Review and giveaway: Killing Secrets

...Some secrets are better left dead...

Killing Secrets by K. L Docter

Quick Facts                                        

Release Date: April 17, 2014                 

Genre: Romantic Suspense                                              

Formats to buy: Kindle, Nook, PDF, Kobo, mobi, epub, pdf, paperback. 

Book Synopsis

Some secrets are better left dead.

Rachel James’ ex-husband is released from prison determined to reclaim her and her little girl — the child is his key to controlling 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.

PURCHASE:

SMASHWORDS

AMAZON KINDLE

AMAZON PRINT

B&N

Excerpt:



“I’ve only filed three police reports, but I’m sure I can lay half a dozen more attacks at this bugger’s door.” He ran his hand through his hair to corral his frustration. “What about fingerprints on the hammer? Have you identified anything in the clothes left behind?” Somehow, the single untouched wall with women’s clothing stapled all over it like some kind of macabre trophy wall was more disturbing than the vicious holes his saboteur left everywhere else.

“It’s one of your own hammers kept in a tool box with a broken lock. Anybody could have handled it. I’ll be surprised if they find a viable print, although the clothes might reveal something.” Jack heaved a long suffering sigh. “We’ve barely had time to catalogue the evidence since you called us this morning. We’re not exactly sitting on our thumbs, no matter what you think.”“What I think is it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep my problems under wraps.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know it after reading that sweet, full-page feature the Denver Post ran on you yesterday.” Jack picked up the newspaper section sitting on the corner of Patrick’s desk and read the headline aloud, “‘No Thorns in Thorne Enterprise’s Rosy Future’. According to this you’re ‘a new contractor barely in his thirties with a Midas touch who’s made it to the major leagues with the multi-million dollar, upscale Villas at Three Oaks Ranch’. You must have really schmoozed that reporter, bro.”

“The headline would have read something radically different,” Patrick replied sourly, “if she’d dug a little deeper and uncovered the truth.”

Angry again at the thought of what he stood to lose, he reached across the desk, snatched the newspaper out of Jack’s hand, and threw it into a wire basket for his office manager, Jane Brown, to file. “You know what I’ve been dealing with these last few months,” he said. “Vandals tag building sites. Supplies go missing. Equipment breaks down.

“But this is different, Jack. You saw those walls at Southgate. This isn’t kids on a lark, pissing out territorial boundaries.”

“I agree. But as my captain pointed out, I’m a little close to the situation and I’m not on the case.”

Patrick barked a harsh laugh. “What does this guy have to do before the department takes this seriously? Leave a dead body?”

“It might take just that,” Jack retorted. “Right now we’re up to our armpits in what’s rolled downhill from the mayor’s office after the kidnapping of that councilman’s daughter last week.”

If it weren’t for the radios blasting all day on his sites Patrick wouldn’t keep up with local events but even he’d heard about the coed who’d disappeared while he was in Cheyenne. “She’s been gone, what, four days? Do you have any leads?”

“We don’t even have a ransom note. After a co-worker dropped her off at her apartment complex, it’s like the girl disappeared into thin air.”

Patrick saw Jack’s jaw tighten, a sign of the increasing stress he’d been under in recent months. “You think she’s a victim of the Angel Killer, don’t you?”

The local news media had dubbed the serial killer with the name because of the angel tattoo he’d burned into each of the girls he brutally killed. He remembered Jack’s fury, as one of the detectives on the task force, over the leak of that critical piece of information.

The Author

Karen Docter writes two different kinds of romance novels....Contemporary Romantic Comedy w/a Karen Docter: Romance...With a Kick of Humor!

Romantic Suspense w/a K.L. Docter: Women hunted by killers...men who'd die to protect them. 

Karen's contemporaries are cute 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. Her romantic suspense novels (as K.L. Docter) 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.

Karen's an award winning author, a four-time Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist, and won the coveted Kiss of Death Romance Writers Daphne du Maurier Award Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Unpublished division. When she's not saving her characters from death and destruction 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!

Find more about her at:

WEBSITE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

GOODREADS

Other books by Karen Docter:

(press on the cover to go to goodreads)

     

MY THOUGHTS:

This is my first Romantic Suspense book ever. I wasn't very sure at the beginning but honestly, I  enjoyed Killing Secrets very much. 

I super liked the mix between suspense and romance because I didn't know what was coming next. 

It is a book full of twists and turns. There is a lot of action going on so it keeps you entertained. This fast pace combined with a nice and catching writing made a great story.

About characters:

Rachel is awesome. She is brave and has a lot of spirit.

The villain is evil, as it should be. I'm a tad bit tired of those villains that are not so bad and you get a little attached... but this was not the case.

I felt bad for Amanda (Rachel's daughter) who hasn't spoken a word for months since her father went to jail. Her story is a nice addition.

The supporting characters were so interesting and perfectly developed as well. I want to know more and I've read somewhere that there might be a second book involving some of them (I'll be reading it for sure!)

Plot:

I liked how the circumstances lead to their encounter, those sad situations that ended up with them crossing paths and also how the romance unfolded.

The truth is that Rachel and Patrick's romance is so sweet but there is also tension so you want to know what happens next.

What I didn't like:

What prevented me from giving this book 5 stars were 2 things:

• I'm not a huge fan of Patrick (there was something about him that felt like he was making the same mistakes over and over) 
• and that the time frame could have been longer. Everything happened in around a month and I am a hopelessly romantic so I believe that for feelings to be true, they need a longer period to develop. (that's my humble opinion!)

Anyway, this was a great read and whether you are a fan of the genre or are just getting to know it, you'll enjoy it.

PURCHASE:

SMASHWORDS

AMAZON KINDLE

AMAZON PRINT

B&N

GIVEAWAY:

This giveaway is international. There will be 6 winners.
Prizes:
- 1 $50 Amazon GC
- 5 e- copies of KILLING SECRETS by K. L Docter.




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FOLLOW THE TOUR:

April 17: My Devotional Thoughts: Top 10 List

April 18: A Writer's Life: Spotlight

April 21: Little Black Notebook Review

April 22: Mythical Books: Interview

April 23: Bookworm Lisa: Spotlight

             Roxy's Reviews: Review

April 24: Reviews by Molly: Review

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April 25: Books and Fandom: Spotlight

             Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews: Spotlight

April 28: I know that Book: Review

             Vanilla Moon: Spotlight

April 30: Deal Sharing Aunt: Review

Review and giveaway: Redeemed by a Rebel by Cynthia Woolf

Check Cynthia Woolf's new book:

Redeemed by a Rebel 

(Book 1 in "Destiny in Deadwood Series")

Release Date: January 30, 2014                  

Genre: historical western (set in 1876 Deadwood, Dakota Territory.)                                             

Formats to buy: Kindle and Paperback 

Blurb

Jake Anderson killed a man defending his fiancée from a brutal attack, but lost her and his freedom in the process.  Now he's on the run, hunted by one of her murderers and tormented by the need for vengeance.

Becky Finnegan will do anything to escape her drunken father's fists, including slave away at their mine.  Her only hope is to strike gold and make a new life for herself somewhere far, far away from Deadwood.  But then Jake arrives and does the unthinkable...forces her to feel, to hope...and to love.

Jake would give his life to protect Becky, but all he can offer her is a broken heart, a criminal's life, and a past haunted by failure.  How can he save her when he's already lost himself?  When the devil catches up to him, will he destroy everything, or can the beautiful rebel redeem Jake's lost soul?

PURCHASE:

AMAZON

MY THOUGHTS:

** I received an ARC of Redeemed by a Rebel from the author in exchange for an honest review**

I'm guilty. I fell for the sexy cover hehe. But also I decided to give this book a try because eventhough I'm not a fan of historical romance, I've read another book by Cynthia Woolf and really enjoyed it.

Redeemed by a Rebel didn't dissapoint. It is a really fast paced book and easy to get into. Very entertaining with a great setting. I loved the way the author described Deadwood, a town with no law and where people is only interested in gold and bars. 

Jake and Becky, the two main characters have had sad and hard lives before they find each other. 

I liked the way their paths crossed and how at the beginning they both try to avoid what they feel. Also the fact that Jake slowly wins her trust. It's like he is her knight in a shining armor.

Becky is fierce, as every heroine in Cynthia's books. So brave and utterly stubborn, that sometime I felt like slapping her!

Billy, Becky's dad, is a SOB! so cruel and always wasted. I hated him. 

On the other hand, the other supporting characters such as Liam and Zack (Jake's brothers) are amazing.

To sum up: I liked it very much! Nice setting, amazing characters, good pace and interesting storyline. 

  Excerpt:

PROLOGUE

February 1876

The man was dead. Deader than a doornail in a rotted-out door. Lily Sutter was not going to like this. She supposed she should call her the Widow Sutter now.

Becky looked at John Sutter’s body, splayed across the rocks like the annual  sacrifice to some unknown god. She should probably try and wrangle his body onto the back of her mule, but didn’t really think she could manage the task alone. She heaved a sigh. Time to check and see if Billy was home or if she would have to collect him from The Gem. She hadn’t given him enough gold for the Bella Union.

She’d lied to him once again, only given him part of their gold. If she gave him all the gold, like he wanted, nothing would be left to buy food or the pans and other equipment she needed to work their claim. And then there’d be no gold for him to go drown his sorrows. Sorrows that were her fault, according to him, for having killed her Ma getting born. And then he’d beat her and she wouldn’t be able to work so there’d be no gold and the cycle would start again. Better to lie to him.

Resigned, she grabbed the mule’s bridle. Buster snorted at the small jerk she gave the gear as she started walking downstream along the narrow path that followed the creek. She’d made this path, going back and forth to their claim on a daily basis. After collecting Billy from the Gem, after he’d spent another night of drowning his sorrows. Better there than at their campsite where he’d just complain and then beat her for the hell of it.

She and her father, Billy, originally came from the coal mines of West Virginia. But that was so long ago and there’d been many, many stops along the way. Every time she hoped this might be the place, the one they could put down roots. But it never was. Billy leached the good will from the townsfolk until there was none left and they had to move on. She’d gotten lucky with her education. One of the ladies she worked for took pity on her and taught her to read, write and talk so she was able to get better jobs as time went on.

As for Billy, the fresh air was good for him, made him feel better but him feeling better was a two-edged sword. He felt better so, rather than working the claim, he took their gold and spent it on booze and whores at the Gem in Deadwood. He was smart enough to know he got more booze and whores for his money at the Gem than the Bella Union where they were classier but much more expensive. He was at the Gem so often she had to go and collect him about three nights a week. He’d get so drunk he couldn’t find his way out of the saloon much less back to their claim.

She’d get Dan Dority to load Billy on the mule and then, when they got back to camp, she’d untie him and let him slip to the ground. She used to try holding him up, to slow his fall, but too many times, she’d ended up trapped beneath him until she could shove his heavy body off her. And him, totally ignorant of the whole situation, blissfully sleeping off the effects of his alcohol fueled stupor. 

There’d been just as many times she left him at the Gem and let them deal with his sorry ass. Now since she needed to tell someone about Sutter, she figured she’d go ahead and get Billy, too.

Becky got on the mule and headed back to Deadwood. She went to the Gem but rather than collecting her father, she told Dan about Sutter.

“I’ll see his body gets taken care of.  In the meantime you get your father and get out. I keep telling you, this ain’t no place for a girl like you to be seen.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dan,” said Al Swearengen, owner of the Gem and procurer of flesh. “We could give her a job that’s a lot easier than working that claim.” 

 He leaned on the hand rail of the second floor walkway looking dapper in his black three piece pinstriped suit. He wore no tie and his shirt was open at the collar. Becky craned her neck to look upward at him. “Not today, Mr. Swearengen, but I’ll be sure and keep your offer in mind.”

Swearengen laughed. A great rumble from deep in his chest. “You do that. Dan, help load Billy on to her mule.”  He turned away and went back into his office. “See you tomorrow, Becky.” he called over his shoulder.

She nodded, then looked at the fancy women lounging around the room in varying states of undress and silently agreed with Dan. She should get out. She didn’t understand how they could do what they did. She’d rather work day and night in the creek than let a man touch her in that way.

The Author

Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent  her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.

Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.

In 2001, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.



Find more about her at: 

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

GOODREADS

TOUR GIVEAWAY

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Keep an eye on every stop.

Don't miss the interviews, guest posts, top 10 lists, amazing reviews and the super giveaway with a $100 Amazon GC prize.

February 17: Bunny's Review: Review

February 18: Black Lion Blog: Top 10 List 

February 19: A Writer's Life: Guest Post

February 20: Mochas, Mysteries and More: Guest Post

February 21: Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews: Top 10 List

                      Lindsey Gray ~ Author and Reviewer: Review

February 22: Books à la Mode: Guest Post

February 23: Little Black Notebook: Interview

February 24: My Devotional Thoughts: Top 10 List

February 26: Deal Sharing Aunt: Review

February 27: I know that Book: Review

February 28: That Girl Reads: Review