Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour!
It is with great pleasure that I feature Cindy McDonald and her book, Dangerous Deception from the Unbridled Series.
About the author:
|
The Unbridled Series #3: Dangerous Deception
Old Age Ain’t for Sissies!
Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!
When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their horse farm Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the West’s younger son Shane.
When Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds, things turn ugly.
Suddenly, Vic finds himself between the rock and the hard place. . He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?
Not content to sit and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective Carl Lugowski to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon, they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang.
Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!
Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!
When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their horse farm Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the West’s younger son Shane.
When Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds, things turn ugly.
Suddenly, Vic finds himself between the rock and the hard place. . He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?
Not content to sit and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective Carl Lugowski to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon, they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang.
Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!
My Thoughts:
This was my first Cindy McDonald read. I am so glad I was able to participate in this tour and find a new author to add to my favorites list! Incredible book. Although it is book three in the series, it is fully able to stand alone. I had not read the first two books, I have since gone out and bought them, and I was not lost nor did I ever get the feeling that I had missed something vital.
About the book: It is well written and engaging. It was fast paced, but didn't leave anything out so I never felt like it was running away without me. The plot is multifaceted and each piece is carefully created and intricately woven together. The characters are great. I usually find myself choosing one favorite character in each book I read, but I would be hard pressed to pick just one in this book. I love the relationships between the West family members, everyone should be able to feel that much respect for their father and that much devotion to their siblings. The characters are constructed with just enough flaws to make them real and believable, but also enough amazing attributes to leave you searching for such a person in your own life.
You get to see the characters deal with, be confronted by and experience a wide range of emotions and undercurrents that are found running through this story. I found myself experiencing it all with them, I was so into the story that it all felt personal.
I was glued to the pages as the tale unfolded to culminate at a fulfilling, yet leave you looking for the next book, ending.
Cindy has joined us with a guest post:
Hey, remember the TV show, Batman, starring Adam West? I know, it’s a really old show, but I’m
sure it’s on some cable network somewhere—they all are. Anyway, in the TV
series, Cat Woman was always trying to take Batman down. She was evil. She was
beautiful—in a scary kind of way. But c’mon, admit it, didn’t you always
secretly want Batman and Cat Woman to hook-up?
No matter how we deny it, everyone (especially women) loves
to hate a good female antagonist. They are so good at … antagonizing! As
authors we love to write about our antagonists, male or female. In my first
book Deadly.Com, George
Smuts was my antagonist. He was creepy; he was mentally deranged. He made my
reader’s skin crawl—they told me so via emails, reviews on amazon, and blog
sites. I loved George and I loved the freaked-out reaction that he extracted
from people. That said, my Unbridled series has a full-time antagonist within
its pages who seems to really rile women. Her name is Ava West. She is a
gorgeous, green eyed, redheaded, manipulative witch. She is Mike’s ex, but she
still clutches a corner of his soul. When she’s not tormenting her ex, she’s
got Lugowski wrapped tautly around her manicured pinky, except unbeknownst to
Ava, she’d better keep him in closer check.
Oh yes, I’ve had women state that they would like to see Ava
die … slowly. What? Are you kidding me? Ava is terrific! She is causing my
readers to fidget in their seats while they read. In Deadly.Com she did things that made women’s eyes
narrow and their brows pinch together. Well, wait to you see what she has in
store for you in DANGEROUS DECEPTION. I love all of my Unbridled
characters, although Ava holds a special place in my heart, or is that my
modem? Truth be told, I’m most relieved that she lives inside my computer and I
don’t have to deal with her in reality. Or do I? Surely there must be someone
that I know who is very much like Ava West. Hmmm…I’ll have to think on that.
Now here’s the tough question about the hate that we feel
for female antagonists: is it really hate that we are experiencing or is it…envy? Ouch! Ava is able to manipulate
even the most alpha males in my stories. She has the power to make them see
things her way, or else—or else…what? You
know what—they’re not going to get to see her naked. Female antagonists are
usually beautiful, as is Ava, and they make me wish that I had the manipulative
might that they possess…or not.
Sorry readers, Ava West is going to be around to poke at you
patience for quite some time—you loathed her in Deadly.Com, she didn’t win any popularity contests in HOT COCO, and she’s still at it in DANGEROUS
DECEPTION. However, at some point in my Unbridled Series you may find yourself rooting for her. Hey, it
could happen!
Who is your favorite female antagonist? The one that really irritates
you—is she from a movie, book, or TV series? Okay now, be honest—do you really
hate her, or do you secretly envy
her? ;}
Giveaway!
The author has allowed me to offer one (1) EBook of Deadly.com, the first book in The Unbridled
Series, to a follower. Please fill out the form to enter. Thanks for stopping by - following and entering!
Happy Reading!
