Book Extract: True Courage by Kathryn Barrett
Please join me in welcoming Kathryn Barrett to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, True Courage.
Some days it was hell being leader of the free world.
The Washington press calls him the “accidental president.” As a Medal of Honor recipient and national hero, Adam Dybik agreed to run for president during the country’s deepest crisis.
Now that things have stabilized, he’s got problems at home: his 14-year-old daughter Katie keeps ditching her Secret Service protection and reminding him he’s the world’s worst father. And on top of that, he’s begun hearing the voices of dead presidents. Either he’s going mad, or the White House is haunted.
As the new head of Katie’s Secret Service detail, Ellie Brody is trying to live up to the high expectations of her father, former agent Frank Brody. But her new job puts her in direct danger of succumbing to the president’s charm.
Can these two find love in the White House, under the most intense media scrutiny—and the watchful eye of Lyndon Johnson?
Kathryn has kindly shared an extract with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
This scene is from Chapter 5 and is set at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains, where Adam makes up for his poor performance at golf by sinking a basketball:
The crisis in Idaho averted, Adam rode Golf Cart One to Leatherwood, where a basketball game was in progress: White House staff vs. Secret Service, and it looked like his team was getting whipped.
He’d been telling his staff to get more exercise, but most of them were more interested in writing policy papers about Latin American economies than in manhandling an elliptical machine. He’d made it a point to hire the best and the brightest, regardless of political party, but now he wished he’d given a thought to hiring the tallest and fittest.
He heard Ellie’s voice. “That’s another three!” she called out. Though she wasn’t very tall, she was hustling up and down the court so fast he had to check to make sure she wasn’t wearing rollerblades.
He waded into the fray. “Hand it over, punk,” he told the six-foot-three agent dribbling the ball. After snatching the ball, Adam raced to the end of the court. Ignoring the defender in front of him, he tossed it neatly into the rim.
He wished Larry were there to see how easily he’d managed that hole-in-one.
He spun around and high-fived his speechwriter, Melissa. “Okay, team, let’s win this one for the Gipper!”
“The who?” he heard his scheduler ask the congressional liaison.
Presidential prestige was put aside on the basketball court. Adam took his share of ribbing. But unlike golf, he was no newcomer to this game. When he’d started out in the prosecutor’s office in Chicago, he’d regularly played pick-up games at the local gym. Ten years earlier, he’d been quicker, meaner.
Now, at forty-five, he had to rely on his wits.
by 
Book Extract: The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews
I am so pleased to be welcoming Mimi Matthews to Novel Kicks today. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, The Belle of Belgrave Square.
A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.
Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.
For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.
In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…
Mimi has shared an extract from her novel with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
“That must be quite a book to hold your attention in all this din.”
Julia’s head jerked up. Her heart lurched.
Captain Blunt stood, silhouetted, at the entrance to the anteroom, his broad shoulders nearly spanning the doorframe. His scarred face was shadowed in the gaslight, making him appear even more sinister than he usually did—something she hadn’t thought possible.
He wasn’t old enough to be her father. Indeed, he couldn’t be much above thirty.
“What is it?” he asked.
Julia hastily closed her book. She cleared her throat. “It’s, um, Lady Audley’s Secret.”
“Ah. I see.” He advanced into the room. Slowly. Deliberately. As if he was approaching a wild horse that might shy away from him.
Julia rather felt like one.
Her heartbeat quickened as he drew closer. She instinctively shrank back against the silk-papered wall behind her, wishing she could disappear.
No such luck.
She was well and truly caught. And it was her own fault. She was the one who had chosen to hide in this particular corner. There would be no escaping him now.
He came to a halt in front of her. “Don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid? He could say that when he was looming over her like a great beast in a fairy tale?
“I won’t spoil it,” he said.
by Book Review: The Twelve Wishes of Christmas by Ruby Basu
I am pleased to welcoming Ruby Basu to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the book birthday blitz tour for her novel, The Twelve Wishes of Christmas.
She’s here for the perfect Christmas escape…
When Sharmila discovers her late friend, Thomas, has gifted her the holiday of her dreams, she can’t pack her bags fast enough. Arriving in Pineford, it’s everything she’d ever hoped for and more.
But she’s in for another surprise, because Thomas has left her with one last request: if she completes his Christmas wish list of festive activities, her chosen charity will receive a big donation. Or so Sharmila thinks.
…He’s there to reclaim his family’s legacy
Little does she know, she’s set to inherit Thomas’s estate too, much to his nephew Zach’s disbelief. Determined not to see his family’s legacy left to a stranger, he’s come to Pineford to do whatever it takes to stop Sharmila from fulfilling that list.
When Sharmila and Zach meet, neither are prepared for sparks to fly. For Sharmila’s sworn off love, and Zach doesn’t trust her. But with every passing wish they find themselves growing closer. And amongst the twinkling town lights and fallen snow, Sharmila can feel her heart opening up to Zach. But when she learns he’s been keeping a secret from her, can Sharmila forgive him and get the happy-ever-after she’s always wished for this Christmas?
****
When Sharmila finds out that she’s been gifted a holiday by her late friend, Thomas, she can’t wait to pack her bags and experience an American Christmas. Thomas has set her festive themed challenges. If she completes them, she gets money to donate to charity. What she doesn’t know is that she is also set to inherit Thomas’s estate, something his nephew Zach wants to stop. Can Christmas work its magic and bring a happy ending?
I was so pleased to be invited onto the tour for The Twelve Wishes of Christmas.
I really fell in love with the premise of this novel. It felt so romantic plus the cover is so lovely.
As I adore Christmas, I want to be Sharmila in this novel in that, I want to be able to experience a Christmas with all these activities and experiences. It sounds like a dream.
by Cover Reveal: Just One Day – Autumn by Susan Buchanan
I am very pleased to be helping reveal the cover for Just One Day – Autumn by Susan Buchanan.
Pregnant Louisa is just getting back on track when life throws her another curveball. Now, it’s not a case of how she’ll get through her to-do lists but how she’ll manage being a mum again.
No one seems to understand. How will she run her company, be partner in a new venture, look after her three kids and handle a newborn? And why does everyone think this will be easy? Except her.
All Louisa wants is to be a good mum, a good wife and have a bit of time left for herself, but sometimes that’s too big an ask. Can she find the support she needs, or will she forever be pulled in too many directions, always at the mercy of her to-do lists?
OK, are you ready to see the cover. Drumroll……..
by Book Review: The Three Loves of Sebastian Cooper by Zoë Folbigg
I am pleased to be welcoming Zoë Folbigg to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her new novel, The Three Loves of Sebastian Cooper.
As the crowds gather for charming and charismatic Seb Cooper’s funeral, three women sit in the congregation, mourning his loss.
First there is Clair, Seb’s wife and partner of twenty years, and mother of his two children. Furious at Seb for dying and leaving their children without a father, Clair isn’t sure of her place, and has been left baffled and bemused by the conflicting stories of Seb’s last days.
Then there’s Desiree, the woman Seb left Clair for. Heartbroken, self-conscious, and wondering if she made a mistake coming today.
And the third and noisiest mourner of all is Noemie – Seb’s lover and the last woman to see him alive.
Three women who loved Seb in their own different ways.
Three women whose lives have changed forever.
But only one woman knows what really happened at the end…and only one truly had his heart…
*****
People gather at the funeral of Sebastian Cooper.
Three women in particular mourn for him.
Clair, the woman he had known since childhood, the mother of his children.
Desiree, the woman he left Clair for.
Noemie, the last woman to see him alive.
The premise for this novel intrigued me. Three women who had loved one man. The story packs a punch from the first page, starting with the funeral. How did they all get to that point? I just had to know. As a result, I couldn’t put the book down.
All the main characters are interesting in their own ways. All are complicated and flawed.
by Book Club
