Within Temptation (Sons of Temptation #1) by Tanya Holmes
Release Date: May 12, 2014
Romantic Mystery/Romantic Suspense. This is not erotica or romantica. This is a romance centered around a murder mystery.
Heat Factor: 3 out of 5 -- The sexual tension is high, and the burn is slow. Sex is character-driven, rather than plot-driven.
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Welcome to the release blog tour with Tanya Holmes' debut novel, Within Temptation. Included in this post you'll find an excerpt from the book, heaps of buy links, Rafflecopter giveaway, review and right down the bottom, there's even a chat with the self-confessed 'genre ho' herself!
So remember to keep on scrolling to see it all. ~Amanda~
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Love, betrayal and murder in a small town….
Twelve years after her mother's murder, Shannon Bradford fears she may have helped convict an innocent man. Even worse, her prominent family may have had something to do with it. Desperate for answers, she seeks help from the one person least likely to give it. Her best friend and childhood crush, Trace Dawson. The man she sent to prison.
Serving hard time for murder has left Trace angry and bitter. As far as he's concerned, digging into the past won't replace the years he's lost or erase the hell he's lived. Now that he's free, Shannon Bradford tops his list of bad memories. But he never counted on falling in love.
Set in a sleepy little town during the dead of winter, this award-winning romance novel is a tale of one woman's quest for truth and a man's struggle to forgive.
"MEMORIES flooded my mind, of the quiet riot he was, of the secret crush I’d had on him, and the extraordinary friendship we’d shared so many years ago. As fast as those images came, others replaced them. I was thrust back to the crime scene, back to Mother’s corpse and the shirtless eighteen-year-old roaring obscenities while Sheriff Gray and a deputy dragged him away in handcuffs." -- Within Temptation
Excerpt
Trace ripped the front door open, flooding the porch with light. There he stood, an unsettling combination of heaven and hell poured into a tight black T-shirt and jeans that hung below his narrow hips in a way Auntie would’ve deemed vulgar.
We stared at each other for half an eternity as Ray Charles crooned, “You Don’t Know Me” from somewhere in the house.
“Take a wrong turn?” he asked, ice dancing in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
His jaw worked. “Four days, two hours, and twenty-three minutes of sorry. You get my messages?”
I nodded in shame. “I just…”
“Got scared.”
My breath escaped in a misty cloud. “I should’ve called.”
“You think?” He studied me in angry silence for a time. “Lose the hood.”
“What?”
“The hood.” He nudged his chin. “Take it off.”
He was testing me. His ‘you’re ashamed of me’ look was unmistakable. So I did as he asked. I tugged it down.
“Satisfied?”
Trace swung the door all the way open and his arm formed an arch. I studied the man-made entrance with caution, then ducked beneath it and went inside.
He kicked the door shut.
Unbuttoning my coat, I watched him lean against a wall, arms folded. It may have been my imagination, but he seemed to study me with the same lethal aloofness of a cat watching an unsuspecting mouse—right before the pounce.
To steady my frayed nerves, I concentrated on the beautiful living room. He was renovating. I smelled paint, and drop cloth draped the floor in the adjacent dining room, which he’d jammed with tools and supplies.
An ornate brass floor lamp stood attached to an extension cord that snaked down the hall to what I assumed was the kitchen. A cute tabletop Christmas tree, complete with tinsel, golden ornaments, and candy canes was propped on a twenty-five-inch TV. The pine floor had been polished to a high gloss. Beige paint with alabaster molding covered the walls. Stylish brass vent and outlet covers complemented the gilded vintage ceiling fan above them.
I gestured.
“You’ve been busy.”
“Yeah. My shrink thought it’d be therapeutic.”
“You do good work.” I tore my eyes from his sullen face. “It’s beautiful.”
“But a far cry from the fancy digs you’re used to.”
It wasn’t said maliciously. In fact, there’d been a ring of humility in his tone that had almost bordered on apologetic.
“My tastes are simplistic,” I said. “I fell in love with a dilapidated Queen Anne Victorian, but I didn’t trust my instincts. I hesitated. Now it’s under contract.” I turned to him and sighed. “Speaking of which, I may have a job for you. The couple buying it needs a good carpenter. Can I give them your number?”
He hitched a shoulder. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“When do you think you’ll be finished here?”
“In a few months.” He lifted a brow. “Guess I’ll be needing a real estate agent.”
“Look no further.” I tried to smile, but it felt lame. What had happened at the club and my vanishing act screamed in his eyes. “So, do you have a place picked out or….”
“Naw.” He paused, then in a serious tone added, “I’m leaving Temptation the second my parole year is up. Sooner if I can get a transfer.”
My smile froze. He’s leaving?
“Ah, th-that’s understandable. What, with everything that’s happened.”
“Exactly. There’s really nothin’ keeping me from going, is there?” He paused for a beat, tilted his head, and cocked a brow. “Cholly’s got his own life. Mama and Daddy are gone. Bev’s married, and if Cole ever gets out, I’ve got to find a way to help him—but not here. Not in this town.”
Fearing, dreading, I hesitated before asking, “Will you at least stay in West Virginia?” I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “Or will you move away?”
“What do you think?” He gave the room a fleeting glance. “Three tenants lived here over the past twelve months. When they heard about what happened, they hauled ass. So selling this shack won’t be easy. Either way, I figure I’ll check out the West Coast. Maybe Washington state.”
It felt like he’d reached across the room and punched me in the stomach.
Buy the Book
About the Author
Tanya Holmes is a former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist, a recipient of the Maggie Award, the MICA Award, as well as Overall Winner of the Sandy Haddad Award and a two-time finalist and one-time winner of The Emily (Best of the Best). She's happily married with children and loves reading, writing and a good cup of coffee---but not necessarily in that order. Her debut novel, Within Temptation is due out on May 12, 2014.
Connect with the Tanya
Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Review
Okay, so you've read the blurb above? Yes? You've read the excerpt? Yes? That's good. Now all you need to do is scroll back up and click the buy link for your area. Go on. I'll wait :) You need to scroll up, right now and buy this book. It's fantastic!
First thing's first, when I read the excerpt while creating this post a couple of weeks back, I hadn't read it and had forgotten for a moment that I had the ARC for review (yeah, I know, duh moment completely!). Anyhoo, I read the excerpt and thought "Wow, I'd like to read this one!", then as the clock ticked and the crickets chirped, I realised "Oh hey! I do have this"
So, I finally started reading Thursday lunch time - yes, the day before the post goes live - and couldn't tear myself away. I sat outside in the beautiful Autumn air, slouched in a comfy chair, and read. And read. And read.
I finished at midnight.
Amazingly enough, I squeezed in a load of washing, dishes and remembered to cook for the family too.
I love the fact that each chapter has its own title. That was one of the first things that caught my attention on opening the file. By the middle of the first chapter, I was hooked ~ line and sinker. When you get this book, start early in the day because you'll have a hard time concentrating on anything else. Give yourself the day to immerse yourself in the world of Temptatin and the lives of those within the town. Join Trace and Shannon on their journey and discover why blood relations aren't always the best families.
And now, a chat with the author of
Within Temptatin, Tanya Holmes
How does it feel to be releasing your first book?
Honestly, I'm numb. So many emotions begin vying for
dominance, that you sort of feel anesthetized. There's fear, excitement,
anxiety, joy, sadness, exhilaration---mix all that together and you've got
numbness. The feelings drown each other out, sort of like white noise, ya know?
lol
What will you be doing to celebrate the release on Monday?
Nothing. I'm pretty boring. :-) I stayed at home and had pizza with my
family.
If you have your first review in already, how loudly did
you squeal? :)
Well, I've been getting reviewed pretty steadily for the
past few months. I sent out a number of ARCs, not only to prepare myself for
what was coming, but to also get feedback. In the process, I've met a lot of
amazing people.
You can take 5 items/men to a fully catered desert island –
what/who would you take?
I'd have to take Tracemore Dawson, the hero in my book. Loki
from the Thor movies. Outlander's Jamie Fraser, Daniel Craig, Idris Elba and...
Oh, that's five isn't it? ;-)
Okay, so I'd pick them, and then I'd have them fight in a
tournament--to win me, of course. The winner would take all.
And so would the losers. :-)
Do you have a favourite author? Who is it/are they?
I have several really. LaVyrle Spencer, Sandra Brown,
Richard Matheson, Anne Stuart ... just to name a few.
How did you start your writing career?
It was a slow process. I started out as a copy
editor/reporter writing feature stories for a small newspaper. I learned a
great deal, namely that I wasn't fond of hard news because there wasn't really
any wiggle room in it. IOW, feature stories gave me more of a creative outlet.
I needed that freedom. Before that, as a teen, I would sit in my room and read
maudlin Elizabethan poetry, ballads and plays. :-) I seriously got off on that
stuff. It was what set my imagination soaring. Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sir Walter
Raleigh...I ate it up. Then when I began working at the newspaper, I realized
fiction was what satisfied me the most. So I started writing my own stories,
(very bad ones I'm afraid) but you've got to start somewhere.
Which character was the hardest to write and why?
For my debut novel, I'd have to say my heroine, hands
down. It took me a long while to get
under her skin and figure out what made her tick. My hero came to me fully
formed, to the point where I had him in my head and could hear him speaking. In
case you didn't know this, all writers are crazy like that. lol Anyway, my
heroine was so .... um....reserved, and out of touch with her own emotions that
it affected my ability to read her. My hero understood her perfectly though.
If you write under an alias/Nome de plume, how do you deal
with being addressed by that name?
I write under my real name, although my mother strongly
suggested that I not do that. lol
How would you classify the genre you write? Why did you
choose that genre?
I'm a hybrid writer, in that I don't have just one genre.
This particular book happens to be what I like to call a romantic mystery with
a dash of suspense. The second book in this standalone series (which I'm still
writing) will be a straight contemporary--no mystery at all. At least not at
this point in the development stage. As for the third book, I'm not sure. I
have the characters and the plot planned, but I don't know how it will turn out
in terms of tone. For all I know it could be a romantic comedy. It all depends
on the characters and my muse. I also have three paranormals on the back
burner. So I guess you could call me a "genre ho." :-)
If you weren’t an author, what would you have ended up
doing?
I wanted to be a vet because I love animals, but I couldn't
tolerate seeing them in pain or sick, so that didn't quite work out. Honestly,
I can't see myself doing anything but writing because if I'm not writing, I'm
feeling guilty that I'm not writing. And then when I'm writing, I'm always
convinced what I'm writing is crap. So, yeah, I couldn't be anything but a
writer.
Do you have any rituals/habits when you write?
Coffee. I have to have it. My brain does not work without
it.
What would be the weirdest one?
Okay, I used to write in my bathtub. Seriously. I even
posted a picture of it on my blog, (not me in the tub) but just the tub and how
I decorated my bathroom with paintings, sconces, flowers, sculptures and stuff.
It was so pretty it helped put me in a special place, you know, mentally. So
I'd go in there with a notepad, pen, and a glass of Merlot, then I'd put a
Rachmaninoff CD on and write, surrounded by scented bubbles.
What is on your current and upcoming release schedule?
My second book isn't due out until 2015.
Where are your books available?
Right now on Amazon and Kobo. I'm still waiting on Nook, and
iTunes. ~Links above~
