No
Angels for Christmas
by
Petie McCarty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Contemporary
Romance with suspenseful elements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
No
Angels for Christmas . . . a cozy romantic mystery with suspense from
The Mystery Angel Romances series. An angel hidden in every book
waiting for you to figure who . . .
Child psychologist Rachel Kelly isn't quite sure how to handle the situation with her newest client -- a six-year-old boy who says he can talk to angels and one is coming to help Rachel. She already has her hands full of trouble this Christmas season, and things quickly take a turn for the worse when a stalker crashes Rachel's Christmas party and takes her young clients hostage.
Police negotiator, Lt. Jake Dillon, walked away from his fiancée Rachel when she suddenly balked at having kids. His kids. Yet when the hostage crisis erupts, Rachel calls Jake first. Now he has a choice to make -- stand back and wait for the cavalry to save Rachel or step in and try to save her himself. Time is running out, and Jake may be their only chance for rescue.
Unless Rachel's little angel-spying client is telling the truth…
Child psychologist Rachel Kelly isn't quite sure how to handle the situation with her newest client -- a six-year-old boy who says he can talk to angels and one is coming to help Rachel. She already has her hands full of trouble this Christmas season, and things quickly take a turn for the worse when a stalker crashes Rachel's Christmas party and takes her young clients hostage.
Police negotiator, Lt. Jake Dillon, walked away from his fiancée Rachel when she suddenly balked at having kids. His kids. Yet when the hostage crisis erupts, Rachel calls Jake first. Now he has a choice to make -- stand back and wait for the cavalry to save Rachel or step in and try to save her himself. Time is running out, and Jake may be their only chance for rescue.
Unless Rachel's little angel-spying client is telling the truth…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt :
“Since
this isn’t our Publix, I’m assuming you stopped on your way home
from work,” Jake said when she reached his side.
Our
Publix? Did he even realize he’d said that?
“You’re
right,” she replied. “So why are you here?”
“My
apartment’s just around the corner.”
Ouch.
That
simple statement shouldn’t hurt—she knew his apartment was near
here—but it did. She nodded.
“I’ll
help you out.” He gently nudged her hands off the cart handle and
took over, setting his own bag on top of her stack.
Rachel
paced alongside the grocery cart as they moved through the electronic
door and knew a moment of joy that her parking spot lay at the far
end of the lot. She would have a few extra moments to be with him.
How pitiful was that? She eased a step closer, anxious to inhale his
unique scent of soap, aftershave, and pure Jake.
He
glanced over and caught her staring. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and
she hoped he didn’t notice the flush.
“Jake,
look out!” She grabbed the cart to stop it just short of a car
backing out.
He
gave her his sexy crooked Jake-smile. “Guess I should keep my eyes
on the road.”
Her
heart ka-thumped inside her chest. “At least until we get to the
car.”
His
smile went to an all-out grin.
Had
she just flirted with him? Had it been that easy to get past her
trauma for a few brief minutes?
Far
sooner than she would have liked, he stopped the grocery cart next to
her Honda and helped stow her bags in the trunk, leaving his in the
cart.
“Thanks
for helping me,” Rachel told him.
“I’m
glad you decided to stop at this Publix tonight.”
“You
are?”
“Yeah.
I’m glad I got to see you.” Jake grazed a knuckle gently across
her cheek leaving a streak of tingly nerve endings in its wake.
“But
I thought you wanted . . . I mean, I haven’t heard from you . . .”
She cleared her throat. “. . . in a long time. I thought you
might’ve . . .”
Why
couldn’t she finish a sentence tonight? Bad enough she felt
pathetic, now she sounded pathetic.
“You
thought I might’ve what?”
She
swallowed hard. “Might’ve found someone else by now.”
He
studied her for a long moment. “After all we meant to each other,
you thought I’d go right out and grab a new girlfriend, just like
that?” His mouth tightened to a thin line.
She
hadn’t meant to rile him. The last thing she wanted to do was fight
with him. Without thinking, she reached up and brushed two fingers
gently across his lips, wanting that sensuous mouth to smile at her
again.
She
startled him, and he jerked at her touch. She whisked her fingers
away. “Sorry. I don’t want you to be mad.”
His
gaze trapped hers, his pupils expanding until little of the brilliant
green remained. “There’s no new girlfriend, Rachel,” he said
gruffly.
“No?”
He
slowly shook his head, his all-dark eyes tracking hers. He seemed
closer than he’d been a minute earlier.
She
exhaled hard. “Not yet anyway.”
He
frowned.
Why
had she said that?
“No,
not yet,” he said flatly.
“I’m
glad,” she said quickly.
Screw
pride.
“Are
you?”
He
was definitely closer now. If she eased forward just a few inches,
she could press her lips to his, feel that certain sizzle that always
flared when they touched. But Jake had walked out on her. His move.
Though she ached with the need to hold him, if only for a second.
“Yes.
Very glad. I don’t want you to find someone else—”
His
lips brushed hers into silence—sweeping gently across as though
seeking permission—the touch just light enough to make her lean in
for more. He didn’t miss the movement and kissed her again, his
lips settling on hers and nibbling at her lower lip.
The
sensuous teasing had her knees growing weak, and she grabbed the
placket of his dress shirt to steady herself.
He
didn’t miss that movement either, and he cradled her cheeks in his
big palms to deepen the kiss.
Suddenly
lightheaded with desire, she twisted her knuckles into his shirt to
keep him close. She didn’t care if they were kissing in front of
God and everybody. If Jake wanted to throw her down here in the
middle of the Publix parking lot, she was ready. She could always
shop at Winn-Dixie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review: I read the first book in the Mystery Angels series and enjoyed it. This book however was more than I expected. This wasn't just a light mystery. You learn that when your opening chapters detail a teenager being abused by her mother's boyfriend.
So this isn't light fluffy reading.
It is good reading with a kind of "Touched By An Angel" twist to it.
This was a powerful read, dealing with a lot of issues you might not expect to find in a more "traditional" romance.
The pacing of the story was slow at times, but that didn't detract from the fact that it was a great story. One that had me reading into the early morning.
Rating: 5 flowers
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Petie
spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The
Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the
land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales
by night, including her new series, The Cinderella
Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to
write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time
writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and
her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel
Romances.
Petie
shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her
horticulturist husband and a noisy Nanday conure named Sassy who made
a cameo appearance in No
Angels for Christmas.
Visit
Petie's web site online at http://www.petiemccarty.com
or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.
BIO
Social Media:
https://www.pinterest.com/petiemccarty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Petie
McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC and 3 ebook copies of
Duke Du Jour, book 1 of the Lords in Time series to 4 randomly drawn
winners (one prize per winner) via rafflecopter during the tour.
Please
use this rafflecopter code on your post:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3028/"
rel="nofollow" data-raflid="28e4345f3028"
data-theme="classic" data-template=""
id="rcwidget_aq53uoid">a Rafflecopter giveaway
6 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you so much for taking time to bring to our attention another great read. I appreciate it and thank you also for the giveaway.
This definitely looks like a 5 star read!! Can't wait to devour it!!
Looks very interesting.
Thank you for your kind words and for taking valuable time to read and review my story! Have a magical weekend!
Petie
Thank you readers of A Chick Who Reads for your kind comments and for your support!
All best,
Petie
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