If you are a regular follower of this blog, then you know how amazing the people from The Hachette Book Group are.  Brianne from Hachette is on virtual tour with author, Jami Alden, and today they are here talking about Ms. Alden’s new book and it sounds fantastic!!!!  So, please, help me welcome both Jami Alden and Brianne.

Like so many romance readers, my first romance novel was by Kathleen Woodiwiss – The Flame and the Flower, to be exact. I was thirteen. I spent the next month working my way through her entire back list. Shortly thereafter I discovered Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Karen Robards, Catherine Coulter, Shirlee Busbee among others, and devoured their lavish historical epics full of overbearing alpha males and the women who brought them to their knees. I was hooked. My high school teachers marveled at my ability to read romance novels under the desk and still score straight A’s. I started to imagine myself, living in a cabin in the mountains somewhere, writing romance novels.

It took me quite awhile to pursue my dream. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in English Literature, I worked in a variety of soul sucking admin jobs before I began my career in marketing. It wasn’t exactly my dream job, but at least my writing appeared on several web sites and in many software marketing brochures. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to fit the phrase “and her loins melted like hot wax” into any of them.

During my stint as the world’s surliest receptionist, I took my first stab at writing. The result was a very melodramatic western historical which reads like a bad Elizabeth Lowell rip off. Its currently languishing on my hard drive, forever stuck on page 330.

Then in fall 2001 I had an incredible stroke of luck and got laid off from my marketing job. I decided it was time to stop saying I wanted to be a writer and to actually give it a serious go. Fortunately my husband, a socially well adjusted alpha male, is a very generous patron of the arts.

Four years later, I sold my first book and I’m pretty much living the dream of getting paid to write romance. I don’t live in a cabin in the mountains, but I do live in a rural-ish town near San Francisco (hey, we have deer and bunnies in our yard, along with the occasional coyote) with my husband, sons, and two dogs who patiently listen to my dialogue and help me work out plot points. When I’m not writing sexy romance, I enjoy running, reading, yoga and watching Food Network and bad reality TV.

1. Beg for Mercy was originally going to be set in California. However, once I started doing research about California’s death row and the appeals process I realized my heroine would be about sixty years old before the action in the book could take place! I quickly realized I had to change the setting to a state where things moved a bit faster. Hence, the book takes place in Seattle.

2. I’m pretty sure I’m the only parent in my son’s preschool class who has called the Washington State Penitentiary to inquire about visitation rules for death row inmates.

3. When my boys, ages 3 and 5 first saw the cover they asked if I had written a book about Avatars.

4. At least fifty pages of this book were written in a remote cabin in Alaska in the middle of winter. How remote? It’s 25 miles from the nearest town and you have to fly in a plane and/or ride a snow machine to get there.

5. I rarely get emotional over my own writing, but I teared up a little when I wrote the scene that reveals my villain’s backstory.

Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn’t just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn’t have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother’s life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO.

Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can’t stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city’s elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.

  He lurks in the shadows, waiting and watching . . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . .

  Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn’t just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn’t have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother’s life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO.
  Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can’t stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city’s elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.



Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above. I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in
exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are
ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I tried to match his enthusiastic tone.  “Perfect!”  But my stomach climbed in my throat.  In three days I was going to be bait for a killer.

THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES by Marcus Sakey
Published by Dutton, member of Penguin Group, Inc.

At the request of Kaye Publicity, a HC was sent, at no charge to me, for my honest opinion.

  A man wakes up naked and cold, half-drowned on an abandoned beach. The only sign of life for miles is an empty BMW. Inside the expensive car he finds clothes that fit perfectly, shoes for his tattered feet, a Rolex, and a bank envelope stuffed with cash and an auto registration in the name of Daniel Hayes, resident of Malibu, California.
  None of it is familiar.
  What is he doing here? How did he get into the ocean? Is he Daniel Hayes, and if so, why doesn’t he remember? While he searches for answers, the world searches for him-beginning with the police that kick in the door of his dingy motel, with guns drawn. Lost, alone, and on the run, the man who might be Daniel Hayes flees into the night.
  All he remembers is a woman’s face, so he sets off for the only place he might find her. The fantasy of her becomes his home, his world, his hope. And maybe, just maybe, the way back to himself.
  But that raises the most chilling question of all: What will he find when he gets there?

  My Thoughts and Opinion: I feel that I need to begin this review with a caveat in fairness to the author. It took me longer than usual for me to read this book, not because of the author or plot but because of real life issues that needed to take a priority. If not for that, this novel would most definitely be a can’t put down read. I did have a bit of difficulty focusing in on the characters and plot the first 1/3 of the book but again, my mindset. Once, I was able to focus, the ride was unstoppable. The characters appeared life like, however, I kept going back and forth in my mind as to who was actually the victim or victims. The plot, action packed. (Vague-do not want to include spoilers) What was real? What was the truth? After reading the last paragraph, I literally sat there, stunned, with how it ended. Will there be a sequel? I hope so!!

  In a time when CEOs steal millions while their employees watch savings dwindle, these four are tired of the honest approach. They’ve decided to stop waiting and start taking.
  But a supposedly victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. Ruthless men pursue them. Tensions they thought were long-extinguished are flaring. As their world unravels, each will have to choose between their life and the lives of others.
  And for four people pushed to the ragged edge, the only thing more dangerous than the men chasing them might be their best friends.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above. I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in
exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are
ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

ISBN-13: 9780316190428
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie’s had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can’t offer complete escape, and they’re plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie’s brother Toby – Meredith’s high school boyfriend – arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had.
  Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness.
 
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I would like to first start with 2 caveats. This was the first book I had read by this author. After posting that it was my current read, I received mixed comments about her previous books, so quite honestly, was a bit skeptical. The second, in fairness to the author, was the length of time it took me to read the book. It had nothing to do with the writing style, it holding my interest, the characters and/or the story line. Matter of fact, quite the opposite. I really enjoyed all of the above. It was because at the present time, I am also caught up in a televised trial that has taken away from my reading time.

  As far as the novel, it is the type of read where you become part of the story. I felt that the author brought the characters to life, whereas I could feel their emotions. I enjoyed the dynamics of the relationships between the characters, including their flaws. At times, I wanted to comfort them and at times, reprimand them. The story covered a 40 year friendship and at certain times of reflection, would alternate between the present with memories of past. The setting of Nantucket was vivid. A moving novel of friendship, love, pain, forgiveness, loss, desperation, life and hope. My favorite quote in the book, which I feel is so true, was on page 313, “God, human beings were resilient, Connie thought. They were resilient!” A perfect summer read!!