Ropes and Revenge (Lonesome Point, Texas #6)by Jessie Evans
Release Date: April 14th 2015
Genre: Adult, Suspense
Synopsis:
Eight months ago, John Lawson lost his wife and best friend in a tragic accident on his family’s ranch. In the time since, he’s devoted himself to two things—taking care of his two newly motherless sons and proving that Lily’s accident was no accident. Now, he finally has hard evidence that his wife was murdered and he won’t rest until he has the killer’s blood on his hands. He doesn’t have time for anything but vengeance, especially not a crazy ghost hunter wanting to poke around the old spring on his family’s ranch.
Persephone Styles—Percy to her friends—learned about ghosts the hard way, when she was orphaned by a violent crime at the age of seven. Ever since, she’s seen spirits and been obsessed with studying souls beyond the grave. She’s in Lonesome Point to document the town’s spectral activity, but finds herself powerfully drawn to widower John Lawson and empathizing with his grieving children. For the first time in years, Percy is as riveted by the living as she’s always been by the dead and longs to be a part of John’s life.
But when one night of passion becomes something more, Percy realizes John is as haunted as she is and that the man she’s coming to love is walking a dangerous road that may end with him becoming a murderer’s next victim.
“I’m not good with people,” Persephone
said, holding his gaze for a long beat before she continued. “I don’t know what
to say to help them feel better when they’re hurting, but sometimes I can help
them by helping the people they loved. I know you don’t believe in ghosts, but
I do and I care about them and I want to help them find peace. That’s all. I
believe everyone deserves peace, don’t you?”
“I believe people don’t get what they
deserve,” John said, his voice rough. “Now leave. Please.”
She had to leave before the earnest look
on her beautiful face or the empathy shining in her eyes broke him and he
started spilling his guts to a total stranger. This woman didn’t deserve to
know that his wife was dead or that he still mourned her like it had happened
yesterday, not seven months ago. She didn’t deserve to know that a weak,
pathetic part of him almost wanted to believe in ghosts, just so he might have
some hope of communicating with Lily, of being able to tell her how much he
loved her one more time.
But that’s what people like this woman
counted on.
“John, please,” Persephone whispered in
her feather soft voice. “Let me help if I can.”
His stomach went sour. Persephone
probably already knew that Lily had died last spring. She would have done her
research before coming here to prey on his grief the way charlatans like her
had preyed on the suffering for centuries. If he gave her another ten minutes,
he had little doubt she would be offering to help him contact Lily on the other
side.
For a fee, of course. A fee he was sure
dozens of sad fools had paid her through the years, but he wasn’t going to be
one of them.
“Get off my land,” he repeated in a
firmer voice. “I have nothing to say to you and I don’t want, or need, your
kind of help.”
Her thin shoulders slumped and a
defeated expression tightened her delicate features. “All right. Well, I… I
guess I should know better by now,” she mumbled as she turned to walk toward
the four-wheeler.
“Know better than to try to scam
people?”
She slid one leg over the four-wheeler
before turning to face him, giving him a moment to register how out of place
this elegant person looked on the dusty red machine before she spoke. “I should
know better than to reach out to people like you, but I can’t help myself. I
keep hoping…” She shook her head wistfully. “But I suppose I’ll grow out of
that, sooner or later.”
She reached for the ignition. “Good
luck, John. I hope things get better for you soon.”
John crossed his arms and watched her go, determined to keep his expression
impassive. He didn’t want her to know how shitty the seemingly genuine concern
in her voice made him feel. He didn’t want to think about being part of the
reason someone stopped hoping to forge connections with people different than
themselves.
Lily had been totally different than the
girls he’d dated before her. Until he’d met
his freckle-faced, sass-talking, no-bullshit wife, he’d dated women who took
far better care of their outsides than their insides. He’d been a sucker for a pretty face and a nice rack
and hadn’t looked too far beneath the surface.
And then he’d met Lily and learned what a difference a heart made. She had taught
him how to love, pushed him out of his emotional comfort zone, and refused to
settle for less than everything he had to give. He’d fought her at
first—determined to hold her at the same distance he’d held other girls—but
with a mixture of stubbornness, humor, and kisses that took his breath away,
she’d worn him down until he was putty in her hands.
On the day they were married, he’d been certain he would never love anyone more
than he loved her that afternoon. But their love had grown deeper and stronger
with every passing year. By the time they celebrated their ninth wedding
anniversary, John had felt like she was a part of him, so deeply ingrained in
his heart and dear to his soul nothing could tear them apart.
But death
had ripped her away and taken the best parts of him along with her.
“Jesus, Lily.” John bowed his head, his
breath rushing out with a defeated sound. “See what an asshole I am without
you?”
He waited, a pathetic part of him hoping
he might hear her voice in his head again, the way he had Halloween night. But
there was nothing but the sound of some critter digging in the ground on the
far side of the stream, the gentle burble of water over stones from farther up
the mountain, and Darcy snuffling as she sniffed the ground where Persephone
Styles had stood a few moments before.
Cake or Pie?
Cake. Always Cake. Forever Cake.
Rock or Country?
Country.
Homebody or Wanderluster?
Wanderluster. I haven’t lived in the same city for more than 4 years since I was a child. I like to roam and see what there is to see.
Love or Money?
Love. Always Love. Forever Love.
Boxers or Boxer Briefs on your hero?
Boxer briefs. (Briefs are an abomination.)
Mermaid or Pirate?
Pirate mermaid. That sounds like fun.
All Natural or All Made Up?
All Natural. I love being able to shower and go in five minutes.
Tennis Shoes or High Heels?
Bare feet, unless it’s date night. Then boots J.
Coffee or Tea?
Coffee. And lots of it. Tea in the afternoons when I need to decaffeinate.
Sports Car or Pick-up Truck?
Pick-up Truck. Though I’ve never driven a sports car so I could possibly be converted.
Ruler follower or Rule bender?
Rule bender. That’s what rules are made for ;).
Kittens or llamas?
Kittens. I had a llama spit on me at the zoo when I was six.
Pickles or Cucumbers?
Pickles!
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessie Evans, gave up a career as an international woman of mystery to write the sexy, contemporary romances she loves to read.
She's married to the man of her dreams, and together they're raising a few adorable, mischievous children in a cottage in the jungle. She grew up in rural Arkansas, spending summers running wild, being chewed by chiggers, and now appreciates her home in a chigger-free part of the world even more.
When she's not writing, Jessie enjoys playing her dulcimer (badly), sewing the worlds ugliest quilts to give to her friends, going for bike rides with her house full of boys, and drifting in and out on the waves, feeling thankful for sun, surf, and lovely people to share them with.
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