BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

EXCERPT & GUEST POST: The Heist by Adriana Kraft

EXCERPT & GUEST POST


Hello! Grab your coffee or tea and join me for a quick excerpt from a new erotic romantic suspense, released just last month from the writing duo of Adriana Kraft. Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a husband/wife team writing sizzling romantic suspense and erotic romance. The award-winning pair has published over thirty romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews. Romantic pairings include straight m/f, lesbian, bisexual, ménage and polyamory, in both contemporary and paranormal settings.

Find Adriana Online:

Website: http://adrianakraft.com
Blog: http://adrianakraft.com/blog
Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adriana-Kraft/182846025133440
Twitter http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft
GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/1578571.Adriana_Kraft
Shelfari http://www.shelfari.com/adrianakraft
Google+ https://plus.google.com/102791537641895264573/posts
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/adrianakraft5/boards/




**************************************

EXCERPT

“I and my staff have already done fairly thorough background checks on all the museum employees,” Ted said.

“Oh.” Kara scowled. “I’m not sure I like that.”

“But you expected it?”

“Of course. At some point.”

“I believe in being efficient. Even before certain added incentives.”

“I can always change my mind. I don’t know a thing about you.”

“You know enough. I have large hands.” Ted chuckled when she winced. “I’ve worked for the Upper Midwest Arts Council for five years.”

“And before that?”

“I was a Chicago cop.”

“Oh.”

“I went into the army right out of high school and completed my BA degree at U.I.C. while on the force. Funny, isn’t it? While you were working on your MA at the University of Chicago, I was patrolling the streets of Hyde Park and South Chicago.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

“Maybe we bumped into each other.”

“I highly doubt that. I wouldn’t forget bumping into you. Remember?”

“Oh, right.” Kara’s flush returned. 

**************************************

A heist? A murder? It’s villain’s choice.


A special-order art theft? Tedious, but seamless – until small town museum director Kara Daniels calls in the experts. Furious her favorite trio of priceless impressionist paintings has been stolen from its traveling exhibit on her watch, Kara is determined to save not only the paintings, but her future in the art world. She’ll stop at nothing to entrap the thief.

Ted Springs knows the underbelly of the criminal world a little closer than he might like—but he’s turned it to good advantage, first as a police officer, and now as detective for the Upper Midwest Arts Council. His job? To guarantee the security of the valuable paintings in the Council’s traveling exhibits.

Heat sizzles when Ted and Kara collide—can they work together, before it’s too late?

Publisher: B&B Publishing
Format: Kindle book
Release Date: July 9, 2014
Buying Links:  Amazon*
* affiliate link; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through this link.

**************************************
 


Planning a heist

Our latest release, The Heist, got its start on a rainy Monday a while back, when hubs and I attended a behind-the-scenes tour at our small Iowa town’s exquisite art museum. A new exhibit was about to open, and we were treated to detailed descriptions of the process of locating and ordering traveling exhibits, shipping them, storing them, uncrating them, hanging them, insuring their safety, and repacking them.

You must know by now that hubs is a criminologist  by profession. It didn’t take us long to be looking for vulnerable spots in the museum’s process, and by the end of the day, with a little internet research on the high stakes world of stolen paintings, we had our basic plot sketched out.

Our next problem was—what painting should be stolen? Clearly, we couldn’t go with an existing well-known piece of art. We opted to create The Three Maids, an entirely fictional trio of medium sized Impressionist portraits, based on what we knew about Monet, Manet, Renoir, Caillebotte, and the women they painted. We’ve put so much detail into the paintings’ descriptions that I keep expecting to see them when I enter an Impressionist display. If no one has painted them yet, I definitely think someone should!

I’ll leave the details of how the actual heist was planned, carried out, and (we hope) foiled for readers to discover—we hope you enjoy reading The Heist as much as we enjoyed creating it!

**************************************

2 comments:

  1. Oh very neat! That's actually what my mama does. Not the heist bit but the museum bit and helping to process/get traveling exhibits and such. Very neat stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad to hear your mama isn't out committing heists. :D Working with exhibits sounds pretty cool though.

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I enjoy hearing from my readers. Let's talk!