Giveaway Info: Prize is a $25 Starbucks Gift Card. Contest is tour-wide, open internationally and ends Mar 19. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Rafflecopter link is at the bottom of the post. Good luck!
Gone
by Barb Han
Romantic Women’s Fiction
Category(ies): Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Etopia Press
Release Date: January 11, 2013
Heat Level: Steamy
Word Count: 77,000
Buy Links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gone-ebook/dp/B00AZDI3PQ/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-gone-1041392-152.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gone-barb-han/1114108626
Blurb
How far would you go to find a child that never existed?
Elizabeth Walker awakens in a mental institution, the aftermath of a nightmare in her veins. All she can think of is saving a little boy—her son. But the orderlies who rush in and jab her with needles assure her she has no son. So does her mother, who demands her doctors keep her calm and prevent her from these troubling delusions. But Elizabeth’s nightmares are so real, and her arms still feel the memory of holding her son. And her instincts tell her to trust no one. Her child is gone. Her memories are gone. Everything is just…gone.
Ex-military medic David Kerrigan will never stop blaming himself for the childhood tragedy that took his younger sister’s life. Working on assignment at the facility, he’s drawn to Elizabeth, and he’s not sure that everything about her case is on the up and up. David knows full well he can’t change the past, but what if he can save this one person? And maybe helping Elizabeth might just save them both…
Warning: This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains adult sexual situations and/or adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.
Excerpt
If memories were liquids, then Elizabeth Walker’s would be blood. Not warm, life-giving, tissue-bathing blood, but cold, coagulated, dried up, and stepped-over-on-the-sidewalk blood.
Memories weren’t liquids.
They were more like fireflies blinking in the dark, daring to be caught, disappearing a moment before they could be reached. And the only liquid left in Elizabeth’s body was a few unshed tears. They hardly ever fell now. Even they seemed to be drying up on her.
Nightmare or not, she would claw her way through any level of consciousness to save the boy. The last ounce of breath she drew from her lungs burst out as a scream, leaving her choking and gasping for air.
The sense of urgency to save him, to do something, burned frustrated holes through the bottoms of her feet—feet that did not touch pavement no matter how fast she moved.
She had to do something. But what?
She calculated the likelihood of reaching him and came up short. He was far. No way could she reach him in time. Yet waiting, doing nothing, wasn’t an option either. Protective instinct propelled her legs forward, and damn the odds.
“Somebody. Help.” She pushed herself from the dream.
She dug her fingers into her mattress, discharging a crush of bleach into her hyperventilated nostrils. A drowning sensation filled her lungs. She clenched her chest muscles. She gasped, struggling for oxygen.
A door slamming against a wall made her sit bolt upright. Two bulky men in blue scrubs burst into the room.
Review:
Holy moly was this book awesome. 🙂 Yep, just saying it right now, it was awesome. If you are looking for a psychological thriller with a romantic thread nicely woven throughout, this book is for you.
I will warn you that some of the scenes in the book are not for the faint hearted. Needles, unnecessary meds, a very wicked mother and a doctor that turned the other cheek..yep, not for the faint hearted.
When we first meet Elizabeth, she is waking from a drug induced sleep and she doesn’t have a clue what is going on, she just knows that she doesn’t like the needles or the meds. She is struggling to figure out who she is and why she is in a hospital.
Enter David, the new doctor on the block. He is compassionate towards her plight and honestly tries to help her in any way he can. One problem though, Elizabeth’s mother. She is the baddest, most vile mother that I’ve ever read in a book. The lengths that she goes to with Elizabeth and ultimately David are just awful. After I finished the book, I’m still grasping at what lengths Elizabeth’s mother did and the big question…WHY? Yes, it was explained but I’m still shaking my head. 🙂
Don’t expect a heavy romance with Elizabeth and David. They are two very damaged people who have to learn to trust people again and figure out who and what they are not just to themselves but to the world in general. Yes, there is a romance and smexy times but that’s not the focus of the book. Elizabeth searching for herself and ultimately her life and the boy is the focus. Also, Davis is looking for redemption and sees Elizabeth and the boy as his way to that.
If you like psychological thrillers with romance and purpose, then Gone is your book. This book is still rolling around in my head and heart. I will not forget this book for awhile. I love that…Thank you Ms. Han.
About the Author
Barb Han lives in North Texas with her husband, has three beautiful children, a spunky Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix, and too many books to count.
When she’s not writing, researching, or otherwise getting lost in a story, she volunteers at her children’s school, is in the kitchen ‘creating’ dinner, or can be found on or around a basketball court.
Writing contemporary romance and romantic suspense has been a dream come true for Barb–something she’s wanted to do for as long as she can remember. She left her corporate job, at her husband’s urging, and has been happily playing with imaginary friends ever since.
Learn more about her latest releases at http://www.barbhan.com and don’t forget to say hi. She loves hearing from readers.
Connect with Barb Han
Website: http://www.barbhan.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbHan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbHanAuthor
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barbhan/
I can’t wait to read this book. I’ve read Seducing Avery and was captivated by Barb’s style of writing and her ability to tell a story. Congrat Barbs!
Thank you so much for the beautiful review. You brought me to tears!
This sounds really great! Thanks for the spotlight, review and giveaway. This is definitely going on my TBR
Thank you, Maria! Let me know what you think!! Good luck in the drawing!