by Elke
Feuer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restoration architect Josie Fagan takes on a
project with lawyer and senator’s son, Patrick Pullman. It’s the perfect match.
She needs his endorsement to save her business and he wants to restore his
ancestral Chicago home. Love wasn’t part of her plan. Neither was being asked
to stay at his home, haunted by ghosts, or discovering she has a claim to his
home – which she adores. When she finds out his family may be responsible for
her aunt’s disappearance fifty years ago, it’s a race to unearth the truth
before she loses not only her business and her heart, but her life.
Patrick can’t deny his attraction to Josie and is willing to take a
chance on love since his broken engagement a year earlier. Things become
complicated when he learns of their family connection and her claim to the home
he loves. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, or that his family is involved in her
aunt’s disappearance, so insists they work together. But, when he starts seeing
his uncle’s ghost, and threats are made on her life, he’s forced to confront
the possibility his family could be responsible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the Love of Jazz Excerpt
Had she really seen a … ghost? She looked at her wine glass.
No, she’d only had one glass, but since when did drinking produce ghosts?
Never! Blood pulsed wildly against her temple in fear at what she’d seen —
hadn’t seen. The clock on the other side of the room struck one o’clock,
startling her. Had an hour really passed?
“Time is the least of your problems, Josie.” Pushing the
recliner back to its upright position she looked around frantically to make
sure it was really gone. The dimly lit room suddenly closed in on her, casting
dark shadows in corners that weren’t there earlier. She shot out of the chair
and headed to the light switches and turned them all on. Light filled the room
with the exception of the odd missing bulb, and revealed there was nothing there
but dust bunnies. She breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Now what? She could knock on Patrick’s door and tell him
what she had seen, but what good would that do? The last thing she wanted was
her new client to think he’d hired a crazy person. Besides, what would she say?
Hey, I just saw a ghost can I sleep in your room? Yeah, that would go over
well.
She blew out the candle and picked up the glass of wine from
the table, liquid courage to sleep. She made sure the lights in the stairwell
were turned on before the ones in the living room were turned off.
She closed her room door and pulled the chain across the
newly installed deadbolt lock. Reason told her the lock couldn’t keep the ghost
from coming into her room, but it gave her some comfort anyway. What the heck
had she gotten herself into?
by Elke Feuer
Review óóóóóI began “For the Love of Jazz” because of the premise of the story involving the restoration of a historical home within Chicago with a story of its own. I was taken with the ambiance crafted by author Elke Feuer since I am a fan of grounded writing by the use of time and place within a storyline. The author masterfully layered characters in the creation of Josie Fagan and Patrick Pullman, a restoration architect and lawyer, respectively. Patrick comes from old money and is the son of a senator along with all the social connections and upbringing issues expected. At times Patrick acknowledges the requirements of wealth and status with regret at times or as a weight to bear in his self-reflection. I enjoyed the use of the characters’ careers and ambition to create further tension in the story as well as their mutual attraction. Josie is just starting out on her own in a business more than eager, she must find a client and fast. She is passionate and well-versed in the renovation of buildings.
The author powers up the conflict, rocketing the
story forward as the Josie agrees (not too happily at first) to live on the
premises during the renovation. This becomes the lynch pin in her obtaining the
contract offered by Patrick using his legal maneuvering which he is famous for
as it turns out. She is on a tight
schedule to bring the Pullman project in on time and since Patrick is her only
client, she is able to focus her attention on this restoration and him. Patrick
in turn becomes more enamored by his architect live-in, equally wanting more of
her time and attention as the story progresses. We are given the family history
of these two people, further layering their characters and within the story
there are also some mysterious elements or devices employed regarding the mutual
family history of Josie’s aunt and Patrick’s uncle as well as suspense in
threats delivered against the heroine. Throughout the story, Josie and Patrick
are more and more attracted to each other creating a sensual undercurrent that
is woven within the story, appearing and reappearing in lieu of upstaging the
various story elements. All in all, For the Love of Jazz was an engaging read
with an intriguing plot in the never knowing how the story would end, and had
me captivated at a fast-paced clip to the very end.
This reviewer received an ARC from the
author in return for an honest review, which is given as a professional
courtesy and without monetary compensation.
PLEASE comment below. Thank you.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Elke lives in
Grand Cayman with her husband and two kids. Reading, spending time with her
family, traveling, and meeting people is her joy. Writing is her passion. She
enjoys her job as a project manager, but her dream is to write full-time and
stay home with her kids.
Jazz and
salsa are her favorite music to write to. She sometimes wonders if she’s not
Billie Holiday incarnate because of the strong connection she feels to her and
jazz. It’s her favorite writing music along with salsa.
She stumbled
into writing suspense, and to her surprise found she enjoyed it, along with
writing about serial killers. Elke is fascinated by them, and what motivates
them to kill. She writes time travel, historical, and contemporary novels to
even out her dark side.
Readers can
connect with Elke at:
Where to get
the book:
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.ca
eBooks.com
http://www.ebooks.com/1097961/for-the-love-of-jazz/feuer-elke/