Coming in Jan 2013 from Pelican Books but currently on pre-release but available from Amazon comes Whispers on Shadow Bay from author Raquel Byrnes. Think Gothic Romance. Think Jane Eyre. Now put that into the 21st century. Intrigued? Read on...
Blurb:
Ejected from her privileged life, Rosetta
comes to Noble Island with a broken heart and shaken faith. She is enticed by
hope in the arms of the dark and brooding Simon Hale, but people keep dying at
Shadow Bay Hall, and Rosetta hears something in the walls.
Simon Hale finds the reclusive Rosetta both
beautiful and intriguing, but when she seeks out the truth behind Shadow Bay
Hall’s unexplained happenings, he is torn between hope for the future and his
need to protect a dangerous secret.
With dark forces determined to keep truth
at bay, Rosetta and Simon fight to uncover lies that imprison the island with
fear. His wife’ death, tangled memories, a Romany feud; Rosetta must decide if
she is strong enough to discover what’s behind The Whispers on Shadow Bay.
Excerpt:
I dropped my purse on the bed and looked
around. A wrought iron twin bed, nightstand, and an empty book case were all
that furnished the room. Thin white curtains covered a shuttered,
crescent-shaped window over the bookcase. They rustled softly as wind forced
itself through a crack in the glass making a low whistle.
Tired, I sat on the bed, arms around my
knees, and fought back tears. Unsettled as this old mansion made me feel, come
morning I had nowhere to go and just a bit of money left. Biting back the frustration, I hugged
myself tighter, resolving to be strong. Still, in the ache of my heart, I
wondered.
I did what you asked, Lord, and lost
everything. How could you let that happen? How am I supposed to have faith when
it feels like You abandoned me right when I needed you most?
Suddenly, waves of sorrow and shame I’d
fought so hard to quell washed over me, and I flashed on my day at the church.
The feel of white satin under my hands, the bouquet clasped to my sobbing chest
as my would-be sister-in-law led me from the vestibule. He wasn’t coming. He
didn’t want me anymore.
And now this. I’d summoned all my courage
to travel to these wet and cold woods for what? To be rejected all over again.
To be not good enough once more? I had to get out of here. I couldn’t bear to
feel their eyes on me in the morning, looks of pity that I’d grown to dread.
Shaking my head, I grabbed my purse and yanked open the door. Walking quickly
along the corridor, down the steps, and back to the front door, I moved as
silently as I could.
Pushing through the double wood doors, I
dragged the suitcase behind me. In my hurry, I stumbled down the stone steps,
nearly losing my footing as the oversized case tumbled, coming to rest near the
front tire.
I fought with the suitcase, shoving it into
the back seat with ragged pleas for its cooperation on my trembling lips. I
climbed into the driver’s seat, slammed the car door, and tried with shaking
hands to start the car. It coughed, then revved. The front door cracked open
and Mr. O’Shay stared out at me with a puzzled look.
“Go, just go,” I sobbed.
Pulling away, I took the turn around the
driveway way too wide, and ran over some bushes as the car barreled back down
the road towards the iron gate. Eyes blurry with tears, I didn’t react to the
headlights that burst suddenly from the thick mist. A horn blared as I swerved.
The wheel jerked from my hands, and I veered off the path. The car rattled and
bounced down the embankment’s uneven ground. A large tree jumped out of the fog
right in front of me. I screamed as the car hit it with a jarring blow, and my
jaw snapped shut as my head hit the steering wheel. Everything stopped.
Moaning, I felt the bump on my forehead.
Pain flashed behind my eyes, and I gasped with the force of it. Unclasping the
seatbelt, I stumbled from the car, groping blindly in the dark fog.
“What were you thinking?” A man’s voice,
low and tense, called out from the fog. “You were speeding.”
Confused, I heard movement, and someone
scrambling down the embankment.
“Are
you OK?” The man shouted.
I couldn’t tell the direction from which it
came, and I turned in a circle. A wave of dizziness made my stomach lurch. I
staggered for the car.
“My head,” I croaked. “I hit—”
The ground tilted. My head spun. I was falling.
Strong arms snatched me before I hit the ground.
“Whoa,” the man said, concern creeping into
his voice. “You shouldn’t try to walk ’til we get help.”
I glanced up. Framed in the glow of the
headlight, a man with piercing blue eyes
and light hair looked down at me, his handsome face etched with a thin
scar that ran the length of his jaw. It made him all the more magnetic. I
smiled at him, my thoughts tumbling together; I thought he was old. How did he
get that scar?
“I came to take care of you, Mr. Hale.” My
words sounded muffled to me; far away.
“Take care of me?” His blond hair, backlit
by the headlight, made a halo around him. “You’re hurt. Be still.”
Sudden clarity rang through my mind at his
mention of injury, and I tried to stand. “I’m fine, Mr. Hale.” I tried to
wiggle free of his hold, but he held fast.
“You don’t look fine.” His eyes narrowed.
Sounding gruff, almost irritated, he bent and lifted me in his arms and carried
me up to the road.
“This is unnecessary,” I protested, but my
head spun again, and I rested my cheek against his chest as he climbed. Warm
and solid, he smelled like grass and sunshine. When he set me on my feet, I
glanced back down the embankment at the sedan’s off-kilter lights, worry
gripping me again. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Hale, really. I’ll pay for the damage and
for the bushes, too.”
He opened his car door, and the interior
light cast his face in shadows. My heart thrummed, a flush creeping up my neck
under his intense gaze.
“I’m not Davenport Hale,” he said. “I’m his
son, Simon.”
A far away buzzing sounded in my ears. I
shook my head, trying to clear it. The movement sent a fresh stab of pain
flashing across my vision.
Simon reached for me.
“I’m…” I didn’t get the rest out before the
world grayed and blinked out.
And if that isn't incentive enough, here's my review:
Whispers on Shadow Bay had me spellbound from start to finish, making it hard to put down. A modern day Gothic romance, with a tortured hero, a hurt but strong heroine and a mystery that rivals those written by Charlotte Bronte. Definitely one to curl up with during the long winter nights.
Buy Link:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Bio:
Raquel
has written books for more than a decade. She loves to do research and has
taken private detective courses, gun classes, and underground tours to get
every detail right for her novels. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-of-your-seat
pace. Stories filled with faith, love, and adventure.
Raquel
married her college sweetheart seventeen years ago and you can still find them
spending time together chatting over a cup of coffee like when they were first
dating.
Her
husband is her biggest fan and most ardent supporter. He encourages her to take
time for writing as often as he can. He regularly gives her gift cards to her
favorite coffee house so that she can go there to write and relax.
Raquel
has six children ranging from 15 to 2 years old, with her youngest two barely 9
months apart. She has said that adopting was the most amazing blessing she
could have ever hoped for.
She
homeschools her children and finds herself working amid sugar cube pyramid
projects and science fair experiments.
When she
isn't foraging her kitchen for project parts or giving spelling tests, she is
writing or researching her novels. Raquel calls it controlled chaos and she
loves it.
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