On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
Web of Deceit
by Catherine Lanigan
Adult Historical Romance
ebook, 462 pages
June 4, 2016 by Cat Nolan Publishing
A passion she could not deny—A lie she could never escape—
From the depths of a London slum, Amanda Granger created an illusion of wealth and breeding that became her passport into New York society. With her dazzling beauty and the ease with which she lived her lie, Amanda captivated an adoring public and drove men to bold and dangerous passions.
But for all her fierce ambition, all her daring dreams, Amanda Granger knew that her heart’s desires were held together by the fragile threads of deception and secrets. Triumph would always be elusive until she escaped from her web of deceit.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE, PART I
London, 1894
Shelton Street was just wide enough for the rolling fog to pass. Forty houses, two and three stories high, teetered against each other, like rusty links of an old chain. More than two hundred families occupied their tiny, filthy rooms. The little yards in back were crammed with dustbins, water closets and cisterns meant to serve six or seven families.
Few people were up this early since most of them had no jobs, no place to go, no appointments to keep. Less than a dozen windows looked out onto the street and all of them remained shuttered against the dawn. There were no window boxes filled with colorful petunias or geraniums as were found on most London houses. The people of Shelton Street kept to themselves, which in its way was an act of charity, for none wanted to inflict their burdens on others. Lives lived here were meager both financially and spiritually. For the old, Shelton Street was an end to a wasted life; for the young it was a tormentor to be overcome and subdued.
Gambling, drunkenness, foul language, and even murder grew on Shelton Street. It was no place for pride.
Amanda Granger buttoned her cotton skirt and tucked in her blouse as she raced along the perilously narrow sidewalk, being careful not to tear her clothes on the projecting nails that studded the house fronts.
She was late. She hated being late.
Lady Kent would be furious; recently, a perpetual state of being for her employer, Amanda thought.
Amanda had no time for remorse or guilt for her tardiness.
She’d worked long past quitting time too often with no pay and no kind words from Lady Kent to worry over a few minutes extra sleep this morning.
Amanda’s excuse was a good one, to her mind. She’d been writing again, late into the night. She was struggling . . . battling, actually, with her poetry. No matter how many times she’d tried to copy Keats and Shelley, she’d failed. The translation of her thoughts into words resulted in hodgepodge. She was better at prose, much better. However, Lord Kent had clearly instructed her that once she mastered poetry, she could write anything. Almost as much as she wanted to write, she wanted to please him.
She crossed Mercer Street where the morning sun peaked through the passageways between the buildings and burned away the fog like a hot poker. At Cutter’s Row, she stopped at the haberdasher’s shop kept by Mrs. Bird. Amanda opened the sparkling glass door. Mrs. Bird was especially proud of her glass door when her fellow merchants could offer only wood doors.
“Good day, Mrs. Bird.”
“Amanda. How sweet you look today. That a new blouse?” plump Mrs. Bird asked, inspecting the fine white linen cloth.
“To me it is,” Amanda replied proudly. Mrs. Bird knew, as everyone did, that Amanda’s clothes were secondhand, though not the rags sold at Sunday auctions by toothless old women on Chapel Street. Amanda’s clothes were unsoiled, unripped, and often, worn but once. Eloise Kent, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Lord and Lady Kent, always gave her unwanted clothing to Amanda. It was one of many privileges Amanda had enjoyed all her life.
About the Author
Catherine Lanigan is the international bestselling and award-winning author of forty published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, as well as over half a dozen anthologies, including “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living your Dream”, “Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul”, and more. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into dozens of languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Ms. Lanigan’s novels are also available in E-books on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Store, Mobi and Kobo. Several of her titles have been chosen for The Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Her Vietnam war-based novel, The Christmas Star, won the Gold Medal Award Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine and has also won Book of the Year Romance Gold Award from ForeWord Magazine as well as Book of the Year Romance from Reader’s Preference.
Lanigan is the author of a trilogy of non- fiction books regarding angelic intervention in human life: Angel Watch, Divine Nudges and Angel Tales published by HCI and Cedar Fort.
Skyhorse published Lanigan’s “how-to” book on writing: Writing the Great American Romance Novel.
Lanigan was tasked by the NotMYkid Foundation to write a non-fiction book addressing teen addictions. Ms. Lanigan’s first Young Adult adventure novel, The Adventures of Lillie and Zane: The Golden Flute, was published by Cedar Fort.
Currently, she has published six novels in the Shores of Indian Lake series for Harlequin Heartwarming: Love Shadows, Heart’s Desire, A Fine Year for Love, Katia’s Promise and Fear of Falling. Sophie’s Path pubs July, 2016. She has recently contracted for three more in the series: Danger Zone, Wedding for Isabelle and A Bride for Mica.
As a cancer survivor, Ms. Lanigan is a frequent speaker at literary functions and book conventions as well as inspiring audiences with her real stories of angelic intervention from her Angel Tales series of books. She is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence and abuse and was honored by The National Domestic Violence Hotline in Washington, D.C. (THE EVOLVING WOMAN). She has been a guest on numerous radio programs including “Coast to Coast” and on television interview and talk show programs as well as blogs, podcasts and online radio interview programs.
Tour Schedule
September 6th: Launch
September 7th: Falling Leaves
September 8th: Bloomfield of thoughts
September 9th: underneath the covers
September 11th: Rockin' Book Reviews
September 12th: Nicole's Book Musings
September 13th: The Silver Dagger Scriptorium
September 14th: Mel's Shelves
September 15th: Wishful Endings
September 16th: Becky on Books
September 18th: Colorimetry
September 20th: Thoughts of a Blonde
September 19th: My Devotional Thoughts
September 21th: EskieMama Reads
September 22nd: Book Lover in Florida
September 23rd: Sylv all about books and films
September 25th: Harlie's Books
September 26th: Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
Open internationally
Ends October 1st
Ends October 1st
Thanks for allowing me a stop on this tour, Evelyn! Have a super fabulous week!
ReplyDeleteAll my best, Catherine
Looks like a very interesting book. Would love to read it!
ReplyDeleteI love books set in this period. This looks like a great one.
ReplyDeleteThe cover really fits the book and is a great lead in to the story. The synopsis also sets a great stage and high expectations. Amanda will climb the heights to high society, but is anything but a great fall awaiting her there? Makes you want to read it to find out!
ReplyDelete