The secret’s out! My psychological romantic suspense novel, SHADOW PURSUIT, is up at Amazon! Squeeeeee!
SHADOW PURSUIT
Thorne’s Thorns Prequel
By K.L. Docter
Blurb
Trusting him could save her. Loving him could kill him.
Denver patrol officer Ross Thorne has spent a year keeping his distance from Evelyn Symes, the brilliant, warm-hearted heiress who is completely out of his league. When the Policeman’s Ball finally brings them together, their moment is shattered by three gunshots in a frozen garden and a murder that changes everything.
Evelyn’s date is dead. She’s covered in blood. And a stalker who has been watching her for months just stepped out of the shadows.
Her watcher has been busy. Driven by a twisted, ruthless logic, he targets anyone he believes stands between him and Evelyn. By the time she understands the pattern, those she holds dearest are already marked.
Ross refuses to retreat. He steps closer to the danger and to her, knowing full well that when the threat is over, walking away from her will tear him apart. His life hangs in the balance, his heart already compromised, yet forward is the only direction he knows. She pleads with him to retreat, even as she knows it’s not what she truly wants. Each new threat makes the stakes clearer, crystallizing in her mind what she stands to lose.
As her circle of trust shrinks to those she considers family, Evelyn confronts a devastating realization. Not everyone she loves will survive what’s coming, and time may run out before she can tell the one man who matters most exactly how she feels.
Shadow Pursuit weaves pulse-racing suspense with smoldering romance, deadly obsession, and the courage required to love deeply when forces conspire to tear you apart.
Shadow Pursuit is the prequel to the Thorne’s Thorns series — Ross and Evie’s story, and the love that gave six boys a home, a name, and a future.
This 100k+ word sequel to the Thorne’s Thorns series is on PRE-ORDER for $4.99, 33% off the regular price ($6.99 on release day, May 22).
SHADOW PURSUIT
Thorne’s Thorns Prequel
By K.L. Docter
Excerpt
Chapter One
When Ross Thorne spotted the woman traversing the hotel ballroom, aimed directly at his table next to the dance floor, he did the one thing guaranteed to get a police officer killed. He panicked.
He reached for his glass and choked down a mouthful of ice water. It went down the wrong way. The ensuing coughing fit locked down on his lungs like a vice. Yanking at his black tie, he released its stranglehold around his neck and took a few moments to clear his throat enough to breathe again.
What was she doing here?
It was bad enough that he had to attend the Policeman’s Ball tonight with a blind date, a favor that had already come back to bite him in the ass. Spending the evening watching the one woman he’d wanted since last year’s ball waltzing across the dance floor in the arms of yet another well-heeled man might kill him.
Evelyn Symes, the only daughter of Warren Symes, the powerful CEO of SymesTech Enterprises, was tall, gorgeous, and sexy. Humor and intelligence shone from her expressive sky-blue eyes, framed by shoulder-length natural curls the color of maple sugar. With her father’s death eight months ago, she’d become the wealthiest woman in Denver society, hell, the entire state, and was entirely out of a lowly beat cop’s league.
That didn’t stop him from watching her willowy curves sway beneath her frothy, knee-length cocktail dress, the color of a Palisade peach, the movement of her breasts above silky material too flimsy for the early winter weather outside. Caught by the sight of matching spiked heels that would bring her gaze level with his while he kissed her full lips, he was startled when she stopped before him. “Looks like we get to share a table tonight, Ross.” She flashed one of her generous smiles that made him go weak in the knees.
Everything about this woman makes you weak in the knees. Pull it together, Thorne!
Before he could do more than grimace a smile, she turned to her escort, Donald P. Wyce III, the new D.A., with his face plastered all over the media like he was a rock star. “This is us, Donald.” She allowed him to seat her in a white linen-backed chair across the table, then gazed up at him. “Would you please be a dear and brave the line at the bar? You know what I like.”
“Of course,” he replied with a brilliant smile that probably cost a fortune to create. He glanced at Ross, staring at them with what he hoped was mild disinterest in his eyes, and then leaned down to kiss his date on the mouth, like he already had the right to claim her.
Which he probably did.
Ross turned away from the uncomfortable sight and saw his date, Bethany Renard, glaring daggers at him. Again. When they arrived at the hotel, she’d made it clear this was not her blind date of choice. Neither he nor the venue. His jaw clenched briefly, then relaxed. “Bethany,” he said, looking across the table at the woman he could never take his eyes off for long, “let me introduce you to one of our dinner companions. Evelyn Symes.”
He smiled. “Evelyn, this is Beth—”
“She’s bolting.”
“What?” He turned to see his date stomp toward the nearest double doors that opened into the wide hallway holding several minibars set up for tonight’s event. Shocked by her rudeness, he watched her leave the ballroom. “I’m sorry, Evie,” he said, automatically calling her by the name he used only in his dreams. “She must have needed to go to the ladies’ room.”
“The ladies’ room is on the right. She walked left, toward the hotel lobby.”
Laughter suddenly rumbled from the depths of his chest. He couldn’t help it. “Does that mean I’ve just become one of those ‘blind dates from hell’ stories she’ll share with all her girlfriends in the morning?”
She laughed with him. “Maybe sooner.” A slim eyebrow rose. “Whatever did you do wrong?”
“Accept the date in the first place?” He loosened his tie further, drawing it off. When he looked up and caught her watching, he laughed self-consciously. “Yeah,” he held up the tie for her inspection before jamming it in his jacket pocket, “this is not me.”
She grinned back. “You wear it well,” she said. “But, no, it’s not you.”
Suddenly, he wanted to be the type of man who appealed to her, even if it meant wearing a suit and tie six days a week.
“So why did you accept the blind date?”
He shrugged. “One of my co-workers didn’t know what to do with a visiting cousin while he celebrated his anniversary with his wife. He begged me to use their tickets and bring Bethany. He told her we were going to dinner and dancing, without specifying we were coming here.”
“You’re not.” Evie’s lip gloss glistened on her lower lip.
Ross wanted to nibble it off. “Not what?”
“A blind date from,” her mouth curved, “you know where.”
His heart thumped as he lifted his gaze. “How would you know?”
About Author K.L. Docter…
Karen Docter writes romance novels in two genres. As Karen Docter, she writes contemporary Romance…with a Kick of Humor. As K.L. Docter, her romantic suspense stories are about Women hunted by killers…Men who die to protect them. A book lover of all genres, she spotlights books on her blog. When she’s not hanging with her own personal hero, a persnickety Border Collie, and a flock of chickens that “sing” really loud every morning, she’s living her best life reading and writing lakeside near Myrtle Beach.
Titles Available by Karen Docter:
SATIN PLEASURES (Romantic Comedy)
CATCH THAT SANTA (Romantic Comedy)
COP ON HER DOORSTEP
True Love In Uniform Series, Book One
(Contemporary Romance)
COP UNDER THE MISTLETOE
True Love in Uniform Series, Book Two
(Contemporary Romance)
Titles Available by K.L. Docter:
SHADOW PURSUIT
Thorne’s Thorns Series Prequel
(Romantic Suspense)
KILLING SECRETS
Thorne’s Thorns Series, Book One
(Romantic Suspense)
Find her on the web:
Website/Blog
Docter in the House! FB Chat Group
X/Twitter
Karen Docter Bookbub
Karen Docter FB
K.L. Docter Bookbub
K.L. Docter FB
Goodreads
Happiest of Release Day’s, Karen!
Thanks, K.A.!
Congratulations Karen!!
Thanks, Eileen. I hope everyone loves Ross and Evie’s story as much as I do.
Congratulations on your new release!! It sounds like a Great read!!
Thanks, Alicia. I’m excited.
I didn’t read through your blurb, but you know why….. I am SUPER excited for you! YAY!!! I have friends who will want to know when the book is released. I promise to share.
Of course. You can tell them now, if you want. It’s on Pre-order now and will go automatically to their Kindle when it goes “live” on May 22nd. Thanks for spreading the word.