BooksChatter: ☀☄ Revenge for Hire: For Hire [2]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Revenge for Hire, a Contemporary Romance by Natalie S. Ellis (1 December 2015, AUS Impulse, 198 pages).

This is the second book in the For Hire series.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as details of the first book in the series and our Q&A with author Natalie S. Ellis.

Natalie S. Ellis will be awarding one e-copy of Revenge for Hire to three randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Teaser | The Series | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

North West Side Chicago. A man's phone rings at 3am, and it's every father's worst nightmare - his little girl is in danger.

Fort Wayne, Indiana. Belinda 'Billie' Chapman is working the overnight shift at WVOX-TV when she's called away to photograph a car that's crashed into the second story of a house. But when a little girl is spotted in the house across the street, the aggressive behaviour of her guardian piques Billie's curiosity.

Nolan Voss has come to Fort Wayne to check on WVOX-TV, the station he owns. Rich, uptight and deliciously hot, he can't keep away from the fiery Billie, and that means being dragged into her plan to help the young girl.

Each step closer to finding the truth leads them to a dangerous plot that has come all the way from Chicago. Will the danger only fuel their irresistible attraction to one another? Or will one of them get burned?

Teaser: Excerpt

Near West Side, Chicago

April 15th

     The first blast of music jerked Chris Panyard from a 3 am fog. Stupid ringtone. His hand felt like a dead weight as it flopped around the nightstand to locate his cell as the second round of music blared. Finally on the third round, he managed to fumble the smartphone into his palm and swipe the screen.
     “’Lo,” he grunted.
     Nothing.
     “Who the hell is this?” he croaked more than yelled.
     He recognized the tiny, high-pitched whimper immediately.
     “Jilly?”
     “D-da—”
     “Jilly, what’s wrong?”
     The muffled sob made him sit up, wide awake now.
     He softened his voice. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong, punkin’.”
     “B-ba ... B-bad,” the seven year old managed between gasps.
     “Do you have a bad tummy ache again?”
     “N-noooo. H-hurt.”
     “You hurt somewhere else? Your head?”
     “M-m-mommy!”
     “Good idea. Go get Mommy, honey.” He was surprised Joelle hadn’t heard her crying.
     Chris yawned, but swallowed it midstream when Jilly’s cry elevated another octave. She stifled the sound suddenly, as if she’d buried her mouth in her pillow. What the hell is going on?
     “Jilly, you have to give me a clue here!”
     “It’s M-mommy,” she shrieked, ending on a hiccup.
     “Is Mommy hurt?”
     She cried softly for a moment, then finally managed, “Yessss.”
     “What happened?”
     “Bad men.” Jilly took a deep, shuddering breath. “The bad m-men hurt my mmommyyy.”
     Lurching out of bed, he struggled to pull on his pants with one hand as he pressed the phone to his ear with the other. He clenched his teeth to keep a stream of obscenities from escaping. “Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?”
     She sniffed. “Cubby.”
     Before he and Joelle split, Jilly used to hide in an attic crawlspace that she called her “cubby” whenever she got upset—like when he and her mom yelled at each other. The miniature attic door was located way in the back of Jilly’s closet, behind hanging clothes and a pile of toys.
     “Jilly? Are the bad men still there?”
     “I th-think so.”
     “Okay, you stay right where you are and don’t make a sound, baby. Daddy will be there in ten minutes.”
     “Ji-i-i-lly, where a-a-are you?” Chris heard a man through the phone, calling for his daughter in a fake, too-friendly voice. Shit! He had to be in Jilly’s bedroom to sound so loud.
     “Shhh,” Chris whispered to Jilly, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.
     Not bothering with a shirt, he ran for his front door. Should he put Jilly on hold and dial
     911? No, it would take too long and he couldn’t risk her accidently hanging up on him. If he did lose the connection, calling back would make the phone ring and give away her hideout.
     “Shhh,” Chris said again, too afraid to utter anything more, in case the man overheard.
     Joelle tended to keep the volume way up on her cell phone.
     A loud thump came through the phone, then a sound like hangers pinging against each other. Chris held his breath, glad Jilly was silent. The man was obviously searching his daughter’s closet.
     “Show yourself, kid!” the man yelled, clearly frustrated now.
     When Chris reached his car in the lot behind his apartment, he muted the phone just long enough to start the engine. He listened again and heard the man yelling, but far off in the distance.
     “In your quietest voice, tell me if the man has left your room.”
     “He’s gone now,” Jilly’s precious voice piped up immediately. Chris winced, remembering too late that her perception of a whisper was always louder than his.
     He strained to hear any indication that the man was heading back to the closet.
     “Daddy?” she whispered, softer this time.
     “I’m here and on my way.” He backed up the car and pulled out of the lot. “Do you know who that man is?”
     She didn’t answer.
     “Jilly?” His heart pounded against his chest. Had the man returned?
     “I’m s-scared.”
     He let out the breath he’d been holding. “I know you are, baby. I’ll be there soon, I promise. But who are they? Who are the bad men?”
     “I don’t know, Daddy.”
     What had Joelle gotten herself into this time?
     Chris raced down Roosevelt Road to reach his daughter. He had no idea what he’d find in that house. But as long as Jilly stayed safe, that’s all that mattered. Even if it meant tearing through ten men to get to her.

Revenge for Hire
Available for pre-order!

UK:

US:

The Series: For Hire

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Fear for Hire [1]

Jack Wylie is tall, dark, handsome and brave - he's everything you'd want in a kidnapper.

Ex-cop Jack Wylie is a born protector, tormented by the day he misjudged a criminal and his life took a tragic turn. Now he's on a mission to kidnap a woman to help her overcome a fear of being tied up.

He's been told by his psychologist brother to keep up the game until the woman gives him the sign. But there has been a big mistake. Jack has accidentally abducted the feisty and beautiful Molly Rhoades - a newly arrived local TV reporter who has secrets of her own. And she doesn't know the sign.

After a dangerous and unlikely meeting, Jack and Molly find themselves consumed by sexual tension, but things get even more complicated when Molly finds out that Jack is engaged to the local Councilwoman Amanda Everett, a ruthless career climber determined to succeed no matter what the cost.

But why did Jack kidnap Molly in the first place? Who is pulling the strings in this perverted puppet show? Jack vows to protect Molly until he finds out the truth, but the layers of deception and vengeance run deeper than he could have ever imagined.

[Published 1 May 2014, 332 pages]

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About the Author

Natalie S. Ellis worked behind the scenes in TV news for sixteen years and will always miss the rush of a breaking story. But the seduction of writing a fiery romance with twisty suspense is even harder to resist, especially when she has a new curveball for the plot.

Natalie enjoys living in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and attributes her cheerful attitude to empty nesting, a supportive family, and way too many lattés.

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