Title: Broken Justice, Blind Love
Author: Rena Koontz
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Book Blurb:
Trish Kleerey is a by-the-book cop who views the world in starkly defined terms of right and wrong. Commit a crime and face the consequences. Period. But her strict moral code is challenged when her investigation into a series of gruesome murders incriminates Bryan DeJewel, the mysterious but hot and sexy fitness club owner she’s developing feelings for.
As their tentative connection grows stronger, more clues pile up, pointing to his guilt. Trish is compelled to question him about the serial killings, which jeopardizes their future together. Her training tells her he’s guilty. Her heart disagrees. She’d never feel this way about a bad guy.
For Trish to believe him, she must turn her back on hard evidence, break the rules, and risk her career to prove his innocence. Does she listen to her heart and choose love, or strap on her gun and enforce the law?
Broken Justice, Blind Love is a story that pits love and desire against principles and duty. It’s a stand-alone suspense perfect for readers who love strong female characters, complicated relationships, and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Excerpt:
She lay dead at the bottom of the steps, contorted like a used bread tie. One tennis shoe had come off halfway through her descent and stood out on the uncarpeted stair like an oil stain on an otherwise pristine driveway. Its mate remained on the woman’s foot, which had rotated backward, pointing the toes inward instead of out.
It was obvious the woman was dead. Her face was pale, translucent even, as if an outline of her jaw and facial bones might be visible if looked at closely. Police Officer Trish Kleerey checked for signs of life anyway, careful to slip into nitrile gloves first. No wrist pulse. Nothing from the carotid artery in the neck. The woman’s lifeless eyes remained open in astonishment, as wide as bottle caps. Death had surprised her.
Trish held her breath against the odor of decomposition, like rotting cabbage, and scrutinized her surroundings, peering into the empty sunroom to her right, then the vacant family room on her left. The living area, its stone fireplace cold for months, spilled into an empty dining area. Visible sweeper tracks ridged the beige pile carpet. No footprints left by a killer disturbed the straight lines.
Of all days for Conner, her partner, to be in court and she riding patrol solo. A second pair of eyes at this crime scene could be helpful.
All windows and doors appeared closed, at least from her present vantage point just inside the stained-glass door. The radio clipped to her shoulder epaulet pinged. “Officer Kleerey, homicide is on the way. Secure the scene and await their arrival. Copy?”
She touched the transmit button. “Copy. 10-4 dispatch.”
There wasn’t much to secure. A vacant house that had been on the market for months, one dead woman and herself—both of them motionless. If she could explore the house, search the premises for clues and employ her investigative skills, it might take the edge off her hunger for answers. She was the primary officer—first to arrive—on this murder scene. Not her first dead body, but her first homicide. Two of the three others had been natural causes discovered when family members couldn’t reach their loved ones, and the third killed in a car crash and dead at the scene.
But this woman with fear on her face was a puzzle begging to be solved. This was what she had trained for, where she dreamed to take her career. She knew what to do, where to start, how to preserve any evidence. But homicide detectives were en route. Her job as a patrolman here in Recanturr was to do exactly what she’d done, report the incident and make sure nothing was disturbed.
Thirty minutes earlier as she contemplated where to stop for lunch, she drove past this residence on routine patrol and noticed the loose window screen on the side of the house flapping in the high winds. Spring in Northwestern Pennsylvania could be unpredictable, one day requiring overcoats and scarves and the next, teasing residents with a taste of summer. The upcoming weather forecast predicted this front would move through with two-days of storms, allowing March to exit like a lion. The screen would end up in the next county.
Trish had parked her cruiser in the driveway, struggled to yank the errant screen from its mounting, again cursing Conner’s absence, and carried it to the front porch, intent on laying it flat and contacting the real estate agent listed on the ‘For Sale’ sign swinging from a post on the front lawn. They could collect it and store it.
Was it curiosity or a sense of evil that edged up her spine when she stood? She turned and peered through the oval glass window of the front door. That’s when she saw the body. One swift kick with her booted foot had freed the key in the lockbox. She’d stepped inside and gagged at the stench that pinched her nose.
Before calling it in, she’d walked the outside perimeter of the house to secure the scene. All windows and doors were undisturbed. Then she returned to the woman, wondering how long she’d lain there and not wanting to leave her alone any longer.
Her career goal to make homicide detective could take its baby steps in this house. But she knew better than to tramp on her colleagues’ toes.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
The realtor’s murder that inspired this story remains unsolved. Broken Justice, Blind Love delves into the mind of a serial killer and the mindset of a cop seeking justice for his victims as well as the man she loves.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs November 12 – November 21, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on November 22, 2024.
Author Biography:
Rena Koontz is an award-winning author who began her career as a newspaper journalist and was recognized by the Associated Press for excellence in reporting. She draws from her street experience to write award-winning, edge-of-your-seat suspense novels. She’s a multi-year award winner with the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. Rena writes about real events she covered as a news reporter in Pittsburgh, PA. and Cleveland, OH., weaving them into intriguing love stories. She never reveals where the facts stop and the fiction begins. Her passions are her husband and her dog. Not necessarily in that order.
Social Media Links:
Website: www.renakoontz.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/RenaKoontz
TikTok: Author_RenaKoontz
Instagram: @rena_koontz