A Cunning Plan
by Astrid Arditi
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GENRE: Romantic suspense
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BLURB:
Determined to put her family back together, Sloane Harper stalks her ex husband and his annoyingly stunning mistress, Kate Stappleton. But she’s not the only one.
Handsome IRS agent Ethan Cunning is surveying Kate too, but for entirely different reasons. He is attempting to nail Kate’s playboy boss.
Ethan and Sloane decide to help each other, which sends Sloane’s wobbly life spinning out of control. She’ll have to face danger, humiliation, and – scariest of all – the dating scene, to lure her daughters’ father home.
Losing control was the best thing to happen to Sloane…until it turned lethal.
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Excerpt Two:
The reality of the situation was slowly creeping up on me. A stranger was inside my car. I inched toward the door handle, knowing my best solution would be to escape. My only knowledge of martial arts came from watching The Karate Kid. I harbored a strong suspicion it wouldn’t help much. I would probably hurt myself if I tried to pull off a crane move. Shoving all movie references away from my overwrought brain, I wondered what was wrong with me?
A burning sensation in my lungs reminded me to breathe. I gulped as much air as I could, getting ready to scream for help. All the while, I kept my eyes trained on him, trying to conjure a reassuring expression that wouldn’t set him off. Would I make it out of the door if he lunged toward me? Doubtful. Although he lounged back in the seat casually, I could feel the tension in his lean body, a panther ready to pounce on his prey.
I focused on his face, hoping to decipher his intentions. Besides his brown eyes that had lost their humor, the intruder had light chestnut hair clipped short, a nose that must have been straight once, and a square jaw sporting a five o’clock shadow.
At last, my hand connected with the metal handle and I tensed, ready to spring the hell out of here. Let him have the car, I just wanted out.
His hand shot in my direction, but he stopped it right before it touched my arm.
So I love romantic suspense. Sue me. I didn’t realize that when I read this book, that it was a start to a series featuring our heroine, Sloane Harper. Normally after finding out that this isn’t a one book, I wouldn’t really invest in the book. Sure, I’d read it, review it and forget about it. BUT OH NO….Ms. Arditi has written such a stunning debut novel about characters that I actually care and love that I’m into for the long haul.
Sloane is just too funny for her own good. She doesn’t mean to be but seriously, stalking her ex-husband’s mistress? I get it. Kate broke them up but Tom had moved on and of course, Sloane couldn’t do that. At times, I really was shaking my head at her inner dialogue and then when she was talking to Claudia and her mother. I could see that Sloane had no back bone to speak off and what didn’t help was that her ex-husband was still hanging around. I realize that they had chilren together but to show up for breakfast? Anyway, I digress.
If you are looking for a straight up romance, you won’t find it here. It’s subtle but there. Sloane wants Tom back, the Columbian gun runner wants Sloane and then we have Ethan. I loved him. Sloane and Ethan dance around each other throughout the book but you can feel the heat coming off these two. I can’t wait to see how their relationship plays out in future. Plus, the suspense element is present but doesn’t take over . Plus, Sloane’s character has so much character grownth that she is almost a new character at the end of the book. 😉
The most endearing thing I can say about this book is the writing. It is suberb. From the dialogue, to pacing, to the plot itself but most importantly, the characters. Each character brings something to the story. No one is filler and each is defined in thought, word and deed. I understand each one’s motivation in moving the story along. Even Rose and Poppy, Sloane & Tom’s children were used as thoughtful characters and not just puppets for the cuteness factor.
Overall, I can’t wait to read more about Sloane, Ethan and the cast of characters that I have grown to love.
“I will find you.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Astrid Arditi was born from a French father and Swedish mother. She lived in Paris and Rome before moving to London with her husband and daughter back in 2013.
After dabbling in journalism, interning at Glamour magazine, and teaching kindergarten, Arditi returned to her first love: writing.
She now splits her time between raising her kids (a brand new baby boy just joined the family) and making up stories.
A Cunning Plan is Arditi’s first published work.
BUY LINKS
A Cunning Plan will be Free during the tour.
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cunning-Plan-Astrid-Arditi-ebook/dp/B01D7H7O42/
Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Cunning-Plan-Astrid-Arditi-ebook/dp/B01D7H7O42/
IBooks https://itunes.apple.com/fr/book/a-cunning-plan/id1102554468?mt=11
Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-cunning-plan-astrid-arditi/1123657004?ean=2940152965568
Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/a-cunning-plan-5
CONTACT INFO
I blog at www.astridarditi.com
Facebook Astrid Arditi author https://www.facebook.com/Astridarditiauthor
Twitter @astrid_arditi https://twitter.com/astrid_arditi
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Astrid Arditi will be awarding a Kindle Fire (International) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
I really enjoyed reading the entire post, thank you!
This sounds like fun.
Awesome review! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Harlie for your lovely review!
Thank you for hosting