I'm so excited
to be back here to scoop my new romantic suspense, TIDE OF LIES!
HC, thank you
so much for your hospitality. I know your readers like it hot, so I've brought
an exclusive excerpt that will *only* be seen right here. It's just a taste of
what happens, but hopefully it's enough of a tease to leave readers wanting
more. But first, here's a bit more about the story.
TIDE begins
with FAMILIAR LIGHT (on sale for $1.50), in which my heroine Laney returns to
her hometown to find an old love, but ends up in the hands of her stalker.
Bridger's search for her is aided by his buddy and local detective Holden
Whitlow, whose story picks up in TIDE OF LIES. What he thought was an open and
shut case turns out to be much, much more. Then his past—and an ex-lover,
Julia—collide with present as two shocking betrayals twist into a crushing
blow. The bitter truth may be too much for Holden to bear, but in the face of
losing everything, his choice is clear. But is it too late?
Note: although TIDE OF LIES does follow
FAMILIAR LIGHT in sequence, you do NOT have to read both stories. TIDE is a
stand-alone title.
TIDE OF LIES | blurb
A
devastating secret. A shocking betrayal. A deadly obsession.
Haunted
by three unsolved murders, Detective Holden Whitlow is stunned when his cold
case takes a heated turn. Julia Cohen, his ex-lover, is back in town, and in
the face of a brutal attack she’s ready to run. No matter how tightly she holds
her secrets, for Holden, turning away from the woman he’s spent a decade trying
to forget isn’t any more an option than walking away from his job . . . even
when it threatens to cost Julia her life.
Julia
is still reeling from a past she can’t bear to face. When she becomes the
target of a killer, fate throws her back into Holden’s arms, but she’s yet to
recover from a truth that has stripped her of everything—and everyone—she
loves. Will she tell him the secret that will destroy him, or will her lie
destroy them both?
TIDE OF LIES | excerpt
In this excerpt,
Holden has just listed a few graphic details regarding his cold case . . .
without considering Julia has just been attacked and these are much more than
just facts to her. He apologizes, and the rest follows.
##
"Don't," she said, her voice lost to the sound
of her hammering heartbeat.
"Don't what?"
Ten years and two lies melted into oblivion. "Don't
be sorry."
Holden reached for her, the move hesitant. This time his
darkening eyes were anything but businesslike. Threading his fingers through
her hair, he cupped the back of her head with a touch so gentle she feared she
might have imagined it. "I don't think I love you," he said. It
sounded as if the words never left his throat.
She laughed, a nervous gesture any idiot could read from
a mile away. But he didn't need a mile. He had inches, and her mind so did
not need to go there. "Wow, Holden. I don't think that's your best pick up
line. No wonder you're single."
"What I was going to say," he said in the same
graveled voice, "was I don't know why I can't put you in my past where you
belong. Why can't I get over you?" The pressure on the back of her head
increased, but not past feather light. If they got any closer or stayed that
way any longer, she'd surely die from anticipation, but it wouldn't be her
first brush with death that day. This one, at least, was worth the risk.
Holden pushed the laptop to the coffee table. The clatter
jerked her from her reverie just
enough to sharpen her mind, bringing her senses to shrill
attention. So when his lips finally met hers, the split second of contact was
excruciating.
"That's
it?" She clutched his well-worn tee, her fists straining the fabric. Mock
indignation was not her strong suit. For that matter, neither was the real
deal.
"Well, if you're asking . . . ." He scooped her
in his arms, cradling her with such gentle ease she couldn't help but melt
against him. They pushed dangerously close to horizontal, but he kept his
weight from her. The effect bordered on torture—a light tease when pressure
would prove exquisite.
Then his lips brushed hers, the touch slight and soft.
His position between her thighs did little to hide his interest, which she
found all the more lovable considering she sported two black eyes and a pair of
his gym shorts—the latter in an unappetizing shade of uncooked shrimp. Through
peripheral vision, she found the muscles of his arms did an admirable job of
holding him in the up position. Problem was she preferred him down—down and in.
Way in.
Reasons not to trust him begged for her attention, but
she wanted nothing of them. It had been far too long since anyone had held her,
and Holden was like comfort food to her battered soul. Her reasons for leaving
existed as petty little bits of debris scattered on her emotional floorboard,
years of pain and regret not enough to stop the crashing of her defenses when
he was around.
And—screw it all—she wanted him. Every moment they'd ever
shared had been some version of a lie, and she'd managed to sleep at night just
fine. There was certainly nothing stopping her from doing it now.
Besides, this time she had absolutely nothing to lose.
Everything was
already gone.
##
MORE INFO OR BUY @
Noble Romance https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/409/Tide-of-Lies
Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1110187690
CURRENT GIVEAWAYS
For a chance to win a print copy of HAWTHORNE (paranormal
romance) please visit the Goodreads giveaway @ http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/24069-hawthorne
(U.S. entries only)
Weekly gift card giveaways occur weekly for **email
subscribers** at www.sarahballance.wordpress.com – full
details available under the "Weekly Giveaways" tab. Every week one
reader wins their choice of gift cards to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes
& Noble.
SARAH BALLANCE | about the author
Sarah and her
husband of almost fifteen what he calls "long, long" years live on
the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly
adorable when they're asleep. She often
jokes that she writes to be around people who will listen to her, but her
characters aren't much better than her kids.
Fortunately, her husband is quite supportive, having generously offered
to help her research "the good parts" . . . and she's never had to ask twice.
I love this excerpt, Sarah. The last two lines really get to me!
ReplyDeleteHi, HC! Thanks so much for your hospitality!
ReplyDeleteYay! My comment finally went through! I can't tell you how many times I've tried. Whew! LOL.
ReplyDeleteIt's getting pretty bad when I can't comment on my own blog. Great to have you here Sarah. :-)
ReplyDelete