MERMAID MOON - Colleen Coble - One Free Book, Plus Much More

Welcome back, Colleen. Do you have a favorite genre to write? If so, what is it?

All my books are romantic suspense. I grew up on Nancy Drew books and still read mystery and suspense almost exclusively.

If you didn’t live in the part of the country where you do, where would you live?

We love Hawaii! Kauai is our favorite island. If it weren’t so far from our beloved granddaughter and our kids, we would move there in a heartbeat.

James and I want to go to Hawaii sometime. I hope it is soon. What foreign country would you like to visit and why?

I’d like to visit Australia and New Zealand someday. Those are both on my bucket list. I love reading books set there.

I’m like you. I fell in love with Australia and New Zealand before other people did. I’ve read all of Lucy Walker’s books set back in the mid-1900s. I had to search used bookstores to find them. And I’ve read every book set in either place that I ran across. Describe what you think would be the most romantic vacation you could take.

There’s nothing better than sitting by the sea. So any island vacation or a cruise would be wonderful.

I didn’t go near any sea or ocean until the 1990s, and I love sitting on the beach enjoying the sound. James and I even sat on the beach at Manzanillo, Mexico, way past midnight. Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

Someday I’d like to do an international setting, maybe Australia or Finland. I’ve been to Finland once. My best friend in high school was a Finnish foreign exchange student, and we hosted her daughter as an exchange student.

We had a Finnish exchange student. A boy. Since I’m half Scandinavian, I’d love to go there. What is the main theme of this novel?

I wanted to explore how guilt and shame can hit us at our deepest core. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves.

Tell us about the story.

Remorse and confusion has kept single mom Mallory Davis from her hometown of sleepy Down East, Maine, for the last 15 years. When her father mysteriously dies, though, she’s forced to return. Her relationship with her father had been tense since she left, but she was the one he called in his final moments.  His last words echo in her heart: “Find . . . mother.” Yet her mother has been dead for fifteen years. What could he have possibly meant?

Mallory comes to believe her father was murdered, and her childhood sweetheart, Down East game warden Kevin O’Connor, confirms her suspicions. Mallory trampled Kevin’s heart when she left without a word all those years ago, and he is wary of helping Mallory in her search. Everything changes when Mallory begins receiving threats on her life and the life of her teenage daughter, Haylie. As their search intensifies, they find a tangled web of mystery and deceit whose sticky threads reach deep into Mallory’s past. As answers begin to fall into place, Mallory realizes her search is about much more than finding her father’s killer; it’s about the hope of finding herself again — and maybe even another chance at love. She just has to stay alive long enough to put the pieces together.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The Silver Pelican jewelry store in Bangor, Maine, was Mallory Davis’s final stop, and she put on a bright smile. The place smelled of money—expensive perfume from the last customer and the rich scent of new carpet. Every other jewelry shop in town had only been willing to take her pieces on consignment, but she needed the cash now. She’d been a bit hesitant to come here because this was the most expensive store in town, and she was sure the owner would take one look at her suit, stylish ten years ago, and send her packing.

The sun glittered on her twenty pieces of sea-glass jewelry spread across the top of the glass display case. The presentation under it sparkled with diamonds and sapphires on black velvet.

Mallory nudged her favorite bracelet with one finger. “This one is white gold instead of the usual sterling silver. I mixed pink tourmaline with darker pink sea glass to create the piece.”

The owner, in his forties with a paunch and bald head, picked up the bracelet and looked it over. “Very nice craftsmanship, Mrs. Davis. The quality is exceptional. The pink and green moon from the tourmaline is quite unique. And I really like the mermaid on it. How much do you want for these?”

She tipped up her chin and forced a confidence that was at odds with the fluttery sensation in her stomach. “I need five hundred dollars for it. I have five of them ready here in my briefcase. And did you see these earrings?” She pointed out another offering. “The tourmaline makes them so distinctively Maine. These are two hundred dollars.”

He nodded. “My customers are always asking for quality tourmaline pieces, and I find it hard to keep up with the demand when they want jewelry created in Maine.” He pursed his flat lips. “I’ll take everything you have here, plus all the mermaid-moon bracelets. Write me up an invoice, and I’ll give you a check right now. I think I can take most everything you make off your hands.”

Hiding her elation, she took a surreptitious glance at her watch. Haylie would be out of school in half an hour. “Of course.” She pulled the jewelry pieces out of her case along with an invoice pad.

She wanted to do a fist pump in the air. Her mortgage was a week late, but she could pay it electronically as soon as the check cleared.

The back of her neck prickled, and she resisted the urge to turn around. For the past week she’d had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching her, but try as she might to convince herself it was from the stress of her finances, she swung her head around to look. And saw nothing out of the ordinary. She always felt that way when under periods of great stress, and nothing was more stressful than knowing she and Haylie would be out on the street if she didn’t turn things around.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.colleencoble.com, and I love to hear from readers!

Facebook (colleencoblebooks)

Twitter (@colleencoble)

To move forward past a life of shame and confusion, Mallory Davis must go back to Mermaid Point to find out who murdered her father in Colleen Coble's new book, Mermaid Moon. As answers begin to fall into place, Mallory realizes her search is about more than finding her father’s killer—it is also about finding herself again . . . and possibly about healing what was broken so long ago with Kevin. She just has to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together.

Celebrate the release of Mermaid Moon with Colleen and a mystery e-reader prize pack giveaway!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Mermaid Moon
• A Kindle Fire
• A mermaid necklace
• A pair of mermaid earrings

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on February 1st. The winner will be announced February 2nd on the Litfuse blog.

Thank you, Colleen, for sharing this new book with us. I've been a faithful fan of yours for many years, and many of my blog readers also love your books. I have new readers who haven't heard about you, and I'm thrilled to introduce them to you and your books.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Mermaid Moon - Christianbook.com

Mermaid Moon (A Sunset Cove Novel) - Amazon

Mermaid Moon (A Sunset Cove Novel Book 2) - Kindle

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