A Bodyguard to Remember by Alison Bruce (Spotlight, excerpt, review and GIVEAWAY) Goddess Fish Tours

A Bodyguard to Remember

by Alison Bruce

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BLURB:

Prudence Hartley has the usual single mom problems: getting her kids to school on time; juggling a gazillion errands while trying to get a full day’s work done; oh, and don’t forget about dinner.

But Pru’s problems become a tad more complicated and a lot more dangerous when she finds a dead man in her house. Or a dead spy to be exact. Suddenly, a federal agent named David Merrick shows up and whisks her and her kids into protective custody. Pru has so many questions spinning through her brain she doesn’t know where to begin. How is she going to keep her kids safe? What was the dead spy looking for in her house? Why are the spies after her? Oh, and there’s one more question . . . just a pesky, minor thing. Why does Merrick have to be so damn sexy and protective?

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EXCERPT

It started with a dead body on my living room floor.

I had just picked up the twins from their father. While they took the recycling bins from the porch to the curb, I unlocked the front door, which led directly into the living room. I turned on the overhead light as I passed the switch, froze, and then pressed my hand over my mouth to stop a scream. Since the man in the middle of the floor could hardly be alive with a gaping hole in the back of his head, I didn't feel obliged to check on him. Holding my breath, I backed out of the house and called my ex to come take the kids back.

Then I called 9-1-1. 
“Mom?”

“Hold on Boone.” I hooked his sister by her arm and guided them toward the car.

 “This is Prudence Hartley at 13 Wildwood Crescent in Guelph. I need the police.”

“Mom?” It was Hope this time, trying to pull away and look through our front window.

“Back to the car,” I hissed. “I was speaking to my kids, officer . . . yes, this is an emergency. There’s a strange man in my house. He’s dead.”

Amazon

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Alison Bruce has an honors degree in history and philosophy, which has nothing to do with any regular job she's held since. A liberal arts education did prepare her to be a writer, however. She penned her first novel during lectures while pretending to take notes.

Alison writes mysteries, romantic suspense and historical western romance. Her protagonists are marked by their strength of character, the ability to adapt (sooner or later) to new situations and to learn from adversity.

Copywriter and editor since 1992, Alison has also been a comic book store manager, small press publisher and web designer. In addition to writing, she is the Publication Manager of Crime Writers of Canada, Arthur Ellis Awards Administrator, and part-time tech guru to the technologically challenged.

Alison Bruce has had many careers and writing has always been one of them. Copywriter, editor and graphic designer since 1992, Alison has also been a comic store manager, small press publisher, webmaster and arithmetically challenged bookkeeper. She is the author of mystery, romantic suspense and historical western romance novels.

Links & Stuff

abruce@alisonbruce.ca or writer@alisonbruce.ca

Website

Blog

Twitter: @alisonebruce

Facebook

Pinterest

Goodreads

Professional Affiliations

Crime Writers of Canada 

Bio Page 

Alison’s mystery and suspense novels are listed in the CWC online catalogue.

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GIVEAWAY

Alison will be awarding 2 of her eBooks. Choice of:  A Bodyguard to Remember (romantic suspense), Deadly Legacy (mystery), Under A Texas Star (historical western romance), Hazardous Unions (historical romance) or Rawhide and Roses (an anthology with other authors)

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here

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My review:

3.75 stars

A Bodyguard to Remember by Alison Bruce is the first in her ‘Men in Uniform’ series and features a single mother of twins named Prudence Hartley who gets embroiled in a murder investigation that turns her life topsy-turvy and brings her to the attention of RCMP Detective Sergeant Merrick and his team.  Keeping Prudence safe during the investigation gets more and more challenging and it becomes virtually impossible to determine who is out to harm her, but an extended surveillance and protection detail not only complicates her life but also threatens to disrupt it permanently.

This was a entertaining contemporary romantic suspense that combined mystery and geeky references that will be a delight to fans of Star Trek and its offshoots.  The action builds in fits and starts and there is a preponderance of men in uniform who seem to insert themselves into the heroine’s life and then become oddly possessive of her.  For me, the story went on a little long, but I think there are great twists and turns with unexpected scenarios.  The imagery of various locations in Canada and the glimpses of branches of law enforcement provide a nice novelty for me and I enjoyed the wry humor and interweaving of a writer’s life into the tale. This is the beginning of the series, which may be the reason some threads were not tied off as neatly as I would have liked but I enjoyed the author’s style and will be interested in seeing what other tales add to the series.

A copy of this title was provide to me for review