Saint or Sinner
17 years ago, I made a mistake.
A big one.
I’ve been accused of killing her father.
What happened 17 years ago was a mistake.
They let me go as a suspect.
But my innocence remains unproven.
Especially in Mira’s eyes.
She was a little girl when I last saw her.
Today, she’s this mesmerizing woman I crave.
I want to hold her tight.
To stare into her gorgeous eyes and tell her that I’ve been falsely accused.
She won’t believe me.
Finding out about what happened all those years ago is the only way.
A big question stands between us both.
My millions are worthless if I can’t find the answer.
So, what’s it going to take?
From USA Today Bestselling Authors Jenny Foster and Jolie Day comes Saint or Sinner, a 270-page romantic suspense standalone. If you love thrilling scenes, a gripping storyline, and lots of steam, this book is for you! Welcome to the world of self-made millionaire, Connor Carmichael. Enter if you dare.
“Saint or Sinner” is now available on Amazon.
(Paid Link to Amazon)
Here’s what some of you had to say:
“This book was a complete surprise to me and I loved it.” -Amazon Reviewer
“I have been glued to my kindle; even sitting with the charger at one point. THAT IS HOW ADDICTED I WAS. I began recommending it immediately before I was even half way through (who does that). Amazing storyline with superbly crafted characters. While Saint or Sinner is definitely a romance, there is so much ‘more’ to this book. Steamy…Yes, however the plot itself was incredible.” -Amazon Reviewer
“Be prepared to sacrifice sleep for this story – I did. There are so many devious twists and turns in this plot that you never know who to trust. By the end I no longer even trusted myself.” -Amazon Reviewer
“This book is, quite simply, extremely imaginative and superbly written. It had just what I wanted including a great plot.” -Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer
“I know I was shocked and could not have anticipated the ending. This unsolved murder covers seventeen years between the incident and the conclusion of justice. It was well written with tons of inner dialogue from the characters letting you know exactly want was going on in their heads.”
“…the story will twist and turn and leave you gobsmacked with the ending! A DEFINITE MUST!!” -Amazon Reviewer
“WOW!! I am speechless!” -Amazon Reviewer
“This book had me wrapped around its finger from the very beginning and kept me guessing right up to the end.” -Vine Voice
“The writing is better than any action movie Hollywood could conjure up. It’s a must read for those who like a bit of action, thrills and a who-dun-it with your romance.” -Amazon Reviewer
“An interesting “who-done-it” wrapped into a sexy romance!” -Amazon Reviewer
“Wow, the ending twist in this book will leave you with your mouth hanging open! I loved how this story was written, it has hot romance, suspense, some really tense moments that keep you on the edge of your seat with the pages turning and turning. It started a little slow for me, but after the first chapter or two, I did not want to put it down” -Amazon Reviewer
“…the ending was FANTASTIC!” -Amazon Reviewer
“Wow!!! This kept me on my toes.” -Amazon Reviewer
“…as I got into the book more, I couldn’t stop reading it. I had to know what happened next. So glad I kept reading.” -Amazon Reviewer
“Very well written! It was like getting two genres in one. Romance and mystery. Perfectly told.” -Amazon Reviewer
“Great story, sizzling sex scenes, and strong characters.” -Amazon Reviewer
“Nail bitingly mysterious. The more you read the more anxious I got with who did it, and I thought it was one person then bam nope. Must read.” -Amazon Reviewer
“Saint or Sinner will blow you away, you will not be able to put this down until the very end.” -Amazon Reviewer
Excerpt
Then
She had no idea what woke her – maybe her bellyache?
It wasn’t as bad as it had been on her first day of school, but almost. Maybe Suzanne would be able to get her a hot water bottle? Mira got up and shuffled to the door, which was unlocked again. Maybe Suzanne had done that when she had come back home and kissed her goodnight. Mira turned the doorknob and looked into the hallway.
Everything was dark. She felt her way along the wall to her sister’s room.
Her bed was empty.
Suzanne hadn’t come back home yet.
Mira’s belly hurt again and rubbing it with one hand, like her mom had shown her, didn’t help. Mommy was already asleep, and Mira didn’t want to wake her. Maybe she could ask her dad. He was obviously still awake, because the light shone from underneath his door. She knelt on the floor and stared through the banisters. Asking daddy for anything was always difficult and she was almost certain that he would get angry about her disturbing him. She couldn’t even imagine that he would actually go into the kitchen with her to fill the kettle, and then bring her back up to her bed with a hot water bottle.
Maybe it was better to just go back to bed. She sighed softly and was getting up, when she suddenly heard a voice coming from behind her Dad’s door and getting louder. She couldn’t really understand what the man said, but she knew that this was not her dad talking. It had happened before that he had had visitors at late hours, but usually these people would not argue with each other. Instead they would laugh and drink a lot. This here was something else.
Then Mira heard her dad, just as loud, but somewhat subdued. She knew she wasn’t supposed to, but she leaned in to listen. It was her father’s voice. But somehow it wasn’t. Something was very different. What she heard was not the voice of a grumbling and maybe angry bear, but instead… Her curiosity grew bigger than her fear of getting into trouble, so she slowly wandered down the steps. Her hand held on to the banisters tightly and her little feet felt for each next step in the darkness. She didn’t really know why she hadn’t turned on the light. Finally, she arrived at the bottom of the stairs and slightly curled her naked feet as they hit the cold stone floor of the large hallway. She could hear her daddy and the other man talking simultaneously and although she could make out the words, she didn’t understand what it was they talked about. Or why the two were arguing and yelling at each other. She accidentally put her thumb into her mouth, but she immediately pulled it out again. After all, she wasn’t a little girl anymore!
“I will never let that happen!” she heard her dad yell. His voice sounded very aggravated and unusually high, like mom’s voice would when they were arguing. Jarring and almost painful to the ears. At first, the other man was silent, then he answered so quietly that Mira couldn’t really hear what he said. “I will kill you, you ungrateful bastard”, screamed daddy. Mira cringed. “Bastard” was one of those forbidden words, for which she had once been grounded for an entire weekend. And now her dad had said it himself! Mira’s initial fear had somehow disappeared completely. Instead, she was now extremely angry at her dad because he couldn’t punish her for something that he would then go and do himself. That was simply unfair.
Something popped.
The noise wasn’t very loud and was more like the sound that those dusty bottles from the basement make when mommy and daddy opened them, when they were celebrating something. Mira walked closer to the door and she wondered why it was suddenly so quiet. Shouldn’t daddy and his friend be laughing and happy by now? She put her hand on the knob and was just about to open the door, when it suddenly swung open. In front of her stood a large man. She couldn’t really make out his face.
The next thing she felt were two hands that grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up.
“Hey”, he whispered. The man shifted her in his arms and then put his hand to the back of her head to press her face against his neck. “Where is your room, sweetie?” he asked, while he was already climbing the stairs. Mira struggled a little bit, but he held her close. This man did not smell so good—not as nice as Mister Knister or mommy. She did recognize the smell, but she couldn’t remember what it was. “Everything is fine, little one”, he whispered and then Mira remembered that she did know him. He was mommy’s friend and he had once allowed her to ride behind him on his motorbike. It had only been a few very slow circles, but she had liked it a lot. It had tingled in her belly like crazy, but she had held onto him really tight and had not fallen off.
“Here”, she said softly and wiggled a little when they came to the door to her room. The man opened it carefully and then quickly walked over to her bed, where he put her down.
He even tucked her in!
“Sleep tight”, he said, and he almost sounded like mom when she told Mira that it was time to go to sleep now. Mira closed her eyes and felt that she really was very tired. The man put Mister Knister into her arms, and tucked the blanket tightly all around her, just like mommy did.
And then he left.
* * *
Now
Mira walked up the stairs, turned right, and walked towards the last room in the hallway. The name of the room was painted onto the door and there was also a small window, through which Mira would be able to see her mother’s bed. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She hadn’t seen her mommy for such a long time and right now she was overwhelmed with feelings of love, shame, guilt, and childish anger that she had abandoned her and Suzanne all those years ago. Mira breathed in deeply, rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans, and looked through the small window.
What she saw made her heart beat even faster.
Next to her mother’s bed sat a man in a chair.
He had his back to the door. His left hand held one of her mother’s hands, his right hand turned over a page in a book that lay on the bed in front of him. His head was lowered slightly. Mira hesitated for a split second, because this man couldn’t possibly be her brother-in-law. Despite the distance and the somewhat awkward angle, she was fairly certain that this wasn’t him. His shoulders were just too broad, the black shirt was cut a little too tight, and his long blonde hair almost reached his shoulders.
Her heart skipped a beat when the man suddenly lifted his head as if he had felt that he was being watched.
For a split second, the world stood still.
Mira tried desperately to regain some kind of control over her wild and chaotic thoughts. What she saw and what she had been told, did not make any sense. The man then closed the book, released her mother’s hand from his, and gently put it back onto the blanket. There was a lot of tenderness in that one small gesture.
He stood up and watched the sleeping woman in front of him for a moment, before grabbing the heavy chair with one hand and gently putting it back into the corner of the room.
Mira’s heart seemed to want to burst out of her chest. She stepped back from the door and her first impulse was to just turn around and run down the hallway. To leave Nightingale Manor, before he did.
Or at least to hide.
Somewhere. But it was already too late.
The door opened.
In front of her stood Connor Carmichael.
…
End of the sneak peek.
“Saint or Sinner” is now available on Amazon.
(Paid Link to Amazon)