Wednesday, July 31, 2013

When I Find You by Dixie Lee Brown - Blog Tour (bonus excerpt)

When I Find You
A Trust No One Novel
Author: Dixie Lee Brown
Published: July 16, 2013
Publisher: Avon Books
Source: Publisher for Review (via Edelweiss)

Purchase Links: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - iTunes

Dixie Lee Brown continues her heart-racing Trust No One series with a sexy veteran determined to protect an innocent woman on the run.
 
As a former Marine, Walker could find a needle in a haystack. But when he's asked by the U.S. Marshals to track down a nanny fleeing from the mafia, he's sure she'll be more trouble than she's worth. Especially after the sexy little thing clubs him and leaves him for dead. Walker's stunned by her courage—and her curves—and can't help feeling drawn to this damsel trying to dig her way out of distress. He'll find her, and when he does, it'll take more than the mafia to tear him away. 

Darcy Maddox never expected to be running for her life. But when it suddenly looks like foe may become friend, Darcy's faced with a choice: Go it alone or trust a man she just met—never mind the way his touch gets her heart pounding. The choice seems simple enough until she realizes it's not just her life at stake—it's her heart. 

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When I Find You has got to be one of the creepiest titles I've read. Yikes!
 
I've been a bad girl. I went against the grain again and read When I Find You before reading the first book in the series. I don't recommend it. There are a lot of interactions between characters from the first book and characters from this book. You don't necessarily need the backstory to enjoy and understand When I Find You, but it'll help in understanding the friendship between Walker, Joe, and Cara.
 
Now that is out of the way, I can start gushing about When I Find You. I loved it! There was a fantastic blend between the romance and the suspense. The build-up of both were slow. The author took her time fleshing out the attraction between Walker and Darcy. It started off with stolen glances and grew from there. As for the suspense, I started off thinking one suspect was behind everything only to change my mind half way through the book. Yeah, I was still wrong. The twist towards the end tossed my theory right out the window. There are little hints throughout the book that leads the reader towards the real bad guy and that twist threw a monkey wrench right through my theory. I love it when that happens!
 
I loved the plot. I loved the characters. Darcy was a strong female character that really needs to listen a bit more. She had to get herself out of the trouble she put herself in more than once. I was surprised Walker didn't just lock her in a room. It would have saved a few years that she probably scared off his life. I loved Walker. He's loyal to his friends and he'll kick ass to prove it. Both of them worked well with each other.
 
Now that I've read this one, I think its time to go back and read the first book before the third book is released. *grins*
 
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Excerpt from Chapter 1
 
There was no more time. She had to get out.

Her gaze swept the room, stopping at her purse and the small bag she’d packed with enough clothes for the weekend. Buffeted by uncertainty and fear, she hesitated, unable to think beyond the terror that gnawed at her confidence. A shudder rocked her as she remembered the dark intensity of Reggie’s eyes and the scornful looks he’d reserved for her on his visits to the house. Did he come here tonight to hurt Johnny? It was unthinkable…but she wasn’t hanging around to find out what he would do next. After she was safely away, she’d call the police and send help for Johnny. She couldn’t worry about whether it would come too late.

A loose board creaked in the hallway, sending another dose of adrenaline pumping through her veins. Time was up. 

She flew to the window and threw it open, hoping to leave a false trail Reggie would follow. Then she grabbed her bags and crossed to the adjoining door that accessed the children’s room next to hers. She closed it silently behind her and picked her way around favorite toys and beanbag pillows until she stopped in front of the far wall. Nick and Eddy had shown her the secret passageway behind the bookshelf in their room one day when the three of them were playing hide-and-seek. She’d laughed because it was so James Bond. It didn’t seem quite so funny now.

Darcy stuffed down the panic as she searched in the dark for the release that would trip the lock and allow the bookshelf to swing out from the wall. On her tiptoes, her fingers swept the top shelf and finally found what she was looking for—a two inch thick, leather-bound copy of A Tale of Two Cities. She pulled the book out a half inch and the reluctant turn of the lock grated in the silent room. Expelling a sigh of relief, she moved the bookcase away from the wall enough to allow her to squeeze through the narrow opening.

As hurried footsteps signaled Reggie’s entrance from the hallway into her room on the other side of the adjoining door, she tossed her bags into the black chasm behind the bookshelves and slid through after them, then pulled the shelves back into place with a soft click. Her back pressed against the secret entrance, she froze and held her breath, listening as Reggie’s footsteps encroached on the children’s room, circled, and stopped just on the other side of the wall from her, then retreated until she couldn’t hear him anymore. She gulped air, rested her head against the wall for a few seconds, and prayed for the strength to keep going.

Darcy couldn’t see her bare feet in the darkness that engulfed the secret passageway. No matter how much time she gave her eyes to adjust, the inky blackness clung to her. The pungent smell of damp earth invaded her nostrils and images of freshly dug graves swirled in her mind. She spread her arms to gauge the width of the narrow corridor and relief coursed through her when she could touch both sides. Fear of the dark had never been an issue for her before, but the complete void unnerved her. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard against the dread that churned her stomach.

The day the boys had led her through these tunnels came back to her in surprising detail. She groped for her bag, pulled the strap over one shoulder, and slung her purse over the other. Closing her eyes again, she let her fingers trail along the rough walls and took her first tentative steps, using memories to guide her. The corridor ran along the back of the house for about twenty feet before a rickety set of steps descended to the basement level. It turned into a dirt tunnel at that point and angled east, away from the house for about two hundred yards, ending abruptly at a ladder leading to a trap door that opened into a thick grove of trees.

When she reached the top of the ladder, threw back the cover, and clambered from the hole, she drew in huge gasps of fresh air, and the cool night breeze dried the sweat that beaded on her face. For all she knew, Johnny Fontana could be dead, and she’d done nothing to help him. She couldn’t think about that right now. What was she going to do? Returning to the house was out of the question. Reggie would surely be looking for her. She was in way over her head and didn’t have the first clue how to get herself out. If Johnny was dead, she’d just lost everything—her boss, her job, her home and…oh my God…Nick and Eddy. Were they in danger too? She drew a deep breath and searched for calm somewhere in her frantic mind. It would do no good to panic. Now was the time to be smart and make the right choices, or she could easily end up dead too.
 
 
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Author Info
 
DIXIE LEE BROWN started writing romantic suspense nearly twenty years ago. Then life took a few unexpected turns, and the writing career was put on hold in favor of starting a new life and a new job. One’s passion is not easily forgotten, however. Two years ago, Dixie started writing again-a YA novel-but, before she could finish, another idea pushed to the forefront and wouldn’t go away until a full-fledged novel was completed.

That idea became All or Nothing, the first book in the Trust No One series. All or Nothing placed third in the 2011 TARA Contest (Tampa Area Romance Authors) in the romantic suspense category.

Dixie now lives in sunny Central Oregon with two small dogs and a cat for company while she writes the third book of the Trust No One series. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, movies and trips to the beach.

Author Links
 
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If you would like to visit the other blogs on the virtual book tour for When I Find You, please click on the banner below.
Thank you for stopping by!
 
Happy Reading!
 
 
 


8 comments:

  1. Thank you so, so much for the awesome review! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed WHEN I FIND YOU!

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    1. You're welcome! I loved your book. Since I was a bad girl and skipped book 1, it is high on my TBR now. :)

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  2. Ooh thanks for the heads up. It's on my tbr pile for this next week :) LOL at locking her in a room to keep her safe. I so snorted over that.

    ~Anna
    herding cats & burning soup

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