When the love of his life chose an apprenticeship in Scotland over his marriage proposal, thief-taker Cameron Adair buried himself in his work—building an unmatched network of underworld spies. Forged by his reputation as a ruthless, greed-driven businessman, he has amassed a fortune. But he has one vulnerable spot in his armor—a brilliant, green-eyed apothecary, who continues to haunt his heart. When a murder investigation brings him back into contact with Charlotte Fielding, Cameron sets aside the past to find a killer and to distract a headstrong apothecary, clue by clue, kiss by kiss.
NIGHT STORM is the first book in the Bones & Gemstones series.
Purchase Links:
Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/q2kr2mn
Barnes
& Noble: http://tinyurl.com/qgo37ug
Google:
http://tinyurl.com/q384ang
Also,
for a limited time, Tracey will be giving away the first short story she ever
published—HIS SECRET DESIRE—re-edited and re-packaged with a beautiful new
cover. FREE for a LIMITED TIME at the following locations.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1lQy9Az
Barnes & Noble:
http://bit.ly/1pGqIXA
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1CIdvb1
Kobo: http://bit.ly/Wxq8Es
All Romance: http://bit.ly/1qztiDH
Google: http://bit.ly/1uFTnAG
Excerpt
In the distance, Charlotte Fielding spotted the simple, white-lettered
sign that marked her destination. Apothecary. The tension she’d been carrying
in her shoulders since entering the Whitley residence loosened its biting grip.
The strain between husband and wife had not lifted in her two-day absence. If
anything, it had grown worse, now that Mr. Whitley felt well enough to defend
himself.
Charlotte’s brisk pace slowed. A man was slumped on the pavement
between her shop and the boarded-up bakery next door. He sat with one leg
stretched out across the walkway, the other bent at an angle. The rim of his
hat protected his face from identification. So, too, did the long black woolen
coat and matching muffler around his neck.
The tension in Charlotte’s shoulders returned full force. Even though
she could not identify him, she knew what he wasn’t—a beggar. Everything about
him was too fine for him to be living in the streets. She glanced around,
checking the evening shadows as best she could with only lamplight to aid her.
Anderson’s lending library, Patterson’s coffee shop, Gertrude’s lace boutique,
Tilly’s former bakery—they all stood silent and free of loitering troublemakers
and customers. If she cried out for help, would the shopkeepers hear her from
their snug, upstairs apartments?
She considered entering through the back of her building, an area
normally reserved for deliveries, but she couldn’t bring herself to venture
down the dank, narrow alleyway at this time of night. Drawing in a calming
breath, she reached into her reticule and pulled out her pouch of pepper. A
poor defense, she knew, but she always kept it, thinking it would give her a
small chance of escape if thrown in an assailant’s face.
Increasing her pace, she stopped in front of her shop’s weathered door,
the color of a cloud-streaked blue sky. The man remained motionless, silent.
Eerily so. She experienced a moment of indecision. Should she nudge him? Could
he be hurt and in need of assistance? Or should she continue on inside her own
shop and mind her own business?
“Hello, Charley.” The voice was unmistakable.
A chill started at the base of her neck and swept through her body.
Bone deep and breath stealing. With slow, precise movements, her gaze lowered
to the source of the too-familiar voice. A voice that belonged to the only man
who had ever called her Charley.
The man’s uplifted face revealed itself. Thick, bold eyebrows stood out
on a pale, pain-filled face. A once-beloved face. Cameron Adair. What little
air she had left disappeared at the sight of Cam—Cameron. Other than a brief
glimpse of him a few months ago, she hadn’t seen him for years. But she would
have known him anywhere. The shock of seeing him held her immobile, terrified
in a way she hadn’t been since the early days of their falling out.
“Charley, I need your help.”
His words, laced with a strain born of hard-fought control, snapped her
out of the past and plunged her back into the present. Cameron Adair was
sprawled at her door, hurt, needing her help.
She slid her key into the lock.
Metal scratched against metal until she heard a familiar click. Setting her bag
inside the door, she returned outside. “Are you able to get to your feet?” She
managed to keep her voice calm, unaffected. But inside, a violent tremor began
and a maelstrom of questions flooded her mind. Why come to her? Where was he
hurt? Why show up on her doorstep after complete and utter silence for five
miserable years?
Carefully, she folded her hands at her waist and locked her knees
before she could humiliate herself with senseless emotion. She had decided long
ago to waste no more of it on Cameron Adair.
Something like disappointment flared in his blue, ice-chipped eyes.
“Yes, with assistance.”
“Where are you hurt?”
“Left leg, right shoulder.”
“Let’s get you inside out of the cold, and I’ll hail a hansom cab to
take you to Dr. Hollingsworth.”
He shook his head and mumbled, “I’ve been shot. Lost too much blood.”
“Cameron, I can’t—”
“You must,” he interrupted. “I haven’t the strength to go elsewhere.”
She knew what it had cost him to admit to such weakness. And because
she knew this about him, an unrivaled fear forced her to his side.
Positioning herself in a crouch, Charlotte took a steadying breath
before sliding her arm around his broad back. Blood, sweat, and a masculine
scent uniquely Cameron’s filled her nose. She gritted her teeth against an
overwhelming desire to inhale deeply.
“Ready?” she asked.
He nodded once, his full lips pressed into a thin, determined line.
Bending forward, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to brace himself. The
new position put them face-to-face, breath-to-breath.
My Review:
Charlotte Fielding is an female apothecary running her father's business and doing what she loves to do. Steering clear of men after the one who broke her heart, Charlotte is satisfied with life as it is.
Then the night comes when Cameron Adair, the thief-taker who broke Charlotte's heart, ends up on her door step in need of medical services.
Cameron Adair is a man who relies on his wit and strength in order to get the job done as a thief-taker. Being a thief taker, Cameron searches for stolen artifacts that have ancient history attached to them. When trouble finds him and he is wounded, Cameron seeks out Charlotte, the love of his life and the one who got away, in order to receive medical care.
Soon Charlotte and Cameron are entangled further with one another when Charlotte and her workers, Felix and Piper, discover a horrible murder and Cameron becomes somewhat of a detective on the case when the man who owns the theater wants the murderer found.
Night Storm is a book that keeps you enthralled from the first page to the last. With secrets, mystery, and danger at every turn, Night Storm is simply wonderful and a must read of 2014. The characters, Charlotte and Cameron have amazing chemistry that keeps the readers wanting more from these two. Charlotte is stubborn, intelligent, and strong. I loved the fact that she was a female apothecary considering it was a male dominant world back then and that role was filled by males, not females. Author Tracey Devlyn does make a good point though about females being natural caregivers and that you can picture a female as an apothecary quite easily. Cameron is handsome, intelligent, and is able to put the pieces together to find artifacts that are missing. Paired together Cameron and Charlotte's relationship is quite interesting and they often seem to be on either side of a line where on one side they desire and miss one another and another side where neither of them wants to be left heartbroken again. The dangerous element seems to bring them even closer together which just made the book even better.
Other characters, Piper and Felix, have a great relationship with Charlotte and she falls in to a bit of a caregiver role with the two because of their family troubles. Charlotte offered both of them opportunities that they needed at a time where there family had many problems and desperately needed work to support and feed their family. Whereas Charlotte has Piper and Felix, Cameron has Jules, his closest friend who brings a touch of humor to the book, and Vaughn, an associate of Cameron's whose entire character is mysterious and has readers wanting to know his story, and last but not least, Trigger who Cameron found living homeless on the streets and was saved by Cameron. Cameron sees Trigger as a son and I love the bond they share.
With so many wonderful characters and a plot that is shrouded in mystery and danger, Night Storm is one book you do not want to miss. Sometimes it's hard for me to relate to certain characters in a book, but Night Storm is a book full of characters that you want more of. Each one draws you in and leaves you wanting to know more of their story and who they are underneath.
Being book one in the Bones & Gemstones series I'm very excited to see where the rest of the series will take us readers. Night Storm by Tracey Devlyn is a 5+ stars read that you do not want to miss out on!
Tracey
Devlyn Bio:
Tracey Devlyn is an award-winning
author who writes historical romantic thrillers (translation: a slightly more
grievous journey toward the heroine’s happy ending). She’s a co-founder of
Romance University, a group blog dedicated to readers and writers of romance,
and Lady Jane’s Salon-Naperville, Chicagoland’s exciting new reading salon
devoted to romantic fiction.
An Illinois native, Tracey
spends her evenings harassing her once-in-a-lifetime husband and her weekends
torturing her characters. For more information on Tracey, including her
Internet haunts, contest updates, and details on her upcoming novels, please
visit her website.
Connect with
Tracey:
Site: http://traceydevlyn.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TraceyDevlyn
Jessica, thanks for hosting Night Storm on your blog. SO glad you enjoyed Cam and Charley's story!!
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