The Second Man
by Emelle Gamble
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GENRE: romantic suspense
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BLURB:
Jill
Farrell’s college reunion is coming up, but she wants no part of it. The man
she once loved, Swedish exchange student Max Kallstrom, is rumored to be attending,
but that doesn’t tempt her as Max disappeared from her life the night before
the graduation, and has never been heard from since.
When her
ex-husband, Andrew Denton, knocks on her door and announces he wants to make
nice, and, “oh, by the way, one of their class alumni might be a murderer”,
Jill’s resolve to avoid the event hardens.
Jill shuts
Andrew’s efforts to reconnect down, and tries to put Max out of her mind.
And that’s
that, until a second man knocks on her door, and the emotions of a time long
ago overtakes her. Max Kallstrom tells Jill she’s the reason he has come to
California. He asks her to please let him explain why she hasn’t heard from him
for fifteen long years.
She’s
willing to listen to what he has to say, but immediately realizes that her
memories must guide her through a wrenching and dangerous few days. While her
heart remembers a handsome young lover, she and her classmates are all
different people now, and the reality of a murdered friend proves she can’t
trust everyone.
What’s not
so clear is if she should trust anyone . . . especially Max Kallstrom.
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My Review:
A college reunion, ex-loves, unsolved murder: this romantic suspense is really exciting and enjoyable from the first page.
Having to meet again with an ex is always a complicated thing but having to meet two is really exhausting. Jill must go to a college reunion but it seems that it will also present her former Max and she's not very safe to go. When her ex-husband Andrew communicates her a rumor about him, Max would be a murderess. Max suddenly appears in Jill's house and provides a convincing explanation of why he left ten years ago. She must follow her heart in love or believe at her ex-husband?
This novel is written really well, full of suspense and with a perfect mix of romance and mystery. The pace is really fast, the atmosphere is full of tension and well-developed and realistic character. I really really loved this book.
Highly recommended for lovers of romantic suspense
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EXCERPT:
Was that a noise in the garage?
The sound of muted rustling did not fit the normal night
sounds. She took a step closer to the garage exit opposite the front door.
Slowly she leaned forward to listen, but all was quiet.
Tell me I didn’t forget to close the garage again. She
visualized coming in from errands earlier, but could not remember if she had
hit the button before she stepped inside.
She set her laptop and paperwork on the kitchen table,
turned on the teakettle, and headed resolutely back to the foyer. I’ll open it
a crack, confirm everything is closed properly, and then sit down and get to
work.
She turned the knob and pushed the door open, and flipped
the light switch. Her car was parked, and the garage was closed. But there was
a cardboard box sitting on car’s passenger side trunk.
The top was open and several books were piled next to it.
“What the devil?” She stepped down onto the concrete and
headed for the box.
“Hello, Jill,” the killer said.
She yelped and grabbed her throat.
A man rose from the crouch he was in beside the washing
machine. He grabbed Jill with one hand, and aimed a gun at her head with his
other. “Stand still and be quiet. I won’t hurt you unless you scream.”
Shock and bitter anger nearly brought her to her knees as
she registered who he was, and what a massive betrayal he had pulled off.
Furious, she slapped at the gun and twisted out of the man’s grasp, and turned
to run.
Before she completely filled her lungs with air to scream,
his pistol cracked against her skull and knocked her to her knees.
There was black, and then nothing.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Emelle Gamble became a writer at an early age. At six years old,
she was bursting with the requisite childhood stories of introspection, and
this itch to tell tales evolved into bad teen poetry and tortured short works
that, thankfully, never saw the light of day, or an editor’s red pen.
She took her first stab at writing a novel in an adult education
class in Mobile, Alabama when her kids were in bed for the night. As ‘M.L.
Gamble,’ she published several romantic suspense novels with Harlequin
Intrigue. She now publishes novels of Ordinary Women in Extraordinary
Situations with SoulMate Publishing and Posh Publishing …works
ranging from women’s fiction to thrillers and romantic suspense.
Always intrigued by the words ‘what if’, Gamble’s books feature an
ordinary woman confronted with an extraordinary situation. Emelle
celebrates the adventurous spirit of readers, and hopes each will enjoy the
exciting and surprising journeys her characters take.
Emelle lives in suburban Washington D.C. with her hero of thirty
years, Philip, and two orange cats, Lucy and Bella. Like all good villains, the
cats claim to have their reasons for misbehaving. Her children are happily
launched on their own and are both contributing great things to society, their
mother’s fondest wish.
Emelle
welcomes any reader interested in emailing her at emellegamble@aol.com
and hopes they will visit her website, www.EmelleGamble.com
or her Author Emelle Gamble FaceBook page.
Emelle
Gamble social media links and buy links:
Molly & Cruz
Secret Sister
Dating Cary Grant
The Second Man
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Emelle
Gamble will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
RispondiEliminaCongrats on the tour, I enjoyed the excerpt, and thanks for the chance to win :)
RispondiEliminaSounds good.
RispondiEliminaGreat review, thanks for sharing :)
RispondiEliminaI do love me a good romantic suspense story and this sounds like a good one, especially with ex-lovers involved. Thanks for your review
RispondiElimina