Enter to Win! Giveaway of Noir Romantic Suspense THE WIDOW Available NOW in Paperback AND eBook!

Greetings, dear readers!

I have exciting news for all of you who prefer to have and to hold an actual book-book rather than a Kindle, iPad, Nook, or whatever: The intense psychological noir thriller The Widow  is now available in paperback, in addition to all eBook formats and the gorgeous hardcover edition. For a limited time, you can order the paperback edition directly from the Southern Girl Press bookstore for only $12.99, although it is also available at the regular price from Amazon (coming soon to all online and "brick & mortar" booksellers).

PLUS A GIVEAWAY- Leave a comment below and you could win your very own copy!

The Widow is a noir romantic thriller (What is Noir Fiction?) with Catherine as the troubled, disillusioned, self-destructive heroine and David, the anti-hero, an undercover DEA agent, who cannot bring himself to trust Catherine nor ignore his obsession with her, which haunts his dreams.

The Widow begins with a game of cat-and-mouse as Catherine attempts to escape from the claws of the drug cartel following her husband's assassination at the hands of a rival gang. David must bring her back on the orders of both his employers: The Sonora Cartel and the DEA. David tracks her down to El Paso with the intent to bring her back to L.A., but Catherine does not plan on making it easy for him....



The alarm on his cellphone screeched at five a.m. David wanted to get on the road early, get back to L.A., and put this behind him, get his mind on his mission. Catherine’s words had struck a nerve. He knew she probably did hate him, and for good reason. If he hadn’t had that goddamn cab followed, she might have gotten away. She certainly would have had a head start with no one the wiser as to which direction. He had betrayed her solely to ingratiate himself to Carlos. Every muscle in his body tightened at the thought of how Felix and Carlos might punish her.
He glanced at her empty bed, but the bathroom door was closed, and he heard the shower on. She must have woken up even earlier than he did just to take a shower while he slept, as if he really might walk in on her. After changing his shirt, putting on his shoulder holster, packing his bag, and running the channels on the TV, he and his bladder decided she’d been in there long enough.
“Catherine?” Too long. He knocked. No response. He jiggled the knob. Locked. “Catherine! Get out and unlock this door—now!” He jiggled the knob again for no reason. His gut knew better. He took a few steps back then forced his way in easily with one thrust of his shoulder.
She was gone.
He pulled back the shower curtain and shut off the ice-cold water, the tiny window yawning at him. He squeezed his eyes with his finger and thumb and released a guttural sigh that eventually rattled out as “Fuck!” which he repeated with each of the five kicks he gave to the tub. How did she squeeze through that tiny window? He climbed in the tub and glowered at the two-story drop below. At least her body wasn’t plastered to the asphalt. She could have been seriously injured. At the very least, she must have limped away. Someone had to have seen her.
David jerked his jacket on, tossed the chair away, and bolted out of the room, slamming the door as he marched across the balcony and down the stairs to the office. The manager on duty had not been the one to check him in, so he pulled out his phone to show the man the series of photos he had snapped in the diner without her knowing.
“Excuse me,” David said, as the manager’s attention had not veered from his television even when David entered. As the man dragged himself out of his chair, David leaned across the counter. “Have you seen this girl?” The man narrowed his eyes as David swiped through the pictures then met David’s eyes with a slight shake of his head. Thinking perhaps the man hadn’t understood, he said, “¿Has visto a esta mija?”
The manager shook his head. “I understood you, mister, but I have not seen her.”
“Are you sure? She had a backpack—and she probably had her hair pulled back. Here, look again.” David handed him the phone, and then he recalled her bribe. “If she paid you to keep quiet, I can pay you more.”
The manager handed the phone back. “No one paid me. I haven’t seen her. Besides.” His eyes pointed down to where David’s jacket gaped open. “You’re the one with the gun.”
David walked to the back of the building and peered up at the open window. If she had hung from the window and then let go, it was still quite a drop. Unless she had some help. Damn him for not checking her bag! She had put the cellphone they knew about on a different bus, but she could have another one and used it to text someone to come get her. And no telling how long she’d been gone.
On his way back to the room, he showed the pictures of Catherine to the maid preparing her cart to begin her rounds, but she had just arrived and hadn’t seen anyone. Upstairs, he sank heavily onto the bed, weighted down by his failure. Maybe he should just let her go. He didn’t blame her for hating him. She would never trust him again, as well she shouldn’t. He was a liar by trade.
With a weary sigh, he placed the call to his fellow Feds. “Yellow,” Alan said. “Home one.”
“We’ve had another setback.”
“Where are you?”
“El Paso.”
“El Paso? We figured you’d be back in L.A. last night.”
“Long story. She can’t fly. But listen…She’s gone.”
“Gone? You mean you lost her? How?”
“We were in a motel room. She climbed out the bathroom window while I was asleep.”
Alan burst out laughing. “She gave you the slip while you were in the same room?” David dropped his head onto his free hand as Alan continued to laugh and then called out, away from the phone, “Guess what! David lost the widow! She gave him the slip when he was asleep in their motel room.”
“Are you just about done?”
“And you called the vehicle team the ‘Keystone Cops.’ Timely reference, by the way. I had to explain it to Jess. So they didn’t see her leave?”
Yet another mistake he’d made. “After I took over, I let them go.”
“Well, that was stupid.”
“I thought we were getting on a plane!”
“So she jumped out a window? What floor were you on?”
“Second. It only has two stories. It was still a long drop. I think she might have gotten someone to help her.”
“Help her how?”
“I don’t know—bring a ladder or a truck or call out ‘Rapunzel, let down your hair’! How the fuck am I supposed to know?”
“What’s your next move?”
“I’m tempted just to let her go. If I hadn’t recognized her getting into that cab…but I have to find her. If they find her before I do, I’m not sure what they’ll do to her, but it won’t be pretty. It’s just after six, so I’m going to show her picture around the bus station, see which bus she got on, assuming she did. I’ll check in and let you know what I find out in case you can send someone after her.”
“So are you coming back to L.A.?”
“Depends on where she’s headed. I’m starving, so after I grab a bite to eat, I’ll come back to the room for a quick shower and take it from there.”
“Have you told Carlos or any of the Martinezes?”
“Not until I find her.”
“What if she gives you the slip again?”
“No, next time I get her, I won’t let her go.”
"A gripping novel of love and betrayal. The story is full of angst within their relationship, keeping you on the edge of your seat each time you turn a page." - Rach Lawrence Books 

"A non-stop thrill ride. I enjoyed the intelligent writing and the fast paced action. The relationship between David and Catherine as fellow rivals turned to each other for mutually beneficial reasons is well done and adds great depth to the story line. I was unable to stop reading this book until it was done." - Lori Reed 

"This gripping, angst-filled story was fast paced and interesting, with Catherine more emotionally broken as events unfolded and David going back and forth on whether to trust her and how far he was willing to jeopardize his career." - A Klues

"This is a must read! I love the way the writer made me feel like I was there. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next."- Sue Wallace 

"This book is a noir thriller with a bunch of steamy deliciousness for the reader's pleasure. I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good noir thriller."- Tina Carter, Half Agony Half Hope










Comments

  1. This does sound amazing. I have watched noir, but never read it. A great opportunity thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on the new book, Colette!

    ReplyDelete

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