Title: The Girls in Cabin Number Three
Author: Chrysteen Braun
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Cozy Noir Mystery
Book Blurb:
"With themes of love, family, friendship, new beginnings, and the complexity of life, readers will get hooked from the very beginning." —San Francisco Book Review
"[The Girls in Cabin Number Three]'s complex, interesting characters, and engrossing historical and geographical settings make it a must-read." —Readers' Favorite
“Braun’s a top-notch storyteller; The Girls in Cabin Number Three is well plotted with clearly defined and relatable characters. Her research is exemplary.”
—Kate Osborn, formerly with the Mountain News, Lake Arrowhead
“Annie meets Carrie Davis, a new guest who slowly begins to unravel secrets from her own family’s past in the second part of The Guest Book Trilogy: The Girls in Cabin Number Three… with plenty of intrigue in an idyllic mountain locale.”
—Susan Denley, former Associate Features Editor, Los Angeles Times.
In book two of the Guest Book Trilogy, eighty-one-year-old Annie Parker recounts taking on, against the wishes of her new love Noah, an out-of-town design project that leads her down a path that is more than she bargained for.
Back in Lake Arrowhead, California, a long-awaited mystery is buried in Cabin Number Three. Annie meets Carrie Davis who wants to update her childhood home on the lake and feels a tie to Annie’s cabins. Apparently, Carrie’s parents stayed here during the Roaring ‘20s when Bugsy Siegel ran an underground speakeasy and distillery. Unconvinced, Annie decides to investigate and finds their names in the old guest books—Elizabeth Davis and Thomas Meyer. As exciting as that sounds, it’s only the start of a winding tale that Carrie and the new man in her life uncover. The pair unravel a family history filled with gangsters, working girls, and a surprising twist to a family tree.
The Girls in Cabin Number Three combines women’s fiction with romance, cozy noir mystery, and suspense—all wrapped up in the majestic environs of this lovely lakeside haven.
Excerpt:
“You need to go, Grayson. You’re hurting me. I should have never let our relationship go that far. I need you to go, and you need to leave me alone.” I could hear the harshness in my voice, and I meant it. “It’s cold out here and I want to get inside.”
Grayson’s entire demeanor changed again. For the first time since he’d come here, I wondered how far he’d take this and I was feeling uneasy.
With his left hand, his fingers dug into my arm.
“Ow.” I winced and tried to pull my arm away.
His right hand went swiftly for my shoulder and he pulled me down, my knees landing hard on the gravel.
I wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing; surely he wasn’t thinking of killing me. But I was finally afraid. I knew from that angle I couldn’t effectively reach out to him. I would have knocked him down if I could have.
Then we both heard the cock of the shotgun and froze.
“I’d let her go if I was you,” Clearly and firmly, Sam’s voice filled the air around us.
At first, Grayson didn’t move or release his hold. I was sure he had anticipated no one stopping him from doing what he was planning on doing. Whatever that was.
“Let her go or I won’t have any problem shooting you,” Sam said coldly.
Grayson released me, and I fell the rest of the way to the ground.
Time stood still for the three of us, and no one moved. Then I heard the crunching of tires on the parking area gravel, and Noah slammed his truck door closed and he ran down to where we were.
He was seething, and Grayson turned from bright red to gray.
Continuing to hold the shotgun in one hand, Sam put his arm out to stop Noah from reaching for Grayson. Once Noah calmed down a notch, he reached for me and helped me back to my feet. My balance was off, and he led me to one of the Adirondack chairs, but quickly turned to face Grayson, who by this time had stiffened and regained some composure. I could see his fists were clenched so tightly, his knuckles were white. Did he think he could take on Sam and Noah?
“If you ever come near her again, I swear I’ll kill you,” Noah finally said.
By this time, the fog had completely engulfed us and it seemed an appropriate ending as Sam pushed Grayson away from us, but not before he turned towards me and smiled coolly. They all but disappeared in the distance.
I watched as Noah clenched, then unclenched his fists again before he came to me. There was no way he couldn’t have figured out that I hadn’t been totally truthful with him about the time I spent in Montana. He looked raw, and it broke my heart. It nauseated me as I let him see me.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
What’s your favorite activity to shake off the winter doldrums?
If money were no object, I'd go to a ranch somewhere where it's green and open. I'd love to breathe in the clean crisp air, to listen to the sounds of nature, and to see animals roaming the property.
Why is your featured book a cure for the winter blues?
Spring is a perfect time to be up in the mountains, and to sit outside and read.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon US or Canada gift card
Open internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon CA account to win.
Runs March 1 – 31, 2023.
Drawing will be held on April 3, 2023.
Author Biography:
Chrysteen Braun is a California native, born and raised in Long Beach.
The Lake Arrowhead mountains, where she and her husband had a second home, were the inspiration for her first three books, The Guestbook Trilogy. These fictional restored cabins from the late 1920s all had their own stories to tell. Through their children, readers get their first glimpse of who stayed in the cabins, but not why.
Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret and Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over.
"A touching novel charting two women’s parallel lives, tied together by mysteries, transformation, and a cabin." —Booklife
"Braun delivers a moving portrayal of a young woman searching for herself amid personal upheaval." —Booklife
"Masterfully written, intriguing, mystifying, and spooky are how I would classify The Man in Cabin Number Five by Chrysteen Braun. As a great background, Braun uses the mountainous area and cabins to her advantage in telling the stories of Annie and Alyce. This is an exceptional plot, never leading the reader too far from the original storyline. Her character development is outstanding. I was able to feel everything Annie felt." Teresa Syms for Readers' Favorite Book Reviews and Awards.
"In The Man in Cabin Number Five, Chrysteen Braun narrates a deeply compelling, inspiring, and adorable narrative about the mountainside cabins of Lake Arrowhead, shocking secrets, and two women that are linked to the cabins in different ways—one by a buried past and the other by optimistic plans for the future.
"Chrysteen Braun does a mind-blowing job of building the characters and making them lifelike and easy to relate to. The first-person narrative is done to perfection as it reads like the narrators are speaking to friends—natural, lively, and jovial. I laughed out loud when I read the part where Anne claims that a bag of chips and a soda are "just what the doctor ordered.
"The Man in Cabin Number Five inspires anyone recovering from betrayal and infidelity to keep living and working towards a better future. The picturesque descriptions of the scenes and characters will appeal to readers who wish to get completely immersed in and escape into a fictional world. Chrysteen Braun creates a masterpiece with smooth storytelling that juxtaposes the serenity of the mountains with the eruptive chaos of dangerous secrets and ends with a bang. What a terrific story! What a talented writer!" Foluso Falaye, for the San Francisco Book Review.
Her writing crosses genres with Women's Fiction with relationships, and a little mystery and intrigue. She's published articles about her field of interior design and remodeling, both for trade publications and her local newspaper and has just received a Book Excellence Award for The Man in Cabin Number Five.
Braun lives in Coto de Caza, California (southern Orange County) with her husband Larry and two Siamese cats.
Social Media Links:
Website https://chrysteenbraun.com/
Find her everywhere https://linktr.ee/chrysteenbraunauthor