The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Alyssa Richards's New Book: A Stranger in Alcott Manor.
Alyssa is the AMAZON BESTSELLING AUTHOR of Romance, Paranormal, and Suspense novels.
A Stranger in Alcott Manor
(The Alcott Manor Trilogy, Book 3
Author: Alyssa Richards
AVAILABLE
Amazon
She thought she had escaped her past. But her haunted homecoming could resurrect an old flame and buried secrets… Peyton Alcott thought she put the past behind her. Years after being stood up on her wedding day, she’s finally found a dependable new love and a sense of purpose with her high-powered big city lifestyle. So when she returns to help her family open the newly renovated Alcott Manor, she never expected to awaken old feelings she thought were long dead…
When Peyton discovers a tintype photo of her ancestor’s 19th century wedding, she thinks she’s found the perfect decoration for the gothic estate. Until, hidden among the guests, she recognizes the all-too-familiar face of her missing ex-fiance… Determined to solve the mystery, she’s drawn into a hidden dimension where time and truth are twisted. Confronted by secrets that threaten to unravel her bright future, she’s forced to choose between old feelings and new possibilities. Torn between an old flame and a new beginning, can Peyton navigate a realm of dark forces without losing her way?
Excerpt from A Stranger in Alcott Manor
Ancient water oaks swayed in the warm, salty breezes and threw their inky shadows against the front pillars of Alcott Manor. Peyton Alcott stood next to the passenger side door of the rental, and dropped the car keys onto the seat. She stared at the front of the house, tracing the outline of the bottle of Xanax bulging in her small soft-sided purse.
The manor’s first floor windows were warped with age, and the darkness inside appeared deep and cold and formless. The home’s secrets were palpable, but unseen. They shifted like forgotten spirits, hidden memories and old nightmares.
This visit to her family’s ancestral estate was her first alone in twenty years. The prescription bottle lid flicked open with a pop. Just one dose would cushion whatever memories came to light. She glanced at her overstuffed computer bag in the backseat. Remembering the mountain of work she had to do, she reluctantly recapped the bottle.
She lifted her work satchel, filled well beyond its unzipped brim with a laptop, client files and instructions from her mother. Rounded oyster shells crunched beneath her Jimmy Choos.
At a long squeal of brakes, she spun, squinting at the black car with its round headlights and narrow front grill. She lowered her bag to the ground, her stomach clenched. The car’s white-haired driver was a ghost from her past she’d hoped to outrun.
An oceanic updraft caught her work papers and they scattered. She snatched at them, catching only one. The rest danced and twirled down the stark white drive and away from Alcott Manor. She envied their ability to escape.
She cursed the wind and the lost papers, the manor and the land it was built on, and her own attendance at this godforsaken place.
The old Plymouth rattled to a rolling stop behind her rental car with another long screech of brakes. The elderly woman exited with a slowness that made Peyton wonder if it was wise for her to be driving.
“Mrs. Miller?”
“Hope those papers weren’t important.” Her smile was broad and welcoming, a gesture Peyton knew better than to trust. Her eyes were moist, more from age than emotion. One was glassy.
“My goodness, it’s been years.” Peyton leaned down to hug her. Mrs. Miller was more frail than she remembered, but her perfume was the same. The delicate scent of roses infused with Mentholatum.
“Well, let me take a look at you.” Mrs. Miller cocked her head to the side. She raked her good eye in a slow survey from the top of Peyton’s jeweled hair combs to the tip toes of her polished heels.
She stood trying to hold her smile, feeling like the blue-ribboned pig at the county fair where winning made you the blue plate special.
“Still have your daddy’s good looks, I see. Let’s hope you kept his temperament. Your mother says you’re a big city girl now, but coming home to get married?”
“Yes ma’am, I live in Boston, and the wedding is in four days.” Peyton wished she had remembered to spin her large diamond engagement ring to the inside of her hand. But Mrs. Miller caught sight of it and Peyton saw her lips tighten.
“Mmm. You still take all those pictures like you used to?” Mrs. Miller asked.
“No, sad to say, I haven’t had the time for much photography these days.”
“I thought as much.” She patted Peyton’s shoulders twice. “I’ve got just the thing for you. Carry these inside.” The rear car door groaned as she pulled it open. Mrs. Miller pointed to two large gray containers and instructed Peyton to be careful.
“These are more of the estate’s cameras and tintypes that we had at the museum. We’re bringing much of it here, now that you’re organizing the house for tours. You’ll need them for exhibits and whatnot. Jayne Ella insisted I bring these. You know how your mother is.” She raised one eyebrow.
Yes. She knew exactly how her mother was.
“Are you still working at the museum?” Peyton hoisted the first plastic carton from the back seat and directed the small talk away from herself.
“Lord, yes, honey. I’ll probably die in the place. No one else in Charleston knows as much about the city’s history. Or Alcott Manor’s history. Except for you, of course. I taught you especially well.”
“Yes ma’am.” She put the container near the double front door, and the tintypes shuddered with a metallic clatter. She stared at a sign that was pasted to one of the front pillars, and her stomach dropped to the floor.
Author Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Suspense
Website: Alyssa Richards
Author's Blog: Alyssa Richards
Newsletter
Twitter: @1AlyssaRichards
E-Mail: alyssa@paranormalromancebooks.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Post with Profile + Interview: HBS Author's Spotlight
Amazon Author Profile
Author Description: **Start reading Alyssa's best selling Fine Art of Deception Series with book 1: The Fine Art of Deception for FREE on Amazon! Read all of Alyssa's books for FREE with KINDLE UNLIMITED**
ALYSSA RICHARDS is the Amazon best selling author of The Fine Art of Deception series and The Haunting of Alcott Manor series - a contemporary gothic trilogy.
She loves living in the South with her husband and two children. She also loves good espresso, her rescue dogs, magnolias and gardenias, and, of course, reading a great book. She grew up running barefoot in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where her favorite weekly adventure was a trip to the library with her mom.
Author's Book List
Chasing Secrets
Her husband's secret is priceless. Her attempts to retrieve it could be deadly.
Barbara had everything she ever wanted—a successful career, a loving husband, and a beautiful baby on the way. She even had the incredible gift to know everything about a person from hearing their name. But when Barbara’s husband somehow evades her ability and secretly clashes with a ruthless criminal, it sends her whole world crashing down. As if the resulting tragedy isn't bad enough, now a killer threatens everything she loves to reclaim a valuable cache of diamonds.
To protect her family, Barbara must use her gift and the help of a handsome archaeologist to find the stolen gems before time runs out. If she fails to discover the treasure and finally understand her husband's covert double life, then her once happy family will never be the same.
Chasing Secrets is a compelling standalone romantic suspense novel. If you like fast-paced action, sizzling chemistry, and second chance relationships, then you'll love Alyssa Richards' edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
A Murder at Alcott Manor
- The Alcott Manor Trilogy Book 2Mason and Layla have waited a long time to be together, but her ex-husband could ruin everything from the grave.
Layla’s late husband left her homeless, broke, and with two young girls to care for. When she’s offered a caretaker position at her old manor home, she chooses to overlook the hauntings… and the spot where her husband was killed.
Mason left behind the stress of New York City finance for a simpler life in construction. He hopes the seasonal renovation job will let him reconnect with Layla. They were on the verge of a relationship 10 years earlier, until a brutal murder tore them apart…
When a series of strange happenings bring them together, Layla must tap into the manor's otherworldly realm to protect them. Mason may be skeptical, but will he believe Layla when she reveals the twisted truth about their past?
Order the Book From:
Amazon
The Haunting of Alcott Manor
- The Alcott Manor Trilogy Book 1She has a gift. His family has a past. Can they solve a century-old mystery… together?
Gemma doesn't miss working for the family business. She has a knack for restoring older properties, but after a vicious haunting nearly killed her, she was more than ready to move on. Gemma agrees to one last job to save her parents’ business, but the 1880s historical estate has its fair share of dark secrets…
Henry Alcott wants nothing more than to free the spirit from his family’s property. Ever since the original owner was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death, the ghost has made sure every restoration effort was a miserable failure. But there’s something about Gemma that makes Henry believe in a much brighter future…
Gemma and Henry must solve a hundred-year mystery to complete the restoration in time. Failure to do so could cost Gemma’s parents their business, but staying in the house could cost them much, much more…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Lost in Time
- A Time Travel Romance Book Series - The Fine Art of Deception - Book 3Searching for the answers she needs, will Addie lose everything she has? Adeline “Addie” Montgomery is searching for the truth. As she and Blake travel back to 1922, she expects her nemesis Otto is behind a string of art forgeries. The only problem is that the villain has completely disappeared. Addie must now find Otto without blowing her cover to keep the past intact, as long as a lover from a past life doesn’t get in the way…
Blake Greenwood wants nothing more than to catch Otto and return to the present with Addie, the love of his life. When his mother goes missing as well, he leaves Addie alone with his half-brother to save his family. As the future begins to change in unexpected ways, Blake and Addie begin to question everything. Can they find Otto and save their relationship before what they had disappears for good?
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Somewhere in Time
- A Time Travel Romance Book Series - The Fine Art of Deception - Book 2One wrong touch could ruin everything…
Adeline “Addie” Montgomery has finally found her soulmate in Blake Greenwood. As the forgery trial begins for her former boss, Otto, her happily-ever-after seems to be taking shape. But when Otto puts everyone she loves back in danger, Addie must look to the past to make her future possible.
As Addie and Blake make progress finding her missing family, demons who’ve hunted her for centuries threaten to destroy the life she’s come to love. Once again, it all comes down to a choice: loyalty for her family or love for her soulmate. Her decision could transform the world…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
The Fine Art of Deception
- A Time Travel Romance Book Series - The Fine Art of Deception - Book 1Her touch uncovers secrets. His secrets might be more than she can handle. Art appraiser Adeline “Addie” Montgomery craves a normal life. But because of her gift, she’ll never know what normal means. She can touch any object and know its owner’s secrets. It comes in handy in her line of work, but it frequently wrecks her personal life. Addie one day hopes to use her ability to solve the disappearance of her father and grandfather, but her strange dreams of a lover from a past life seem to keep getting in the way…
The mysterious Blake Greenwood has an aura of danger that pulls Addie right in. As a client of Addie’s firm, he seems to have more secrets than paintings. She tries to steer clear, but the connection between them feels older than time itself.
Addie wants to take a chance on love, but will letting her guard down show her a life she never thought possible or send everything crashing down?
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
Indie Author’s Corner
Mystery Reader’s Circle
No comments:
Post a Comment