday morning, could she?
Three times he’d entered her ground floor
apartment after she’d left for work, and he’d seen no sign she was involved
with anyone. No jockey shorts mixed with
her panties in the hamper. No extra
razor. The food in the refrigerator
wasn’t enough to feed a cat, let alone her and a boyfriend, and the only scent
on her pillows was floral. The sole
message from a male on her answering machine had identified himself as a
special research librarian from the Denver Public Library reminding her to pick
up the copy of “The Warwick Genealogy” she’d requested.
That
doesn’t mean she isn’t still involved with him, the almighty scion of Thorne
Enterprises. She’s probably crawling
into his bed like a whore right this minute, letting him do things to her,
making her scream….
Screams.
Blood.
Death.
“No!
Stop!” he whispered. “That was a mistake!”
Was
it? The insidious question lashed him from the
dark place in his pounding skull.
He rejected the smirking voice, the
vivid images. Think of something
else. Anything else. Forgetforgetfor—
A car alarm screamed in an outlying
parking lot and dragged him out of his fugue.
His eyes cleared. The pain behind
them eased to a level he’d learned to carry over the years. He took a deep breath to smother his panic.
Soon, he would kill the nightmares
forever. Patrick Thorne would die and
the secrets with him. But the contractor
hadn’t been punished enough yet. Before
he finished, he’d ruin Thorne’s reputation, his livelihood, and destroy
everything he loved most in the world.
Just
as Thorne destroyed our life.
The man must die! Now!
Restless to escape its bonds the
monster thrust knife-hot pain into his brain, but he wrestled it back into the
shadows and locked it down. Retribution was almost at hand, but not
tonight. This night was about her.
Where the hell was she?
There!
Her tennis shoes slapped the sidewalk as she approached. He caught a flash of uniform—shorts and
sports shirt, both too tight for decency.
Then she walked out of the weak light that pooled across the commons
into the dark well that led to her door.
Her building superintendent had replaced her broken porch light this
morning, but he’d smashed it again. He
smiled when she cursed someone named Ronnie.
With a jingle of keys, she passed the
niche he’d carved for himself in the shrubs. A punch of adrenaline surged through him, made
him lightheaded with anticipation. He
shook the buzz from his head and crashed out of the bushes with more noise than
he intended.
Her head snapped left. She shot a glance over her shoulder. Her eyes widened. She lunged for the safety of her door.
He chased after her, grabbed her by the
throat. A squeeze of her windpipe cut
off her scream. He didn’t want to damage
her too much. He just needed to get her
alone.
To atone. To give him another chance.
With her soft body pressed against him,
he groaned with pleasure. It had been so
long! For a moment he forgot his
purpose, lost in the new scent of her, in the innocent softness of her curves
against him. Her breasts were full
beneath his forearm. The sweet curve of
her bottom cradled his stiff penis. With
another groan, his grip relaxed.
She screamed. Struggling, she broke loose of his hold.
Shit!
Reaching out, he snagged her long ponytail and yanked her back
hard. With his other hand, he strangled
her next scream into a whimper. “Do that
again,” he grated, “I’ll use my knife.”
The honed blade was secure in his pocket but she didn’t know that.
“I have money,” she croaked. “Three hundred. Tips.
In my pocket. Please! Don’t—”
“Shh.
Don’t fight me. Shhh,” he crooned
into her hair. He tugged a
chloroform-laced rag from his pants pocket and fitted it over her nose and
mouth. “Just give me another chance,
Angel, and everything will be fine.”
This time she’d make the right choice
because, God only knew, he’d truly go insane if he had to kill her all over
again.
Bio:
Karen Docter writes two different kinds of romance novels....
Books of Danger, Romantic Suspense: Women hunted by killers...men who'd die to protect them.
Books of Heat, Contemporary Romance: Romance...With a Kick of Humor!
Karen's contemporaries are cute and spicy, romantic comedies. She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don't allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other's path...with a tickle and a smile. "Satin Pleasures", one of her four Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® Best Short Contemporary finalist novels, debuted on Amazon February 2012.
Her suspense novels are also filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love. These are psychological, woman-in-jeopardy stories. "Killing Secrets", the first of her Thorne's Thorns series about six brothers and the women they'd die to protect, is scheduled to release soon.
Karen is a 4-Time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist, and has won numerous awards including the KOD Daphne du Maurier Award Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Unpublished division. She enjoys writing both sides of the line between light and dark romance. When she's not saving her characters or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!
Links:
Karen Docter (romantic comedy):
Website: http://www.karendocter.com/
Satin Pleasures: Amazon ~ http://www.amazon.com/Satin-Pleasures-ebook/dp/B0078VSY6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330384089&sr=8-1
K.L. Docter (romantic suspense):
K.L. Docter (romantic suspense):
Website: http://www.kldocter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kldocter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenDocter
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/karendocter
Happy Saturday, L.A. :) Thanks for having me on your blog today. I'm really looking forward to releasing this book.
ReplyDeleteCurrent launch date is October 7, 2013, however, I'm hoping to get it up on Amazon earlier. Cross your fingers!