Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Monday, August 31, 2020

Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Partners In Crime Vitual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Spent Identity by author Marlene M. Bell!







Book Review




Spent Identity by Marlene M. Bell
Book 2: Annalise Series
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Publication Date: December 11, 2019
Format: PB - 378 pages
               Kindle - 2624 KB 
               Nook - 2 MB
               Audible Audio Book: 9 Hours 43 Minutes
ISBN: 978-0999539422
ASIN (eBook): B07YXCLZXH
ASIN (Audio Book): B088HFXJ3G
BNID: 2940160958798
Genre: Mystery / Romantic Suspense



Buy The Book:


Buy The Series: Annalise Series
Book 1: Stolen Obsession
Book 2: Spent Identity



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.



Book Description:

Farm For Sale. 360-acre lot with ranch-style home. Refurbished barn. Corpse not included.
To find her missing aunt, she has to unearth the secrets of the past. But lies and deceit run through the very heart of their town…

What started out as a promising relationship with adventurer and tycoon Alec Zavos has fizzled into an uncertain future for antiquities expert Annalisse Drury. Returning to Walker Farm in Upstate New York to see her Aunt Kate should have been a welcome homecoming and distraction. Instead, she finds the childhood home she expected to inherit is for sale, without her permission. What’s worse, Kate’s ranch manager makes a gruesome discovery in the barn: the body of an unidentified man, dead by foul play.

Annalisse turns to Alec for help. She and her aunt shelter on his estate in the Catskills while the authorities canvass the scene. But when Kate herself disappears without a trace, Annalisse fears the worst: that one of the many secrets of her hometown has ensnared her family—a secret someone is willing to kill for to keep hidden.


Book Excerpt:



(Spent Identity from chapter fifteen.)
She caught a glimpse of Bill’s scarred neck and considered prying. “May I ask a personal question?”
“Sure.” He steered the next turn. “I’ll answer if I can.”
“Did you get burned?”
He rubbed the side of his neck as if to soothe a haunting memory. “I used to be a fireman. Got caught in a seven-story roof collapse. Almost bought it.” He tapped cruise control and slid his shoe off the accelerator.
An injured fireman with a near-death experience turned private investigator made more sense to her now. Bill didn’t fit the cookie-cutter-investigator type.
They hit smooth asphalt in the cross into Sullivan County. Annalisse relished the soothing hum from the roadway. At the county border, they passed a renovated eighteenth-century church refurbished into a modern brick farmhouse. The original belfry and bell sat atop the gable roof at the midpoint, with a new masonry chimney erected on one side near the redwood decking. She hadn’t noticed it the first time with Woody.
“What a horrible experience for you, Bill. I’m sorry. Alec didn’t mention it.”
“We don’t talk about it much. For a bunch of reasons.” Bill fiddled with a tabloid-size newspaper wedged next to the console. “My hours are better now anyway.” He chuckled, rolling the newsprint into a tube and blowing into it.
“A gossip rag? Haven’t read any juicy dirt in a while. I could use a laugh.” She reached for the paper, expecting him to hand it to her.
“Boring issue.” Bill tossed the roll over the headrest, wiping newsprint from his fingers to the seat.
That was strange.
She tried to grab it, but it landed just out of her reach.
Annalisse unbuckled and twisted for a closer look at the huge headline, reading aloud, “THE HOUND CHASES ANOTHER FOX. Please people. Such original journalism. Who this time?” She laughed as she lunged for the paper.
Bill’s arm moved in like a slingshot and bumped her sore cheek, blocking her.
“Ow. Watch the road,” she exclaimed and bounced backward. “Walking wounded here. Just drive, Bill. Allow me to revel in someone else’s grief for a while.”
He touched her elbow. “Please don’t.”
Bill wasn’t smiling, and his skin had morphed to ashen of the dead. He had the look of a man who’d just lost his best friend and was about to lose his faithful dog too.
It clicked. “What don’t you want me to see what thousands of other people have already seen?”
“Wait till we get to Brookehaven so he can—”
“Who can?” Annalisse hung over the seat and stretched her sore body far enough to snag the tabloid with her fingertips. She braced herself—the photo had to be disturbing.
“The timing is bad. Really bad.” Bill stared at the road and in a low voice added, “I’m so sorry.”
The pang of the unknown boomeranged through her heart, and she looked down at the front page of Reveal Reality.
A couple with their backs to the camera, overlooking an ocean at sunset at some kind of event. She wasn’t sure where but expected the piece would say. The paparazzi photographer had zoomed in on a brunette in a skimpy, backless sundress leaning into a man with his elegant hand cupping her barely covered butt cheek. His chiseled profile and windblown curls were unmistakable.
Say bye-bye to the mysterious, green-eyed Annalisse! Italian starlet Monica Corsetti on Italy’s Riviera with Greek magnate, Alec Zavos of the Signorile Corporation. They were…
She covered her mouth.
“Pull over, Bill. I’m gonna throw up.”




Book Trailer:







My Book Review:


In Spent Identity, book two of the Annalise Series, author Marlene M. Bell transports the reader to Goshen in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate NY for antiquities appraiser Annalise Drury's latest mystery adventure.

After a life changing trip to Greece, and a romantic connection with Greek tycoon Alec Zavos that has turned confusing, Annalise Drury sets out for a weekend visit with Aunt Kate at Walker Farm, the family farm, to do something thinking. But the visit becomes anything but peaceful when a dead body is found in the stable, so Annalise and Aunt Kate go stay at Alec's Brookehaven estate during the murder investigation, only to have Aunt Kate go missing! Annalise turns to Alec for help in finding Aunt Kate, only to find themselves caught up in two investigations where everyone's a suspect!

Author Marlene M. Bell weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in the third person narrative that follows Annalise and Alec's dangerous adventure to find Aunt Kate, and uncover the long hidden truths behind Annalise's family secrets.

I loved reading this action-packed story. Annalise and Alec kept me intrigued as their investigative teamwork was put to the test, and how they were able to romantically reconnect, and work well as a team to uncover Annalise's hidden family secrets.

The reader will be easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot that will keep them guessing as secrets, possible motives, and clues are uncovered, while unexpected twists and turns, and a surprising conclusion will leave the reader simply stunned.

Spent Identity has enough drama, tension, action, dark family secrets, intrigue, a touch of romance, and unexpected twists and turns that will take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.




RATING: 4 STARS  







About The Author




Marlene M. Bell is an award-winning writer and acclaimed artist as well as a photographer. Her sheep landscapes grace the covers of Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living, and Sheep Industry News, to name a few.

Her catalog venture, Ewephoric, began in 1985 out of her desire to locate personalized sheep stationery. She rarely found sheep products through catalogs and set out to design them herself. Order Ewephoric gifts online or request a catalog at TexasSheep.com.

Marlene and her husband, Gregg, reside in beautiful East Texas on a wooded ranch with their dreadfully spoiled horned Dorset sheep, a large Maremma guard dog named Tia, along with Hollywood, Leo, and Squeaks, the cats that believe they rule the household—and do.

Author Website
Amazon Author Page
BookBub
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads




Contest Giveaway

Win $100 Amazon Gift Card
+
More Goodies



This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Marlene M. Bell. There will be 4 winners. Two (2) winners will each win one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. Two (2) winners will each win a set of autographed books, a notebook, and silver jewelry. The giveaway begins on August 1, 2020 and runs through September 2, 2020. Open to U.S. and Canada addresses only. Void where prohibited.



a Rafflecopter giveaway




Virtual Book Tour Event




Tour Participants:


08/01 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader

08/03 Interview @ BooksChatter

08/05 Showcase @ Im All About Books

08/06 Review @ The World As I See It

08/07 Review @ Lynchburg Mama

08/08 Guest post @ The Book Divas Reads

08/09 Showcase @ EienCafe

08/10 Review @ sunny island breezes

08/11 Interview @ Quiet Fury Books

08/12 Guest post @ Reading A Page Turner

08/16 Review/showcase @ Our Town Book Reviews

08/17 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

08/19 Interview @ CMash Reads

08/23 Showcase @ Eclectic Moods

08/24 Review @ Nesies Place

08/26 Guest post @ 411 ON BOOKS, AUTHORS, AND PUBLISHING NEWS

08/27 Review @ Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

08/28 Review @ noorthebookworm

08/28 Review/showcase @ Just 4 My Books

08/29 Review @ A Room Without Books is Empty

08/30 Review @ Celticladys Reviews

08/31 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews








Stolen Obsession by Marlene M. Bell (Book Review)




Stolen Obsession by Marlene M. Bell
Book 1: Annalise Series
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Publication Date: January 12, 2018 
Format: PB - 294 pages
               Kindle - 637 KB 
               Nook - 438 KB
               Audible Audio Book: 9 Hours 38 Minutes
ISBN: 978-0999539408
ASIN (eBook): B0794B81QG
ASIN (Audio Book): B07KGHKWBX
BNID: 2940162004547
Genre: Mystery / Romantic Suspense



Buy The Book:


Buy The Series: Annalise Series
Book 1: Stolen Obsession
Book 2: Spent Identity



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours, in exchange for my honest review.



Book Description:

People die, but legends live on.

New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury recently lost her best friend to murder. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.

Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act.

Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.

Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his mother, feared dead or kidnapped. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec behind Annalisse’s back, can her plan to rescue Alec’s mother save them all?

Hold on for a heart-thumping, thrilling adventure through exotic lands in this fast-moving romantic suspense mystery by Marlene M. Bell.



Book Trailer:







My Book Review:


In Stolen Obsession, book one of the Annalise Series, author Marlene M. Bell transports the reader between Manhattan and the Greek Island of Crete for a Romantic Suspense story that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

Annalise Drury is an antiquities appraiser at Westinn Gallery in Manhattan. While attending the launch of client Generosa Zavos' SOHO gallery, Zavos Art, Annalise sees a beautiful gold horse necklace that matches a bracelet that Annalise's friend Samantha Freeman had worn until it went missing after she was found murdered. Annalise had researched the jewelry and found that they are a part of a 500-year-old artifact collection that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon anyone who dares to wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.

Annalise tries to convince Generosa and her son Alec to destroy the artifact before the curse is unleashed on their family, but they dismiss her warning until a trip to their home on the Greek Island of Crete leads to tragedy, and suddenly Annalise and Alec find themselves fighting to save Generosa and their own lives from someone who wants the artifact.

Author Marlene M. Bell weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in the third person narrative that follows Annalise and Alec's dangerous adventure to save his family and uncover the truth behind the curse of the Persian artifacts, and bring justice to the tragedies that stem from the cursed artifact.

I loved how in the middle of their dangerous adventure, Annalise and Alec give into the romantic attraction that is sparked between them, and how their connection gives them a chance to build trust that allows them to work really well as a team seeking to uncover the hidden truths.

I loved reading this action-packed story. Annalise and Alec kept me intrigued as their investigative teamwork was put to the test. The reader will be easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot that will keep them guessing as secrets, possible motives, and clues are uncovered, while unexpected twists and turns, and a surprising conclusion will leave the reader simply stunned.

Stolen Obsession has enough drama, tension, action, dark secrets, intrigue, a touch of romance, and unexpected twists and turns that will take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.




RATING: 4 STARS  







About The Author




Marlene M. Bell is an award-winning writer and acclaimed artist as well as a photographer. Her sheep landscapes grace the covers of Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living, and Sheep Industry News, to name a few.

Her catalog venture, Ewephoric, began in 1985 out of her desire to locate personalized sheep stationery. She rarely found sheep products through catalogs and set out to design them herself. Order Ewephoric gifts online or request a catalog at TexasSheep.com.

Marlene and her husband, Gregg, reside in beautiful East Texas on a wooded ranch with their dreadfully spoiled horned Dorset sheep, a large Maremma guard dog named Tia, along with Hollywood, Leo, and Squeaks, the cats that believe they rule the household—and do.

Author Website
Amazon Author Page
BookBub
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads







Monday, August 24, 2020

Tortured With Love by JT Hunter (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Tortured With Love by author JT Hunter!








Book Review



Tortured With Love by JT Hunter
Publisher: JT Hunter
Publication Date: May 15, 2020
Format: Paperback - 238 pages
               Kindle - 968 KB
               Audio Book - 5 Hours 56 Minutes
               Nook - 671 KB
ISBN: 978-0578720289
ASIN (eBook): B088P5N59D
ASIN (AudioBook): B08G81L5BP
BNID: 978-0578720272
Genre: True Crime



Buy The Book:
Amazon (Free On Kindle Unlimited)



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.



Book Description:

What is the price of passion? What is the power of love?

Meet Martha Beck, a young nurse dedicated to healing others, until her own hurting heart lured her down a darker path. Loneliness led her to Raymond Fernandez, but love led her all the way to the electric chair.

This is the tragic story of the Lonely Heart Killers.




Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the Lonely Heart Killers


Book Excerpt:


ONE

On an otherwise mundane March day, a peculiar piece of paper arrived in Martha Beck’s office mailbox. It came with the usual medical correspondence and junk mail, giving no indication of its importance. Yet, this one particular envelope would change Martha’s life forever.

The envelope arrived on a cool afternoon, the temperature hovering just below 60, the highest it had climbed all day in the Pensacola area of the Florida Panhandle. But Martha was not in the mood to enjoy the weather. She was still down in the dumps about her recently finalized divorce from Alfred Beck, a Pensacola bus driver who had married her when she was six months pregnant with another man’s child. Although she had been separated from Alfred since May 1945, nearly two years earlier, the formal entry of their divorce had the nearly 27-year-old Martha feeling like an old maid doomed to live out the rest of her life alone.

Martha was not unique in that respect in post-World War II America. With well over a million more women than men, the United States population of the mid and late 1940’s left many lonely women in its wake.
A visit from Elizabeth Swanson, one of the nurses she supervised at the Crippled Children’s Home, temporarily distracted Martha from feeling sorry for herself. She considered Elizabeth her closest friend. When Elizabeth knocked on her office door, Martha had just started going through the mail. As the two engaged in the latest gossip and friendly chit-chat, Martha resumed sorting through the assortment of envelopes. The first was an advertisement from a Jacksonville company selling medical equipment. She quickly flipped past it as well as a few other pieces of junk mail until a mysterious envelope caught her eye. It was made of thin, pale-brown paper with the name, Mrs. Martha Jule Beck, typed prominently on the front.

“What’s this?” she asked, the question directed more to herself than her friend.

“What is what?” Elizabeth replied, sipping from a mug of coffee.

“This . . . this odd envelope,” Martha said, holding it up to show her.

“Beat’s me,” Elizabeth remarked coyly. “I wonder who sent you that.”

“I’m sure I don’t know,” Martha remarked, her curiosity now piqued. She turned the envelope over to inspect it further, and seeing nothing hinting at its contents, opened it to find a thin, paper pamphlet inside. It was a promotional mailing and application for the Standard Correspondence Club, one of many “lonely hearts clubs” operating across the country. The return address gave Standard’s location as Grave Lake, Illinois.

LONELY?, the pamphlet asked in large, bold letters, Let us help you find that certain someone. Join old reliable Club, 50 years of dependable, confidential service. Correspondents most everywhere seeking congenial mates, proven results. Interesting photos, descriptions FREE. There were several pictures of women spaced throughout the page, each next to a testimonial about a happy marriage brought about by contacts made through the club.

“Now why on earth would they send this to me?” Martha wondered aloud, taking a little offense that such a “lovelorn club” would be contacting her.

Elizabeth’s coyness now morphed into a broad grin that spread across her face.

“Now why on earth would they send this to me?” Martha wondered aloud, “I have a confession to make,” Elizabeth said as she started giggling. “I wrote the club and asked them to send you information and an application.”

Martha studied her friend’s face, deciding whether she was serious.

“Whatever for?” she asked in a tone matching the astonishment in her eyes.

Still giggling, Elizabeth moved to a chair closer to Martha and sat down beside her.

“I originally did it as a joke,” she explained, “but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that you should give it a try. Three of my daughters are writing to me that they have met men through this correspondence club, and this is the very same club that I met my husband through thirty years ago. And after all, what do you have to lose?”

Martha rolled her eyes.

“I may be a little lonely,” she acknowledged, “but I’m not THAT desperate.”

She glared with some annoyance at Elizabeth. “I swear, sometimes I really wonder what’s going on in that head of yours.”

Martha tossed the pamphlet onto a pile of papers stacked on the side of her desk and made no more mention of it for the rest of their time together. But the seeds of intrigue had already been planted in her mind.

Later, after Elizabeth had left, Martha retrieved the discarded pamphlet and read it more closely. Part of the pamphlet contained a form asking her to fill out information about herself and write a letter detailing what kind of men she would like to meet. Sitting down at her desk, she carefully completed the form and took her time crafting the letter, being sure to mention how people often commented that she was witty, vivacious, and oozed personality. She also emphasized that she was a trained nurse with her own pleasant apartment. When she was satisfied with what she had written, Martha carefully folded the papers, enclosed $5.00 for the required membership fee, and licked the envelope to seal it. That evening, she dropped it in a mailbox on her way home from work.

*****

Years later, when asked whether she had experienced any misgivings about joining a lonely hearts club, Martha candidly replied, “Yes, as soon as I’d put the letter in the mailbox, I began thinking I’d made a mistake.”

Questioned about what kind of man she hoped to meet through the club, Martha took a little more time before answering.

“Well, I don’t know,” she confessed. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it much.

But I sure didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone like Ray.”

***
Excerpt from Tortured With Love by J.T. Hunter. Copyright 2020 by J.T. Hunter. Reproduced with permission from J.T. Hunter. All rights reserved.





My Book Review:

In Tortured With Love, author JT Hunter takes the reader behind the scenes of a riveting true crime thriller for an in depth look at the tragic story of the serial killers called the Lonely Heart Killers.

Martha Beck met Raymond Fernandez through a correspondence club called the "Lonely Hearts Club." Raymond used the club to meet and scam lonely women like Martha of their savings. Martha falls in love with Raymond, who has a powerful influence over her, and she pledges her loyalty and devotion, and will do anything for him.

From 1947-1949, their spree of scamming lonely women takes a sadistic turn towards murder, until they are caught and put on trial for first degree murder, and ultimately given the death sentence, and electrocuted on March 8, 1951 in Sing Sing Prison in New York.

The media dubbed this infamous serial killer couple the Lonely Hearts Killers, and they made Time Magazine's list of Top Ten Crime Duos In US History, coming in number 4 behind (1) Bonnie and Clyde, (2) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and (3) Frank and Jesse James.

Tortured With Love is a riveting story that easily draws the reader in from the start, keeping them captivated as the author weaves a thoroughly intriguing and intricate recounting of serial killers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez's horrific scam and murder spree, and highly publicized murder case.

The author provides the reader with a fascinating and richly detailed and in depth look into the back stories and lives of the serial killers and their victims. The author utilized his extensive experience as a criminal attorney and college professor to provide a thorough recounting of this heinous case with a critical eye towards the research of the serial killers' backgrounds, and the investigative and legal processes of the case; including a very detailed timeline of their crime spree throughout the book.

You can't help but get drawn into this complicated, fascinating, and multi-layered story, it is a gripping dark account of a truly horrific serial killing spree, and the mind boggling investigative and legal path that the justice system took to render justice for the unsuspecting victims.

Tortured With Love is a gripping and chilling true crime account of the Lonely Heart Killers that is a must read for all true crime fans.


RATING: 5 STARS 





About The Author





JT Hunter is a true crime writer with over fifteen years of experience as a lawyer, including criminal law and appeals. He also has significant training in criminal investigation techniques. He enjoys being a college professor teaching fiction and nonfiction to his creative writing students.






Contest Giveaway

Win A $20 Amazon Gift Card





This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for JT Hunter. There will be 2 winners of one (1) Amazon GC each. The giveaway begins on August 1, 2020 and runs through October 2, 2020. Open to U.S. addresses only. Void where prohibited.


a Rafflecopter giveaway





Virtual Book Tour




Tour Participants:

08/02 Showcase @ EienCafe

08/03 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader

08/05 Showcase @ Im Into Books

08/06 Review @ BooksChatter

08/10 Showcase @ Airing My Dirty Laundry

08/12 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

08/13 Interview/showcase @ CMash Reads

08/24 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

08/29 Review @ noorthebookworm

09/01 Review @ Momfluenster

09/02 Showcase @ Our Town Book Reviews

09/08 Interview @ Quiet Fury Books

09/12 Review @ Cheryls Book Nook

09/15 Review/showcase @ Avonna Loves Genres

09/16 Review @ Niks Nook

09/20 Review @ The World As I See It

09/21 Review @ Nesies Place

09/22 Showcase @ Sylv. net

09/24 Review @ Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

09/24 Review/showcase @ The Bookwyrm

09/25 Review @ Celticladys Reviews

09/29 Review @ A Room Without Books is Empty









Monday, August 10, 2020

Carnal Knowledge by Rachael Tamayo (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Carnal Knowledge by author Rachael Tamayo!








My Book Review




Carnal Knowledge by Rachael Tamayo
Book 2: A Deadly Sins Novel Series
Publisher: Tangled Tree Publishing
Publication Date: July 11, 2020
Format: Paperback - 301 pages
               Kindle - 1894 KB / 229 pages
               Nook - 549 KB
ISBN: 978-1922359124
ASIN: B083LHPG9B
BNID: 2940163932160
Genre: Psychological Thriller



Buy The Book:


Buy The Series: A Deadly Sins Novel Series (Standalone Books)
Book 1: Break My Bones
Book 2: Carnal Knowledge



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.



Book Description:

What do you do when you know you’re on a serial killer’s hit list?

Six women are dead, and Wren Addison is the next victim on the SMS Killer’s list—or so she’s been told after waking in a pool of blood with no memory of the events that have transpired.

Newly separated and struggling to start her life over after her husband’s infidelity, Wren tries to remember what happened to her, but nothing is adding up as more horrors unfold around her. With her life on a timer and the murderer taunting her, she realizes there is nothing typical about this serial killer.

Wren is pushed to the edge as she dances between knowing she’s likely to die and fighting to be the first to survive. As the truth starts to emerge, she rises to the challenge and decides not to go down without a fight.

Someone is going to die, and she’s determined it won’t be her.



Book Excerpt:


You really don’t know how you feel about some things until they happen to you. You can guess. You can pretend you’d be strong, that you’d stand on the rooftops and shout your indignation as you shake your fist to the skies, but those are only guesses. Hopes. What we think we know about ourselves. They say no one ever really knows anyone. I think it’d be a safe bet to say that we don’t really know ourselves either. You think you do. The “Oh, I’d never do that! Look at how she’s acting. If I were in her shoes….” but you don’t. No one does.

I said the same things to myself when I walked out on my husband, Ricky, months ago. Those thoughts went through my head as I closed the door behind me for what I told myself was the last time. I wouldn’t let myself cry as I said goodbye to him, only feeling the first tears fall when I heard the click behind me, the locking of the door to what used to be our home together. When he didn’t chase me and beg me to stay.

I wept in that moment, wondering how much pain a person could take.

Over the days that followed, it faded into something more akin to numbness as I found an apartment and got a new checking account. As I arranged to find movers to get my things while he was at work, all while thanking God that we had no children.

Now I find myself in that place once more, though for an altogether different reason. Something has happened to me, something that leaves my body sore and my head feeling as if I have a hangover. These are the moments that tell you who you really are, leaving you exposed to your own darkness.

I found that out about myself. No one ever imagines themselves in this position. You’re not prepared. No amount of self-defense can prepare you for the shock that is the next morning, waking up in a bloody mess, knowing you’ve been sexually assaulted.

I can’t even say it out loud. I won’t. I refuse to do it. It makes it real, and I don’t want it to be real. I want it to be some horrible nightmare that I can wake up from.

But it’s not.

It’s the middle of the night. I’m sitting on the floor of my shower, the water finally not running pink anymore. My face feels puffy from crying as I carefully wash the wounds, the soap burning. I wince and then stand up before the water turns cold. Sitting here won’t accomplish anything.

I look down at the mark on my left breast, swollen and purple. The definite outline of teeth, broken skin, tender to touch. It’s not the only place I’m hurting, but it’s the only one I can easily see. The only one I can’t really hide from. It’s a slap in the face, a calling card from someone I can’t remember. A face that won’t ever haunt my dreams.

So, what do I do now? It’s about 4:00 a.m. Do I call someone? The police? My friend Lily? My husband? Maybe Alex? Surely she would believe me.

I blink away tears, dipping my head back into the hot spray to wash the blood out of my hair.

No, I won’t tell anyone. It’s too embarrassing. Too humiliating. This big foreboding thing happened to me. What they warned us all about. My drink was tampered with, and someone hurt me. I broke the rules, and I got this for it.

I should have listened, I suppose.

I feel sick knowing what someone did to me while I was asleep. Or was I? Maybe I did fight and just can’t remember. I’d fight, surely. I wouldn’t just lie there and take it, right? The thought gives me some minimal sliver of peace, like passing through the eye of the hurricane—you know it’s not real, not the end, but you relish it just the same.

By the time I get out of the shower, I realize I haven’t really slept. My alarm will go off at seven for work so I can catch the bus and be on time for the morning meeting. I could get three hours of sleep before that, maybe.

I shut off the water, suddenly a bit afraid. Knowing someone was here gives me the creeps. Makes me wish I’d gotten that gun Ricky tried so hard to get me to agree to, the one I refused. I wouldn’t give in, fearing some horrible accident. He kept his locked up, and I never bothered to learn to shoot. He begged to teach me, tried to get me to hold his Glock to “get the feel of it.” Nope. Now I regret it.

In the months I’ve lived here, I haven’t been afraid to be on my own until now. Someone got to me. I’m without defense in my own home.





My Book Review:

In Carnal Knowledge, the second book in the A Deadly Sins Novel Series, author Rachael Tamayo weaves a riveting psychological thriller that easily draws the reader in as they follow Wren Addison, as she fights to stay alive after being targeted to be victim number seven by a serial killer that the police have tagged the SMS Killer.

The story centers around twenty-six year old legal assistant Wren Addison, who is trying to move on with her life after separating from her adulterous husband, ex-cop now police academy instructor Ricky Addison.

Wren goes to a club with co-worker Lily, but something is put into her drink, and Wren wakes up the next morning in a pool of blood on her bed. She's been sexually assaulted, but has no recollection of what happened, and because she feels too humiliated and embarrassed, she chooses not to report the assault.

Fast forward two weeks later, Wren goes to a house party with Lily and sees Ricky there, she gets upset and goes home. Once again she wakes up the next morning to find that she's been sexually assaulted, and this time she hadn't been drunk, and still decides not to report the assault. But when she gets into a car accident later that morning, the ER doctors find the bite mark on her left breast and ask if she has been assaulted, and she admits it and shows them a tiny bruise in the crook of her arm from a needle mark. The ER doctors call the police and Ricky, who insists on protecting her, especially after she receives a text message from a number that she doesn't know, with a naked picture of herself in bed out cold and with the bite mark. Ricky explains that Wren's life is in danger, that a serial killer that the police have dubbed the SMS Killer has killed six women in two years, that he toys with them before he kills them, and that she has been targeted as his seventh victim. Wren has to decide if she's going to let the serial killer claim her as his next victim, or if she's going to fight for her life!

Carnal Knowledge is a captivating and gritty tale, rich in detail, vivid descriptions, with enough intriguing and suspenseful twists and turns that leaves the reader with no other option than to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.

Author Rachael Tamayo transports the reader into this fast-paced white-knuckle storyline with her creative interweaving of a psychological cat-n-mouse game between Wren and the serial killer, as she fights to stay alive while the SMS Killer toys with her as he targets her as his seventh victim. The level of suspense keeps the reader riveted and so engrossed, while leaving them holding their breath until the surprise ending. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Carnal Knowledge is a scary good psychological thriller that provides the reader with one heck of an adrenaline rush. It is a must-read for the true diehard psychological thriller junkie!

Carnal Knowledge is the second book in the A Deadly Sins Novel Series, but it is a stand alone read.


RATING: 5 STARS 






About The Author




International Amazon bestselling author Rachael Tamayo is a former 911 emergency operator and police dispatcher. After twelve years in those dark depths, she’s gained a unique insight into mental illness, human behaviour, and the general darkness of humanity that she likes to weave into her books. A formerly exclusive romance author tried her hand at thrillers in her award-winning novel, “Crazy Love,” and loved it so much that she decided not to turn back. Born and raised in Texas, Rachael lives in the Houston area with her husband of almost fifteen years, and their two young children.


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Tour Participants:

07/11 Guest post @ The Book Divas Reads

07/13 Interview @ BooksChatter

07/14 Review @ The World As I See It

07/15 Interview @ CMash Reads

07/16 Showcase @ delightfullybooked

07/17 Review @ Books with Bircky

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07/23 Guest post @ Its Raining Books

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07/29 Review @ Nesies Place

07/30 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

07/31 Guest post @ Reading A Page Turner

08/02 Showcase @ Our Town Book Reviews

08/03 Showcase @ Im Into Books

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08/05 Review @ Quiet Fury Books

08/06 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews

08/10 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

08/12 Showcase @ 411 ON BOOKS, AUTHORS, AND PUBLISHING NEWS

08/13 Review @ Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

08/14 Interview @ A Blue Million Books