Hello, Therians!
Welcome to my stop in the I.O. Book Tours, Shrouded in Illusion by H. D. Thomson Blog Tour!
Keep reading for a glimpse into this exciting book, and be sure to enter the giveaway!!
Someone wants Skye Hunter’s son and they’re willing
to kill her or anyone else to get to him. On the run for her life, she is
forced to turn to the only person who can help her—a complete stranger with a
shared past—David Bishop, a renowned illusionist.
David’s life is also an illusion, built of smoke and
little else. He meets Skye, a woman filled with passion and conviction, and the
pain he sees in her eyes is a mirror to his own soul. But when he realizes she
has the same strange, telekinetic phenomenon inside her body that he does, he
is forced to question his life, his childhood and the father who raised him.
Can these two lost souls uncover the mystery behind their powers and save
Skye’s son and themselves in the process?
EXCERPT 1
Skye’s lips parted as he moved closer. The air conditioner
on his damp skin didn't cool his suddenly heated skin.
She edged backward.
He inched forward.
“Okay, Bishop.” The ice-cubes rattled in her glass as she
set it on the counter with a snap. “That's close enough.”
“Why? Am I getting to you?”
“Of course not.”
He stroked a knuckle along the tender skin below her ear.
“Then why is your pulse fluttering like a terrified mouse?”
“That must be your imagination.” Her throat flexed as she
swallowed, but she didn't step away. Her nipples pressed against the thin
cotton of her shirt, tempting him to cup and caress both breasts until they
tightened even more beneath his touch.
“Really?”
She raised her hand as if to pull his away, but he caught
her wrist and brought her palm to his mouth. He licked the fleshy part below
her index finger, inhaling her distinct lavender and feminine scent. At her
indrawn breath, doubts of her lack of sexual interest in him scattered. David
smiled against her hand with satisfaction.
Soon. If not tonight, there’d be another time when he’d have
her spilling her hidden agenda from between those delectable lips.
He lifted his thumb from her inner wrist and brushed his
mouth over her rapid pulse. He tasted salt and a possibility of something more.
From above her hand, he watched for a reaction as he murmured against the
warmth of her skin, “What is it about you that keeps me off balance and ties me
in knots? You don’t know how much I want to pull off your clothes and take you
here on the floor.”
Skye’s chest rose and fell in quick succession as the color
of delicate rose bloomed into her cheeks and melded with the dusting of her
freckles. The desire that flared into her eyes hit him in the gut.
David wanted her, wanted her more than he could remember
wanting a woman.
His grip on her wrist tightened. He wrapped his free arm
around her waist and applied pressure to the small of her back until her body
grazed his. The cool cotton of her shirt and shorts brushed against his bare
stomach and legs.
He released her wrist and caught her chin between a finger
and thumb, urging her to look up and meet the hunger he knew burned in his
eyes. “I think you like being this close.”
He didn't wait for an answer. Hell, he knew, she'd come up
with an argument if he gave her more than a second. He lowered his head, and
the touch of her lips dragged a rattling sigh from his own. The taste of her,
warm, female and alluring urged him to take more than a fleeting kiss. He held
off. Savoring the moment. The anticipation.
EXCERPT 2
The fear and unease she’d tried to bury resurfaced. Her
heartbeat quickened and sweat thickened across her skin, causing her t-shirt to
cling tighter against her body. She’d been here before. Skye didn’t have to
search her memory. She’d lived, breathed inside these four walls as an orphan.
After passing several doorways, Skye stepped into a room to
the right. A floorboard creaked beneath her weight. Broken blinds hindered the
sunlight from struggling through a large bay window. A couple of desks, decades
old sat like large bull frogs, bulky, brown and weathered. Laughter and tears
echoed through the past and into the room, faint but unmistakable memories from
Skye’s past.
Other children had lived here and died.
She paused, frowned.
A sound, possibly a footstep, resounded from the hall. She backed
up against the wall beside the door. Forcing air in and out of her nose,
slowly, quietly, she waited and listened.
Silence.
Cautiously, she re-entered the hall and found it empty, dark
and ominous. Moving as quietly as possible, she eased back down the hall from
where she’d started. By one doorway, ‘Office’ was stenciled in faded gray
across the open door. Sadly even if there were filing cabinets inside, she
didn’t think she’d find anything useful inside them. Still...
She slipped inside, past what looked like a waiting room and
into an office with three tiers of metal files in the same faded beige as the
walls outside. She eased two drawers open and found both empty.
Exactly where would years of records be?
Helplessness gnawed into her stomach. There must be a
storage unit somewhere. They couldn’t have all been destroyed, could they?
As the drawer scraped shut, the noise almost masked the
rustle of clothing. That and the sigh of someone’s breath alerted her too late.
She gasped. A hand roughly clamped over her mouth, locking the breath in her
lungs. Before she had a chance to latch onto the drawer handle, the person
jerked her backward. Her fingers clutched at air.
Focusing past the panic, she forced her mind on the drawer
and stared hard at the cabinet. The drawer flew from the cabinet, rushing past
and grazing her shoulder but missing her attacker. Damn it. She couldn’t get to
the person behind her without hitting herself.
Trying to bite at the hand across her mouth, she struggled
against the steel-like arm around her stomach. A man. His scent of soap and
aftershave filled her senses. Skye stiffened in shock.
David whipped her around and pushed her up against the
nearest wall, his hand firmly latched over her mouth. The buckle of his belt
dug into her stomach. She shivered as the heat of his body scorched through her
clothing and into her skin as fear and a sick sense of excitement rushed
through her limbs.
“Shhh,” he whispered by her ear, his breath feathering her
hair back from her temple. “We’re not alone.”
REVIEW
This
was a unique and exciting read. From the very start I was thrown
right into the action and that's when I was hooked.
So much
mystery surrounded Skye Hunter and her son that I had to know more. The further
I read the more questions I had. Who was she? What or who was she running from?
Why was she so interested in David? How did Peter tie into the whole thing? Did
her Ex-husband have anything to do with the danger she was in? What was the
evil lizard creature? And so they kept going.
Skye
and David's chemistry was undeniable but I loved that she didn't turn into a
puddle every time he was near her. Sure, her thoughts contradicted that last
statement, but she held her own and made him work for it; for a while anyway.
Skye was an amazing, kickass mother. Hell bent on protecting her son, he acted
a bit psycho at times but it was great to have such a strong female MC who was
also soft and vulnerable. I was riveted when she went to see her ex. That scene
was the real turning point in the story when everything fell apart but also came
together at the same time. Skye pushed herself to her limits and was left a
little broken by the end of it.
I didn’t
completely trust David. He was far too suspicious and it seemed to be more than
just a fear of Skye ruining his career. Even though he couldn’t be blamed for
the past I had an odd feeling that there was more to his story. Things didn’t add
up, especially when certain information came to light about his father, who was
one of my favorite characters. Gordon was witty and sarcastic, and I loved his
upfront way of dealing with things. I had fun reading the scene in the diner
when he first met Skye.
Of
course, like any great mystery, the more you search for answers, the more you
think you know, but not everything is as it seems. Towards the end of the book,
the many secrets started to unravel, some shocking and so unexpected, others
confirming what I had been thinking.
The
only thing I would have liked more of from this story was what really happened
to the orphans. Although the truth was uncovered, and it tied most of the story
together, I still felt like there were a few holes that were left open.
This
story has a paranormal element but I think it will be enjoyed by readers of
most genres because it has mystery, romance, drama, action and plenty of
suspense.
GIVEAWAY
If the Rafflecopter form does not appear below, please click on the link to be redirected :)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
H.D. Thomson moved from Ontario, Canada as a teenager to the heat of Arizona where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting. After working in the corporate world as an accountant, H.D. changed her focus to one of her passions-books. She owned and operated an online bookstore for several years and then started Bella Media Management. The company specializes in web sites, video trailers, ebook conversion and promotional resources for authors and small businesses. When she is not heading her company, she is following her first love-writing.
Website:
http://www.hdthomson.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/authorhdthomson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hdthomson
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