EROTIC SUSPENSE ROMANCE ALERT!!! 😀 Aidèe Jaimes’ latest book release (actually the whole duet!!) is LIVE!! No need to wait on a cliffhanger ending, ’cause you can jump right into #2. She’s sponsoring today’s newsletter and celebrating her release with an excerpt AND she’s giving away an e-book set of the duet to a lucky commenter here.
And guess what? One of my (our) greatest book-buds, Nay, has already read it and SHE LOVES IT! Nay and I have similar taste in books, so I’m excited about her personal recommendation.
Nay: Maryse–I’ve been meaning to mention a duet that’s coming out on Thursday that’s up for preorder–Private Investigation and Public Affair by Aidee Jaimes.
I’ve already read them and I loved them SO much! I’m always thrilled when I’m able to read a plot like this that hasn’t been done before (at least, not that I’ve read). And it’s great that she’s releasing them at the same time, because anyone who reads Private Investigation will want to go immediately to the next one (they’re each around 190 pages).
IMO, they’re kind of a romantic suspense but maybe more of a twisty-turny romantic mystery with some dark mixed in. I was completely enthralled with trying to answer the questions and figure out the mysterious elements.
I highly recommend them for any of you who want to read a different kind of romance. Oh, and I just realized, they’re set in Florida!
Maryse: Oh YAY Nay!! 😀 Thank you for your feedback on it. I’m actually featuring it this Friday!!!!
AND the author sent us a letter about her duet:
Dear Reader,
I am so excited to share the Private Investigation duet with you today! This story is possibly the most emotional one I’ve written to date. Far more even than The Affair duet, which really took a toll on me.
There are many elements that came together at precisely the right time, sort of like the big bang, that sparked Matt and Eva’s story to life. A conversation with a friend about her desperation to find a job that allowed her to still watch her kids. A joke my husband made about what he’d be willing to do for a million dollars. And life in general.
With this story, I explored my worst fear, and made it Eva’s reality. I wrote the end of the book first, as I normally do, and cried over my laptop the entire time, listening to my “Sad-As-Shit” playlist. I was a wreck.
But it was a story that needed to be told, and it’s my hope that it touches you the way it did me.
Love,
Aidèe
She also says: These books will have a suicide trigger warning, as its part of the story.
READING ORDER:
- Private Investigation (The Private Investigation Book 1)
- Public Affair (The Private Investigation Book 2)
Aidèe also sent over an excerpt but lets us know that it will not be spoilery *phew* 😉 :
For the Excerpt, it was incredibly hard finding something that didn’t give the story away, and as it is Romantic Suspense/Mystery, I want to keep it that way for the reader.
So without further ado… here’s a spoiler-free sneak peak:
Excerpt:
It’s been a long day. My body begs to stretch, to move. To do anything besides sit in a car for another moment.
Once I get home to my small studio apartment, I set my briefcase on the coffee table. Later I’ll go through what’s in the folder Justin gave me. I want to get better acquainted with the case before I turn it down. But not now.
After I change into shorts, I go for a run, needing to clear my head before I fill it with more shit.
The air is humid, but at this evening hour with the sun low in the sky, it’s cool enough. I run until my lungs burn and harder still when I feel that anxious knot in the pit of my stomach that never seems to go away.
It’s dark by the time I make it back. I stand at the kitchen counter, downing the contents of my water bottle, and stare at my brown briefcase. I’ve yet to open the folder with the job I don’t want to do. Peter Cage’s case. He said he’d already followed his wife, tried to find answers himself, but there was nothing. That’s so often the situation. Love blinds people to the small details that are so blatantly obvious to everyone else. Their heart refuses to accept what their brain is telling them.
Sometimes it takes someone with an indiscriminate eye to see the little things, someone who has nothing to lose. Someone who doesn’t care about the outcome one way or another.
It’s those little things that I’m hired to find and then capture with a camera, video, sound—anything. I’d give Mr. Cage what he needs. What he chooses to do with it after would be his business.
Deciding to get it over with, I take the file and pull out its contents. There are past bank statements that show no extra influx of money and copies of bills paid from accounts unknown.
With her name in front of me now, I search for information on Mrs. Eva Jean Cage. Age thirty-five. Also known as Eva Jean Free. Related to Peter Cage III, Andrew Free, Georgia C. Free. Born in North Carolina.
She doesn’t have any social media accounts, which is unusual, especially for someone her age. Someone with children. Usually, I find media walls full of all the “Look at what I did!” and “Look at how good I look!” type of bullshit that grates on my nerves. But not her. No Facebook. And no Twitter or Instagram.
There are no bankruptcies, no liens, no criminal records.
I don’t dig further, because what I need can’t be found in any public record. What I need, I have to see for myself, then snap a picture and hand it over.
“This is f*cking stupid.” I shake my head and pinch the bridge of my nose.
Closing my laptop, I shove the documents aside and go to the bathroom to take a shower, thinking if I ignore this nagging feeling, it’ll somehow go away. It doesn’t. When I come back, it’s still there.
Taking the folder to the couch, I riffle through it again.
There’s a sheet that lists the schedule of where the wife is during the day, or at least where her husband assumes she is. Mrs. Cage starts early, getting their twin sons ready for school and driving them there at eight a.m. She then either returns home to perform her daily chores or heads to her friend’s house to make jewelry. At two p.m. she picks up the children and goes home.
She wouldn’t do anything while she has her kids around, and on weekends, Mr. Cage is there. This means that whatever she’s doing is somehow happening between eight a.m. and two p.m.
Next I pull out a letter-sized envelope that contains the photographs of Mrs. Cage from different angles we would have requested.
My finger slips against the edge of the flap, slicing it open. Then when I yank it back, I drop the pictures, which scatter around me at my feet as I inspect the damage. A line of blood forms along the thin cut, and my eyes follow as a crimson bead falls to one of the photographs, where I see the face of Eva Jean Cage for the first time.
Slowly, I drop to my knees, staring in confusion and reaching for the photograph of the woman smiling back at me. With a frown, I examine it more closely. I blink to clear my eyes, hoping it’s a mirage. The blood runs along a path from her lips, to her jawline, and down her chin.
“What the f*ck?”
My first reaction is to think this is some twisted joke. Maybe Justin put these pictures in by mistake. But he wouldn’t do that.
I’m shaken to my core by the sight of her, and I quickly scramble to my feet, racing to the television cabinet where I’ve stored my past and going through it until I find what I’m searching for—a picture of Lena in just about the same light, the same angle. I compare the two since I can’t trust my own memory right now.
But my mind hasn’t betrayed me. Eva does, in fact, look almost identical to Lena. Pale skin that contrasts against dark hair pulled up in a messy bun that doesn’t detract from her beauty. The straight nose and fleshy pink lips with a pronounced cupid’s bow. The oval shape of her face, high cheekbones, and long graceful neck. All the unique features that I’d stared at for hours, falling in love with them over and over again in Lena, are all there in Mrs. Cage.
Everything screams Lena to me. The only thing that belies the fact that somehow this woman is my wife reincarnated is the color of her eyes. Missing is the deep brown that shone gold in the sunlight, warming me to my core, and it’s replaced by cat-like eyes so clear and gray, I assume it has to be a trick of the camera. But for that…
I fall back and sit on the floor, feeling numb and uncertain as I scan the scattered pictures. For a long time, I stay like this, with Lena’s photo in my hand and Eva’s smile surrounding me. Taunting me.
When the moon is high enough that light pours in through the glass patio doors, I stand and go to my bed, taking Lena with me and setting her on the nightstand. I turn on the lamp and lie there, staring intently at her features and reminding myself that there was only one Lena. Only one person with that face and that smile that stole my heart.
When sleep finally drags me under, it’s to nightmarish depths, where I hold Lena in my arms and look down into her lifeless eyes. Only, they’re no longer brown; instead, they’re gray and sad.
I wake every time the bad dreams begin, startled, reaching over for someone I know isn’t there. When my hand meets the coldness of the sheets on her side, I recoil. The bed feels emptier than ever.
Turning on the television does nothing to alleviate my fear of sleep. Now it’s more than mere whispers that haunt me. It’s a vision in my mind that’s beyond the possibility of being shut out.
I know it means nothing. So many people resemble someone else. It happens every day all around the world.
But not Lena. She didn’t have that sort of face that could be found just anywhere.
Except in Mrs. Cage, it appears. The uncanny resemblance is frightening. My mind goes to her now. If I were to accept the job, would it be like seeing Lena again? Breathing. Walking. Talking.
Would she have the same gentle voice? Would she smell the same? Would her smile reach her eyes and touch my soul?
This picture of Lena was taken five years ago, when she was still happy. And it shows. Her smile is genuine. Warm. It’s a warmth I miss. A warmth I’d do anything to experience again.
Fear of my dreams makes me get up. I clean up the pictures that still lie in a mess because I couldn’t bring myself to touch them earlier.
As my eyes move over to this other woman’s face, something inside me shifts. It’s inexplicable yet seems desperate.
She was supposed to be a simple case. But I know now that nothing about this can be simple. Now it’s not just about a woman having an affair. Now it’s about me and my need to see her.
It might be three in the morning, but I don’t care. Besides, Justin has never had the courtesy to check the clock before he calls.
“The f*ck? Do you know what time it is?” he grumbles.
“Who is it?” I hear Natalie’s voice in the background.
“It’s f*cking Matt,” he tells her before threatening me with, “You better be dying.”
“I’m taking the case.”
Now for the giveaway!
The author says:
I’d like to give a copy of both e-books in the new duet to the lucky winner 🙂
How to enter for a chance to win the set? Just leave a comment below (and better yet, let us know – if you have one – your favorite mystery romance) and by 10pm EST, Sunday November 17th, 2019, I will randomly select one lucky commenter as the winner.
The winner will be contacted and will have 48hrs to respond confirming their email address, so if you are picked, do not delay or you will lose your chance. The ebooks will be sent to the winner directly by the author.
Giveaway open to International!!!
I love the Jack and Jill series by Jewel E. Ann. I can’t wait to read this one!
That sneak peak has me wanting more and I’d love to win a copy!
Can I say that my favourite mystery romance is the one I’m currently writing? It has a similar vibe to the PI Duet, which is why I’m so keen to devour it.
My favorite mystery romance right now is Verity by Colleen Hoover. These sound really good! Thanks for the chance!
Wowza! This sounds great! I recently enjoyed Gypsy King by Devney Perry!
One of my absolute favorites is The Witness by Nora Roberts. Both the book and the audio are fantastic.
The Addison Holmes Mystery series by Liliana Hart is my favorite. I cant wait to start this one!