"Just the right amount of romance to equal the thrills and roller coaster ride. I was on the edge of my seat, reading swiftly to just find out what was next. The thrills and suspense was fantastic, the romance very real and electrifying. These parts I found very realistic. The storyline flowed smoothly, giving the reader that right amount of smexy, sexy stuff, and of course the suspense was riveting." Katrina, Goodreads
Serenity Lost (#1)
Their brief heated meeting one fateful night had singed itself into their minds. Not knowing of the other's identity, but unable to forget, had sealed their fate. The fire smoldered quietly in each of them as they tried to move on with their lives.
Eric Stiles was in the middle of chaos, searching for a killer.
Hunted by an obsessed psychopath, Rebecca Gailen was trying to be strong.
The world stopped for a moment as they looked up and saw the other standing just feet away.
His heart lurched, her armor shattered and the world started again as Eric's brother, Charlie, appeared to take her hand.
Family loyalty isn't a choice. When Rebecca's stalker rages out of control, Eric's decision haunts him and he struggles to stay away. Can he remain loyal to his brother, even if it means abandoning Rebecca when she may need him the most?
EXCERPT
Eric managed to get a few hours sleep in the cage before he was needed
back in the bullpen. He was finding it more and more difficult to push her out
of his mind. He went to get some coffee.
“Stiles,”
Lug said, breaking through his churning thoughts.
“Hey, what’s
up?” he replied as he grabbed is full cup of coffee.
“Trace on
the box of blood came back,” Lug said.
Eric walked
to his desk. “And?”
“They found
a piece of hair in the box sealant.”
“Were they
able to get a name?”
“Yeah,”
Lugow started. Eric looked down at his desk in hesitation. “It came as a match
to a Veronica Naltin.”
Eric froze,
the name hitting him in the chest. “What?”
“Yeah.” Eric
took a deep breath. “We double checked. There’s no mistake.”
“Jesus,” He
leaned on the desk, his mind spinning uncontrolled.
Adam
appeared and looked at him. “You told him?”
“Yeah.”
“So now
what?” Eric asked. He tried to reign in the fear that began to bubble in his
stomach. They were not only dealing with a stalker, but now a ruthless killer.
“We start
from the beginning,” Adam said as Lug nodded. “We look at everything from both
cases.”
“We should
look at anything that’s happened since this guy made first contact with
Rebecca,” Lug suggested.
“Do we have
a date?”
“The only
specific date I have is two weeks before the teddy bear,” Lug replied as he
looked at his notes. “I will try and get something more specific.”
“Where is
she now?”
“Donna’s,”
he said with a deep breath.
“Is she
going to be safe there?”
“She’ll be
fine for now,” Lugow added.
“Okay, let’s
get to work,” Adam said.
Eric’s phone
rang. “Detective Stiles.”
“Eric, we
have a problem,” Charlie said, sounding panicked and out of breath. “What’s
going on?” he said, looking to Lug and Adam.
“Rebecca got
a message from the stalker.”
“When?”
“I little
while ago,” he replied.
Eric’s heart
began to race.
“We think
he’s going after Donna.”
“Why?”
“I don’t
now. Something about the message.”
“Did you
hear it?”
“No.”
“Let me talk
to Rebecca.” Charlie passed the phone to Rebecca.
“Eric,” her
voice sounded terrified and shaken.
Eric got to
his feet as Adam followed him. “What did he say?”
“Uh, it was
a joke.”
“A what?”
“A knock,
knock, joke.”
“Tell me
exactly what he said, Beccs.”
“Knock, knock,
who’s there, Donna, Donna who, Donna turn around ka-boom,” she said into the
phone.
He could
hear the agony in her voice. “Where are you?”
“On our way
to Donna’s office.”
“Okay, let
me talk to Charlie.” He heard her pass the phone back to Charlie.
“Hey,”
Charlie said.
Eric and
Adam reached Adam’s car. “Have either of you tried to call her yet?”
“Yeah, she’s
not answering, but Beccs said she had an early meeting.”
“We’re on
our way to Donna’s office as well, but you need to stall and keep Rebecca away
until I tell you it’s okay.”
“That’s
going to be pretty hard to do.”
“Listen to
me, this could all be a way to lure Rebecca out into the open,” Eric explained
as Adam pulled onto the street. “Just stall long enough for us to make sure
it’s safe.”
“Okay,”
Charlie agreed before Eric hung up.
“What’s
going on?” Adam asked.
“Rebecca got
a message from the stalker.”
“What kind
of message?”
“One with a
ka-boom.”
Eric, Adam,
Lug and the bomb squad arrived in front of Donna’s office twenty minutes later.
Adam coordinated the sweep and evacuation of the building while Eric went
looking for Donna. He stepped off the elevator and flashed his badge to the
receptionist. “Detective Stiles, I need to speak with Donna Smith, it’s an
emergency,” Eric said as the woman looked at him in confusion.
“I thought
you were meeting her in the parking garage,” the woman replied.
Eric spun,
dashing to the elevator as he called Adam. “She was called down to the parking
garage, I’m on my way now,” Eric said into the phone hitting the P on the
elevator. The doors opened moments later, and he stepped off. He found Donna
leaning against her car with a look of irritation. “Donna!”
She shifted,
looking.
He ran
toward her.
“Eric,
what’s going on?” She moved to meet him.
Eric heard a
door slam just to the left.
“Is Beccs
alright?”
“She got a
call from the stalker. He…”
“Donna!”
Rebecca called, Charlie in tow.
Eric
realized she was going to pass right in front of Donna’s car
“Beccs, no!”
he screamed, pushing Donna behind him just before the car exploded.
The blast
pushed both he and Donna off their feet as it shattered and sprayed glass
across the parking lot. Eric recovered and bolted upright to see Rebecca and
Charlie flat on the ground...
She had become his prey. His plaything. The one he desired the most, but someone wanted her more.
Her resilience fading, Rebecca fights to remain strong against the man trying to destroy her mind and her life. Without the solace of Eric's arms, Rebecca's will to recover from the relentless blows wanes as she begins to break.
Eric, forced to face his own choices, races to end the nightmare before the woman he loves is completely torn apart.
Just when they think the worst is over, the game and the stakes change.
EXCERPT
Eric sat through a
barrage of unneeded attention for a simple flesh wound. After what seemed like
forever, the doctors released him. It was early evening when Eric stepped onto
the sidewalk. He saw several messages waiting for him and he began to listen to
them when Adam pulled up with the car.
He got in and his
phone buzzed. He lifted it seeing Charlie's name.
"Hey, what's
up?"
"Are you on
your way?"
"On my way
where?"
"What? Why
are you at…"
"Eric,
it's…it's bad," his brother said, and Eric's heart dropped. Breathless, he
looked to Adam. "I got her out, but she won't stop shaking. She won't talk
or look at me. It's like she's in a trance…"
"What
happened?" Adam turned on the emergency lights and Eric felt the car
accelerate.
"Someone
broke into her house and covered it...Everything is covered in…blood…"
Charlie started his words broken and hesitant. Eric's mind went to the buckets
of blood. "I've never seen anything like it, whoever did this..."
"Did you
already call the police?"
"Yeah, but
they aren't here yet."
"Okay,
Charlie you need to listen to me.” He tried to stay focused and
compartmentalize the images rushing at him. "Rebecca's going into shock.
Put her in the car and turn on the heat. You need to keep her calm and warm
until the police arrive."
"How far out
are you?"
"About half
an hour, we'll get there as soon as we can," Eric replied before he hung
up the phone.
"Black &
Whites will be on scene in less than five minutes," Adam told him. "I
called Misty, Lug, and a bus. How bad is it?"
"I …it sounds…bad."
They pulled up
alongside three patrol cars parked in front of the house. Jogging to the front
door, a uniformed officer burst out of the house. Eric looked to Adam in confusion, and the
officer proceeded to vomit into the bushes. They stepped across the threshold
seeing pairs of flat foots covering their mouths, standing in awe of the view.
His memory of her
house was full of light, comfortable, and warm. A chill ran up his back and his
stomach lurched in revulsion. Surrounded by dripping crimson and the
suffocating odor of iron, the walls were covered in a thick coat of blood.
Eric didn't
remember what color the couch was before, but it was now a deep soaked purple
with blood dripping down the sides. Two more officers exited the house, and he
forced himself to remain steady against the revolting display.
"Where's
Misty?"
"She just
pulled up." Adam stepped out of the house to get their expert.
Beccs…
He tried not to
think of Rebecca walking into the house and seeing this for the first time but there
was no way to avoid it. He could almost envision how it happened and his entire
body tensed in rage.
"Wow,"
he heard a female voice say and saw Misty walk into the house. "This is
some seriously fucked up shit."
"Get to
work. I want this bastard rotting in a jail cell sooner rather than
later."
Eric Stiles has everything to lose and no matter how hard he fights he can feel his life slipping away.
Rebecca Gailen thinks that the love of her life is dead and only the vigor of revenge keeps her fighting to survive.
When a secret reveals more than anyone expected, it changes Eric and Rebecca's lives forever. The devastating truth puts the couple at odds. Can they overcome their clashing conclusions and learn to trust each other again? Or will they let it rip them apart?
EXCERPT
The stairs
creaked with each step as he looked into the dimness below. The humid musty
area was cold and damp. He swallowed hard. Gray concrete, jagged walls and dust
surrounded them and a chill raced up his spine.
"We found it
over there." The same officer descended the stairs behind them. The beam
of his flashlight landed to the right of where they stood. Eric reached for a
flashlight, and his eyes landed on Charlie who scanned the room. An officer
offered his and Eric stepped toward the area. His hand brushed against the cold
concrete but his mind still refused to accept it.
Not here…not
like this…
Eric’s eyes fell
on a spatter of blood and his chest flooded with an unrecognized pain.
She was here
Unable to push
the image away, all the air left the room as his entire body clenched at the
suffocation. He ascended the stairs into the sunlight, fighting for control. He
began to unhinge, mindlessly entered one of the side rooms
They didn't
find her which means she's still…
Keep it
together Stiles…falling apart isn't going to help anyone
The sewn seam
around his emotions threatened to tear, and he couldn't move. The paralyzing
agony that spiked from the core of his body was relentless. He fought back in
vain. He knew it wouldn't stop until she was in his arms, safe.
"Eric,
what’s going on?"
Eric wiped
unexpected wetness from his eyes. He leaned against the wall to face his
brother. Pure disbelief stared back at him.
"I've never
seen you like this."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, you
never…"
"Yeah well,
things change." Eric moved to exit the room.
He found the
front door and pushed through it hearing Charlie just behind him.
"Since
when?"
"You still
don't get it do you?"
"What are
you talking about?"
"Have you
really convinced yourself that all of this…what happened, was just some kind of
joke?” He stopped to face him. “That Rebecca and I didn’t mean anything we said
when we told you that we never wanted to hurt you?"
"I don't
know what the hell you meant to do and to be honest, I don’t really care."
"Charlie…whether
or not you choose to believe it, we did try to walk away.” Charlie’s eyes
diverted in anger. "Jesus, Charlie she went through hell and all she could
think about was how she couldn't hurt you!"
"So once
again this is my fault!"
"No…I am
just…" Eric’s chest turned to stone, unwilling to allow him to hide.
"As your brother, your friend, I tried to forget about…everything. But
that night. That first night in Dallas, everything changed. We did everything
we could to ignore it, make disappear but it didn't. It only got stronger…can
you try to understand that?"
"You really
expect me to…"
"I expect
you to believe that I tried! I expect you to realize that this had nothing to
do with you. To remember that until that moment, I've never betrayed you."
"So because
you’ve always tried to be the good big brother you want me to be okay with
this? To just accept what you did and move on?"
"Yes."
'Why?"
"Because
you’re my brother and I need you to." Eric’s watering despite his
continued battle against it. "Charlie, I'm in love with her."
"I loved her
too!"
"Okay
Charlie,” Eric clenched his jaw. “Where did you see things heading with her?
Let's say we never met, what then?"
"I don't
know. I never got the chance thanks to you!"
"That’s the
difference!" Eric’s fists balled in frustration. "Six weeks ago, and
the two months before that, hell even in Dallas. I knew this was different. I
knew she changed everything. Even when she left without a word and I didn’t
even know her name, I couldn’t get her out of my head! I look at her and see
everything I never knew I wanted. She's woken up this person inside me that I
didn’t even know was there! The one who wants a house and a family. The person
who needs to see her every morning and hold her every night, because when I
don't something is missing, and the world doesn't make sense. "
"Eric…"
"The
difference is that the moment I met her, she became my whole world," Eric
explained as he struggled to keep his furious heart under control. "I know
that you loved her. That was one of the reason's I stayed away as long as I
did. It might not seem like much but…she needed me, and I couldn’t turn my back
anymore. Now she's gone and I can't…If we don't…if I can't find her..."
"We're going to find her, Eric.” He saw the
first glimpse of understanding in his brother's eyes.
on Sale for only $1.99 each at eXtasy Books
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About the author:
Amy Romine has always wanted to be one of the good guys. From playing Charlie's Angels in the backyard of her Macungie, PA home as a child to the pages of her unending projects, Amy has always dreamed of adventure and romance. Her need to make the characters truly deserve their happiness takes us on many a twisted journey. From serial killers to demons, Amy holds nothing back in the name of true enduring love.
A mother of three, Amy has spent the past sixteen years working in Operations for Ricoh America's Corporation. She is an avid movie fan and enjoys books, television, theater, her dog Pip and all things romance.
Author's Giveaway
4 comments:
These books sound very interesting. The covers are super cool looking. Her eyes really stand out.
Sounds & looks intriguing.
These sure sound exciting. And I know a few others who would enjoy them too.
Congratulations on your Release
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