Alexa Bourne Gets Lost in England!

Hello, readers! Join me in celebrating RELEASE DAY for my brand new book, FRACTURED PARADISE! I'll be celebrating with you here today and tomorrow, and all week on my own blog! This story is very special to me because the setting is my mother's hometown of Sunderland, England. Also, this contemporary romantic suspense story started out as a way for me to deal with my grandmother's death several years ago. Of course, it's changed quite a bit since then, but I still love it, and I hope I've done my Sunderland relatives proud!

First, here's a bit more about me:

Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romantic suspense writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She is thrilled to be writing for Decadent Publishing and to have the chance to share her love of Great Britain with readers everywhere.

When she's not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising. She loves to interact with readers, so visit her web page, hang out at her blog, follow her on Twitter or drop her a note at Alexa@alexabourne.com!

And now for the Book Blurb:

Technical analyst Rachel Grant arrives in Sunderland intent on tidying up her grandmother’s cottage, but the disaster she discovers requires more than a gentle sweep of a dust rag. Determined to please the most important person in her life, she trades her computer keyboard for a hammer and nails to make the repairs. She doesn’t count on the chilly reception from the locals who want to claim Nan’s home as their own.

Tour guide Aidan Camden wants to buy the cottage. He’s determined to acquire the property no matter how attractive he finds the current occupant. However, when tragedy strikes, throwing them both into a tailspin, he discovers he wants more than the house. He longs for the sexy American as well. Can Aidan put his own ghosts to rest in time to save the woman who’s claimed his heart?

Here's what people are saying about this book!

This is a highly sensual, fast-paced romantic suspense with a craggy, grieving hero and a determined yet guilt-ridden heroine. Together, in both wanting and striving for a cottage on small Northumbrian island, they discover love, passion and the strength to move on. Aidan is just the kind of man I would like to spend time with in a cottage on an island! An inspiring, romantic read.

~~~~Lindsay Townsend, historical romance.

A good novella is the equivalent of haute cuisine – fantastic quality that leaves you satisfied yet wanting more. That is how I would describe Fractured Paradise – a well written story, with believable characters that I wanted to get to know even better.

I was intrigued by the conflict between protagonists Rachel Grant, who has gone to Sunderland to honour her grandmother’s wish of repairing her old cottage home and Englishman Aiden Camden who wants to buy the cottage to honour his dead wife’s dreams.

This conflict is as real as the intense longing the pair feel towards each other, but must fight for fear of abandoning their promises. The language Alexa Bourne uses is rich and sensual, creating realistic scenes of love and lust, which only added to the story and were never thrown in for affect or for the sake of it.

But Fractured Paradise is not solely a love story but a suspense, which entraps the reader into devouring the whole story in one sitting as I did. My only disappointment was that it finished all too quickly.

A very enjoyable read.  ~~~~~~~~~~Laurey Buckland, author of A Girl's Guide to Fairy Tales

Pretty cool, huh? Are you grabbed by the story yet? No? Not yet? Well, maybe this will help tempt you even more:

Excerpt:

“A bit of a disappointment, I expect.” A rich, deep voice with a twinge of an English accent drifted from behind her.

She whirled around. Her hair whipped against her cheeks and made her wish for the hundredth time today she hadn’t packed all her hair clips.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

The stranger paused beside the edge of the clearing, and her heart stuttered. Although no one would mistake him for a Hollywood leading man, this guy could command attention by stepping into a room. Or onto an island.

“That’s okay. You didn’t.” She permitted her gaze to wander over him.

He kept his hands stuffed into the front pockets of faded jeans. The wind tore at his gray long-sleeved shirt, outlining the contours of a well-defined chest. Unruly light brown hair touched his collar. High cheekbones accented his deep-set eyes. Not friendly eyes, but no threat lay behind them either, at least none she could uncover.

He pulled a hand from his pocket and held it out. “Aidan Camden of Dawson Tours, your neighbor from across the water.” He tipped his head toward the way he’d come. Camden. His name sounded familiar, but why? She shook his hand with a hint of hesitation. “Rachel Grant.”

His fingers warmed her skin, his grip strong and confident. Awareness trailed along her arm. Then again, it could be the accent that made her skin tingle. British accents never failed to stir her emotions.

A trace of a smile danced on his lips. “Aye, the American.”

Huh. “You know of me?”

A low rumble of laughter slipped from his mouth, the sound relaxing her from deep within. “Word travels fast here. I saw you paddling your way out.”

Paddling? No, he’d seen her fighting with the oars. Until today, she’d never set foot on a boat, much less held an oar. But she would consider swimming across the Atlantic Ocean if it would make Nan happy.

“Tell me, Mr. Camden, are you in the habit of following foreigners?”

“No, lass, but you’re all the talk of the Roker area. The mighty Grant descendant, come to see about selling the family cottage.”

Selling?

The book is available TODAY at:
Decadent Publishing
Amazon

Be sure to come back tomorrow and you can meet Rachel Grant, the heroine of this story. Find out more about her, her work with the International Protective Network and her thoughts about the hero, Aidan.

AND, as if that isn't enough to bring you back, I'll be choosing one commenter from my Get Lost Release Party to WIN a copy of the book!