WIDOW'S TALE - Romantic Suspense

[MaMiller]

Howdy! I just wanted to introduce you to my Romantic suspense novel, WIDOW'S TALE. This is a dark romance set on the rugged cliffs of Maine.

Serena Murphy was losing her mind.

Every night Serena stood on the deck of O'Flanagans Tavern, searching Maine's rugged coast for a sign of her husband's body. Though he was pronounced lost at sea, Alan Murphy still haunted her as only his malevolent spirit could. In the loft above her tavern, Serena hears footsteps pace across her living room floor, yet when she turns, no one is there.

Alan would not let a little thing like death stop him from tormenting her. If she could just find his body, surely this torture would stop.

It had been ten years since Brett Murphy saw his sister in-law, although the separation was by design, to avoid temptation. Now Brett was in Victory Cove, not to declare his feelings for Serena, but to discover the truth about his brother's death. In doing so, he must battle Serena's ghosts, both real and contrived.

Available in all e-book formats at Smashwords.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3352

Or in Kindle and Paperback at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00147RWB8

[MichaelFStewart]

Hi, MaMiller, welcome! It's great to have another author here.

Cheers,

MFS

[MaMiller]

Thank you, sir! 24 Bones looks great!

[dreams]

Welcome to MR, MaMiller.

We love to support author members who participate in our forums. Peek into our many forums, ask questions if you would like to know something, and jump into the various discussions.

Thank you for publishing on smashwords for those of us who don't own Kindles and or don't live in the USA.

[MaMiller]

I thought I would offer some random 'snippets' from WIDOW'S TALE so that you can get your feet wet. This first snippet isn't so random. It is the beginning of the book, but others will follow...

Serena Murphy squinted into the wind, searching cliffs lashed by angry surf. Maine’s autumn freeze wrapped her in its clutch and whipped her hair over her face.
Serena was looking for a body.
The maelstrom assaulting the deck of O’Flanagans Tavern did not deter her. She leaned forward and gripped the rail.
A month had passed already, and each day before the dinnertime rush, Serena came out to search the cliffs for any trace of her husband, Alan, who’d been pronounced lost at sea.
Alan was dead. She was sure of that. Even the sea spoke to her, weaving a tale of his demise in the fishing boat she had urged him to repair. She was certain he was dead because he haunted her. Not as a physical ghost, but there were signs—small, intimate signals that could only be executed by Alan’s malevolent spirit.
"Serena! Get in here before you catch your death of cold!"
Tempted to ignore the intrusion, Serena caught a glimpse of her part-time waitress, Rebecca, with her head stuck out the back door.
What an image she must portray to the young woman. Every night Serena stood out here, perched atop these cliffs, searching for a body. Searching for ghosts.
But that’s not what her waitress saw. She saw a distraught widow anguished over the loss of her husband. She did not see her. She did not see the woman who feared Alan even after death.
It took effort, but Serena called across the wind, "I’ll be right there."
Alone with the waves that crashed against the rocks below, Serena waited for pain to envelop her. She waited for heart-wrenching sobs or any raw emotion that might signal despair over the loss of her husband.
Only the bleak whistle of the wind and the somber ring of a buoy answered.

WIDOW'S TALE http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00147RWB8

[MaMiller]

Here is today's snippet from WIDOW'S TALE. Enjoy!!!

Gloved hands grasped ineffectively at the bedrock as Serena scaled downhill, cringing with each furious wave that broke below to shower her in an arctic veil. Hugging the cliffside, repeating Brett’s name in a mantra that went unheard, Serena continued till the path became nothing more than a checkerboard of gleaming rocks. She hurdled onto the nearest ledge, praying that the slick surface would support her. With a hand held over her eyes to deter the spray, she assessed the immediate area.
Unaided by the moon, trapped in the shadow of the headlands, balanced only by a well-placed foothold, Serena screamed out Brett’s name.
The hiss of the tide answered her.
Moonlight freed from the clouds gravitated towards the coast, illuminating the crags on which she now clung. Risking another leap, Serena landed on the sheared end of a rock, her leg slipping and plunging into the glacial water.
She screamed.

WIDOW'S TALE - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00147RWB8

[MaMiller]

Good morning all! Here's another sampler from WIDOW'S TALE

Something made her stop.
That prickly sensation at the back of her neck—the same paranormal sensation that occurred just before her ghosts arrived.
Under the beacon atop the bordering trawler, Serena traced the arc of light. In horror she watched the surging black wall of water that came straight at them.
Her scream was severed by its impact.
Launched from the deck into the frigid void, suspended in churning darkness for an eternity, Serena surfaced, choking. She squinted against the onslaught of the storm and located the trawlers, shifting shadows several feet away. Struggling to kick her feet, her arms flailed to keep above the waves.
Cruelly, Serena’s mind flashed to the past. She felt the weight of Alan’s hand on her head. Sputtering for breath, she tilted her neck back so that only her face reached the cold night.
Two kicks.
One.
Serena’s legs stopped moving.
With a last twitch of strength, her arms fell still.

[MaMiller]

It's time for your new WIDOW'S TALE snippet (I sound like a doctor)

Alan was gone.
Serena was relieved to hear him leave. In fact, that that had always been the case.
Yet it was at this moment, this dreadful silence before the arrival of her next phantom that Serena recognized the icy tendrils of fear. When her ghost arrived today, it assaulted her not with the anticipated wails of anguish, but something much more horrifying.
Laughter.
Serena’s hands lashed out before her to hold the sound at bay, but the child’s echoes of mirth dipped into her soul, permitting a glimpse of a life taken. Serena moaned, but the childish giggles prevailed, a singsong laughter that had her teetering on the edge. Incoherent pleas fell from her lips as she hugged her arms about her and rocked back and forth, ignorant of the tears coursing down her cheeks.
That was how Brett found her.

[Elsi]

Hello MaMiller -- and welcome to MobileRead. As dreams said, we love it when authors stop by to talk about their books. Your Widow's Tale sounds just like the kind of books my daughter is fond of, so I bought it from Amazon and we'll both be able to read it and discuss it.

[MaMiller]

Thank you, Elsi I hope you both enjoy it. I'd love to hear your feedback.

[MaMiller]

I hope ya'all don't mind, but here's a new snippet from WIDOW'S TALE

Serena lifted a hand towards the lantern on the nightstand, but her fingers stopped short and retreated. Instead, she closed her eyes to shut out the dim light. Abruptly, her eyes flared, afraid of the darkness beneath her eyelids.
Alan was still alive.
She could feel it in the thunderous beating of her heart and the throbbing of her veins. Hands that clutched the quilt beneath her chin began to shake. Alan would torment her. He had already begun. Then he would come for her—and what he would do to her depended on how far over the edge he had finally gone.
Serena burrowed under the covers. In a whirl of anguish and fear, her last conscious thought before she fell asleep were the words Brett had uttered.
Because I wanted you.


Widow's Tale http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00147RWB8

[MaMiller]

Today, I'll introduce you to the eccentric crew at O'Flanagans Inn in Victory Cove, Maine

...from Widow's Tale

Serena reached across the bar to swipe under Coop’s mug, throwing a fresh napkin down beneath it.

"Rena, honey, can you get me anothah?" Harriet Morgan’s voice boomed from the far end of the L-shaped bar.

Harriet exhaled into her clenched fist, wriggling her fingers to entice circulation. As she approached, the woman nodded at Cooper and then unwound her scarf to reveal a hefty secondary chin. "You didn’t pick up those extra traps, Coop."

"So you closed your tackle shop," he muttered, "and came down to O’Flanagans to bring ‘em to me?" Coop’s narrowed eye caught the twenty-ounce mug sitting before the robust woman. "And the thought never occurred to you that you might tip back a few while waiting here."

"I don’t need your sorry ass as an excuse. You know damn well I got me a keg undah the counter at the shop." Harriet’s cheeks were unnaturally rosy, and in just the right light, her gray hair appeared blond.

"Weathah’s hell out there today," Harriet rambled on. "I ain’t got no business, so why not come down and drink in good company." She tipped her head at Serena.

Coop snorted as some of the white froth caught on his mustache. "Well, I’m flattered, Harriet, I really am, but the missus has been good to me." A quick grin flashed a golden tooth. "I’ll die a loyal man."

"I ain’t talking about you, Bittyfield, so shut that mouth before I come over there and shut if for you."

Serena laughed. It felt good to watch Cooper and Harriet in their verbal volley.

The door to the tavern opened. Wind penetrated the bar, propelling napkins off the polished surface to spiral in erratic bundles on the floor. For a suspended moment a shadowy stranger stood eclipsed by the harsh sky outside. The door slammed shut and left the brooding figure to glare at the proprietor of O’Flanagans.

"Well, if it isn’t the grieving widow."

[MaMiller]

Today's little blip from Widow's Tale. (Just think all....if you're patient enough, in two years will have read the whole book on this thread )
--------------------------
The room was frigid, the warmth of the fire upstairs long forgotten. Brett was conscious of Serena’s fingers entwined with his as she guided them past the bank of windows into a short hall flanked by blackened chambers.

Doorways to the unknown.

In a whisper, Serena chronicled what each quarter represented.

"This is the den to the right, and on the left is a guest room, and towards the far end there, was—the bedroom."

Brett felt a stab of shame for resenting the happiness his brother once had, but Alan was foolish enough to damage a good thing.

Flashlight held aloft, Brett slipped ahead of Serena into the den. Erratic sweeps of the light dissected the darkness. In its scope, the flare encompassed bookshelves with threadlike cobwebs linked to the recessed ceiling. He swept the light over a wooden desk adorned with a blotter, brass lamp, and photo of Serena and Alan. Brett scooped up the framed picture and heard Serena’s startled gasp behind him. She too saw that the glass had been shattered, their faces obscured behind a web of jagged shards.

[MaMiller]

Good morning everyone!

Monday's are generally bad, so I offer good news to compensate!
There is a private sale on WIDOW'S TALE on Smashwords good through November 2nd. With the coupon code FC78Z you can get Widow's Tale for only .99 !!!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3352

[bookfanmd]

Thanks for the coupon. I just bought the book from Smashwords.