Suspense and history in "Afternoon Tea"

Afternoon Tea
By J. R. LeGreca

Enter the fascinating Victorian Age in New England and witness a saga of forbidden love, the standards of high society and their paradox unfold in Afternoon Tea, an engaging tale.

Get a glimpse of a glittering, yet cruel world where image and status are everything. With a bundle of roses in one hand and a walking cane in the other, Lawrence Gray, an elderly gentleman, braves the cold Northeastern winter as he makes his way to Saint James Cemetery.

There, he offers the flowers to his wife who passed away forty years ago. Lawrence ’s devotion to his long-dead wife elicits curiosity from Meg Bailey, a neighbor who spies on him from her kitchen window every morning. Meg’s curiosity hits a peak when town historian, Fanny Brund, invites her for afternoon tea and reveals the mystery surrounding the Grays.

In a bid to uncover the truth behind Lawrence Gray’s guilt over his wife’s untimely death, Fanny warps back to the year 1895 — only to unravel a secret that will change Meg’s life forever. . .

Visit the author at her website J. R. LaGreca and read more about the book Afternoon Tea.

You can purchase Afternoon Tea on Amazon.

New suspense/thriller 'The Rasner Effect'

The Rasner Effect
By Mark Rosendorf

Rick Rasner escaped death in a New York City bridge explosion – but he couldn’t escape becoming an unwitting participant in a top secret military experiment.

When the Duke Organization, a group of ruthless killers, set off a violent explosion, they wiped out Rick Rasner’s life as he knew it. Many years later, as he still struggled to remember any shred of his former existence, he put a new life together – as a therapist in the Brookhill Children’s Psychiatric Residence, a facility for troubled urban teens.

Brookhill’s policies, set by head director Katherine Miller, seemed brutal and oppressive. She bullied the therapists too – Rick’s meek personality left him incapable of handling her attacks. He developed an unexplainable bond with fifteen-year-old patient Clara Blue – something about her conflicted, volatile personality struck a cord deep inside his psyche. Rick wanted to help her and the other patients, yet met with non-stop opposition from the staff.

The Duke Organization resurfaced, searching for Rick Rasner. When they found him at the Brookhill facility a bloody hostage situation ensued. The lives of both Rick and Clara were about to change – but for the better or worse?

Disgraced mercenary Jake Scarberry was forced out of the witness protection program and back into action – after the Duke Organization. An unpredictable chain of events result between Jake, Rick, and the Duke Organization – and Clara Blue.

This complex psychological suspense/thriller will leave you questioning exactly who to root for in a battle of good versus evil.

Visit the author Mark Rosendorf and read reviews for The Rasner Effect.

Computer-thriller will keep you guessing

It Happens in Threes
By Denise Robbins

Seeking to escape her stalking ex-fiancé, savvy computer expert, Ruby Goodman, flees to her family's vacation home. Always a healing place, Florida is the best spot for her to reassemble the crumbling pieces of her personal and professional life in safety.

But somehow her high school sweetheart and first love, Michael Augustson, always appears when she least expects-but needs-him most. This time the only man she's ever truly loved needs her help to catch an international thief. But can she risk her life by becoming involved in his scheme? And does she dare to lay her heart on the line for a man who may disappear at any time?

Forced into some 'R and R', unflappable special operative, Michael, takes refuge in Florida where he runs into his old love, Ruby. Brilliant and a whiz with computers, Ruby is the answer to his prayers. He needs someone to crack the computer systems of an elusive money laundering thief. While working with her, Michael finds it a challenge to keep his distance from Ruby because he fears his passion for her may endanger both their lives.

The only way to keep Ruby safe is to keep her close. Is it because of the threat to her life? Or is it because the stubborn, independent and infuriating but passionate Ruby has become a threat to his heart?

Visit Denise Robbins at her website or watch the trailer for the book on YouTube.

GIVEAWAY: Denise has been kind enough to donate a signed copy of It Happens in Threes as a Giveaway. Leave a comment for your chance to win!

Romantic suspense in The Drowning Pool

The Drowning Pool
By Jacqueline Seewald

The sequel to Jacqueline's Seewald's romantic suspense/mystery thriller THE INFERNO COLLECTION can now be ordered from Five Star/Gale.

Kim Reynolds, academic librarian, and Mike Gardner, police lieutenant, are spending a passionate, romantic evening together at Kim's apartment when Mike gets a call about a homicide. Kim and Mike join forces to solve the puzzling death of a man found floating in the locked pool of Kim's garden apartment complex in New Jersey. The victim, a womanizer, had many enemies. The excitement builds when the hunters become the hunted. Join Kim and Mike in this romantic suspense-filled follow-up to The Inferno Collection.

Jacqueline Seewald has taught writing courses including Creative Writing at the high school, middle school and college level and has also worked as an academic librarian and educational media specialist. Seven of her books of fiction have been previously published including the romantic suspense/mystery thriller, The Inferno Collection, published by Five Star/Gale in hardcover in 2007. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in numerous publications such as: Sasee, Affaire De Coeur, Lost Treasure, The Christian Science Monitor, Pedestal, Surreal, After Dark, The Dana Literary Society Journal, Palace Of Reason, Library Journal, The Erickson Tribune and Publishers Weekly.

THE DROWNING POOL is set to be published this month. Please ask your local library to order it so that you can read it.

You can find out more about the author and this by reading her Breakthrough article in the February 2009 issue of THE WRITER Magazine, p. 14.