{Name Before the Masses} Promo + Giveaway: Secret Sister by Emelle Gamble

Title: Secret Sister

Author: Emelle Gamble

Tour Sponsor: Goddess Fish Promotions

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BLURB

To their friends, Nick and Cathy Chance have the perfect marriage. High school sweethearts who’ve been together for ten years, they’ve weathered challenges and are as committed as they were when they first fell in love. Cathy trusts Nick, Nick’s world revolves around his wife, and the future looks golden.

To everyone who knows them, Cathy Chance and Roxanne Ruiz have a perfect friendship. They connected in grade school and since then have been each other’s confident and trusted advisor. Cathy loves the gorgeous Roxanne like a sister, Roxanne has fun-loving Cathy’s back in every situation, though lately there’s been tension between these two best friends…

And then, on a sunny summer morning, the unthinkable occurs, throwing into doubt the truth of what each of these people really know about themselves and one another.

Will Roxanne’s sacrifice be too little, and too late? Should Nick’s love for his wife be strong enough to risk trusting his heart more than logic? Can Cathy’s devotion to Nick give her enough strength to convince him to see her for who she really is?

Secret Sister proves how strong, how stubborn, and how trustworthy love can be as Nick and Cathy and Roxanne are challenged to overcome the secrets, the lies … and one extraordinary twist of fate that turns their lives upside down.

Excerpt

 

It was sunny and mild the July morning Roxanne and I headed up the state highway into the Verdugo Hills. But the Santa Anas were blowing in from the desert, and those aptly called devil winds rocked our car with gusts of heat and dust that caused tiny sparks of electricity to snap against my fingertips every time I touched my hair.

I looked forward to the Santa Anas each summer because they cleared every trace of smog from the vast L.A. basin and left the air sparkling. But that day they were weeks early and their intensity increased a sense of foreboding I’d awakened with.

I squeezed my hands together and glanced at the woman sitting next to me, for she was the true reason for my uneasiness.

My best friend and I should have been relaxed and chatty, but we hadn’t been either lately. Roxanne had recently broken up with the guy she’d been seeing for years, and her mood alarmed me. She had barely said a word at the front door when she picked me up, and nothing at all since we’d been in the car.

Slowly I turned my head from side to side, trying to ease the knot of anxiety in my neck. I reached up to massage my shoulder but the seatbelt held me snugly, so I undid it.

The lock made a sharp click as it released.

“What’s wrong?” Roxanne asked.

“Nothing.” I spoke quietly. “Just a kink. I must have slept weird.”

She frowned and shifted gears and the road rose higher in front of us…

Guest Post 

Secondary Characters, cha cha cha.

When I wrote series romance books for Harlequin Intrigue, my editors didn’t want me to waste time on secondary characters, “Stay focused on the central love affair – that’s what readers want!” I was told (many more times than once…).

So one of the best things about writing single title books like Secret Sister is these bigger books give an author a chance to introduce secondary characters that get a chance to do more than just facilitate a plot or listen to a heroine’. 

And one of the worst things about writing single title books like Secret Sister is these bigger books give secondary characters an opportunity to ambush, derail and cause an author to be totally besotted with one of them because these characters often times, like a supporting actor in a movie, really want to be the star!

In Secret Sister I’ve got Zoe, the hero’s seventeen-year-old sister, who is edgy, emotionally intense, and might see dead people. I’ve got Ryan Seth, a new-age psychologist who is bald, beautiful and blind. I’ve got Bradley, the heroine’s great friend, who is wry, gay and insightful in a way we all pray we can be with our friends.

And then there’s Michael Cimino. Roxanne Ruiz’s boyfriend. Mad, bad, and dangerous to know…sexy and corrupt and not the right kind of man at all to be hanging out with, but one no woman can soon forget.

Lastly, I can’t  forget Miss Pittypat, the ancient cat who does what all good animal characters do in real life, knows the truth of the matter before most of the humans.

Sigh. I loved them all. But I had to be tough with these guys! I cut their dialogue and time on page. Told them they had to shut up because this book belonged to Nick & Cathy and Roxanne. Ordered them to stand aside. But I also thanked them. They made Secret Sister a richer, fuller world.  I was thrilled to meet them, and I hope you will be too!   

About the Author

Emelle Gamble was a writer at an early age, bursting with the requisite childhood stories of introspection which evolved into bad teen poetry and took her first stab at full length fiction in an adult education writing class when her kids were in bed. As M.L. Gamble, she published several romantic suspense novels with Harlequin. She has contracted with Soul Mate Publishing for Secret Sister, summer of 2013, and Dating Cary Grant, an early 2014 release.

Always intrigued by the words ‘what if’, Emelle’s books feature an ordinary woman confronted with an extraordinary situation.  She most enjoys reading stories that surprise and amaze her, and hopes her readers will enjoy the challenging and exciting journeys her characters take. 

Emelle lives in suburban Washington D.C.  with her husband, Phil, her hero of thirty years,  and two orange cats, Lucy and Bella. These girls, like all good villains, have their reasons for misbehaving. Her daughter, Olivia, and son, Allen, are happily launched on their own and contributing great things to society, their mother’s fondest wish.

Email: emellegamble@aol.com 

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Giveaway

Emelle will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour AND her Reviews Tour.

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