Deal Sharing Aunt: Secrets of Hallstead House by Amy M. Reade Excerpt

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Secrets of Hallstead House by Amy M. Reade Excerpt

Secrets of Hallstead House

Amy M. Reade

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Date of Publication: July 17, 2014

eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-299-3

eISBN-10: 1-60183-299-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-300-6
ISBN-10: 1-60183-300-8
Number of pages: appr. 273
Word Count: appr. 82,000
Formats available: ebook, print-on-demand

Exclusive excerpt

I don’t know what time I was jarred awake by the sound of crashing

glass. My heart pounding, I jumped out of bed and switched on the

bedside lamp. Looking around, I saw in dismay that a pane of glass in

one of the French doors leading to the balcony had been shattered.

Glass lay strewn across the floor in a million tiny shards. My mind

still foggy from sleep, I could only stand there for a few moments,

staring dumbly at the mess. What had happened? Was the wind really

blowing that hard? Maybe a branch had been sent flying through the

glass. But as I stood still and listened to the night breeze sighing, it

seemed unlikely that a sudden gust of wind had caused this damage.

I recovered myself enough to put on a pair of slippers, then walked

toward the glass slowly, wondering how I was going to clean it up.

Then I saw something under one of the armchairs near the fireplace,

and I froze with shock. I knew with sudden clarity what had

happened. There sat a large rock. Someone had thrown it through the

door.

Now I was afraid. Will must have done this. He had been so angry

earlier, and he had promised that I would be sorry for staying here.

Had he been standing on the ground below my balcony and tossed it

up? Or had he been standing outside my door and thrown it from

nearby? Somehow the thought of someone standing right outside my

door in the middle of the night sent chills down my spine; it was even

more disturbing than the rock throwing itself.

I needed to go downstairs to the kitchen to find a broom and dustpan.

Before I went into the kitchen, though, I went to check on Alex,

who was sleeping peacefully. I moved quietly, in part not to awaken

anyone and in part because I was so frightened. I didn’t want to notify

anyone who might be lurking around that I was up and alone, but

the house was dark and silent. Whoever had thrown the rock didn’t

seem to be around.

I swept the glass from the floor and disposed of it in my bathroom.

I didn’t want to venture around the house again to get rid of it.

It had become very cold in my room; I was shivering, and my teeth

were chattering by the time the floor was free of all the glass. I didn’t

know what would happen if I tried to build a fire in the fireplace with

a draft coming in through the broken French door, so I opted not to

try. The last thing I wanted right now was another fireplace incident.

I didn’t know what to do with the rock I had found, so I put it in

the back of the armoire. I would decide what to do with it later.

There would be no sleep for me now. I went into my dressing

room and curled up in an armchair with a blanket. It was slightly

warmer in there, since the dressing room door had been closed when

the rock was thrown. I had the book with me containing stories of the

history of the Saint Lawrence River and I tried reading that for a

while.

But my mind was elsewhere.

Book Description:

Macy Stoddard had hoped to ease the grief of losing her parents in a fiery car crash by accepting a job as a private nurse to the wealthy and widowed Alexandria Hallstead.

But her first sight of Summerplace is of a dark and forbidding home. She quickly finds its winding halls and shadowy rooms filled with secrets and suspicions. Alex seems happy to have Macy’s help, but others on the island, including Alex’s sinister servants and hostile relatives, are far less welcoming.

Watching eyes, veiled threats…slowly, surely, the menacing spirit of Hallstead Island closes in around Macy. And she can only wonder if her story will become just one of the many secrets of Hallstead House…

Available at Amazon

About the Author:

Amy M. Reade is a debut author of romantic suspense. A native of upstate New York, she grew up in the Thousand Islands region and was inspired by the natural beauty of that area to write her first novel, Secrets of Hallstead House. She now lives in New Jersey with her husband, three children, a Bouvier des Flandres named Orly, and two rescued cats who refuse to answer to their names of Porthos and Athos.

Upon graduation from Cornell University and Indiana University School of Law, Amy practiced law in New York City, but soon discovered that her dream job was writing. In addition to volunteering with school, church, and community groups, Amy is currently working on her second novel, set in the area around Charleston, South Carolina.

Though Amy lives within sight of the Atlantic Ocean, she is partial to the blue waters of the Pacific and spends as much time as possible on the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the setting of her as-yet-unwritten third novel.

Website: http://www.amymreade.com