Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Elka
Ray and her new book, “Divorce is Murder”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Elka
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
Divorce is Murder
by Elka Ray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Romantic Suspense, Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
As teens, they bullied her. Twenty years on, she's not scared of
them. Except she should be...
After
returning to her quiet hometown to care for her ailing mom, divorce lawyer Toby
Wong is hired by Josh Barton, a guy who broke her heart as a teen at summer
camp. Now a wealthy entrepreneur, Josh wants to divorce Tonya, the mean girl
who tormented Toby all those years ago. When Tonya is found murdered, Josh is
the prime suspect.
Together
with her fortune-teller mom and her pregnant best friend, Toby sets out to
clear Josh, whom she still has a guilty crush on. As she delves deeper into
Tonya's murder, Toby keeps running into catty ex-campers she'd rather forget.
Are her old insecurities making her paranoid? Only too late does she realize
she's in danger.
The
first entry in an addictive new series, Divorce is Murder introduces fans of
mystery and romance to an irresistibly smart and sarcastic new heroine -
Chinese Canadian divorce lawyer Toby Wong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
That
noise? Had I imagined the soft tremor of the door, the handle just starting to
turn? I must have because the door stayed tight shut, no light around the
edges, no eager whisper of my name. I tried to slow my breathing, to be even
quieter than I was already, to force my ears to be even sharper.
The
floor was cold and hard. My butt hurt, and my knees felt welded in place. It
was painful to stretch out my legs. I held onto a table and stood, as stiff and
rickety as my Grannie Mei Li, in the hospital, a few days before she’d died. I
forced myself to straighten up, forced myself to face the cold hard truth: I’d
been waiting a long time. Too long. It was very late. My eyes felt gritty.
He
wasn’t coming.
A
slow tentative shuffle to the door, my heart as heavy as my footsteps. Why did
he write that note but not come? Had he been caught? Surely, if he could have,
he’d have come to me.
A
slick of silver lead my hand to the doorknob, which felt even colder than my
creaky fingers. Cold and smooth. It started to turn but stopped. I tried again.
And again. It was no use. The door was locked. It couldn’t be!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Villains: We love to Hate Them
In my
latest book, Divorce Is Murder, the main character, Toby Wong, moves back to
her hometown in her early thirties and is forced to confront all the kids who
bullied her as a teen. Her chief tormentor, Tonya Cabrillato, soon ends up
murdered.
Luckily,
I never endured the kind of bullying faced by Toby. Yet we've all met
meangirls. I went to a good school in a nice neighborhood. Still, catfights
weren't uncommon. In the same quiet, picturesque town where my book is set, a
14-year-old girl was set upon and murdered by her school mates. This happened in
1997, after I'd moved away. But it was big news, back home. Teenage bullying
can be fatal.
In
the course of the story we learn what Tonya did to Toby. We learn what deep
scars she left. And we meet Tonya's nasty, grown-up friends - one of whom is a
vicious killer. We also meet Tonya's ex husband, whom Toby has a guilty crush
on.
Meangirls
are favorites in fiction. Teenage girls can be famously nasty - mostly to each
other. I think girls are taught to be "nice". They're taught to
suppress their anger. Their rage doesn't go away. It just comes out in sneaky
ways. Boys' aggression seems more straightforward. I'd say girls are scarier -
and often smarter.
In
this book I loved exploring the relationship between bullied and bullier. Tonya
and her cronies helped to shape Toby. They were her foils, helping her to grow
into the brave, loyal and kind woman she would become. If you have a strong
hero, you need a strong villain for them to overcome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Elka Ray
Stories that don't let go.
Elka
Ray
writes
fast-paced romantic mysteries and scary thrillers - a dichotomy that reveals
her belief in Yin and Yang, or the balance of opposites. A great lover of
scientific facts, she may be found clutching crystals for good luck; reads
highbrow journals and tabloid trash; and refuses to watch romcoms yet moved in
with her now-husband on their first date.
Elka
is the author of three novels – the romantic mysteries DIVORCE IS MURDER and
HANOI JANE – and the noir thriller SAIGON DARK. She also has a collection of
short crime and ghost stories set in Southeast Asia – WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW. Elka
lives with her family near Hoi An, Vietnam. She is represented by Folio
Literary Management.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH ELKA:
Elka’s Super Cute Furbaby, Sidney
PC – IG @ elka.ray
Website:
Website – Folio Literary Management:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Instagram:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page #1:
Goodreads Book Page #2:
Amazon Author Page:
Elka’s Very Adorable Kitties
PC – IG @ elka.ray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
Apple iBook eBook:
Google Play eBook:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million eBook:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Books2Read eBooks & Paperbacks Listings:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Elka will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure :)
DeleteSo happy to have gotten to know about your book. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi James! Happy Halloween! Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaway :)
DeleteElka ~ Happy Halloween! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. ~ Your furbabies are soooooo cute!!! :)
Thank you Ally & so sorry it took me SOOO long to reply! You're right about my pets - they're all crazy characters...
DeleteHi Victoria! Happy Halloween :) Yes, it certainly sounds like my kind of book too! I can't wait to read it! I will be sharing my review on here at the end of next month... Looking forward to letting you know how it is :)
ReplyDeleteHi Rita! Happy Halloween :) Absolutely! I will be reading and reviewing it at the end of next month on here... So please keep coming by so I can share all the exciting details with you!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAre any of the characters based on real people? Congrats on the release.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any ideas for your next book? Congrats on the release.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bernie. No real people in the story, although my childhood best friend's mom was a divorce lawyer. She worked in the first all-women law firm in Western Canada and went on to be the first female judge in our district, which was very inspiring! (Sold book 2 in the series last month - Yay! - and am doing edits now... ) Elka
DeleteI love this guest post.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kim. Glad you enjoyed it! Elka
DeleteThe book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm SOOOO late to this party but thank you so much! Glad you liked my pet photos - they were all rescued from grim situations & add so much joy (& trouble) to my family... Elka
ReplyDeleteHappy December 1st!
ReplyDeleteSounds like page-turner!
ReplyDelete