Nowhere
to Run
by
Jeanne Bannon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
What’s
a girl to do when she falls in love with the man whose mission it is
to bring her down?
With
the murder of her only sister, Sara, just a few months past, Lily
Valier—a woman of beauty and substance—tops the sheriff’s list
of suspects in small town Maine, and for a very good reason. Dear old
Dad had willed his fortune to Sara and only Sara, leaving Lily to
fend for herself. However, with no murder weapon or witnesses, the
evidence against Lily is only circumstantial.
Enter
P.I. Aiden O’Rourke, black-haired and blue-eyed, charged with
gaining Lily’s trust and learning her secrets, all to finally get
the goods on her. Things move fast and feelings run deep, yet when
Lily discovers the truth about Aiden, everything begins to come
apart.
Aiden’s
torn. Despite his feelings for her, Lily is the most logical suspect,
with a great big fat motive. Except something’s not quite right.
Aiden trusts his instincts and they’re screaming at him to have a
look at a former suspect with far more to hide than first appeared.
With little left to lose, Lily decides to stand her ground, and
staying put has its consequences when the murder weapon finally turns
up—and it’s Lily’s gun.
What
happens to love, when trust is betrayed?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
The
ghosts of those we love never leave us. They live on in our hearts
but break them too, Lily thought as she flipped the sign on the door
of the Higgstown Diner from “Open” to “Closed.” Then she sank
wearily onto a stool at the counter, finally at the end of the
workday. Now she could let loose the heaviness weighing her down. Hot
tears stung her eyes and she let them. It was OK. There was no one
around to witness her breakdown. She rested her head in her hands and
heaved with sobs.
“Sara,
please talk to me. Give me a sign you’re still around,” Lily said
to the air. “I miss you so much.” More tears washed down her
cheeks. It had been three months since her sister’s death, and
there was still no escaping Sara’s ghost. Even the chipped Arborite
counter where she now sat, with the wonky red upholstered stool that
swiveled just a little too much to the right, brought back memories.
Lily could see her older sister as plainly as if she were standing in
front of her now, black hair piled high in a bun and that blue eye
shadow she was so fond of. Lily smiled through her tears.
Sara had
been a whiz at the grill, whipping up orders faster than Lily ever
could. God, how long had the diner been a part of their lives? More
than twenty-five years, she guessed. They were just kids when their
mother, Nancy, bought the place—Lily, seven, and Sara, twelve.
A creak
came from the back of the diner. Lily lifted her head to listen.
Another small groan of the floorboards. Could Sara be giving her a
sign?
“Sara?”
Lily slid off the stool.
A tall,
dark figure loomed in the doorway.
Lily
froze, her heart near exploding. “What do you want?” she choked
out in a thin voice.
He
stepped nearer. “Open the register.” His voice was a deep
whisper.
A
balaclava hid his face; the seams of a dark gray coat strained over a
thickly muscled physique. He aimed the gun in his right hand at her
chest.
Her feet
seemed rooted to the floor.
“I
said, open the register.”
The man
moved close enough for Lily to catch his scent—a mix of sweat and
cheap aftershave. He shoved her forward, snapping her from her
stupor, and followed as she made her way behind the counter to the
cash register.
A
glowing red light caught her attention. She hadn’t turned off the
coffee maker! In one quick movement, Lily grabbed the pot’s plastic
handle and launched the scorching brew at the woolen knit of the
intruder’s balaclava. The gun landed with a thud between his booted
feet as he clawed at the steaming mask plastered to his face.
Now was
her chance. Lily shouldered past him to the front door. Her fingers,
thick and clumsy with panic, fumbled as she tried in vain to turn the
two deadbolt locks. She ordered herself to calm down. Take a breath.
C’mon, you can do this, she told herself, but her heart
jackhammered in her chest, and her ears pulsed with the rush of blood
behind them.
Suddenly,
a face appeared on the other side of the glass front door of the
diner, sending Lily backward, nearly tripping over her own feet.
The
stranger on the other side of the door took her in. A look of
confusion flickered across his face. Then, as if coming back to
himself, he yelled, “Hurry. Unlock the door!” The cold night air
whipped his dark hair wildly around his face. His pale blue eyes
locked on hers.
Panic
had hijacked her brain. She didn’t know what to do. He could be an
accomplice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Jeanne
Bannon has worked in the publishing industry for over twenty years,
first as a freelance journalist, then as an in-house editor for
LexisNexis Canada. She currently works as a freelance editor and
writer and is represented by Karen Thomas of the Serendipity Literary
Agency.
Jeanne’s
debut novel, Invisible, is a young adult paranormal romance,
published by Solstice Publishing and has recently been optioned for
film. Invisible is an Amazon bestseller both domestically and
internationally and continues to receive wonderful reviews.
On
October 3rd, 2014, Nowhere to Run, Jeanne’s latest novel, is set to
be released by Etopia Press. Nowhere to Run tells the story of Lily
Valier, a woman of substance and beauty, and her dilemma when she
falls in love with a man whose mission it is to bring her down.
Currently,
Jeanne is finishing up work on her third novel, Dark Angel, a
paranormal thriller.
When not
reading or writing, Jeanne enjoys spending time with her daughters,
Nina and Sara and her husband, David. She’s also the proud mother
of two fur babies, a cuddly and affectionate Boston Terrier named
Lila and Spencer, a rambunctious tabby, who can be a very bad boy.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Nowhere-Run-Jeanne-Bannon-ebook/dp/B00NU9GF2K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1411575437&sr=8-3&keywords=jeanne+bannon
Twitter:
@JeanneBannon
FB
author page: https://www.facebook.com/Jeanne.Bannon.author
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Jeanne-Bannon/dp/1466368756/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318029462&sr=8-1
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4556168.Jeanne_Bannon
www.jeannebannon.com
I like the excerpt today. Also, sounds like an interesting read especially with someone that is targeting another for their own selfish reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt that was chosen from this book. Made me really wanna read it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good book to me! I like the idea that the blurb brings across, and the cover is awesome. It caught my eye immediately.
ReplyDelete