Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Guest Post: HIDDEN DANGER by Gail Pallotta

 My guest today is award-winning author, Gail Pallotta. She is a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner, a TopShelf 20
20 Book Awards Finalist and a Top Author pick. She’s published seven books, poems, short stories and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. A people person, she enjoys connecting with readers.
 

Gail's latest release is Hidden Danger.
What's it about? Check out the blurb below.


After Emily Hanover’s left standing at the altar in Blue Mountain, North Carolina, she goes to Sky High Campground to put her life back together. Because it’s February and few people come here this time of year, she’s alone on the premises. When noises in the middle of the night frighten her, she gathers her courage and peeks outside. A man carrying a body over his shoulder emerges from the dark shadows onto her front yard. Horrified, she collapses onto the floor. 

The next morning, she visits ex-military officer turned security guard, Nick Lancaster. He listens intently to Emily, but dismisses her claim of foul play as a hunter carrying a deer. Finally, after he sees a freshly dug hole in Emily’s yard and finds two more in the woods, he agrees—there’s suspicious activity. Then he and Emily embark on a mission exposing murder and a far-reaching sinister plot, neither suspecting danger can bring romance.     

Hidden Danger has been awarded a Top Author Certificate. Read their review at https://www.gailpallotta.com/this-and-that.html


Now for a taste of the book read the excerpt below!

Chapter One

Emily Hanover jumped and sat straight up in the bed.

She hadn’t been dreaming. There it was again, a scraping noise and banging outside the cabin. With a shaky hand she reached for her cell phone and the after-hours number for Larry, the security guard who checked her in at Sky High Campground. She stopped in mid-air. Thinking only of getting her life back together, she’d forgotten to charge her phone.

The clanging grew louder, more intense. You are our only visitor. Larry had told her. “Few people come to the North Carolina Mountains in January and February, so the managers take off. Another guard, Nick Lancaster who’s on break from college, will be in the office tomorrow.”

With a tremor running through her fingers, Emily plugged the phone into the charger. She flinched each time someone hit stone. With what? A shovel. Yes. It banged into a boulder and resounded in the wind howling around the corner of the house.

Quivering, she slid her feet to the floor. Another round of metal met granite. She raised a blind in the bedroom window, stared at the blackness outside, and let the blind drop. She could see no one. Yet, the shovel vibrations echoed. Whoever hit the rock was really angry. She chewed her knuckle. She’d make herself small and hide. She scooted under the covers and shook.

She had traveled here to renew her spirit in these awe-inspiring mountains. After Donnie West dumped her at the altar, she had yearned to rest and regroup at Sky High. A clank rang out, but this time it reverberated inside her. She would no longer lay here and let a trespasser ruin her vacation. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and forced her body up.

She started to turn on the lights. No. She pulled back her hand. Whoever was outside would see her. She snatched pepper spray and a flashlight from the nightstand and started to the country kitchen, nearly dropping the items as she crept down the hall.

Lord, please help me. First, Donnie. Now this. Please help.

As she peered out the small kitchen window over the sink, the shovel blasted into the silence again. She cringed. Only a person up to no good would invade someone else’s yard in the middle of the night.

She tiptoed past the dining area and the rock fireplace. Her stomach churned as she crossed the room. Finally, she reached the large sliding glass door in the living area. Careful not to touch the drapes, she peeked out the small crack between two panels. No one was there. Had the person outside left? Hope rippled over her. She waited to make sure though. A man with long hair passed outside on her porch. She yanked the drapes shut as tight as she could.

            He carried a body.


🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲


Check the links to find out where you can get the book, visit Gail's website, Facebook page, and sign up for her newsletter. 


Buy Link for Hidden Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDYC11RM

Visit Gail on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/Gwrt781/

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-pallotta

Read more about Gail and her books on her Website – gailpallotta.com 

Sign up for her newsletter - https://www.gailpallotta.com/mainphp.html


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