celiabreslin

Hello Dear Readers!
I’m pleased to welcome Susannah Sandlin back to my blog along with her hero Brody Parker from Deadly, Calm, And Cold, Book 2 in The Collectors series. Please enjoy this interview and excerpt, and be sure to enter her tour giveaway (details and link below). Afterwards, check out my review of Book 1: Lovely, Dark, And Deep. 🙂

The Reluctant Hero
An interview with Brody Parker of DEADLY, CALM, AND COLD
by Susannah Sandlin

So, here I am, driving down the wrong side of the road in rural England (not intentionally but this whole left-side driving thing freaks me out). I’m heading northwest into Lincolnshire after a short pit stop in the town of Kings Lynn. The terrain has flattened out as I skirt the marshy area in East Midlands known as The Wash.

Finally, after what seems like a forever of foggy, damp grayness, I reach the village of Swineshead. I spot the grand St. Mary’s Church, which dates back to the fourteenth century, and a small art gallery where the guy I’m here to meet has some paintings on display.

After a near head-on collision that would’ve been entirely my fault, I spot the Black Dragon, a pub where Brody Parker agreed to meet me. He thinks we’re going to talk about his art, but I’m more interested in the rumors I’ve heard about his involvement in a treasure hunt.

The pub is rather dark, but it’s pretty empty in mid-afternoon, and I easily spot Brody sitting in a corner. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with dark tousled hair and an almost shy look in eyes so dark they look black from across the room. There is paint on the back of his hands—looks like gray and blue.

So, Brody, tell me how an American artist ended up living in this little corner of England?
Brody (fidgets): “That’s a long story. I thought we were here to talk about the new exhibit in London.”

People want to know about the artist, not just the art. Brody: “A long-lost uncle I’d never even heard of died and I was his only surviving relative, so I inherited a cottage outside Swineshead. Most of the paintings in the new exhibit were done in and around the fens, or swamps, near The Wash. I wanted to capture the moody, almost haunted feel of the place this time of year.”

Maybe it’s haunted by the ghost of all of those people who died when King John’s baggage train got sucked in by quicksand. That’s when he lost the crown jewels, right?
Brody: “Well, that was before my time. (Laughs—it was in 1216 A.D.) But there are those around here who think there was a more sinister plot to poison the king and steal the crown jewels. He spent the night here in Swineshead the same day the jewels disappeared, and he died a few days later. We’ll never know.”

But I heard you were looking for the jewels. Maybe even that the cottage you live in was part of the original abbey where they might have been hidden
Brody, frowning and stiffening up: “Who told you that? That’s ridiculous.”

Oh, sorry, guess I was mistaken. So about the art—what is it you love about painting in this area? You work mostly in acrylic, right?
Brody: “Right. It’s the quality of the light in this particular area, especially in spring around Swineshead. The color of green in the fields is almost luminous. In the winter, the fens are more interesting because of the fog and the shades of gray.”

And you manage to find time to be a landlord, right—isn’t there an American graduate student, Samantha Crowe, living in the flat above your garage?
Brody: “Who’s been talking to you? That’s none of your business.”

Ah, sorry, guess I was mistaken again. So are there people who show up on your doorstep a lot, wanting to search for King John’s lost crown jewels? I imagine there are a lot of people who’d consider that one of history’s biggest finds. Brody, pushing chair back: “I think this interview is over. You’re on a fishing expedition for information that has nothing to do with you. Leave me out of it.”

As Brody stomps out of the pub, the publican comes over with a new pint, and I ask if the local artist is always so touchy. “Artistic temperament,” he says, but I suspect there’s much, much more to Brody Parker’s story. If that’s even his real name…..

From award-winning author Susannah Sandlin comes the second book in The Collectors series.

How far will ordinary people go to protect their secrets? The Collectors’ games are as much about manipulating lives as finding lost treasure. Everyone is expendable as the ruthless C7 pushes people into gambling with their lives in order to find priceless objects lost to history.

Samantha Crowe’s secrets could ruin her career, while Brody Parker’s could get him killed. They become pawns for two Collectors seeking Bad King John’s crown jewels, which disappeared in rural England back when Robin Hood roamed Nottingham.

This time, however, the Collectors–a ruthless dotcom billionaire and a desperate London detective–might not be playing for the same team, leaving Sam and Brody trapped in the middle.

One thing’s for sure: If either hope to survive, Sam and Brody will have to find a way to overcome their distrust–and their growing attraction–in order to succeed on this winner-take-all treasure hunt.

Available at Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Excerpt

About the Author

Susannah Sandlin writes paranormal romance and romantic thrillers from Auburn, Alabama, on top of a career in educational publishing that has thus far spanned five states and six universities—including both Alabama and Auburn, which makes her bilingual.

She grew up in Winfield, Alabama, but was also a longtime resident of New Orleans, so she has a highly refined sense of the absurd and an ingrained love of SEC football, cheap Mardi Gras trinkets, and fried gator on a stick. She’s the author of the award-winning Penton Legacy paranormal romance series, a spinoff novel, Storm Force, a standalone novelette, Chenoire, and a new romantic thriller series, The Collectors, beginning with Lovely, Dark, and Deep.

Writing as Suzanne Johnson, she also is the author of the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series.

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Deadly, Dark, and Cold’s Bewitching Book Tour Giveaway

(1) $50 Amazon Gift Card | (3) $15 Amazon Gift Cards

Visit the tour’s Rafflecopter Page to enter giveaway.