♥ Sweet Deception || Angel Nicholas Guest Post ♥

Ally Thompson’s life is perfect. Calm, quiet, some might even say boring. The sole survivor of a tragic accident, she’s not the adventurous type—something she’s decided to change.

One roller-coaster ride…

A murder and a detective in disguise shatter Ally’s first attempt at “fun.” Detective Greg Marsing is everything Ally knows better than to want. The gun-totting, tattooed scumbags trying to kill her are almost a welcome distraction from her pointless attraction.

Blows her world wide open…

A contract on Ally has every lowlife for miles gunning for her. Sparks fly while she and her unlikely hero scramble to unravel clues. As the deadly game escalates, Greg has to decide if self-preservation rates higher than a love worth dying for.

 

Excerpt

Oh, God! He was shooting at her. Actually shooting. In broad daylight. In her neighbor’s backyard. Didn’t they have rules about that sort of stuff?

Nerves shredded, Ally gritted her teeth. Three more feet. Two. Another crunch. She swore the heat of the bullet singed her shoulder. Arms extended, she jumped for all she was worth. Up, braced her arms and pushed off. She landed with an oomph on the other side, followed by another crunch and a hole in the wood fence.

For a split-second, she crouched panting, staring in disbelief at the fence towering over her head. Had she really done that?

Cursing from the other side got her up and moving again. Squealing tires and a revving engine brought her head around. A car tore into the alley and raced toward her. More bad guys? Had he called in reinforcements?

Ally froze.

Did I do something horrible in a past life to deserve this?

Truly, I’ll help the poor. Serve food at the soup kitchen. Go to church every Sunday. Donate money to the shelter. I’ll even babysit my friend’s bratty kids.

Just please, please, please get me out of this alive.

The shiny black Camaro careened to a stop with the driver’s side door facing her. Heavily tinted windows revealed nothing. In a last desperate bid for freedom, she darted past the door. Strong arms encircled her waist and dragged her back toward the idling car.

 

“No!” Ally screamed like a banshee, flinging out her arms and legs, scrabbling for purchase. Hard hands sent her flying across the front seat.

“Ally.”

“Let me go!” She dove for the door handle.

“Ally!” He grabbed her elbow and pulled her back, away from the passenger door. “Damn woman, you are way more trouble than you’re worth.”

Almost blind with panic, she twisted around and crouched on the seat, prepared to draw blood.

Shocked hazel clashed with furious aqua. Her mouth fell open. Muttering under his breath, Detective Marsing threw the car into gear and spun out of the alleyway. She whipped her head around in time to see a blocky head pop up over the privacy fence as they disappeared around the corner. She’d done it. Escaped. Stayed alive. Like an atomic bomb, the events of the past hours and the emotions she’d worked so hard to control mushroomed up, exploding inside. Tears stung.

“Can’t you stay out of trouble for five minutes?”

~ Tell us a bit about your writing process?

I’m an unabashed panster. Typically, once I get the opening scene written, I’ll pause and write back stories for the main characters. The first third of the book is where I really flesh everyone out.

~ What did you want to be when you grew up?

A freelancer photo-journalist. “Freelancer” meant free-wheeling to me, though I think it typically means “poor” in reality. I loved working with a camera and I loved writing, so I thought photo-journalist was the perfect fit. Life took me in other directions, however.

~ Who’s your favorite author? Why?

I have a lot of favorite authors! One of my favorites is Jayne Ann Krentz, in all her pseudonyms. I adore the way she writes. Her heroines are sassy and unique enough to be a bit of an outcast amongst society, while her heroes are dark and broody. She also includes suspense elements, which I love. A fairly new one is Susanna Kearsley. The Winter Sea and The Firebird, in particular, were exceptional reads. She brings in elements from so many different genres while taking the reader on this incredible journey, and it’s all I can do to put the book down when real life calls!

~ Do you have any shameless addictions—Starbucks, shoes, sunglasses, coins, books?

I adore Starbucks, darling shoes—typically heels, books, and brilliant, complicated villains.

~ Share one fact about yourself that would surprise people.

I’m love the outdoors, and I fish, hunt, and camp. Coupled with my love of heels and all things frilly and feminine, that’s usually surprising. Particularly for other cultures, who don’t have the freedom or perhaps desire to delve into the forests and stalk their dinner.  My experience hunting has been a bonus when it comes to writing romantic suspense, where I can utilize my familiarity with guns. Plus, I’m feeding my family!

Thank you so much for having me, Em! Harper Impulse Fortnight has been oodles of fun, and I’m loving finding out so much about everyone’s books. My debut novel is Sweet Deception, which will be followed up pretty soon with my second romantic suspense, based where I live in Boise, Idaho! Be sure to follow me on your favorite social media or my Amazon author page to stay up to date!