The Cornish Secret of Summer's Promise by Laura Briggs - Book Blitz + Giveaway
The Cornish Secret of Summer’s Promise
As spring slips away from the hotel Penmarrow, excitement builds for an exclusive auction hosted at the hotel, featuring priceless possessions from a Hollywood actress turned lady of the manor, including her famous diamonds. Celebrities and collectors form a crowd that is keeping Maisie and the rest of staff busy, even as Maisie faces a crossroads for her manuscript.
But when the diamonds are stolen and Sidney is accused by the authorities, Maisie's dilemma as a writer is pushed aside out of fear that his future in Port Hewer is in jeopardy. Desperation to prove that someone else is behind the theft will lead Maisie to uncover a very different secret outside of jewel thieves and village rumors ... one that could change her life and her future forever.
Can Maisie deal with the latest secrets exposed — including those that paint Sidney's past in a questionable light? And as summer's dawn alters her idyllic life in Cornwall, will Maisie's feelings for Sidney change as well?
Excerpt
Thank
you so much to Jasmine for letting me share an extract from my new Cornish
romance readwith everyone at Jazzy Book Reviews today! It’s the fourth book in my series about aspiring author Maisie Clark and her adventures working as a chambermaid at a quaint hotel in Cornwall. There’s never a dull moment at the hotel Penmarrow, and this time it’s an exclusive auction of memorabilia and antiques that has crowds flocking to its historic halls. In the following scene, Maisie goes for an early morning walk on the hotel premises and stumbles upon something rather unexpected involving the auction display.
I pulled on my dressing gown over my short
pajamas and tucked my cell phone in my pocket. I opened my curtains to the pre-dawn world, where silent
ships floated on the distant, restless sea. The scent of cool spring air from
the early morning as I cracked open my panes.
If I took Sidney's advice to heart, then I
would sort through all of my choices, from least likely to best option. I would
walk until the answer sifted itself from the heap, and maybe feel ready for
that brave new step when the dawn came. I put on my flip-flops lying beside my
book bag and slipped into the quiet hall, after glancing around to make sure no
security guards were lurking around by staff quarters.
All was quiet on the second floor, where
guests were slumbering, and the lamps were dimmed to create shadows on the
walls. It could be creepy, wandering here in the silence, especially with the
soft creaks and groans of the old manor settling around me. I couldn't help but
think of scenes from The Haunting, and shivered a little as the hall's
floorboards groaned under my feet. No supernatural forces were going to push me
down the stairs, but moving silent as a ghost in the shadows makes one think of
those scenarios.
No guests would be on the terrace at five
in the morning, so it was a safe place to exit and cross to the steps that
descended to the beach. Only I had forgotten about the security team posted
outside of the ballroom all night, headquartered in the parlor a few doors down
— I paused with my foot on the next to last step of the stairs as I remembered
them.
A soft thud in the distance, a crash that
involved something fragile breaking into bits. That wasn't a normal sound for
the hotel at this hour, unless the security team was bumping into tables and
curios in the dark.
"Hello?" I stepped into the
hall, where the lamps were still bright, making the distant glass door to the
terrace a tall, dark window. There was a chair beside the ballroom door, but
there was no one sitting in it. The large steel bar that covered its locks was
folded back, and the door was faintly ajar, as if the guard had stepped inside
for a moment.
Hesitating, I gave the door a little push,
and heard an answering thud from the opposite end of the ballroom. The
only other entrance and exit was standing ajar in the low lights. Where the
twinkle of diamonds should be beneath the portrait of Lady Von Patterson, there
was only a blank rectangle of black velvet. Shattered porcelain lay on the
floor by the open case of Limoges.
Robbery. The exhibit is being robbed!
Author Bio –
Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller 'A Wedding in Cornwall'. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.
Social Media Links –
Author Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1JjeMoI
Giveaway - 3 Winners to win a 'surprise' three-dimensional pop-up card & receive a digital copy of Book One, A Little Hotel in Cornwall. (Open INT)
Each winner will receive a 'surprise' three-dimensional pop-up card handcrafted by an Etsy artist and bearing a clue about the next book in Laura Briggs’ Cornish romance series. The winners will also receive a digital copy of Book One, A Little Hotel in Cornwall.
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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