To Catch a Bad Guy
by Marie Astor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Janet Maple’s
stellar career ended with a layoff and her boyfriend of five years told her
that he wants to be just friends. When she lands a job at one of New York’s
premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is
finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck,
but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s
handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is
short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s
business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet
finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets
to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers,
but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including
his occupation and even his name, is a lie.
Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar
crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an
opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique
broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of
geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of
experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn
between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to
choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?
EXCERPT
“Oh, I’m sorry – I’m almost done here.” A male
voice made Janet drop her purse on the floor. At least it was not her
breakfast, which she was still clutching in her hand.
“Hello.” Janet picked up her purse and touched
her pinned up hair for reassurance. Whenever she was in distress, her neat
hairdo was always a source of comfort. “I was running late...” she struggled to
explain her behavior, hoping that the unknown visitor had not deduced her
panic.
“First day, huh?” The bespectacled man sitting
behind Janet’s desk smiled at her, and she could not help noticing that he had
really lovely blue-gray eyes.
“Second day, actually.” Janet wondered how
best to broach the subject of the unknown stranger taking over her office.
“Oh, I’m sorry – this is very clumsy of me.
I’m Dean, Dean Snider – IT.” The man jumped to his feet, sticking out his hand
for a handshake. “I was just sent in to set up your computer, so I assumed that
today is your first day…”
Janet placed her purse on her desk and shook
Dean’s hand, sneaking a better look at him. He was wearing clothes that were too short for his height and slouching when he should
be standing up tall, but this goofiness rendered him an unlikely kind of charm.
“Yesterday was more of an orientation than
hands-on work,” Janet improvised a description of her work, which, honestly
speaking, had not involved any work at all.
“Well, that’s no skin off anyone’s nose.” Dean
grinned. “One thing I found in this place is that work will always be here for
you the next day. Sometimes it helps to take a breather and reassess things.”
Sensing Dean’s glance lingering on her, Janet
looked up. She was not used to IT specialists giving work advice to lawyers.
“Well…” Dean squinted at the computer monitor.
“I’m all done here. Your email is up and running, and so is the rest of your
computer. Have a good one – don’t work too hard.” Dean tipped his head.
“Thanks.” Janet smiled.
Once the door behind the IT support guy
closed, Janet settled in her chair. This had certainly been an eventful
morning. She reached for her by now lukewarm coffee and took a sip. Then she
took a bite of her croissant, but could take no pleasure in either one. For
reasons unknown to her, the IT guy’s remark was humming in her head. What was
his name? Dean, Dean Snider – that’s
right. Sometimes it helps to take a
breather and reassess things. No doubt Dean was simply making small talk,
but something in his tone made Janet uneasy.
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Marie Astor is the author of contemporary romance novels This Tangled
Thing Called Love, Lucky Charm, On the Rim of Love, romantic suspense, To Catch
a Bad Guy, and a short story collection,
A Dress in a Window. Marie is also the author of young adult fantasy
adventure novel, Over the Mountain and Back.
Books by Marie Astor:
This Tangled Thing Called Love – a contemporary romance about overcoming
one’s inhibitions, learning to tango, and finding one’s true love match.
Lucky Charm – a humorous contemporary romance about love, luck and
friendship.
On the Rim of Love – a contemporary romance about the unexpected power
of love.
A Dress in a Window – a collection of short stories about love,
coincidences, and fate.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Dress-Window-ebook/dp/B004E112TO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Over the Mountain and Back – young adult fantasy adventure novel about a
boy who takes his snowboard for a ride and finds himself in a magical, hidden
world he never knew existed.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.marieastor.com/
Twitter: @marieastor
Marie will be awarding custom designed semiprecious jewelry pieces to five randomly drawn commenters during the tour.
Prize 1: Citrine quartz and prehnite sterling silver necklace
Prize 2: Red agate sterling silver necklace
Prize 3: Onyx sterling silver bracelet
Prize 4: Smoky quartz sterling silver earrings
Prize 5: Blue quartz sterling silver earrings
Comments???
I just love the nerdy description of Dean--in his high waters and slouching. Marie does a great job with descriptions!
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Every time I see the cover it puts a smile on my face. Thanks.
ReplyDeletesherryfundin69 at netscape dot net