Book Title: Killer Date
Author: Kathy Clark
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: August 1, 2014
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Recommended for 17 years and older – language / sexual situations / mature subject matter
An inheritance brought him more than he ever could have imagined…
Reno Marks, one of the new owners of the Scandals Investigation Agency, is first on the case to help Jennifer Caldwell find her missing sister, Angie. It’s not that he’s anxious to help so much as it is that he is attracted to Jenny. A little research shows that Angie has run off for a quickie vacation with her new boyfriend. Reno and Jenny’s romantic evening is cut short when that new boyfriend, who just happens to be the son of a powerful drug lord, arrives on Jenny’s doorstep with near-fatal gunshot wounds and evidence that Angie has been taken hostage by a rival Mexican drug cartel.
With the help of a rogue DEA agent, Reno and Jenny set off to infiltrate the cartel’s desert compound and bring Angie home. Their mission quickly gets out of control as they are discovered and chased through a tunnel system that threatens to bury them alive. Even when they think they’re safe, they’re actually trespassing in an even more dangerous place where everyone wants them dead.
During their intense time together, Reno’s feelings for Jenny have grown, but even if they are able to survive, is it possible for these two lost souls to have a future together?
Reno, whose last job had been as a magician in Vegas, doesn’t have enough tricks up his sleeve to save them…or to convince Jenny to stay.
Killer Date is the second book in the Scandals New Adult series of romantic suspense. Each book of the series will focus on one of the offspring of Roger Elliott, a famous musician who left them with a legacy they weren’t expecting. Worse Date Ever, the third book in this series will be released in Winter, 2015 and will tell Tulsa’s story.
Kathy Clark’s 23 women’s fiction (romance) novels have sold over 3 million copies in more than 10 languages and have been on the New York Times’ bestsellers’ list and won her numerous awards.
In September 2012 she launched a new suspense series, Denver After Dark centered on three brothers, one a cop, one a firefighter and one a paramedic. The first book, After Midnight has been named as the Best Indie Suspense of 2013 and won a prestigious 2013 Readers’ Favorite Suspense Award. Cries in the Night is Book #2 in the Series and Deep Night, Book #3 will be released in Fall, 2014.
Also in 2012 Kathy teamed up with her husband Bob Wernly to write a Young Adult Time Travel Mystery/Romance series called CUL8R (See You Later) under the pen name of Bob Kat. Book #1 OMG (Oh My God), when they go back to 1966 to save a girl’s life, was released in October, 2012 and was named as the Best Indie Young Adult Suspense of 2013 and was a Beverly Hills Book Awards finalist. Book #2 BRB (Be Right Back), when they travel back to 1980, recently won First Place in the Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Awards 2013. Book #3 BION (Believe It Or Not), when they go back to 1927 and join a circus to save a boy, was just released in July, 2013. All three books in this series have received rave reviews and 4 and 5 star ratings. Book #4 RIP (Rest in Peace), a ghost story set at the famous Stanley Hotel in 1911 will be released in January, 2014. Kathy and Bob also wrote Life’s What Happens, a fictionalized version of his fraternity days at Kent State University in 1970 that mixes the drama of senior year with the first military draft lottery, the Vietnam war and the Kent State shootings. This novel was named as a finalist in the Best Indie Mainstream Book of 2013 Awards.
Kathy and Bob also write a New Adult series called Scandals with the first book Due Dates and the second book Killer Date scheduled for August, 2014. Book #3 Worst Date Ever will be out in 2015.
Kathy is currently a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and was on the board of directors of national RWA and Colorado Romance Writers for several years. Her books and screenplays have won numerous awards, including top honors from Romantic Times, Colorado Romance Writer of the Year, two RITAs and several film festival screenwriting competitions. When not writing, she and Bob love to travel, hang out on beaches, spend time with their five sons, go to movies or just play with their dogs and their turtles.
Her complete list of books and awards go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)
My phone alarm went off at 9:30. I had left myself little time to get ready before Nick’s appointment, but I needed the sleep more than I needed to shave. Besides, most women like a little stubble. Hopefully, it would prove irresistible to Jenny.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect today. Should I go wake her up with a kiss? Or maybe more? I was at the top of my game now…rested and ready to go the distance. We could be a few minutes late.
I brushed my teeth and dressed, then spent a few minutes getting my hair just right. I wasn’t girly about it, but I liked my hair to have just the right level of planned casualness…a sort of tousled effect. I stared critically at my image in the mirror. My hair was thick and such a dark shade of brown that it looked black. It wasn’t short, but not really long, partially covering my ears and almost to the collar of my t-shirt.
It was my eyes that were my most striking feature. They were a startling light blue, almost the color of those crystal blue ice cliffs in Alaska. I had always thought they were unique…until I met Killeen, Tulsa, Liberty and Dallas. Apparently, it was the one physical feature we had all inherited from Roger…and it was the identifier that had confirmed our place in this unusual family of ours.
My face wasn’t GQ elegant like Dallas’, but I had been told by plenty of women…and a few men…that it was more ruggedly handsome with square jaws and a nose that had just the smallest bump that I had earned in a fight with one of my mother’s “dates”. He and I had disagreed on whether or not he had the right to hit my mother. It had been the first time I had faced my own mortality. I knew if I didn’t give it all I had that he would beat me senseless or maybe even to death. So, I’d walked away with a broken nose while he had a bloodied eye, missing teeth, a couple broken ribs…and a quick exit out our front door.
I really thought Mom would be grateful, but she lit into me about running off her boyfriend. It had been my first lesson in how much I didn’t know about women.
I gave my hair one last flick, then went next door to Jenny’s room. I knocked gently, expecting her to still be asleep. When the door pulled open, and I saw her, completely dressed and wide awake, I struggled to hide my disappointment. “You look rested. Dylan must have left you alone.”
“I fell asleep as soon as I got to bed, and I don’t think I moved at all,” she told me. “I don’t usually get more than five or six hours of sleep a night.”
I was standing just outside her door, and she motioned me to come in.
“I need to talk to you for a second,” she continued.
Of course, I assumed this was an invitation to pick up on our make-out session, so I stepped inside, trying not to look as eager as I felt.
She sucked in a deep breath and continued, “Yesterday night…before Miguel showed up…was…”
I waited. Fantastic. Amazing. Exciting. I tried to guess the word she would use.
“…a mistake,” she stated. “I can’t blame it on those lemonade things because by the time we…uh…you know…I was completely sober.” She gave me an apologetic smile that was really more of a grimace. “I think I was just lonely. I hope you didn’t read too much into it.”
“Me? Nah…it was one of those spur-of-the-moment things.” That was what came out of my mouth, but inside my head, it was what the fuck?
Her face relaxed with relief. “Oh, good. I was afraid this would be awkward. Don’t take this wrong, but you’re not really my type. I’m more into the clean-cut, preppie types, and you’re…well…sort of wild and have all the show biz stuff going on.”
“Sure, I get it.” But I didn’t get it at all. She had stolen my line. Jenny wasn’t my type. She wore her hair too short, she had never experienced life outside of Austin and she was too much of a workaholic. The twinkle in her eyes, the perfect voluptuous body and the tempting curve of her lips had temporarily distracted me.
“Whew!” I said with pretended gratitude. “I’m glad we got that settled.” I glanced at the door, as anxious to escape as I had been to knock on it just a few minutes ago. “I think I smell breakfast. John’s an amazing cook.”
“Good. I’m starving.”
She brushed past me and headed down the hallway. I followed, but I felt like I had just been hit by a truck. That wasn’t at all the way I had expected today to go.
