I’ve read a couple of R G Angel’s books, so when I was offered a chance to read Of Vows And Betrayal, I jumped on it. I love the Mafia and revenge stories.
Fifteen minutes. From the time Javier said I do, to the moment his wife’s heart stopped beating, his world fell apart, and Ophelia’s father was at fault. He’d waited fifteen years to make him pay. Too bad Ophelia had to pay the price for Javier’s revenge on her father.
After the death of her mother, Ophelia came under the control of her father, a member of the Gambino crime family. She was the result of an affair her mother had and now she is under his care. He keeps a tight rein on her, controlling her every action…or so he thinks. Even with a bodyguard dogging her every step, she still manages to visit her mother’s closed flower shop, her church and some of her friends. She doesn’t fit in with the rest of the ‘family’, and that’s just fine with her.
As Ophelia and Javier draw closer, the line between crime boss daughter and bodyguard becomes blurred. Javier’s desire for revenge becomes more complicated.
I’m was about halfway through before it really got going for me and Javier and Ophelia came together in some sizzling hot lovin’ that’s burning up my reader.
But life is never that simple and Ophelia was presented with an offer she couldn’t refuse. From here on, it was a total surprise to me. R G Angel made it impossible to look away. BUT, the story isn’t over and I look forward to seeing Ophelia come into her own. I have a feeling she won’t be sitting around letting others make life decisions for her.
Once you’re in, you’re never out, so stick around for what comes next.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In a world where loyalty is rare and trust is easily broken, can love rise from the ashes of vengeance?
Javier Fifteen minutes. That’s all it took for my world to shatter. From the moment I said ‘I do’ to the moment her heart stopped beating, my happiness turned into a relentless nightmare. Fifteen years of meticulous planning have led to this moment—my chance for revenge against the man who destroyed my life by killing my wife. But protecting his daughter was never part of the plan, and now everything is more complicated than I ever imagined.
Ophelia Living under my father’s oppressive rule feels like a prison. My world is turned upside down when Javier Vargas, a brooding and enigmatic bodyguard, is assigned to protect me. Little do I know, his true mission is darker and more personal than I could ever imagine. As forbidden desires ignite and hidden truth unravel, can we overcome the tangled web of our pasts to find a future together?
On top of being an International Bestselling Author, I’m a trained lawyer, world traveller, coffee addict and cheese aficionado.
When I’m not busy doing all my lawyerly mayhem or writing Contemporary Romance with heart, heat and a little darkness, alpha heroes and strong heroines and because I’m living in rainy (yet beautiful) Britain, I mostly enjoy indoor activities such as reading, watching TV, playing with my crazy puppies.
I hope my stories will make you dream and will bring you as much joy as they brought me by writing them.
If you want to know any of the latest news join my reader group R.G.’s Angels on facebook or subscribe to my newsletter!
Sidney Ryan has chosen to do a twelve week documentary on Grace Sebold, who was accused of killing her boyfriend on Spring Break. Charlie Donlea let me think I knew what’s happening, but I was so wrong. I knew it wouldn’t be the simple answer, but Charlie took me somewhere I didn’t see coming. I did have a hunch about one character and that panned out, but there is so much more to the story. By the time I got halfway through I saw I was getting more than I bargained for in this psychological thriller.
If you are looking for a complex, unputdownable mystery, pick up a copy of Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The Girl of Sugar Beach is the most watched documentary in television history—a riveting, true-life mystery that unfolds over twelve weeks and centers on a fascinating question: Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend, Julian, while on a Spring Break vacation, or is she a victim of circumstance and poor police work? Grace has spent the last ten years in a St. Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.
As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case.
Delving into Grace’s past, Sidney peels away layer after layer of deception. But as she edges closer to the real heart of the story, Sidney must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career … even her life.
Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY and #1 Internationally bestselling author of SUMMIT LAKE, THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON’T BELIEVE IT, SOME CHOOSE DARKNESS, THE SUICIDE HOUSE, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His eighth thriller, LONG TIME GONE, explores the science of forensic genealogy and will be released in June 2024.
His books have been translated into twenty languages across nearly forty countries. He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children.
He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the setting for his first novel, Summit Lake.
I love a good thriller, so when I saw the awesome cover for The button collector by M M Cochran, I was sucked right in. It doesn’t take long for me to become engrossed in the story.
Chicago journalist, Jessica Knight is being stalked and her relatives are being picked off, one after another. She feels she is constantly under watch by the killer. How long before her number comes up?
She hops from bed to bed, using and being used. I don’t have a lot of respect for her, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to be murdered,
They call HIM the The Button Collector because when he kills, he leaves one button sewing the victim’s mouth shut and takes one as a trophy.
I was reading, just cruising along, when BAM, the killer hits me in the face. I never saw it coming and it was a doozy. That alone makes the book worth reading.
4 Stars
The Button Collector M.M. Cochran Publication date: September 17th 2024 Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller
When Chicago journalist Jessica Knight is linked to a string of odd murders happening across the country, her life takes a turn for the worse.
She is left wondering why her relatives are the ones dropping like flies under the signature mark of a serial killer . . . why she can’t stop thinking about Michael Bradley, the appealing detective assigned to protect her . . . and most of all, why, despite being the Button Collector’s prime target, she’s still alive at all. One thing she knows for certain: the killer is always watching. As the line between truth and deception begins to blur, Jessica crumbles under the dense web of lies she’s trying to keep straight–especially once the police start questioning more than just her sanity. With pressure mounting, Jessica must navigate being under the watchful eye of the police–and the killer–while risking it all in a dangerous game to make up for the mistakes of her past.
The first thing I feel when I step outside my apartment building is his eyes on me.
They burn. They haunt. They’re always there, somehow finding me almost every day since the first murder.
Long shadows stretch over the brown patch of grass before my building. They’re soft on my boots and heavy on the winter flowers that need sun. Rain pelts down the petals, but I’m too cold to get my fingers wet and shake the water off the weak flowers.
The thick weather clouds the feeling of his surveillance, but I still close my eyes to escape it.
Count backwards from ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Okay, it’s gone.
Now open your eyes, I instruct myself.
It’s time to catch a cab. “Time to catch a cab,” I say.
Leave me alone. “Leave me alone,” I say.
The office buzzes with fluorescent lights over rickety desks made for half-hearted journalists. I slide between their narrow spaces and make my way to the associate editor’s desk. The editor in chief smokes in his office, and Della can tell me everything he knows, so I avoid him and his stench. It’s not something I can handle this morning, though on a good morning, I’d crave the smell of his cigarettes.
“Della, John wanted to see me? Why?” The tip of my umbrella taps the ground, sprinkling cold drops of leftover rain onto my pant leg.
She doesn’t even look at me, doesn’t even jump at the opportunity to comment on my red lipstick that’s too dark or my unshapely long coat. “He’s in his office.”
“But—”
“Jessica.”
The smoke in John’s office rolls onto me in waves of foggy white. My automatic response is to cough, clear my throat, but it would be nothing more than for show. He knows I’m used to it.
“Knight. Come here, I’ve got somethin’ for you.” He fingers me in and motions for me to take a seat. The dark leather on the chair does everything but absorb the moisture from my wet thighs.
He nudges a stack of papers in my direction. “Here’re some stories for the week that I came across over the weekend. Fire and Crime section looks like it’ll be good and full next issue, but I’d like you to start on this Button story. A profile about him to follow-up his murder we reported on last week. It’ll take some research, so I want your time and attention on this one. All week.” He taps the folder with his index and middle finger, keeping his cigarette in place between them. “Make it good. If you need me to get some intern on the other stuff, you just let me know, Knight. Let’s focus on this Button profile, and make sure to really center it around the freakshow killer more than the victims.”
John takes a long, focused drag off the cigarette. Blows it in a thin streak over his shoulder. Eyes me with a glare that’s crimped with sixty-year-old crow’s feet.
“You alright, Knight?”
“Fine. But why do you want me for this? I’m not investigative, just—”
“A hard crime reporter. I know. But you really proved yourself with investigative journalism skills after you covered that murder trial last month. I want to spread your wings a little more. Cover this Button story, Knight. It’s going to sell a lot of papers. Keep it up, and we’ll change your title to Investigative instead of just Crime Journalist.”
“Thanks, John, but I’m comfortable with my position.”
“I’ll give you a little raise, dear.” He wraps his lips around his cigarette and blows the smoke over his shoulder again. “And I’ll hire one of those interns to take over hard crime. Okay?”
“Alright. Thank you.”
“Well, we’ll see how this Button story goes.”
I nod.
“You sure you’re okay, Knight?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Then shake that look off your face and get to work. I’d like to have that story by Thursday; I want the designers to arrange A1 layout around it. This’ll generate a lot of attention, you know. People are all over this Button Collector thing.”
“The word count?” I ask. I usually don’t have to talk word counts with him, but with big stories like this—like that trial—he always has some requirements to meet.
“Give me nine-hundred, no less.”
A knock on the door diverts his attention to behind me. “John,” the receptionist says, “a young lady would like to speak with you about advertisement.”
John pushes back his chair and stands, surrendering his cigarette to the dusty ash tray. “Stay here, Knight. I’ll be right back.”
My next breath is stifled by the smoke that folds into my face when he walks by. He leaves the door cracked behind him.
Author Bio:
As both a self-published and traditionally published author of YA fiction and a thriller, I know how vulnerable and scary handing your manuscript to an editor can be. . . But it is my job to take care of my clients and their stories, cherishing them as my own.
My novel, Between the Ocean the Stars, was ranked #2 at the worldwide distributors center upon publication and later named a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. My next novel, The Button Collector, releases in 2024.
When I saw Eruption, it’s gorgeous cover and Michael Crichton’s and James Patterson names, I virtually hopped over to the library and grabbed me a copy. Michael Crichton had passed away before he could finish the novel, and James Patterson picked up the torch.
A once in a century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. If that isn’t enough, there is a military secret that could cause a worldwide catastrophic event.
Did Eruption live up to its hype? Well, the pacing kept me ‘flipping pages’ wondering how they were going to get out of the mess they are in. Maybe it also contains a warning to us mortals. Sometimes the things we do come back and bite us on the ass. This could have been one of those moments, but through the valor and bravery of many, the worse case scenario was avoided. Just goes to show what can happen when everyone works together.
All in all, it was worth the wait, a month or so, to get a copy from my library.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A history-making once-in-a-century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a decades-old military secret could turn the volcano into something even more terrifying… Now it’s up to a handful of brave individuals to save the island – and the entire world.
Two of the bestselling storytellers of all time have created an unforgettable thriller. The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years. Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller. Eruption brings the pace of Patterson to the concept of Crichton: the most anticipated mega-thriller in years.
After The Fall by Gerry Gainford is an apocalyptic, dystopian, science fiction novel that kept engrossed in the story of a Washington State that lies in ruins. Nuclear bombs, computer viruses and plagues run rampant. I love that Haley tools around on a motorcycle that she manages to keep running because of her engineering knowledge.
All hell breaks loose when she makes a run for it, after her friend, Jimmy, is murdered.
Haley had left her girlfriend in Dublin and is trying to get back to her. Made me think of Darryl in Walking Dead and I’m curious to see how she is going to cross the ocean to get home. It’s bad enough that she has to dodge those who want her dead, radiation sickness, and plagues. I love a strong, female protagonist that manages to keep her humanity, yet does what is necessary to protect herself, including killing those who would kill her first if she didn’t defend herself.
The world building created a desolate landscape and the pacing made it as hard for me to stop as it did for Haley. The characters run the gamut, but many have lost their humanity. They take what they want, with no regard for their actions. Much of the collusion was hidden from me and I love how Gerry Gainford was able to keep me in the dark. It made it all the more dangerous, not knowing who to trust (NO ONE).
I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Haley left Dublin for a six-week internship in Seattle.
Four years later and she’s living in the ruins of Washington State after the world fell in a cascade of nuclear bombs, computer viruses and human plagues.
When she is accused of her friend’s murder, she flees into the night, with one destination in mind. Home to Marley, the love she left behind.
To escape her pursuers, skip around the swathes of chemical and radioactive waste, avoid the Kings, a roaming gang of marauders, she will need to use every bit of engineering knowledge she has.
Can she make it across the continent and an uncrossable ocean to finally get home?
Does home still exist, or did it perish in the Fall?
Gerry Gainford is a nerd who spends the workday talking about computer security.
The rest of the time he lives in Los Angeles, with a wife and kids where he likes to go camping, ride motorcycles, do woodwork badly, tell bad jokes, drink good beer and write.
He’s originally from Ireland and hopes some day to know what he wants to be when he grows up.
The action is fast paced right out of the gate and the race to St Louis is on. All Aboard.
The first book of the E Apyocrypha series, Lost & Found, spotlights Yun Mi. The second book, As & When, spotlights Aileen, and the third book, Hells & High Water, spotlights Kat. I love the eye catching covers.
Kat is an Islander without an island, but she is also a warrior and will do what is necessary to save her people. She didn’t ask to be a leader and her people don’t seem to want her as one either.
I love when Kat meets Yun Mi and negotiates a reprieve from a death sentence for the Islanders. As they negotiate a truce, we begin to see them grow into more complex characters. I love them both and would love for them to become fast friends. They would make a great team. Even the peripheral characters are able to break my heart and piss me off.
I love apocalyptic/dystopian novels, whether they have zombies or all technology is wiped out in one fell swoop, leaving them raiding, taking from others, struggling to stay alive. The more creative the author, the more invested I get in their world. And Alex Andre has created a world to get lost in. I have a love/hate relationship with an author that kills off one of my favorite characters, even when it adds to the story line, and Alex Andre is not afraid to put me to the test.
Hells & High Water is a novel filled with good and bad, sorrow and happiness (more than once, I cried and laughed), adventure and sacrifice. Each book got progressively better and Hells & High Water was unputdownable. I was familiar with the characters’ worlds and I had to know what was going to happen to who, at times leaving me breathless..
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Technology is power, especially in the world where both are sparse. Would those possessing the knowledge be persuaded to share?
Drawn by a vague rumor of an industrialized state out west, Golden Dragon Shang, a visionary hierarch obsessed with all things tech, departs on an irrational journey beyond the edge of the known map, dragging three reluctant sidekicks along.
A fierce raider disowned for insubordination needs all her fighting skills to survive, but even they can’t carve the path to her true self. A young smuggler is forced by betrayal to turn his criminal mind to the legit side, for the people who despise him. A soldier struggling with his homeland’s troubling past must quash his personal demons to forge alliances with those he detests, or none on the expedition have a chance.
Unsure of their destination and facing dangers known and unknown, they travel through desolated wilderness half a continent away from home. Their armored train is formidable yet not invincible, and not every enemy is foreign. Survival demands smarts, grudging collaboration, and sacrifice—but will that prove enough?
Genre: Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Fiction
442 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 28, 2024
Series: The E Apocrypha, Book III
ABOUT ALEX ANDREA (from Amazon)
Alex has lived on three continents, is fluent in three languages, suffers an unhealthy interest in linguistics, and never has enough time to get to all the books on his ever-growing To Read list.
He has always appreciated (and envied) select authors’ ability to string words into elegant sentences and tie those sentences into intricate plots.
The time has come for him to try his own hand in the craft.
OMG. Vampires and yatchies. I love it. I watch Below Deck on TV and when D V Sullivan asked if I was interested in reading a copy of Lair, I dove right in. I can see why he thought of yatchs as a setting, seeing he has been a yatchie himself. What an original idea.
Aurora runs from an abusive boyfriend, running right into the arms of a billionaire vampire. I have never read about vampires on yatchs and I love what D V Sullivan has done with them. Of course, he has a steady supply of blood, seeing his employees are handy and easily disposed of. Can a vampire fall if love with a human? Can Aurora fall in love with Adrian?
Aurora coaxes Adrian into trying to cure his curse and I sure didn’t see the outcome. I am really curious about the future books in the series.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
An abusive ex. A quick getaway to start over. A rich and debonaire vampire who could be her chance at romance or a one-way ticket to a bad end.
Aurora needs out. She lives in terror of her abusive boyfriend, who controls her entire life. She vows to escape, and when she gets hired aboard a superyacht cruising the Mediterranean, it seems all her dreams have come true.
Especially when she finds herself drawn to the Lair’s reclusive and dazzlingly handsome owner, Adrian Voper. The only problem: the pale-skinned billionaire is as controlling as her ex, and when his female guests keep disappearing under mysterious circumstances, Aurora realizes he is concealing a nature far more monstrous than her former abuser’s.
Shaken and terrified, Aurora must now confront the reality of life with a vampire. The damaged parts of herself drawn to such abuse. And what, if anything, can free Adrian from his curse.
D.V. Sullivan has been a deckhand in the Mediterranean, a bartender in New York and an English teacher in China. Now that he’s no longer hosing salt off yachts during high-wind gales, he writes from his lair in the Pacific Northwest.
I received Cora Kent’s newsletter with an invitation to grab an ARC from BookSprout. I am so glad I did. Ruthless Sinner is a dark, very dark, romance, and I do love walking on the dark side. There are many triggers, so check it out thoroughly before grabbing a copy for yourself.
We meet Adalina Martinelli in the bar, where she runs into Dante and their dance has begun. What doesn’t kill her will definitely make her stronger.
The level of cruelty and brutality heaped on her knows no bounds. Everywhere she turns, someone is torturing her. I want to reach through my reader and take them out myself, especially her father. I hope he gets what he deserves. Dante brings out the worst in her through his dark and twisted version of love. Steamy scenes, they are sizzling hot and I surprise myself with how much I am loving the book.
I want more of The Terlizzis world.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Dark romance author Cora Kent brings you a mafia captive heroine romance. I was born to inherit the family business. Father braided darkness into my soul before I spoke my first word. Adalina Martinelli is collateral. At first, I take her because her father is in debt to mine. But after one night together, she becomes my prisoner. Locked in a gilded cage, I set forth to transform her. Father wants me to marry, and I’ve found the perfect wife. She may be younger than me. . . She may be the daughter of our enemies. . . She may need stern convincing. . . But I will bend and break her until she agrees to my twisted guarantee of a life sentence as my wife and prisoner. Note: Ruthless Sinner is Dante and Adalina’s story. This novel features dark themes, steamy scenes, and mature content. Please read the first chapter for a full list of TWs.
Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia, Fiction, Romance
Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 27, 2024
Series: The Terlizzis, Book I
ABOUT CORA KENT
Cora Kent’s first love was Scar and she was devastated when he didn’t get a happily ever after. That’s why all her books feature villains, dark romance, and a hint of the forbidden.
Ever since she was a kid, Cora has rooted for the bad guy. If the Big Bad Wolf ate out Little Red Riding Hood, it would have made for a better story–which is why all her books have a happily ever after for the morally grey anti-hero who will move heaven and earth for his woman.
When Cora isn’t living out her fantasies through writing, she’s hanging out with her cat, drinking margaritas, and reminding her husband that the trash goes out on Sunday nights.
Insensible Loss by Linda L Richards did not go the way I thought it would. I think the reason is because Insensible Loss is the fourth book in The Endings series. I feel it can stand alone, and I have read the first book, Exit Strategy, but I would have loved to have read the Book II, Dead West. It would have given more background on the assassin, and I want to know why she’s running Dead West.
She finds her way to Ocotillo, Imogen’s place. Imogen is a famous painter who has chosen to rid herself of the hassles of the outside world. From assassin to painter, can she take over Imogen’s life? Why would Imogen want her to do that to begin with?
I do love assassins and The Endings series is a break from the traditional assassin stories I read. I am always on the lookout for an author who breaks out from the pack and Linda L Richards has done just that.
There is an ominous feeling lingering on the pages. I have that ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ feeling and how bad it is going to be. I sure didn’t see it coming and I do love an author that can surprise me. I didn’t have that urgent feeling of impending death, but I did have hairs standing up on the back of my neck. Is someone watching me, I mean her?
It’s just her and Phil, her dog, on the road again. Every time I say Phil, I smile.
I love that Linda L Richards was able to throw me a curve ball or two. I have a feeling the story isn’t finished and I do wonder what could be in store for her.
I voluntarily reviewed a free ARC for Insensible Loss by Linda L Richards.
.
4 Stars
SYNOPSIS
The Endings Series
Her life is over . . . yet somehow she carries on
After attempting to sever all ties to her life as a hired assassin, a woman struggles to understand who she has become. She knows she doesn’t want to kill again–but it proves to be a difficult habit to break, particularly in a world where people are after her and those she loves most.
Adrift and disconnected, she meets an old woman: Imogen O’Brien, a world-famous artist who has spent the last three decades living a hermit-like existence on a rustic desert estate in a national forest. Imogen invites her to stay and work for her, offering mentorship in return as the woman deepens her own interest in art.
What quickly becomes apparent is that elements of Imogen’s past are shrouded in danger, sorrow, and darkness. Rather than growing as an artist, the former hitwoman soon finds herself enmeshed in a dangerous mystery with strands that stretch decades into the past.
Praise for Insensible Loss:
“Deception, loss, and the past all collide in this propulsive thriller. A skillfully crafted plot combined with memorable characters makes Insensible Loss a must read.” ~ James L’Etoile, award-winning author of Face of Greed and the Detective Nathan Parker series
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller/Suspense Published by: Oceanview Publishing Publication Date: September 17, 2024 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 978-1608095148 Series: The Endings Series, Book 4 | Each is a Stand-Alone Book Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
CHAPTER ONE
I am gazing into an abyss. When I plant my feet on the edge of the cliff, all I see is a canyon yawing below me. I see the canyon, and my feet, tightly laced into trail runners. Below and beyond my tidy feet, red rock can be seen everywhere, edges softened by millennia, but deadly still. And steep.
Arcadia Bluff. It has a gentle sound, this location. But the reality is anything but gentle. A rough rawness that would seem to be able to accommodate anything one pitched in that direction. Wild west. There’s that, but also more. The secrets of an earth so raw and new, it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up.
It happens that the physical landscape matches what is going on in my heart, but this is mere coincidence. And anyway, everything is connected.
I am in a remote part of one of the largest national parks in the United States, and I am all alone, but for my dog.
Again, aside from that dog, I feel as if I have been alone for my whole life, but that isn’t true. What is true: everyone I’ve ever loved is dead. Some of them by my hand.
But all of that was before. Here is now.
I stand on Arcadia Bluff and the canyon below my feet seems to careen out endlessly. The aforementioned abyss. The red rock, dotted by trees and even the occasional cactus, seeming to sprout from the rock at odd angles, because the perpendicular drop doesn’t support normal growth.
In the distance, far below me, I see a sliver of silvery blue. Maybe it’s a river or the edge of a lake, but when I look straight down, between my feet, I see nothing but rock and cactus and peril. It gives me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach to look down, so I try to avoid doing that.
We drove in my old Volvo to get here, the dog and I. The car is dear to me. I’ve had it a long time and it performs elegantly. Like a tank. An elegant tank. It is a premium car, or it was, but now it is ancient. In good condition, but unremarkable, one of the things about it that I’ve always cherished: it has never drawn comment. And no one would suspect that under the trunk’s false bottom they would find two Bersa Thunder 380 handguns and a whole lot of cash. The car is now my home, my armory, and my bank. Who needs anything more?
Well, maybe I do. But never mind. The journey, that’s the thing.
To get here, the path we traveled in that old Volvo is a forestry road. The road is marked on maps as little more than a trail. It is unpaved and unremarked. And putting it that way—the path we traveled—makes it sound like a destination. It wasn’t that. It is just the place where, for the moment, we have ended up. When this moment is complete, we’ll travel some more. Maybe come to something else. It’s what we have now, this life made of almost nothing. As you will have guessed, this state of near nothing didn’t happen overnight.
A while ago I left behind the hollowed-out shell of the life I had created. The sham. The farce. The life in which I lived while I processed all of my grief.
Tried to process all of my grief.
Do you know what I discovered? You don’t process grief. It lives inside you, waiting for you to trot through the minefield that is life. Waiting for you to make just that one step and the grief explodes back into your face. If you were to process it—like cheese, like peanut butter—at a certain point it would be smooth and glossy and perfectly digestible. Consume it and forget it. But grief isn’t like that. It waits around because all it actually wants is to bite you in the ass.
I sound bitter. The tonic in a vodka drink. I don’t mean to, but there you are. Sometimes what you feel overrides everything you know.
After I left said reconstructed and hollowed-out life, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was basically—entirely?—homeless. My dog. And me. Homeless and aimless. I had my car. Several handguns. A few small things that I had come to treasure. And a whole whack of cash. The cash was necessary, because this is what I no longer possessed: any form of identification or credit cards. Or anything that said I was a person at all. I had simply disappeared. You mostly can’t do that forever.
A myriad of small things will trip you up. You can’t travel by air. You can’t book a motel. You can’t call an Uber. Or bank. When you start to think about it, there are more things you can’t do than what you can. After a while you need a landing spot. And you need a plan.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here goes another run.
Once upon a time—like a fairy story—I was a mom. A wife. A cornerstone of my community. I had a house. A pebble-tech pool.
A minivan with leather seats and televised communication. I had all of the accoutrements of suburbia, right down to the suburb. Tree-lined streets that I traveled to get to my job and take my kid to his school. I had attractive but not fiendishly manicured lawns. A home. That’s what it was. My husband, my son. Me. We were a family. We had a home.
One day there was an accident. People were killed. My child. Ultimately my husband, too. I was unexpectedly alone. All I had was a whole bunch of mortgaged crap I hadn’t even dreamed of wanting in the first place. After a while of being alone and having no money, I needed a new job and I started taking contracts to kill people.
You see how my narrative breaks down right there? I mean, everything was going along well, from a storytelling standpoint. I’d engaged your sympathy. Maybe even your interest. And then— boom!—I blow all that goodwill with a simple revelation. Yes. Killing people. For money. What kind of nice lady does that? No kind, that’s what. But it let’s you know at least part of why I run.
And so here we are. Standing on the edge of a cliff. And I’m not expecting to jump.
CHAPTER TWO
Lately I’ve noticed that I have become afraid of the dark.
It doesn’t make sense to me. I am aware of no new trauma that might have led to this condition. Nyctophobia. I have read about it. I have googled, as they say.
I’ve “done some research.” So I know a little about the condition that currently plagues me. I’ve read that it is fairly normal or, at least, not uncommon. I’ve read, also, that fear is healthy. In our natural state, I guess, fear is what keeps us alive and safe.
For months, I have found myself waking from peaceful slumber and moving to instant terror when the dark is encountered. The dog smells the fear, or at least that is what I guess. When I wake in this way, I can hear him rustling about as he comes to me. He lays his muzzle on whatever part of me he can reach: my hand or my arm or even a bit of toe. And he’ll stay there like that, breathing quietly, until my demons have passed, or I turn on a light.
Usually, I turn on a light.
There are things you can do, that’s what I’ve read, as well. And there is evolved language around it. You can deal with your triggers or work at desensitizing yourself to darkness. This sort of healthy self-examination has never been my forte, and so after a while, I come up with my own solution: I begin to sleep with the light on. It keeps the demons at bay.
All of this would probably be of more concern if we had a home anymore, the dog and I. But we don’t. As I said, we are traveling, no destination in mind other than a vague and distant future that at present has no shape.
Every day, we cover many miles in the Volvo. The forestry roads in Arizona’s Cathedral National Park seem endless. The park itself seems endless, as well. We keep traveling, only occasionally surfacing for fuel or other supplies. We do that at small gas stations either within the park or just on the outskirts. Places that take cash and don’t ask questions. Then we delve right back into the depths of the park. We just drive and drive and drive, stopping only for calls of the body, as well as those infrequent times when I run out of steam. At those times, since we are out—literally and actually—in the middle of nowhere, I just stop the car, then pitch the small tent that lives over top of the false bottom of the trunk. And then I try to rest.
The closest I ever get to actual rest is when the dog settles down somewhere near me, then gets to snoring peacefully. Something about that sound is hypnotic to me. I’ll surf behind it until, sometimes, falling under the spell of the simple, primal cadence, I fall asleep. In and out, in and out. I float away on a column of dog snores that lead to core sleep, when my subconscious scrambles to make up for time lost.
In the morning we pack up and head out again. Where are we going? Why? I don’t have answers. I don’t even have questions. All I know is that everything is behind me. I’m not hopeful about what is in front of me, but it’s better than going back.
Everyone knows that you can’t go back.
***
Excerpt from Insensible Loss by Linda L. Richards. Copyright 2024 by Linda L. Richards. Reproduced with permission from Linda L. Richards. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Linda L. Richards is the award-winning author of over a dozen books. The founder and publisher of January Magazine and a contributing editor to the crime fiction blog The Rap Sheet, she is best known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. Richards is from Vancouver, Canada and currently makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona. New for 2024: INSENSIBLE LOSS, the fourth book in the Endings series featuring a reluctant hit woman struggling towards the light. Linda’s 2021 novel, the first in this series, ENDINGS, was recently optioned by a major studio for series production. Richards is an accomplished horsewoman and an avid tennis player, and is on the National Board of Sisters in Crime.
A #1 New York Times bestseller • TV series in development at MGM Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society • Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 • Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 • Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 • NPR “Books We Love” 2023 • Audible Best Books of 2023 • Hudson Book of the Year • Google Play Best Books of 2023 • Indigo Best Books of 2023 • Waterstones Book of the Year finalist • Goodreads Choice Award Winner • Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of 2023 • Paste Magazine’s Best Books of 2023 (from Amazon)
Hold onto your seat, because Fourth Wing is sure to have you flying high.
Normally I am a patient person, but waiting for Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros had me checking my library app repeatedly. Now, that I have read it, I am checking every day for the second book in the series, Iron Flame, and am not being the least bit patient. I need it NOW.
At first I thought, “This is a great book and Book II would be the one to blow me away.” Due to the length of Fourth Wing, 650 pages, Rebecca had me overwhelmed with emotions. The characters jumped off the pages and the dragons had me flying high. I didn’t want to stop reading. Even though I am a fast reader, it took me a couple of days to read it.
I know they are working on a TV series, and I feel I will end up disappointed, because they’ll probably try and force me to buy an app to watch it. We shall see. I thing the Empryean series will be like Twilight and Lucifer. A series I will binge watch over and over again.
Romance, friendship, and battles…all will be tested.
If you are thinking of buying Fourth Wing, you might as well buy the whole series. Once you get attached to the characters, they won’t quit talking atcha.
Fourth Wing is amazing and sure to be one of my favorites of the year.
5 Star
GOODREADS BLURB
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
Genre: Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
517 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2023 by Piatkus
Series: Empyread, Book I
ABOUT REBECCA YARROS
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Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.
Want to know about Rebecca’s next release? Check her out online at www.rebeccayarros.com.
