Friendly Friday - Featuring Sarah Ballance

Secrets and Betrayal in a TIDE OF LIES | Sarah Ballance

I'm so happy to be here, and assuming I didn't immediately clear the room, I'm thrilled to tell you about my new romantic suspense, TIDE OF LIES. But—cue the banjo—the story doesn't exactly start there. It actually begins with FAMILIAR LIGHT, a romantic thriller with a nail-biter of a climax with a shocking twist at the end. What readers see in the LIGHT opens the door to a TIDE OF LIES—a sequence of events my lead Holden learns nothing has *ever* been what it seemed. When past meets present in a series of crushing blows, he quickly learns what really matters . . . but is it too late?

FAMILIAR LIGHT is just $1.50 from Noble Romance if you'd like to start from the beginning, but the good news is you don't *have* to, as TIDE OF LIES was written as a standalone story. Ready to dive in? Here's a closer look.

TIDE OF LIES | blurb

A devastating secret. A shocking betrayal. A deadly obsession.

Haunted by three unsolved murders, Detective Holden Whitlow is stunned when his cold case takes a heated turn. Julia Cohen, his ex-lover, is back in town, and in the face of a brutal attack she's ready to run. No matter how tightly she holds her secrets, for Holden, turning away from the woman he's spent a decade trying to forget isn't any more an option than walking away from his job . . .even when it threatens to cost Julia her life.

Julia is still reeling from a past she can't bear to face. When she becomes the target of a killer, fate throws her back into Holden's arms, but she's yet to recover from a truth that has stripped her of everything—and everyone—she loves. Will she tell him the secret that will destroy him, or will her lie destroy them both?

TIDE OF LIES | excerpt

Holden rolled his shoulders and cocked his head, popping his neck. He was off his game, unable to shake the discord that arrived on the heels of the initial call. Another one. Clearly, Holden wasn't the only one haunted by the past. His sergeant's tone had carried the same wariness now lumped in Holden's chest. The question was, why?

What was it about this call that had set off eerie alarm bells in both their minds? The vic wasn't dead. Nothing about this scene seemed remotely connected to the others—and yet . . . Barrier Shoals was a small town. Most of the crime he handled was the minor break-ins and purse snatchings that seemed to plague the tourist season. A murder. An assault. These were rare. Rare enough to raise the sergeant's hackles. And after all the dead ends he'd been finding lately, Holden was on edge, as well.

Behind him, Bear cleared his throat. "You want to go talk to the vic? I can handle things here."

Holden turned, looking at Bear in surprise. "Me? It's not like you to give up a bedside encounter with a woman."

Bear dropped his cell phone in his pocket and shrugged, his self-proclaimed lady-killing grin in a lazy sprawl across his face. "You have a point there, but I'm not into sloppy seconds."

The dig worked. Holden froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You got me, Whitlow, but our vic is awake. Seems the lovely Julia Cohen is asking for you by name."

Want to learn more? Read the entire first chapter for free at Noble Romance (no registration required!)

Noble Romance https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/409/Tide-of-Lies

Amazon www.amazon.com/Tide-of-Lies-ebook/dp/B007ULLNVC/

Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1110187690

Thanks again for allowing me to be a small part of your day. ;c) Readers, I offer weekly gift card giveaways on my blog, and the only way to win is to subscribe by email. All subscribers are automatically entered each week for as long as they stay on the list—winning doesn't get any easier! For full details or to sign up, please visit http://sarahballance.wordpress.com. Hope to see you there, and if you do have a chance to check out the book, please let me know what you think. ;c)

CURRENT GIVEAWAYS | more from Sarah Ballance

To win a *print* copy of my paranormal romance HAWTHORNE, check out the following links:

*International* giveaway on my blog through April 22: http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/no-strings-attached-giveaway-hop-april-17th-22nd-wn-a-print-copy-of-hawthorne/

Goodreads Giveaway (US only) through May 11: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/24069-hawthorne

SARAH BALLANCE | about the author

Sarah and her husband of almost fifteen what he calls "long, long" years live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they're asleep. She often jokes that she writes to be around people who will listen to her, but her characters aren't much better than her kids. Fortunately, her husband is quite supportive, having generously offered to help her research "the good parts" . . . and she's never had to ask twice.

WEBSITE http://www.sarahballance.com/

BLOG http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/

AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003WKYEJI

TWITTER http://twitter.com/#!/SarahBallance

FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/sarah.ballance.author.news