KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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SIX WEEKS OF LOVE & LARCENY
The Secrets Trilogy Book 1
BY REBECCA GOULD BAEURLE
Blurb
Caught off guard or caught red-handed?
Six weeks. Two sisters. One very bad idea.
Nikki Taylor’s college life in Philly is already a high-stakes balancing act – juggling classes, two jobs, and an empty bank account. She doesn’t have time for games. But when a cocky, dark-eyed customer leaves his phone number instead of a tip, she answers the challenge – and steps straight into the arms of Chris Sheppard, a charming Temple student with secrets of his own.
Meanwhile, her older sister Lauren is holding it all together. Barely. A lifestyle columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lauren prefers to keep things professional, predictable, and strictly in control. That is, until her new intern uncovers a potential scandal: date rape drugs and a citywide drug ring creeping onto college campuses.
As Nikki’s romance intensifies and Lauren’s investigation deepens, the sisters’ stories converge in unexpected — and dangerous — ways, spiraling in directions neither could predict.
Witty, romantic, and charged with tension, Six Weeks of Love & Larceny is a modern-day love story with a criminal twist – where sisterhood is everything, and trust can be a deadly gamble.
SIX WEEKS OF LOVE & LARCENY
The Secrets Trilogy Book 1
BY REBECCA GOULD BAEURLE
Excerpt
“He wants to meet you too. He’s coming back to the city after Christmas so we can have some time alone together before his roommates get back. Maybe we can get together for a drink then.”
“That would be great,” she smiles. “I’m just going to be here working on my story. The info you and Amanda dug up for me is really helpful. I’ve already started writing it.”
“When did you have time for that?” I ask. “I thought you had friends coming into town for the engagement party this past weekend.”
“I did. I started writing yesterday after they left. You know I have no life,” she says with a self-deprecating tone.
“You really don’t Lauren,” I agree but don’t let it go, wanting to make a point. “I’m in school full-time and working two jobs and still get out more than you do.”
She shrugs off my comment. “Listen, I have everything for tonight, but I forgot to get rum for the eggnog. How about we go out before dinner and pick some up and we can stop somewhere for a festive holiday drink,” she suggests.
“Okay but we should probably leave soon,” I say glancing at the clock. “The liquor stores close early on Christmas Eve.”
Lauren nods. “Let me just throw something on besides this sweatshirt and we’ll go.” I follow her into the bedroom and put my bag on her bed while she changes.
“So how was the engagement party?” I ask leaning against the dresser. “Any eligible bachelors there?”
Lauren’s eyes roll as she walks over to her closet. “The party was great. It was so nice to see my college friends again,” she says, rifling through her clothes, “but eligible is not the word I would choose to describe the bachelors. They all had their shirts off by the end of the night like they were still a bunch of frat boys. No thank you,” she shakes her head. “Come on, let’s go.”
I laugh, imagining the scene. “Sounds like a good time, anyway.”
We walk to the nearest liquor store and are perusing the rum choices when we hear, “Lauren?” We both turn around and there is a movie-star gorgeous man standing behind us holding several bottles of wine.
“Drew. Hi. Fancy meeting you here. This is my sister Nikki,” Lauren says, gesturing her hand toward me and standing up a little straighter.
“Hi, Nikki,” he replies putting the bottles down on the counter to shake my hand, “I’m Drew. Lauren and I work together. You ladies picking up some holiday libations for a celebration tonight?”
My eyes widen realizing this is the ‘Mr. Drew-tiful’ Amanda told me about.
“Yes, rum for the eggnog,” Lauren answers, her tone is casual, but I can tell she’s forcing it, “you?”
“Wine for dinner at my parents’ house tomorrow. I was afraid the liquor store wouldn’t be open tomorrow.”
“So, no Christmas Eve plans?” I ask and Lauren shoots me a horrified look.
TWELVE WEEKS OF LOVE & LOSS
The Secrets Trilogy Book 2
BY REBECCA GOULD BAEURLE
Blurb
She had a choice.
Go back to Chris — the man she’d loved since college, the one who’d made her feel chosen and diminished in the same breath. The one who showed up at her boutique three years later like no time had passed, like she owed him a hearing. Persistent. Charming. A little too sure of himself.
Or start fresh.
Rich was different. Attentive in a way that felt like fate — the kind of man who remembered the small things, who made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t in years. Steady. Safe. Present.
Her friends weren’t so sure. Something felt off. The attention was a little too focused. The concern a little too constant. They said it quietly at first, then louder. She heard them.
She chose anyway.
She chose wrong.
By the time Nikki understood what Rich had built around her — the careful architecture of control disguised as devotion — it was already inside everything. Her routines. Her trust. Her sense of herself. The man who told her he only wanted to protect her had become the most dangerous thing in her world.
The most terrifying decisions aren’t made in moments of crisis. They’re made on an ordinary afternoon when someone finally makes you feel safe.
Twelve Weeks of Love & Loss is a pulse-pounding thriller of obsession, deception, and survival — set against the backdrop of a love story that never quite let go. Nikki’s fight isn’t just to escape. It’s to find her way back to herself.
How well do you know the person standing right in front of you?
About Author Rebecca Baeurle…
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Links to Rebecca’s websites, blogs, books, #ad, etc.:
Amazon (Six Weeks): https://amzn.to/45gzJES
Amazon (Twelve Weeks): https://amzn.to/4z8DvO3
Official Website: RebeccaGouldBaeurle.com
Facebook: RGBooks
Instagram: @beckybaeurle
LinkedIn: Rebecca Baeurle
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Special Giveaway: Rebecca will gift one print copy (US Only) of SIX WEEKS OF LOVE & LARCENY and one copy (US Only) of TWELVE WEEKS OF LOVE & LOSS to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Happy Reading!
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Hoooo boy! You know how to build the creepy/eerie factor, Rebecca!
I’d love to read the first book, but not the second. I’ll keep an eye out for it. 🙂