Toot's Book Reviews: November Book Spotlight, Excerpt & Special Giveaway for Aussie Residents : Small Town Storm by Elise K. Ackers (Romantic Suspense)

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Book Blurb

Title: Small Town Storm

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Destiny Romance
Available: December 2013

Nineteen years after a devastating crime almost killed her, Erica Lawrence has returned home. In the small town of Olinda, her story is legend. And now everyone knows she's back, including top cop and her childhood friend, Jordan Hill, the only person to ever touch her guarded heart.

When a woman's body is found brutally murdered, suspicion soon falls on Olinda's newest resident and even Jordan must admit that the evidence is stacking up against the woman he swore to protect.

While Jordan and Erica struggle with their feelings for each other, the murders continue and the tension in town grows. Together, they must find a way to prove Erica's innocence - before she becomes the killer's next victim.

Brilliantly capturing the intense range of emotions felt when trust breaks down, Small Town Storm is a startling Australian debut.

Book Excerpt

‘So, listen…’ Jordan cleared his throat. ‘I’ve been thinking. You not being dead might not be such a bad thing.’

Erica arched a brow. ‘You’re very odd. You know that?’

He shook his head. ‘I remember the day you disappeared with a clarity that would probably shock you. It’s played like a movie, over and over again in my mind, almost every day since. According to my parents – according to the town – I was too young to be offered any real answers. But I need to know. That day has become an obsession to me, I can’t explain it. I need to know what happened.’

‘Why?’

Jordan opened his mouth, hesitated, then said, ‘Why? Are you serious?’

‘And what exactly is it that you need to know?’

He straightened in his seat, rising to the challenge. ‘Details.’ He waved a hand about his head. ‘All I have is fragments. Once I’ve pieced it all together and got all the answers I need, then I’ll have closure.’

Erica looked at the counter when she said, ‘Maybe you should just let it go.’

‘Like you have?’

He had her there.

Jordan waited as she moved away, attending to the water that had come to boil. She poured it into the two mugs and pushed one towards him.

He eyed her hopefully. ‘Milk?’

‘No milk.’

He looked down at the black water. ‘Sugar?’

Erica thought of the locked container of sugar in her cupboard and shook her head. ‘No sugar.’

‘Oh. Yum.’

She lifted her steaming mug to her lips and blew. Her thoughts tripped and tumbled, chaotic in the face of his candour. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m very sorry that day injured you.’ He caught her sarcasm and narrowed his eyes. ‘But I don’t think I should have to dig around in my traumatic childhood just so that you can stop seeing movies in your head.’

He nodded slowly, then laughed. ‘A fantastic delivery, Ms Lawrence. Top marks.’ He held up ten fingers, then his hands fell back to the counter top. ‘But I don’t believe a word of it. You want to go digging around in your past. You want answers just as much as I do otherwise you would never have returned to this Godforsaken town. To the place where everybody knows your name. Where everybody has a piece of the puzzle that’s October 11, 1991. You moved back for answers and so did I. So what are we going to do about this?’

Erica reached across the bench and seized Jordan’s mug. What was left of his coffee was tipped into the sink. ‘You and I,’ she answered, her tone clipped, ‘are going to do nothing about this. You and I are going to tread very lightly around one another. It’s a small town. I’m trying to keep myself out of the rumour mill for as long as possible.’

‘Why are you fighting this? We can help each other.’

‘You can’t just walk into someone’s life and ferret around. It’s not that easy!’

Jordan got to his feet and gathered up his jacket. ‘You’re right. It’s not as easy as walking out of someone’s life, is it?’

Erica caught up with him in the hallway. She flattened her palm against the front door. ‘You have issues. You know that? There are people who charge by the hour who can help you.’
He leaned close. ‘What’s your hourly rate?’

She stepped back and flung the door open. A shock of cool air barrelled into the house. ‘I’m not a therapist.’

‘No. You’re the answer.’

They stood there for the longest time, staring each other down. Life was stirring outside. Weak sunshine peered through the grey skin of clouds overhead. The trees whispered amongst themselves and a car rolled by on the road in the distance.

Erica thought of all the reasons she had come back. All the questions she had, the puzzles in her memory that only others could unscramble. Her gaze moved over Jordan’s expectant face. His rich brown eyes searched her features impatiently.

‘Okay.’ She swallowed. ‘Okay, we’ll help each other. Put our heads together, see what we come up with.’

Jordan looked delighted. ‘If you hadn’t tipped my coffee out I’d propose a toast.’

Erica grinned and offered her hand. He took it and squeezed.

‘To answers,’ Jordan said quietly.

She shook her head in wonder. ‘I never expected to find you again.’

A shadow flickered over his face. ‘I never expected to find you again, either.’

As he walked away into the lacklustre morning, Erica felt a warm glow in her heart. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe she hadn’t lost everything that day after all.

Author Info

Elise K. Ackers is a romantic suspense and contemporary romance author based in Melbourne, Australia. She is a 2013 Romantic Book of the Year finalist and a Best Book of 2012 nominee, winner of multiple international writing awards, and known to do some pretty strange stuff in the name of research. Elise is published with Penguin imprint, Destiny Romance, and Harlequin imprint, Escape Publishing.

You can chat with her on Facebook and Twitter (@EliseKAckers), and find out more at her author website (http://www.elisekackers.net).

~Giveaway~
For Aussie residents only