Release Party- Day 2!

 

Hello, hello! Thank you to everyone who joined me yesterday for the beginning of my Release Week! Today I'm still celebrating Christmas with the family so I decided to share another snippet of the book with you. I LOVE this opening and I talk about it every chance I get. I teach an online class a few times a year about writing Killer Openings. I'm hoping this one fits into that category and that my former students would be proud of me!

 

Without further ado, here is the Killer Opening of Simple Treasures.



Chapter One
Colin Munro didn’t know which knife to worry about more, the one pointed at his throat or the one at his crotch.

"You’ve got ten seconds to tell me who the hell you are, or I start slicing," the woman threatened.

He glanced into her stormy dark eyes. Joanna Grainger. The lass he’d been sent to keep safe.

Aye, but who would protect him?

"Take care where you move those blades." Of course, he wasn’t terribly worried. If he needed to, he could easily disarm her. She stood about five foot six without the high heels she’d been wearing when she’d first entered her flat.

"I’m the one giving orders here." The steel at his neck pushed a bit closer to his Adam’s apple.

"I don’t think so." Colin smacked her arms, snatched the blades from her fingers with one hand, and pushed her back to the wall. The picture frame close to her head shook, but he hadn’t shoved with nearly as much force as he could have. He pinned both her wrists to the wall above her head. "I’m Colin Munro, and I’m here to protect you."

"I don’t remember asking anyone for help." She brought her knee up for a perfect shot to his groin, but he shifted in time to get his family jewels out of the way.

"You didn’t, but Heather Winchester did." He imagined she could be quite bonnie when she wasn’t scowling or threatening him.

The name of her university mate drew those big brown eyes wide for a moment. "Heather?" She dropped her leg, leaving her navy skirt sitting crooked on slim hips.

"Aye. Heather called Russell MacLeod of the International Protective Network this morning, explained you’d witnessed a crime, and she was worried about you. She thought you might need protection. They gave the job to me." 
She narrowed her gaze on him. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because if I were here to kill you, you’d already be dead." Taking a step back, he tossed the blades to the coffee table. The sound of the metal scattering across the wood charged into the silence of the room. Her back, he noticed, stayed against the wall.


If you've read my first book, Her Highland Champion, you'll recognize Heather's name. She was the heroine in that first book. Although my characters drift through each others' stories, you do NOT need to read all of the books to "get it".

Remember to leave a comment today (or in yesterday's comments...or both!) to be in the running for the FIRST PRIZE, which will be awarded after midnight tonight!

Enjoy the rest of your Boxing Day and be sure to stop by tomorrow to learn more about Simple Treasures, the book that almost wasn't!