Interview/Review of p.m. terrell and The Tempest Murders – giveaway

 

P.m. will be awarding a Celtic bracelet (US only) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  Please make sure you leave an email address.  🙂

 

Some Questions for Ms. Terrell:

Is The Tempest Murders a single title, or part of a series?

I originally wrote The Tempest Murders as a stand-alone but when the editors and initial readers finished it, they told me they wanted to see more of the Irish Detective, Ryan O’Clery. The story in this first book is very personal so the readers get to see a very passionate side of him, and I can see that continuing throughout the series. I am working on the second book in the Ryan O’Clery Series now.

 

What were your inspirations for the story?

It was really a combination of things. I have always believed in soul mates and I’ve also been fascinated by the theory of reincarnation. And I love time travel, suspense and romance. So it all seemed to come together almost effortlessly when I hit upon the idea of a modern-day detective who has experienced vivid dreams of a love lost, where everything seemed to take place nearly two hundred years earlier. I love using weather as an antagonist and when I discovered the similarities between Hurricane Irene in 2011 and The Night of the Big Wind in 1839 Ireland, the two stories melded together as Ryan discovers a journal kept by his ancestor—and he finds that his dreams are actually Rian Kelly’s memories.

 

Please share your setting for The Tempest Murders.

Detective Ryan O’Clery is an Irish immigrant, having moved from Dublin to Lumberton, North Carolina. I moved to Lumberton a few years ago from my hometown of Washington, DC, and I love the inspiration here. It is a small town, one in which you can drive through the older neighborhoods heading into downtown and feel like you’ve been transported into the past. There is a charm here with the tree-lined streets, the businesses that know everybody’s name when they walk through their doors, and the mild, easy winters. There is also another side; a side where the black waters of the Lumber River snake through the center of town, reports of ghosts at the library and theatre and in many of the older homes, and dark roads just outside town. Everything pulled together makes for a wonderful setting for mysteries, suspense—and of course, for romance.

 

When did the writing bug first bite?

In the fourth grade. I remember it well; I won a poetry contest (which I’ll always believe was rigged) and I had to go on stage and accept an award. From that moment, I was hooked. My first novel was 13 pages, written on a 1940’s Smith Corona typewriter. A lot has changed since then!

 

Who are you favorite authors, book/series?

I love Erin Quinn’s Haunting series; I wish she’d write more of them! Those books reminded me why I fell in love with reading as I was growing up. I also love Daphne du Maurier, and I enjoy reading books with time travel, especially if they take me to Scotland or Ireland.

 

Do you have any hobbies or special things you like to do in your spare time?

I have a number of aquariums and I breed freshwater angelfish. I think they are so elegant and so serene. My largest ones are about ten inches tall. But I noticed whenever I spoke about them people’s eyes would glaze over. So when I started writing the Black Swamp Mysteries series and I needed a front for the CIA operatives, I decided to make them angelfish breeders. I figured the neighbors would think they were boring and nobody would be interested in talking to them about their jobs—which leaves them free to run their CIA missions unimpeded!

I also adopt rescue dogs; currently I have three, a collie and two Jack Russells, all of whom I adore.

 

What’s the strangest thing you’ve heard or seen?

It happened when I was about four years old. I was in bed with my mother, my sister and two brothers while she told us a bedtime story. All the sudden, we all looked toward the foot of the bed and there was a man standing there. My mother began calling out to my father, who was in the next room. The moment he walked through the bedroom door, the man just disappeared. We all saw him, and my mother recognized him—she’d dated him for nine years before she met my father. It turned out a few days later, she was notified that he had passed away and the time of death was estimated to be around the time he appeared in our home.

The Tempest Murders

by p.m. Terrell

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BLURB:

 

A provocative story of a love that spans centuries, of soul mates found, lost and reunited… and the lengths to which one man will go to change their destiny.

 

Irish Detective Ryan O’Clery is working a series of homicides in America when he discovers a journal written by an uncle, Constable Rian Kelly, five generations earlier. The journal detailed the same type of murders as the worst storm in Ireland’s history slammed into the island in 1839.

 

As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer’s description matches his cases exactly. And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlin O’Conor, Rian Kelly’s lover—the woman who was lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland—and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Rian Kelly.

 

Now he’s in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her—or is history destined to repeat itself?

 

 

Excerpt One:

 

They were bites away from finishing their meal when the sky opened up. There might have been a warning, had he been by himself and able to observe his surroundings; but by the time he noticed the trees bending deeply and the gray clouds roiling, the rain had descended on them in a torrent. Within seconds, their food was floating.

 

A tiny shriek escaped Cathleen’s lips as she vainly tried to keep the rain off her head.

 

Ryan jumped up, grabbed her wrist and in one fluid movement, had her on her feet. They raced for the back door, managing to rush inside just as a wicked clap of thunder sounded, followed almost instantly by a white streak of lightning.

 

Once inside, he closed the door, plunging them both into relative silence. He turned around, an offer to get her a towel on his lips. But when he laid eyes on her, the words froze. She was completely drenched. Her hair was hanging in folds from which water streamed until it formed a puddle on the hardwood floor. Her thin blouse was plastered to her body and seemed to highlight the black lace bra beneath. It further accentuated a slender waist before giving way to jeans that she now appeared to have been poured into. Her feet were soaked and as he took in the petite toes peeking out, he found himself staring at the pink polish and a Celtic toe ring before his eyes moved back up her body.

 

By the time they reached her eyes, he felt as if he was on automatic pilot. His mind was completely blank, his emotions swept away. He stepped toward her at the exact moment he reached out and pulled her to him, the wet blouse teasing his chest. He didn’t look in her eyes but closed his as his lips locked onto hers.

 

They were everything he’d dreamed about; full and moist and soft. But she wasn’t kissing him.

 

He stopped and took a step backward, separating them. She stood perfectly still and stared at him with eyes that had grown round and huge. Her face had lost its color and as she continued staring at him, he realized she was in shock.

 

Horrified with his own boorish behavior, he stumbled over his words. “I am so sorry. I’ve never done anything like that in my life—”

 

She rushed at him and for the briefest of moments, he didn’t know if she planned to slap him or pummel him or push him to the side to rush out the door. He staggered backward to get out of her way but when she descended on him her arms encircled his neck, pulling his head down to hers. When their lips met again, hers were slightly open and she met his mouth with a passion he had only dreamed about but had never fully experienced.

 

Ryan’s arms wrapped around her; pulling her to him so tightly he had to contain himself to keep from bruising her. She tasted sweet and fresh, the raindrops mingling with perspiration and a fragrance that was both soothing and wild and which seemed to envelop them both in a sensual cocoon.

 

His large hand found her face, the palm cupping her chin while his fingers stroked her jaw. Her skin was as soft as silk and moist from the rain; and as her lips parted further to allow him in, he thought he could never get enough of her. As one hand wandered to her hair, weaving his fingers through the long tresses, a mingled scent of citrus and florals wafted upward, growing in intensity as he fondled her locks.

 

He pressed his body against her, tightening his hold on her as his other hand explored her back, kneading her skin through the thin, wet blouse. Her breath was coming in short shallow bursts now and he could feel her heart quickening as he pressed ever closer. When she sighed softly, he opened his eyes and when she moaned, he reluctantly drew back from her, his muscled chest rising and falling and yearning.

 

Her face was flushed, the heat rising in her cheeks in a way that tantalized him. Her plump lips remained slightly parted and as he gazed at them, he realized he might have bruised them despite his efforts to control his passion. As his eyes found hers, he discovered them staring at him in a way that disarmed him. The gold flecks he had seen earlier appeared to have grown and now they nearly glowed as she looked at him. They were tumultuous, the colors dancing under her long, curved black lashes. But it was the raw emotion in them that gripped his soul; he’d seen desire before and had witnessed passion but there was something more—something deeper. It was trust, he realized with a start. As if she was standing before him, naked to the soul and she was entrusting herself to his care.

 

In his peripheral vision, he could see her chest rising and falling with her jagged breath and each rise threatened to take him closer to the peak of desire.

Review:

*sigh*  There is nothing better than reading a book that has all the elements that I adore.  Irish men, Irish location, a bit of time travel (in dreams), a sexy detective, a strong newscaster and two sassy, spunky girls that love their uncle, gripping suspense and let’s not forget a hurricane.

Yes, peeps…it has it all.  A few warnings though:

1.  Its not so much a time travel book but the story does start in the Ireland in the 1800’s.

2.  Told from the male POV and I LOVE it.  Brings a fresh voice to the romance genre.

3.  The suspense element is amplified with the waiting on the hurricane.

4.  Did I mention Ireland?

Okay, in all seriousness…this book is a wonderful read and it will keep you on the edge of seat.  I loved how Ms. Terrell weaved Rian, Cait, Ryan and Cathleen’s story as one.  I’m in awe, truly.  Its a beautiful love story between two different couples that one man can set right.  Between the dreams that Ryan has, the hurricane itself and Ryan desperately trying to find Cathleen before its too late.

This is one book that I will re-read again and again.  Plus, has we found out in the interview…there is another Ryan book coming out.  🙂

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than eighteen books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.

 

Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.

 

Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee and her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org.

 

She sits on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council. She has also served on the boards of Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.

 

For more information visit the author’s website at www.pmterrell.com, follow her on Twitter at @pmterrell, her blog at www.pmterrell.blogspot.com, and on Facebook under author.p.m.terrell.

 

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