Tuesday, May 13, 2014

"Within Temptation" By Tanya Holmes



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
 
 
 

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
Trace Dawson on Twitter -  https://twitter.com/TracemoreDawson
 
Rafflecopter Giveaway!
 



List of giveaway prizes for May blog tour ---  3 Grand Prize Winners: 



Winner 1 (U.S. ONLY)

Signed copy of Within Temptation by Tanya Holmes

Within Temptation rack card  
 
Within Temptation magnet   
 

Within Temptation keychain  
Sizzling Pages Reviews (Courtesy of Ang) Winners choice of 1 ebook @ 3.99 or less
Playing For Keeps by Jamie Denton, paperback
The Matchmaker by Jamie Denton, paperback
Flirting With Chaos by Kenya Wright, e-book
Nailed by Amie Stuart e-book
Dreaming Silas by Nina Ceves, e-book
 
 
Winner 2  (U.S. ONLY) 
Signed copy of Within Temptation by Tanya Holmes
Within Temptation rack card  
Within Temptation magnet  
Within Temptation keychain  
J.A.Dennam, e-book, Winner picks one book in her Captive Series (Truth And Humility, Between Faith And Fear, or Chrystal Mac)
Sizzling Pages Reviews (Courtesy of Ang) Winners choice of 1 ebook @ 3.99 or less
The Matchmaker, by Jamie Denton, paperback
Complicated By You by Kenya Wright e-book
Reason To Breathe, and Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan signed paperbacks, courtesy of Ellen from The Book Bellas 
Catch Me by Katherine Grant, e-book
 
 
Winner 3 (Open To International Entrants)
Within Temptation by Tanya Holmes e-book
Sick Day by Morgan Parker, ebook, 
A Test Of Love by Kenya Wright, ebook
Second Chances by PJ Fiala, ebook
30 Days by K. Larsen, e-book 
The Blue Amaryllis bySonia De Leon, e-book, 
Perfect Match by Kelly Arlia, e-book,
For Nicky by A.D. Ellis, e-book,
Forever Young by Sherry Sirna, e-book, 
Kelsey's Korner Blog, signed mixed bag of swag