Friday, April 5, 2013

VBT and Giveaway - To Catch a Bad Guy



To Catch a Bad Guy
by Marie Astor

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BLURB:

Janet Maple’s stellar career ended with a layoff and her boyfriend of five years told her that he wants to be just friends. When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.

Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?
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EXCERPT:


Candace Bostoff leaned against the terrace railing while she sipped her iced tea and watched Jon toss the football with Ollie on the beach. Sundays were her favorite part of the weekend. Saturdays were often packed with dinners and charity events, but Sundays were for family. Amber had declined to join her brother and father, and despite it being a lovely day, remained in her room, texting her friends. Still, this weekend had been simply splendid. The summer season was over, and the town of Southampton had been deserted, which alleviated the need for small talk and polite acceptance of invitations from neighbors. Last night Jon had made a bonfire on the beach, and the entire family had spent the evening telling jokes and toasting marshmallows. Even Amber, who always had plans for Saturday nights, had gladly participated. Thankfully, her friend had cancelled at the last minute, and it was just the four of them. Candace wished her elder son could have been there to complete the evening, but Tyler was away at college. Still, last night had been wonderful. Once the kids were off to bed, Jon added logs to the fire and made love to Candace under the inky sky.
As she watched her younger son and husband, Candace’s thoughts drifted. Thanks to her immense luck with the decorator, the summer house looked superb. Unlike the majority of houses in town, their house had character and warmth. The furniture was still high-end, but the pieces that Candace had selected were functional and comfortable. Sure, they would host high-toned summer parties there, but Candace also wanted the house to be a welcoming place for Ollie and Amber to bring their friends over, and for Tyler to invite his girlfriend, and in due time, when all of their kids would marry, to be a place for family reunions.
Sometimes it scared her to think just how happy she was. Almost all of her girlfriends had marital problems – husbands who drank too much, husbands who stayed out too late, husbands who fooled around. These were men of stellar pedigrees and sizeable wealth, yet they were failing their wives despite the promises they had given as young grooms. But Jon was not like that. It made Candace as giddy as a sixteen-year-old every time she saw the way Jon still looked at her after all these years of marriage, with the same desire he had in his eyes when they first met. Even back then he had been different from the rest – so serious and intent compared to his classmates at college. Of course, there was a reason for that. In a school where every other student’s father had donated a sizeable sum or even had gone so as a far as to build an entire wing on the school property, Jon had been almost an outcast. Although Jon was far from being poor, the Bostoff money was too new for it to be accepted by the snobbery of Duke. But Candace did not care, for she saw in Jon a way to avoid the fate that befell the women of her family. Instead of marrying a man of her parents’ choice – a man who would regard her as though she were a thoroughbred – she would marry a man of her own choosing, a man whose eyes lit up every time he looked at her.
 


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:


Marie Astor is the author of contemporary romance novels This Tangled Thing Called Love, Lucky Charm, On the Rim of Love, romantic suspense, To Catch a Bad Guy, and a short story collection,  A Dress in a Window. Marie is also the author of young adult fantasy adventure novel, Over the Mountain and Back.

If you would like to learn more about Marie’s writing, please stop by her website: www.marieastor.com or visit her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marieastorcollection


Books by Marie Astor:

This Tangled Thing Called Love – a contemporary romance about overcoming one’s inhibitions, learning to tango, and finding one’s true love match.


Lucky Charm – a humorous contemporary romance about love, luck and friendship.


On the Rim of Love – a contemporary romance about the unexpected power of love.


A Dress in a Window – a collection of short stories about love, coincidences, and fate.


Over the Mountain and Back – young adult fantasy adventure novel about a boy who takes his snowboard for a ride and finds himself in a magical, hidden world he never knew existed.


Social Media Links:




Twitter: @marieastor



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GIVEAWAY:



Marie will be awarding custom designed semiprecious jewelry pieces to five randomly drawn commenters during the tour.

Prize 1: Citrine quartz and prehnite sterling silver necklace
Prize 2: Red agate sterling silver necklace
Prize 3: Onyx sterling silver bracelet
Prize 4: Smoky quartz sterling silver earrings
Prize 5: Blue quartz sterling silver earrings


Follow the tour and comment often; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:




4 comments:

  1. I love the cover of this book. Every time I see it, it makes me smile. Thanks for sharing the giveaway.

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  2. How interesting that this excerpt is about Candace and Jon and not Janet and Dennis. I do like all of Marie's characters.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this book looks so cute...it's great to find new authors!
    oddball2003 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete