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Review of Accidental Affair by Leslie McKelvey with/giveaway & author interview

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Giveaway info:  $50 Amazon Gift Card.  Make sure you leave a comment and email addy.  Good luck!

ACCIDENTAL AFFAIR

By

Leslie McKelvey

BLURB:  

Jack Vaughn is sure his life is over as he tumbles down the wooded hillside onto the deserted two-lane stretch of asphalt. Years of work ended with a single gunshot. Yet, it’s not over.

A good Samaritan stops to help him, despite the danger he poses to her.

Laine Wheeler knows better than to stop for strangers on the rural Montana highway near her home, but her conscience won’t allow her to leave an injured man behind.

What she doesn’t know is the man is an undercover ATF agent tasked with infiltrating a domestic terrorist group. His cover has been blown and helping him will put her life in danger.

Though there is an instant attraction, Jack knows that beginning a romantic relationship with Laine would be both unfair and unwise. Yet the farther they run, the harder it gets to ignore the feelings that are surging between them.

Harlie here:  Leslie is a HOOT!  You must read below.  🙂 

Top ten things you don’t know about me:

1.  Cotton or Silk?

 

Can’t I have both?  I love silk, although cotton is more practical and versatile; a necessary thing when one is a mom, especially of BOYS.

 

2.  Champagne/beer/wine?

 

Yes, yes, and yes!

 

3.  Plotter/pantser

 

Total pantser.  Every time I try to plot it pisses off my characters and they veer COMPLETELY off course just to show they can.  The only things I write down are page numbers so I can keep track of my chapters.  The voices said they’ll let me do that….

 

4.  Describe your workspace

 

My workspace is a couch, a TV tray table, and a laptop in the family room in front of a massive flat screen and a fireplace.  It’s close to the kitchen, which is either really stupid, or strategic, depending on your point of view.  Now, where IS that Caramello bar…?

 

5.  Sports fan or just tolerate it?

 

I’m a 49ers fan, but aside from them I could care less.

 

6.  Who is your biggest influence on writing?

 

Even though I write romance, I’d have to say Dean Koontz has had a HUGE impact on my writing.  I love his descriptive abilities, how he uses his words to bring a scene to picture perfect life without overdoing it and leaving the reader skipping for dialogue.

 

7.  Favorite food –

 

PIZZA, because great ideas never happen over a plate of halibut.

 

8.  When did you start writing?

 

As soon as I learned how to write, I started writing.  My mother actually has boxes of handwritten stories that go back to my time in first grade (and my husband wonders where I get it from….).

 

9.  If money were no object, where would you like to live?

 

Hands down, the Maldives.  Part of it is the risk factor, because the islands are going to be completely underwater in a generation.  So sad….
10.  What’s next for you?

 

Jack Vaughn’s best friend, Special Agent Bear Bristol, started whispering sweet nothings in my ear shortly after I finished Accidental Affair (he is SUCH a naughty boy!).  Now he’s having his own adventure, which my publisher and I are currently editing.  The story, titled Right Place, Right Time, should be released by the end of the year (makes a great Christmas present!).  J  I’ve also just finished writing the tale of another Accidental Affair alum, Sheriff Grant Donovan.  Damn, but I love me some law enforcement officers!  Handcuffs, anyone?

Review:

I’m in awe, really in awe that this is a debut novel.  As much as I lurve Romantic Suspense, I felt like I was a reading a seasoned author.  As I finished reading Accidental Affair, I learned of Tom Clancy’s passing.  Now, I’m not going to compare Ms. McKelvey to Mr. Clancy but it reminded me when I first read The Hunt for Red October and was blown away that it was a first book, too.  (I cried when I heard of his passing.  It was the first author that my dad and I shared and we devoured the books together.)

Ms. McKelvey packs a lot in her debut with the intrigue, too many twists and turns and then of course a scorching romance all rolled up in one helluva book.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing better than two opposites falling in love but this book has so much more than scorching sex it in.

It’s a very taunt thriller that doesn’t stop until the last page.  Ms. McKelvey knows her stuff and with her background it shows in spades.  She doesn’t overwhelm you with all the techie stuff and she treats her reader with intelligence.  You know, like we have a functioning brain cell and we actually use it.  Anyway, I didn’t want this wild ride to end but unfortunately it did.  🙁

Jack and Laine are two people who in the grand scheme of things should have never met but meet they did and from that moment on, it was none stop for them.  I really felt connected to them and also to Bear.  Ms. McKelvey wrote two characters that you truly cared for and rooted for in the end.  I like when I connected on a visceral level, too and I did with Jack and Laine.    Bring on Bear…  😉

What we have waiting for us is Bear’s story and I’m sure it will be as scorching as Jack and Laine’s story.  Ms. McKelvey did mention handcuffs earlier…

Okay back on topic…buy this book, devour it in one sitting and I dare you to find a better romantic suspense debut from anyone else.  You will be hook and have a new author to stalk, I mean follow.

recommend-harlies-new.png5harliesHarlie-signature-button1

 

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:leslie mckelvey

Leslie McKelvey has been writing since she learned to write, and her mother still stores boxes of handwritten stories in the attic.  Leslie read her first romance at 12 and was hooked.  When her high school Creative Writing teacher told her she needed to be a novelist, she decided to give it a try.  Finally, at the ripe old age of…forty-something…her debut novel, Accidental Affair, made it into print through Black Velvet Seductions Publishing.  The publisher has also contracted two more manuscripts, which will follow Accidental Affair shortly.

 

Leslie is a war-veteran who served with the U.S. Navy during the Gulf War, and she was among the first groups of women to work the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.  During her five years tour she was stationed at NAS Miramar and was an F-14 Tomcat mechanic and plane captain.  While in San Diego she spent time on the carriers USS Independence, USS Ranger, USS Lincoln, and the USS Nimitz.  The final two years of her enlistment were spent on Guam and her squadron frequently deployed to Japan and the Middle East.

She learned everything she knows about firearms and tactics from her police officer husband, who is a weapons expert, range master, and firearms instructor for one of the most highly-respected law-enforcement agencies in the world (and one he wishes her NOT to disclose).  He is her biggest supporter and her unpaid consultant on everything law-enforcement and weapons related.  She has three boys who keep her very busy and contribute daily to her growing number of gray hairs.  Her oldest son is a United States Marine and the younger two have vowed to follow in their brother’s footsteps (OOH RAH!).  She spends her off-time (kidding…WHAT off-time?) reading, taking pictures, and sending lead down range (that’s shooting, for those who are unfamiliar).  One of her favorite scents is the smell of gunpowder in the morning….

 

Sales URLs

http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Affair-ebook/dp/B009ZP5MV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352673266&sr=8-1&keywords=accidental+affair+leslie

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/accidental-affair-leslie-mckelvey/1113750316?ean=2940015936421

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/250538

 

Blog

www.amazonred.wordpress.com

 

 

 

25 thoughts on “Review of Accidental Affair by Leslie McKelvey with/giveaway & author interview

  1. Good things always happen over pizza. I am convinced it was made for that specific purpose 😉
    This tour was SO MUCH fun! Loved it to pieces. I had a blast!
    All my best,
    Chelsea.

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

  2. Leslie…Have you been to the Maldives? It would be so sad if that was your home and you knew that it would be disappearing.

    I like halibut…but come to think about it, I never did have a great AH HA moment over it.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

    1. No, I’ve not been to the Maldives…yet. My husband has promised to take me there in the next few years so we’ll see if he holds to his word (I’ll let y’all know). I’m not big on seafood, unless it’s fried, but I believe pizza was invented to inspire AH HA moments. After all, pizza was itself an inspiration. Thanks for following along and best of luck to you!

  3. Thanks for stopping by, Victoria! I hope you enjoy the book and would love to hear your thoughts when you’re finished. I respond to every review posted on Amazon. To enter in the giveaway you need to leave your email address.

    Thanks again, and good luck!

  4. What a fun Interview! And 5 Stars! SO awesome 😀 Can’t wait to read for myself!

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

  5. Just one clicked Accidental Affair! Loved the review and interview! Can’t wait to get started reading this book! Love finding new to me authors!!!

  6. Thanks for hosting me today! I am as blown away by your review as you say you were by Laine and Jack’s story. Actually made me get all misty-eyed! I’ll let you know when Bear’s tale (or TAIL, if you prefer, wink, wink….) hits the “shelves.”

    1. I don’t like comparing authors but while I was reading their story, Tom Clancy kept coming to mind. Then I heard he passed away…I’m still in mourning.

      Also, feel free to steal the graphics, too. 🙂

      Harlie

      1. Thanks, Harlie! That you even mentioned Tom Clancy and me in the same sentence was a big enough honor. I don’t compare myself to him either, but maybe someday I’ll have more of his skills. SOOO appreciate the wonderful review! You ROCK!

  7. Who eats halibut anyway? So much fun to read through thank you. I love how your personality just leapt off the page.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    1. Thanks, Mary! I worry sometimes about overwhelming people because I have a big, loud personality (my best friend is constantly telling me to quiet down), but I’m glad you enjoyed it.

      I really appreciate you following the tour and wish you good luck in the drawing!

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