A day in the life of Seamus Carmichael by Amy M. Reade

If only I’d known what I was getting into when I bought that painting from the junk dealer in Edinburgh, I would have left it lying there on the floor where I found it.

After all, it wasn’t even in good shape. I recognized it as a painting by an old Scottish master, so I snapped it up before the junk shop owner knew what he had.

Och, that painting has brought no end of trouble for me and my wife, Sylvie.

Life in the village of Cauld Loch in the Scottish Highlands is good, or at least it was until Florian McDermott died under bizarre circumstances. He was a strange wee man and it’s downright eerie to think Sylvie and I may have been the last ones to see him alive.

Life for the two of us has spiraled downward since Florian’s death. We’ve gotten strange phone calls, an unexpected houseguest, and a very disturbing visit from a person who remains anonymous. It’s got to have something to do with that painting, but we don’t know what’s so special about it.

But we’ll find out, of that I’m sure.

The one bright spot since Florian’s death has been the invitation for me to show my paintings in a posh London gallery. Sylvie and I have made a vacation out of it and are staying in London for two weeks. She’s seeing the sights of one of the world’s most beautiful and storied cities while I work, but I don’t mind.

Come to think of it, Sylvie hasn’t been too specific about the places she’s visited while I’ve been working, but I’m sure she’s hitting all the high points. Och, she’ll show me the pictures when we get back to Cauld Loch. She’s a cracking photographer; she’ll choose the best photos and make prints of them to sell in our gallery.

Our time in London has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Sylvie and me, but I think we’re both ready to head back to our home in the Highlands. We miss the quiet of the village, the mountains and the loch, and our friends and family.

If only the authorities could catch the person responsible for Florian’s death, our lives could return to normal. We’re both under a lot of stress and I know Sylvie’s scared. But there’s something I need to talk to her about and if she’s not able to listen to me calmly and with an open heart, things may never be the same between us.

So much for life returning to “normal.”

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You can read more about Seamus in Highland Peril, the second book in the “Malice” suspense series.

Trading the urban pace of Edinburgh for a tiny village overlooking a breathtaking blue loch was a great move for budding photographer Sylvie Carmichael and her artist husband, Seamus—until a dangerous crime obscures the view.

Sylvie’s bucolic life along the heather-covered moors of the Highlands is a world away from the hectic energy of the city. But then a London buyer is killed after purchasing a long-lost Scottish masterpiece from Seamus’s gallery—and the painting vanishes. As suspicion clouds their new life, and their relationship, Sylvie’s search for answers plunges her into an unsolved mystery dating back to Cromwellian Scotland through World War I and beyond. And as she moves closer to the truth, Sylvie is targeted by a murderer who’s after a treasure within a treasure that could rewrite history . . . and her own future.

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About the author
Amy M. Reade is the USA Today bestselling author of The Malice Series, consisting thus far of The House on Candlewick Lane, Highland Peril, and Murder in Thistlecross. She has also written three standalone novels of gothic suspense: Secrets of Hallstead House, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, and House of the Hanging Jade.

Amy is a recovering attorney living in Southern New Jersey. She is active in community organizations and loves reading, cooking, and traveling when she’s not writing. She is currently working on three mystery novels.

Connect with Amy at amymreade.com and on Facebook.

All comments are welcomed.

A day in the life of Dr. Greer Dobbins by Amy M. Reade

Ever since my daughter, Ellie, was kidnapped right in front of her school, life for me has been anything but normal.

I wish I had words to describe the heavy, haunting despair that fills my heart when I think what she’s going through right now. She’s only five years old. The last I saw her, she was walking across the street to Dottie’s house. Dottie is my neighbor, and most days she puts Ellie on the bus with her own children. When the school called to confirm that Ellie was absent, I didn’t think much of it at first because the school has made that mistake before. But as the minutes ticked by and no one in the school could find Ellie, I started to panic. And so did Dottie, when I called to make sure she had seen Ellie getting on the bus.

And once the horrifying truth of Ellie’s disappearance began to dawn on everyone, time simultaneously rushed forward and stood still. I couldn’t catch my breath, my head spun round dizzily.

After many long hours of gut-wrenching worry and several clues that point to Scotland, the land of my birth, I’ve arrived in Edinburgh. My sister came to stay with me, ostensibly to provide moral support (though sometimes she’s more of a hindrance than a help). Her boyfriend showed up with her. He seems nice, but he brought along some rather startling baggage of his own and I’m not entirely sure I can trust him.

My days in Edinburgh are taken up with endless frustrating and disheartening attempts to find Ellie. She’s got to be here somewhere, but Edinburgh is a big city. And it’s ancient, with hidden alleys, winding streets where someone can seemingly disappear without a trace, and nooks and crannies around every corner. In other words, a perfect place to hide.

Of course the police are involved, but leads have been elusive. I keep in constant touch with the police in Edinburgh, but I can’t sit around and wait for them to find Ellie. While they work on their end, I’ve been scouring the city, from tourist sites to playgrounds and parks, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. But so far no luck.

I know the time is coming closer when I’m going to have to face my past. I fear that the key to finding Ellie may lie in the house on Candlewick Lane, where my former in-laws live. The old house, on a farm outside Edinburgh, fills me with terror for reasons that reach back to the early days of my marriage to Neill Gramercy.

It’s all very overwhelming. All I can do is hope and pray that I find Ellie before it’s too late.

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You can read more about Dr. Dobbins in The House On Candlewick Lane, the first book in the “Malice” series.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare. Greer Dobbins’ daughter has been kidnapped—and spirited across the Atlantic to a hiding place in Scotland. Greer will do anything to find her, but the streets of Edinburgh hide a thousand secrets—including some she’d rather not face.

Art historian Dr. Greer Dobbins thought her ex-husband, Neill, had his gambling addiction under control. But in fact he was spiraling deeper and deeper into debt. When a group of shady lenders threatens to harm the divorced couple’s five-year-old daughter if he doesn’t pay up, a desperate Neill abducts the girl and flees to his native Scotland. Though the trail seems cold, Greer refuses to give up and embarks on a frantic search through the medieval alleys of Edinburgh—a city as beguiling as it is dangerous. But as the nightmare thickens with cryptic messages and a mysterious attack, Greer herself will become a target, along with everyone she holds dear.

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About the author
USA Today bestselling author Amy M. Reade is a recovering lawyer living in southern New Jersey. The House on Candlewick Lane is the first of The Malice Novels, Amy’s gothic suspense series set in the United Kingdom. The second book in the series, Highland Peril, will be released in the fall of 2017. She is currently at work on the third book. Amy is also the author of Secrets of Hallstead House, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, and House of Hanging Jade, all standalones of gothic suspense. She loves reading, cooking, and traveling.

Connect with Amy at amymreade.com, her blog, Goodreads, Amazon author page, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

All comments are welcomed.

The House on Candlewick Lane is available at online retailers.

Living on the Big Island with Justine Jorgensen by Amy M. Reade

Are you hungry?

Our new chef, Kailani, made lots of food for breakfast this morning. There’s something she calls Greek yogurt panna cotta (whatever that is) and huevos rancheros and fruit salad with honey-lime dressing and cinnamon buns. They’re my favorite.

I know Kailani must be stressed out because when something is bothering her she cooks way more than my family can eat.

I don’t know exactly why she’s upset, but she’s jumpy and she keeps whispering to Liko, my brother’s tutor. I’m not supposed to be listening, but I do. I think they’re whispering about some man who lives near here. I don’t know who he is, though.

And my parents have been fighting again, which is hard on everyone.

I’m Justine Jorgensen. I’m nine years old. My family and I live in a great big house on the Big Island of Hawaii. We moved here from California, but I was only four then so I don’t remember it too well. Hawaii is a pretty cool place to live. The sun almost always shines, and we can see whales in the winter and the island of Maui from our lanai. It’s nice and warm all the time. I wish Marcus (he’s my brother) liked it better here, but he doesn’t have many friends and he wishes we still lived in California.

Kailani grew up on the Big Island, but she went away to school to become a chef. Then she went to work in Washington, D.C. She got sick of the weather there, so that’s why she moved back to the Big Island. I’m happy for her because now she can see her family more often even though she lives in our house. Kailani’s mom must be a good cook, because Kailani says she learned to cook by watching her mother. I like Kailani’s family- they came to visit our house because Kailani had an accident one day while she was out in her kayak. It was a pretty bad accident, and I don’t like to talk about it.

Kailani isn’t the only one who’s stressed out around here, though. Everyone is scared. A friend of my mom’s, Dr. Doug, died here a couple weeks ago and they haven’t found out who killed him. The grown-ups tell us it was just a stranger who wanted to rob us and Dr. Doug interrupted him. I don’t know what to believe. There have been other problems, too. Like I said, my parents have been fighting again. Sometimes they don’t talk to each other and sometimes they only yell at each other. They try to pretend everything is okay, but I know better. So does Marcus. And every so often I hear footsteps at night and I don’t know who’s walking around. I can’t sleep because I’m so scared.

Kailani probably wishes she had never come here to live with us, but I love having her here. Plus, she’s a great cook. I’ll bet she can even make Greek yogurt panna cotta taste good.

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House of the Hanging Jade is the author’s third novel, published by Kensington, April 2016.

A dark presence had invaded the Jorgensens’ house. On a spectacular bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, something evil is watching and waiting . . .

Tired of the cold winters in Washington, D.C. and disturbed by her increasingly obsessive boyfriend, Kailani Kanaka savors her move back to her native Big Island of Hawaii. She also finds a new job as personal chef for the Jorgensen family. The gentle caress of the Hawaiian trade winds, the soft sigh of the swaying palm trees, and the stunning blue waters of the Pacific lull her into a sense of calm at the House of Hanging Jade–an idyll that quickly fades as it becomes apparent that dark secrets lurk within her new home. Furtive whispers in the night, a terrifying shark attack, and the discovery of a dead body leave Kailani shaken and afraid. But it’s the unexpected appearance of her ex-boyfriend, tracking her every move and demanding she return to him, that has her fearing for her life . . .

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About the author
Amy M. Reade is a cook, chauffeur, household CEO, doctor, laundress, maid, psychiatrist, warden, seer, teacher, pet whisperer, and recovering attorney. In other words, a full-time wife, mother, and writer. She is the author of Secrets of Hallstead House and The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, both works of women’s fiction. House of Hanging Jade is her third novel. She is currently working on the first book in a new series set in the United Kingdom (expected release date in early 2017). She loves cooking, reading, and traveling.

Amy can be found online at amymreade.com, Reade and Write, Goodreads, Facebook, @readeandwrite, and Pinterest.

Giveaway: Leave comment below for your chance to win a digital copy of House of the Hanging Jade. The giveaway will end May 6, 2016 at 12 AM EST. Good luck everyone!

This is the 6th stop on the House of the Hanging Jade Great Escapes Tour. More stops on the tour can be found here.

All comments are welcomed.

A Day in the Life of Carleigh Warner by Amy M. Reade

My day usually starts in one of two ways:
a) I wake up my daughter, Lucy, in which case she’s grumpy and the day is off to a slow start, or
b) Lucy wakes me up, in which case I’m tired but happy and the day is off and running. Just like Lucy.

After I take her to preschool in Charleston, I usually head straight back to the manor where we’re living right now. It’s called Peppernell Manor and I’ve been hired to restore it to the way it might have looked during the days before the Civil War. The house is beautiful, but it’s been neglected and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work on it.

I have a detailed plan for the restoration and I work hard on the floors, the ceilings, the walls, and the trim. You name it, I work on it. It can be a dirty, grimy job, but I love what I do and the reward is seeing an old home get a new lease on life.

So my days are planned and predicable, right?

Wrong.

Something’s not right at Peppernell Manor. The family is divided over its future: Cora-Camille, the Peppernell matriarch, has hinted that she plans to change her will to leave the management of the property to the state of South Carolina. Other members of the family think the property should be administered by a for-profit investment group (the family will stand to make more money that way). I try not to get involved, but emotions run high and sometimes I wonder if Cora-Camille is safe in her own home.

I wonder if Lucy and I are safe here, too. There have been some frightening incidents since we arrived, and I don’t know who’s behind them. I don’t want to leave the restoration of Peppernell Manor unfinished, but protecting Lucy is my top priority.

Cora-Camille’s granddaughter, Evie, is one of my best friends. I love Evie dearly, but on top of everything else that’s going on, she wants me to start dating again. I’ve been anti-men since my divorce (my ex-husband left me for a stripper – that still stings), so Evie is a bit more enthusiastic about my love life than I am. But we’ll see. . .

Add to all of that the house manager who talks to ghosts, and you can see why my days don’t always go exactly as planned.

Did I mention it is hurricane season?

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You can read more about Carleigh in The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, published by Kensington.

Outside of Charleston, South Carolina, beyond hanging curtains of Spanish moss, at the end of a shaded tunnel of overarching oaks, stands the antebellum mansion of Peppernell Manor in all its faded grandeur. At the request of her friend Evie Peppernell, recently divorced Carleigh Warner and her young daughter Lucy have come to the plantation house to refurbish the interior. But the tall white columns and black shutters hide a dark history of slavery, violence, and greed. The ghost of a former slave is said to haunt the home, and Carleigh is told she disapproves of her restoration efforts. And beneath the polite hospitality of the Peppernell family lie simmering resentments and poisonous secrets that culminate in murder—and place Carleigh and her child in grave danger. . .

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on May 5 for the chance to win a kindle copy of The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor. The e-book giveaway is open to everyone. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your SPAM folder.

About the author
Amy M. Reade grew up in northern New York. After graduating from college and law school, she practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where she lives now with her husband, three children, dog, and two cats. She writes full time and is also the author of Secrets of Hallstead House, a novel of romantic suspense set in the Thousand Islands region of New York. She is currently working on her third and fourth novels, set in Hawaii and Cape May, New Jersey, respectively. She loves cooking, reading, and traveling, and is entranced by the beauty and charm of the South.

Amy can be found online at website, her blog, on Twitter or on Facebook

A Day in the Life of Macy Stoddard by Amy M. Reade

My name is Macy and I’m a nurse with a pretty unique job. I live on an island in the St. Lawrence River, among the Thousand Islands in upstate New York. I have only one patient: her name is Alexandria Hallstead.

I know it may seem strange for a young New Yorker to look for a job that takes her away from her friends and her social life, but I took the job for a special reason. My parents were killed in a car crash recently and right after that my boyfriend dumped me because he couldn’t handle my “emotional fragility.” Good riddance to him.

So here I am. Ms. Hallstead, or Alex, is almost eighty years old, but she still runs her family’s oil company and is a very busy lady. She hates that her hip surgery has slowed her down, so it’s my job to help her get her life back to where it was. It’s fulfilling work, but it also gives me the down time I need to heal my personal wounds.

I’m an early riser, so I like to go for a walk before Alex gets up. Walking around the island early in the morning is a peaceful way to start the day, but it also allows me to avoid some of the other people who share the island with me, several of whom obviously don’t want me there for reasons that remain a mystery.

The rest of my day is spent helping Alex with exercises, taking her for short walks outdoors, painting, and exploring. It might sound like it’s all fun and games, but it’s not. I’ve been target of vicious threats and even violence, and I’m scared. I’m thinking about leaving, but Alex needs my help. She is no stranger to tragedy and sorrow, and something from her past has reared its head to jeopardize her safety and peace of mind.

I want to help, but I’m afraid I just may not survive long enough to help Alex.

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You can read more about Macy in Secrets of Hallstead House, published by Kensington.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 6 p.m. eastern on December 19 for the chance to win a Kindle copy of SECRETS OF HALLSTEAD HOUSE. The giveaway is open to everyone.

About the author
Amy M. Reade grew up in an area not far from the Thousand Islands in upstate New York and spent her summers on the St. Lawrence River. After graduating from college and law school, she practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where she lives now with her husband, three children, dog, and two cats. She writes full-time and is also the author of The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, which will be released by Kensington Publishing in April, 2015. She is currently working on her third novel. She loves reading, cooking, and traveling.

Visit Amy on her website, on Twitter or on Facebook