Title Endangered Diamond
Author M. Kate Quinn
Genre Romantic Suspense
Publisher Twisted Page Press
Book Blurb
Supermodel, Olivia Diamond, is enjoying her retirement from the glitz and rigor of fame by living the good life on Nantucket, an island off the coast of Cape Cod, until her world craters with the discovery of a dead woman on her beach. The anticipated launch of Olivia’s highly publicized tell-all memoir coupled with her eerie and undeniable resemblance to the victim, the local police urge her to hire protection until the case is solved. She knows just whom to trust.
Declan Keene, a retired Army Ranger, now a bodyguard for The Brotherhood Protectors, flies from his home in Montana for his assignment on Nantucket. It has been twenty years since he last saw Olivia, known to him then as Livvy Dorman, back when they were young and in love. They had made promises of forever and while he was deployed overseas, a talent scout crooked his finger and she was gone in a flash.
Declan and Olivia cannot forget the past and old feelings refuse to lay dormant while they navigate the twists and turns of the murder case. Can they face the truth that lives in their hearts and can they stop a murderer hell-bent on evening a score?
Excerpt:
Declan Keene sat in Hank Patterson’s office at the Brotherhood Protectors building and wondered if he’d heard his boss right. Hank was lounged back in his high-tech desk chair, his hands clasped behind his head and his mouth split wide in a shit-eating grin.
“You want to run that by me again, bro?”
Hank sat up straight and put his hands on the desk. “You heard me.”
“It almost sounded like you want me to babysit a fashion model at her mansion on some island off the coast of Massachusetts.”
Hank’s mouth slid into a sly grin. “Known as Nantucket.”
Declan shook his head. “Which has got to be, what, two thousand miles from here?”
“More than that.” Hank was enjoying this.
“And you’re serious.”
“That’s the gig.” Hank pulled a file folder into his hands and blew out a breath in mock exasperation. “It’s a toughie. Guarding one of America’s top models in her mansion on an idyllic island.”
Declan chuckled, pinning on a grin. “And it’s not even my birthday.”
Hank and Declan had become fast friends when they’d met two years ago at a mutual buddy’s wedding. When Declan learned Hank was a retired Navy SEAL and he himself had just retired as an Army Ranger, they bonded over the life of special ops. It hadn’t been long before Hank had recruited him to be a member of the Brotherhood Protectors.
Sometimes Declan still couldn’t believe that he and Hank’s paths hadn’t crossed sooner considering they’d both grown up in the southwestern part of Montana. But now for all the important things in life, they were family.
Hank slid the file across his desk. “In all seriousness, dipshit, this isn’t some chance for a little fun and sand. This lady lives alone on the remote end of the island; she found a dead body on her beach, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her. What’s that tell you?”
“Tells me that maybe somebody wants the model dead.”
“Bingo.” Hank shook his head. “And she’s mega famous so it could be anybody that’s after her.”
“I wouldn’t recognize the name or the face, I’m sure. Unless she’s been on the cover of Field and Stream maybe.”
“See for yourself.”
Declan opened the file and stared at an eight-by-ten photograph of the woman he was being assigned to watch. His jaw tightened and his insides collapsed in on themselves. Can’t be.
He looked up at Hank. “Olivia Diamond?”
“The one and only.”
He studied the photo. It was one of those black-and-white promo pictures with all the lighting hitting the angles of her face just right. She was a beauty, for sure, and yeah, he knew her. Damn it to hell, he did. But this was not the girl he’d known back when they were growing up in Montana’s small town of Hastings Corner. That girl, back when she’d been Livvy Dorman, had a kind of natural beauty that had taken his breath away from the moment he’d laid eyes on her when she was just seventeen. This quasi-mannequin, this long and lean creature with eyes that could stop you cold, this was who she’d always wanted to be, had chosen to be. She had morphed into the glitzy, smoke-and-mirrors living, breathing stick figure whose job it was to turn her pretty face this way and that for the click of a camera. He dropped the photo like it was hot.
“I know this woman personally, Hank. Or at least I did once upon a time.”
“I’m aware.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
A portion of my proceeds will be donated to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HW44ZT3
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08HW44ZT3
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HW44ZT3
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/endangered-diamond-brotherhood-protectors-world-by-m-kate-quinn
Special Giveaway:
Sign up for my newsletter for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card and other fun goodies.
Winner will be randomly drawn on October 15th at 6 pm.
Author Biography
Born to a feisty Italian mother and a gentle blue-eyed Irishman, multi-award-winning author, M. Kate Quinn draws on her quirky sense of humor, hopelessly romantic nature, highly developed sense of family and friendship, and her love for a good story while writing her novels. Her books have won and placed in such contests as The Golden Quill Award, Golden Leaf Award sponsored by New Jersey Romance writers, and the Heart of Excellence Readers Choice Award. M. Kate Quinn, a life-long native of New Jersey, makes her home in Central Jersey with her husband where they enjoy big raucous gatherings with their large family and three amazing grandchildren.
Social Media Links
Facebook.com/MarykateSchweiger
Twitter @mkatequinn