Title: Within Temptation (Sons of
Temptation #1)
Author: Tanya Holmes
Release Date: May 12, 2014
Category: Romantic Mystery/Romantic
Suspense. This is not erotica or romantica. This is a romance centered around a
murder mystery.
Heat Factor: 3 out of 5 -- The sexual tension
is high, and the burn is slow. Sex is character-driven, rather than
plot-driven.
================================
Love, betrayal and murder in a
small town….
Twelve
years after her mother's murder, Shannon Bradford fears she may have helped
convict an innocent man. Even worse, her prominent family may have had
something to do with it. Desperate for answers, she seeks help from the one
person least likely to give it. Her best friend and childhood crush, Trace
Dawson. The man she sent to prison.
Serving
hard time for murder has left Trace angry and bitter. As far as he's concerned,
digging into the past won't replace the years he's lost or erase the hell he's
lived. Now that he's free, Shannon Bradford tops his list of bad memories. But
he never counted on falling in love.
Set
in a sleepy little town during the dead of winter, this award-winning romance
novel is a tale of one woman's quest for truth and a man's struggle to forgive.
SCENE 1
No more
than two minutes could have passed, two of the most terrifying minutes I’d ever
had. The left side of my face was numb with cold. My lips and hands ached too.
I couldn’t seem to make anything move.
The
details came in pieces. How I’d almost been run over. How a stranger shoved me
to safety just before a Jeep playing target practice could send me flying.
Then as
if someone had flipped a switch, sensory explosions filled the void. Horns
blared. Somebody screamed. A baby was crying. And the wind howled while sounds
burst forth in a crush of voices.
“I swear
the brakes locked!” a teenage boy yelled. “She ain’t dead, is she? Oh, jeez.
Daddy’s gonna kill me!”
“Don’t
just stand there. Call 911!” a girl shrieked.
A cell
phone chimed and someone started pressing numbers.
Next, an
old man with a rough-and-ready voice said, “Pushed her out the way just in
time. Another second and—”
“Is she
dead or not?” the teenager demanded again.
While
this was going on, I sat up, taking my time to ensure I was in one piece.
Except for a sore hip, a bump on the head, and a scraped knee, I was fine. A
woman standing nearby helped me, and as I got to my feet, realization dawned.
Trace
Dawson had tried to save me.
I fought
to see past the crowd into the parking lot, spotting him instantly. He’d just
struggled to his feet and was staring right at me, his chin dripping blood. The
people scurrying about and the cars streaming through the slush faded. Nothing
but the two of us existed.
Memories
flooded my mind, of the quiet riot he was, of the secret crush I’d had on him,
and the extraordinary friendship we’d shared so many years ago. As fast as
those images came, others replaced them.
I was
thrust back to the crime scene, back to Mother’s corpse and the shirtless
eighteen-year-old roaring obscenities while Sheriff Gray and a deputy dragged
him away in handcuffs.
Trace
Dawson the man glared at me now, and his eyes were hard and accusing, eyes
brimming with fire and ice. A chill wind rumbled past him, but he stood as
still as a statue. Only his eyes moved while he looked me up and down with
agonizing thoroughness. The rage. The pain. It was all there.
“Trace?” I whispered.
In
chilling silence, he walked away without so much as a glance over his shoulder.
SCENE 2
Trace
ripped the front door open, flooding the porch with light. There he stood, an
unsettling combination of heaven and hell poured into a tight black T-shirt and
jeans that hung below his narrow hips in a way Auntie would’ve deemed vulgar.
We stared
at each other for half an eternity as Ray Charles crooned, “You Don’t Know Me”
from somewhere in the house.
“Take a
wrong turn?” he asked, ice dancing in his eyes.
“I’m
sorry.”
His jaw
worked. “Four days, two hours, and twenty-three minutes of sorry. You get my
messages?”
I nodded
in shame. “I just…”
“Got
scared.”
My
breath escaped in a misty cloud. “I should’ve called.”
“You
think?” He studied me in angry silence for a time. “Lose the hood.”
“What?”
“The
hood.” He nudged his chin. “Take it off.”
He was
testing me. His ‘you’re ashamed of me’ look was unmistakable. So I did as he
asked. I tugged it down. “Satisfied?”
Trace
swung the door all the way open and his arm formed an arch. I studied the
man-made entrance with caution, then ducked beneath it and went inside.
He
kicked the door shut.
Unbuttoning
my coat, I watched him lean against a wall, arms folded. It may have been my
imagination, but he seemed to study me with the same lethal aloofness of a cat
watching an unsuspecting mouse—right before the pounce.
To
steady my frayed nerves, I concentrated on the beautiful living room. He was
renovating. I smelled paint, and drop cloth draped the floor in the adjacent
dining room, which he’d jammed with tools and supplies.
An
ornate brass floor lamp stood attached to an extension cord that snaked down
the hall to what I assumed was the kitchen. A cute tabletop Christmas tree,
complete with tinsel, golden ornaments, and candy canes was propped on a
twenty-five-inch TV. The pine floor had been polished to a high gloss. Beige
paint with alabaster molding covered the walls. Stylish brass vent and outlet
covers complemented the gilded vintage ceiling fan above them.
I
gestured. “You’ve been busy.”
“Yeah.
My shrink thought it’d be therapeutic.”
“You do
good work.” I tore my eyes from his sullen face. “It’s beautiful.”
“But a
far cry from the fancy digs you’re used to.”
It
wasn’t said maliciously. In fact, there’d been a ring of humility in his tone
that had almost bordered on apologetic.
“My
tastes are simplistic,” I said. “I fell in love with a dilapidated Queen Anne
Victorian, but I didn’t trust my instincts. I hesitated. Now it’s under
contract.” I turned to him and sighed. “Speaking of which, I may have a job for
you. The couple buying it needs a good carpenter. Can I give them your number?”
He
hitched a shoulder. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“When do
you think you’ll be finished here?”
“In a
few months.” He lifted a brow. “Guess I’ll be needing a real estate agent.”
“Look no
further.” I tried to smile, but it felt lame. What had happened at the club and
my vanishing act screamed in his eyes. “So, do you have a place picked out
or….”
“Naw.”
He paused, then in a serious tone added, “I’m leaving Temptation the second my
parole year is up. Sooner if I can get a transfer.”
My smile
froze. He’s leaving? “Ah, th-that’s
understandable. What, with everything that’s happened.”
“Exactly.
There’s really nothin’ keeping me from going, is there?” He paused and cocked a
brow, then said, “Cholly’s got his own life. Mama and Daddy are gone. Bev’s
married, and if Cole ever gets out, I’ve got to find a way to help him—but not
here. Not in this town.”
Fearing,
dreading, I hesitated before asking, “Will you at least stay in West Virginia?”
I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “Or will you move away?”
“What do
you think?” He gave the room a fleeting glance. “Three tenants lived here over
the past twelve months. When they heard about what happened, they hauled ass.
So selling this shack won’t be easy. Either way, I figure I’ll check out the
West Coast. Maybe Washington state.”
It felt
like he’d reached across the room and punched me in the stomach.
"MEMORIES
flooded my mind, of the quiet riot he was, of the secret crush I’d had on him,
and the extraordinary friendship we’d shared so many years ago. As fast as
those images came, others replaced them. I was thrust back to the crime scene,
back to Mother’s corpse and the shirtless eighteen-year-old roaring obscenities
while Sheriff Gray and a deputy dragged him away in handcuffs." -- Within Temptation
NOOK, KOBI, iTunes & Smashwords will be available at a later time. Once they are up I will email those out as well.
BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NGh3OAOJz-yp6wjbnKMszyV4MCRrAH259X18zN_aIv8/edit?usp=sharing
About the Author
Tanya
Holmes is a former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist, a
recipient of the Maggie Award, the MICA Award, as well as Overall Winner of the
Sandy Haddad Award and a two-time finalist and one-time winner of The Emily
(Best of the Best). She's happily married with children and loves reading,
writing and a good cup of coffee---but not necessarily in that order. Her debut
novel, Within Temptation is due out on May 12, 2014.
Connect with Tanya
Amazon
Author Page – http://www.amazon.com/Tanya-Holmes/e/B00HQFR51O/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1395589563&sr=8-1
Rafflecopter Giveaway!
List of giveaway prizes for May blog tour --- 3 Grand
Prize Winners:
Winner
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Signed
copy of Within Temptation by Tanya Holmes
Within
Temptation
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Within
Temptation
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Sizzling
Pages Reviews (Courtesy of Ang) Winners choice of 1 ebook @ 3.99 or less
Playing
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The
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Signed
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Temptation
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J.A.Dennam,
e-book, Winner picks one book in her Captive Series (Truth
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Mac)
Sizzling
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The
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by Jamie Denton, paperback
Complicated
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Reason
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courtesy of Ellen from The Book Bellas
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Winner
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Within
Temptation by
Tanya Holmes e-book
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