Book Review of Jaded by Kenya Carlton
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Jaded
By Kenya Carlton
Genre: Mystery/Romance with paranormal elements
Book Synopsis:
War correspondent Mia James is back on US soil and ready to
tackle a juicy political story that could make national headlines. A
politician’s aid goes missing, and the son of the wealthiest family is the only
suspect.
Determined to take down the mayor of the small seaside town,
Mia comes up against an angry ghost with her own agenda.
Afraid she may be suffering from post-traumatic stress Mia
figures that she’s way over her head and enlists the help of resident black
sheep Gabe Montgomery. Now, she must solve the mystery of her not so friendly
ghost; stop herself from falling in love with the mysterious winery owner, all
while making it out alive.
Book Excerpt:
Martin Conway didn’t know what to expect. He idled in his
police cruiser on the curb in anticipation of a few ominous clouds or some
menacing lightening to strike down on the house. He wasn’t quite sure since he
avoided this place as much as possible.
The manor that sat above Vine was a picture of Victorian
splendor. Or at least that’s what the welcome brochure to all new tourists had
professed.
No one had occupied the oldest standing mansion in town
permanently for years and the historical society made sure no one probably ever
would. Restrictions had been placed on the home that most modern families
weren’t willing to contend with and older homeowners would be too overwhelmed
to be bothered. The most that could be hoped for was the occasional renter. So
the mansion that encompassed every viable asset that a haunted house possibly
ever could, sat empty.
It didn’t matter that the lawn was cut and the bushes were
trimmed. Nor did it matter whether fresh paint was applied every other year or
so. Right now all that mattered was that he, Martin Conway, had to get his butt
in gear to welcome the new residence of Holloway Manor to Vine.
As Sheriff he took his job seriously. Crime was virtually
nonexistent. A few run-ins with the local teenagers now and again were the
worse offenses he imagined but that was expected in any small town.
Martin turned the ignition off and grabbed his hat. Vibes of
intense displeasure seemed to waft his way from the house, with a deep breath
he pushed his apprehension to the side and sorted through his thoughts of what
to say to the new neighbors of Vine.
"Good Afternoon, Ma'am." Martin tipped his head to
the cute little number at the door. Pleasantly surprised he greeted the woman
with all smiles.
"Good afternoon, Officer-"
"Conway, Sheriff Conway," he introduced himself.
The look on her adorable face made him forget the regular
spiel he had prepared for all the newbie’s that entered town. She was this tiny
little thing with big boobs and a nice ass which was a win-win combination in
his estimation. Her smooth cocoa skin made his mouth water not to mention her
face was kewpie doll cute but her expression told him she was all about being
bad. The pool of her brown eyes seemed to suck him into her.
"Where are my manners? Please come in Sheriff. My name
is Tracy and this tired piece of trash over here is my cousin, Mia." He
followed the woman into the Holloway home to find it was exactly as he had
imagined.
Big and creepy!
The structure was the only house that could be seen from the
Carlisle hilltop that looked down on Vine. From the door the stained glass
windows cast a colorful dance of colors around the front room. A bright and
cheery effect that should have appeared fun and joyful, but came across eerie
and haunting instead.
White dust cloths covered what he could only imagine was
antique furniture. The unlived look probably lent a helping hand to the spooky
factor of the estate.
Entranced with the infamous inside interior of the Holloway
mansion, he almost stumbled over this woman. Simply stunned into stupidity by
her perfect face he missed the hand that she held out to him.
"Mia James, what can I do for you?" His tongue
twisted around his mouth. Ordinarily he would be considered a man of authority
but this woman made him babble like a fool.
"I uh, I wanted to welcome you to Vine. I saw your
truck and thought I would be first to welcome you to our fine city."
"I appreciate that," she replied.
"We have a little picnic scheduled this evening at The
Grove and we would be delighted if you could join us." He flashed his pearly
smile in hopes it would be enough to persuade them to come.
"Who is we, Sheriff?"
"The Mayor is sponsoring this little shindig to extend
his hand of thanks to the people of Vine."
"Special thanks for what?" Mia asked.
"Uh.” Both women stared at him with something crossed
between humor and confusion.
"He wants to thank everyone for their support in Vine
and continued support when he runs for Congress."
"Well Conway,” Mia began, “that's a mighty fine
invitation but I think I'll pass." she touched his elbow, with the
sweetest smile. He was so enchanted with the Egyptian shape of her brown eyes
that he found himself outside of the front door without the faintest idea how
he got there. "Thank you for keeping us in mind."
"But there's barbecue and fireworks," he stupidly
stammered.
"Sounds like a true hootenanny of a good time. We will
definitely give it some thought." He understood a polite brush off when he
saw one. Mia was so gracious he almost didn't mind how she had just
kicked him out of the house.
“Oh well.” He stepped off the wraparound porch. Most likely
he would see her again around town. Of course, the lack of information about
these women would leave room for the Mayor to be unhappy with his fact finding
duties.
Martin headed to his cruiser and figured he would go check
across town for those vandals that kept spray painting something as silly as
‘Water’ in the quarry. It was the perfect excuse that he was too busy to be
nosey if the Mayor asked.
Tour Dates:
Kenya Carlton
August 7 Review
Jaded
Books, Books, and More Books
http://dream-reader-dreamer2229.blogspot.com/
August 10 Review Sweet
as Sin
Books, Books, and More Books
http://dream-reader-dreamer2229.blogspot.com/
August 15 Guest Post
The Romance Writer's Reads
August 24 Review
Persephone's Winged
Reviews
August 27 Guest Post and Review
A Great Book Is The
Cheapest Vacation
August 28 Guest Post
Sultry
Storyteller
August 30 Reviews
Black Hippie Chick's
Take on Books & The World
August 31 Guest Post
and Review
Romance Book Junkies
September 5 Promo
Sweet As Sin
Crossroads
September 7 Guest
Post (Jaded)
September 11 Guest
Post (Sweet as Sin)
Susan Haugland @ A Soul Unsung
September 16th
Le Vanity Victorienne
September 20th
Guest Post
Ramblings from this
Chick
September 22 Guest
Post
Andi's Book Reviews
September 24 Promo
Jaded
September 30 Promo
Sweet as Sin
October 1 Guest Post
(Jaded)
Queen of All She
Reads
October 5 Promo
(Sweet As Sin)
Queen of All She
Reads
October 15 Guest Post
Sweet as Sin
October 26 Guest
Post (Jaded)
Susan Haugland @ A Soul Unsung
Author Information:
Kenya has a B.A. in
Mass communication, Television and Radio. She has fifteen years in production
of television and film and five in television engineering. In 2009 Kenya
Produced Dawn a short film and Executive Produced Destination
Everywhere the pilot for a travel series through her production company
Black R.O.K Productions established in 2008.
Book Review:
Jaded is a cross
between a romance, mystery, and horror story, but it is definitely an adult
only book. The basic story could be read by any age, but the book goes
into detail in several areas that make it unsuitable for the young.
I enjoyed reading
Jaded. While I was totally wrong on the who-done-it, it was a total twist
for me that connected the second story line; I enjoyed the main characters Mia
and Gabe. Their relationship was not story-book perfect and contained the
right amounts of tenderness and sarcasm, love and distrust and dislike, to keep
it from becoming overly sappy and saccharine.
I did get lost a few
times as there are several storylines going on. They all end up being
somewhat related, but a couple time I had to look back to verify who a couple
people were. This was a minor issue compared to the overall excellent
storytelling. I enjoyed the foibles of the characters and was satisfied
with the outcome… what more could you ask of a story.
I give this 4 out of
5 clouds.
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