Author: V.J. Chambers
Publication: July 17th, 2013
by Punk Rawk Books
Category: New Adult (NA)
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Synopsis: When newspaper
intern Cecily Kane kisses a masked vigilante, she doesn’t realize she’s
plunging headlong into a relationship with two separate identities.
As Vigil, he is dark, sensuous,
and irresistible. His touch skyrockets her to heights of pleasure. As Callum
Rutherford, he is a billionaire playboy—arrogant, cold, and untouchable. She
looks good on his arm, but without his mask, he holds her at arm’s length.
Sex with a masked man. Dinner
with a rich sophisticate. A fractured relationship with a complicated man.
Deep down, he is broken, twisted
in some dark, hidden way. Some way he won’t reveal to her. She only knows that
it is somehow connected to his obsession with The Phantom, the costumed villain
whose murder spree has rocked the city.
She must unravel Vigil’s
secrets. To make him whole. And to stop The Phantom.
Author Spying:
V.J. Chambers likes bad boys,
but she likes them to be actual bad boys, not misunderstood weaklings who cover
up their emotional scars with a thin veneer of pretend bad-boy-ness.
She likes to tackle difficult
philosophical questions. She likes to push fiction to the edge, to go just a little
farther.
She writes stories about
difficult people living difficult lives in difficult situations. Usually,
there’s magic. Or monsters. Or space. Or gun fights. A lot of times, there’s
also L-O-V-E. (Or at least uncomfortable conversations about sex.)
She’s the author of the Jason and Azazel series and many other
stories for teens and adults. She lives in Shepherdstown, WV with her boyfriend
Aaron and their cat.
Expert
“Have
you lost your mind?”
I
turned in a tight circle, searching for the source of the voice. I couldn’t see
anyone.
It
was a deep voice, a little scratchy, but still commanding. A male voice. A
voice that was used to being obeyed.
I
clutched my purse tighter, reaching inside to turn on my voice recorder. It
made me feel irrationally safer to think that I would have this mysterious,
disembodied voice on tape. Well, not literal tape. It was a digital recorder.
But that hardly mattered. I was nervous, and my thoughts always got scattered
when I was nervous, no matter how hard I tried to rein them in. “I prefer to
conduct conversations with people I can see.”
Good.
My voice hadn’t even shook.
“What
are you doing wandering around alone out here?” the voice continued, plowing
over me as if I hadn’t spoken. “Don’t you know that two women have disappeared
from this part of the city, and they’ve only uncovered pieces of their bodies washing up on the shore of the bay?”
“As
a matter of fact, I do know that,” I said. What did he think I was doing out
here?
Then
it hit me hard and cold in the pit of my stomach. What kind of man hides in the
darkness and reminds women that they aren’t safe? The killer, that’s who.
My
throat felt dry. I tried to swallow but couldn’t.
I
forced myself to stay calm. I’d come out here to investigate things. That was
my job. I was an investigative journalist. Well, I was a summer intern, but
that hardly mattered. I had my press pass in my purse. I’d come to the seedy
part of the city because I wanted to find things out.
Now,
here I was, possibly talking to the killer. I couldn’t afford to be frightened.
I had to be bold.
“Hayden
Barclay?” I said. “Is that
you?”
you?”
He
melted out of a shadowed alley. He wore all black— skin tight spandex that
hugged every curve and bulge of his body. He was hulking. Huge. His shoulders
were broad, his gloved hands powerful and enormous. He was wearing a mask that
covered his nose and face, leaving only his lips and chin bare.
I
took a step backwards.
“Why
would you call me that?”
This
wasn’t Hayden Barclay. I knew Hayden Barclay. Hayden Barclay wasn’t nearly
this… muscular.
But
Darlene had been seeing Hayden. She’d told me about Hayden’s obsession with
legs. And then I hadn’t heard anything from Darlene. Ever again. Because they’d
found her torso on the shore. Minus her legs.
I’d
assumed the killer had to be Hayden Barclay. Never mind the fact that police
claimed he’d alibied out. I knew. It was him. I’d come to the city of Aurora
precisely because Hayden was here, and I was going to catch him.
But
this man standing in front of me was lethal and powerful and someone else.
Someone else completely. I was stunned. I kept moving backwards, slowly
shaking my head.
shaking my head.
Happy Reading
Jackie
Thanks for participating in the tour, Jackie!
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