Dawn's Reading Nook: Guest Author Day with M. S. Spencer

For the Love of a Spy: the Scrivener and the Handyman

I Heart Publishing, December 27, 2018

Romantic suspense; Thriller/Espionage

Spicy (PG-13)

Blurb:

In an era electric with possibility and peril Maris Graystone and Michael Kinder meet under oddly conventional circumstances. Despite the instantaneous sparks, they both sense there is more between them than physical attraction.

Their love affair intensifies against the backdrop of the dramatic world events of 1991—a disintegrating USSR, Middle East peace talks, and Vietnam’s reemergence on the world stage. Michael appears and disappears at unpredictable moments, leaving Maris limp and lovelorn. In her quest for answers, she is yanked into the dangerous world of Michael’s work—in Washington, DC, in France, and in Spain. Looking for safe harbor for her emotions and her body, she accepts the advances of a dashing French diplomat.

Will she embrace the luxury and comfort of Émile and his chateau or the romance of international intrigue with Michael?

Excerpt: Shock

As she walked, Maris pondered the events of the day. The streets and faces around her blurred. When she reached the tabac at the corner of her street, the proprietor was setting out copies of the evening paper, France-Soir. A picture on the front page caught her eye. The headline blared, “Body Found in Alley Near Elysée Palace.”

All the pain and confusion from the strange phone call rushed back. She bought a copy, her hands trembling so badly she dropped the change. She found a bench and took a deep breath before examining the picture. It showed a dark form lying splayed out on its back in an alley. She skimmed the article. The police had little to go on so far; they were searching for witnesses. They suspected foul play—gee, could it be because of the gunshot wound in his chest? The victim wore a Russian-made suit, but they’d found no identification in it. They assumed he was foreign, possibly someone associated with the Russian delegation meeting that week with trade officials.

She forced herself to focus on the picture. She couldn’t make out the face. Did the police deliberately obscure it? Or had it been disfigured? The build was Michael’s, and she could make out a shock of thick, black hair. Just like Michael’s.

So it’s true. He’s dead. The paper fell from her nerveless fingers. What she had been fearing, expecting, for months, had come true. He was dead.

Someone stopped in front of her and picked up the newspaper. Through the haze of grief, she heard the man ask if she needed help. She forced herself to shake her head. He paused and put his hand on her arm, but she refused to look at him, afraid to speak, afraid she would start babbling, confessing everything to this perfect stranger. She heard him walk away, while she sat unseeing, waiting for the tears that would not come. She felt her heart disintegrating, all the tiny pieces lodging in inaccessible organs. How will I—how can I—live without him?

Buy Links:

I Heart Publishing: https://www.iheartbookpublishing.com/for-the-love-of-a-spy-the-scrivener-and-the-handyman.html

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KWW84WQ

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/909525

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/for-the-love-of-a-spy-the-scrivener-and-the-handyman

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1129945788

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/for-the-love-of-a/9780463300268-item.html

Keywords: Romantic suspense, 20^th-century fiction, Espionage thrillers, Global thrillers, Washington, DC romance

About the Author:

Although M. S. Spencer has traveled in five continents, she spent the last thirty years in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional assistant, speechwriter, and non-profit director. She has two grown children and a perfect granddaughter. Ms. Spencer has published twelve mystery/romantic suspense novels, and currently divides her time between Florida and Maine.

Contacts:

Blog: https://msspencertalespinner.blogspot.com