Welcome to my stop on the book blog tour for Trust Me by Kelly Irvin. This blog tour was organized by Lone Star Book Blog Tours. On my stop, I have info on the book as well as a fantastic guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win an autographed copy of the book. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!
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Author: Kelly Irvin
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: February 8th 2022
Print Length: 384 pages
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense
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When her best friend is murdered the same way her brother was, who can she possibly trust?
A decade ago, Delaney Broward discovered her brother’s murdered body at the San Antonio art co-op he founded with friends. Her artist boyfriend, Hunter Nash, went to prison for the murder, despite his not-guilty plea.
This morning, Hunter walks out of prison a free man, having served his sentence.
This afternoon, Delaney finds her best friend dead, murdered in the same fashion as her brother.
Stay out of it or you’re next, the killer warns.
Hunter never stopped loving Delaney, though he can’t blame her for not forgiving her. He knows he’ll get his life back one day at a time, one step at a time. But he’s blindsided to realize he’s a murder suspect. Again.
When Hunter shows up on her doorstep, asking her to help him find the real killer, Delaney’s head says to run away, yet her heart tells her there’s more to his story than what came out in the trial. An uneasy truce leads to their probe into a dark past that shatters Delaney’s image of her brother. She can’t stop and neither can Hunter—which lands them both in the crosshairs of a murderer growing more desperate by the day (hour?).
In this gripping romantic suspense, Kelly Irvin plumbs the complexity of broken trust in the people we love—and in God—and whether either can be mended.
Goodreads * Amazon * Apple Books *
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PRAISE:
“Irvin follows the characters through twists and turns, writing through the lens of faith and broken faith, while illuminating a bridge across shattered relationships to second chances. This one’s an emotional roller-coaster.” -- Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency in Publishers Weekly Review
“Trust Me is an apt title for Irvin’s new suspense novel. Kelly Irvin is a master at spinning a complex story web with surprising twists and relatable characters. Highly recommended!” —Colleen Coble, USA TODAY bestselling author of A Stranger’s Game and the Pelican Harbor series
“I found I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough in Kelly Irvin’s latest novel, Trust Me. I promised myself just one more page and I’d stop reading for the night…just one more…just one more. At times I could barely breathe. What a fabulous story! I loved it!”
-Carrie Stuart Parks, award-winning author of the Gwen Marcey series
Bestseller Kelly Irvin is the author of almost 30 books and novellas, in romantic suspense and Amish romance genres. The two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist worked as a newspaper reporter for six years on the Texas-Mexico border. Those experiences fuel her romantic suspense novels set in Texas. A retired public relations professional, Kelly now writes fiction full-time. She lives with her husband professional photographer Tim Irvin in San Antonio. They have two children, three grandchildren, and two ornery cats.
Adopted hometown offers perfect setting
for crime fiction—good and bad.
by Kelly Irvin
I always feel as if I need to apologize to readers for making San Antonio, the setting for all my romantic suspense novels, seem an unsafe place to visit—let alone live. Trust Me is no exception. San Antonio is a great place to live and raise a family. It’s also a wonderful visitor destination. Most people recognize our top ten tourist destinations such as the Alamo, the River Walk, La Villita, Market Square, Hemisfair, Fiesta Texas, and Sea World, just to name a few.
But there’s more to the story. There always is. San Antonio is one of the top ten largest cities in the country. It’s also one of the fastest growing. Every sprawling metropolitan area has its seamy underbelly. Underbellies work great for crime, murder, and suspense. That’s where Trust Me comes in. I adore using my adopted hometown as a setting because it has such a rich multicultural heritage. It has so many iconic structures. Most people will recognize some, if not all, of them.
San Antonio area residents, and even Texans in general, will get a kick out of the color and detail that makes Trust Me come alive. San Antonio Spurs basketball, Whataburgers, Bill Miller tea, Rosario’s Mexican Restaurant, breakfast tacos, and so much more.
Then there’s La Villita, the historic arts district where heroine Delaney Broward has her shop called You’ve been Framed. Delaney’s shop is patterned after a shop that was owned by an artist who sold his own paintings, but also framed artwork. It’s no longer there, but many will remember some of the artist’s commissioned Fiesta posters. Ellie’s smelly candles and essential oils shop takes some of its characteristics from an existing shop. Sometimes when you walk through La Villita you can smell the scents wafting from a candle-making shop. La Villita is a wonderful mecca for artists and artisans and a great place to shop if you’re in search of a unique gift for that special someone.
Fiesta is indeed a ten-day celebration filled with an ever-growing number of events . . . just for fun. And for fund-raising purposes. The San Antonio Conservation Society does throw a doozy of a party at La Villita to raise money for their conservation efforts. Night in Old San Antonio (NIOSA) is a tradition that hardcore Fiesta lovers never miss. San Antonio loves to party and knows how to do it well and safely.
It’s important to tell both sides of the story, however. San Antonio has long suffered from unemployment, a dearth of affordable housing, and high rates of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Hunger and homelessness are scourges still to be eradicated. Low paying jobs in the hospitality/tourism industry are a big part of the problem. All this has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Like other big cities San Antonio deals with its share of drug and sex trafficking, gangs, and soaring numbers of domestic violence incidents.
I never lose sight of the fact that I’m writing about a real city with real people and real problems. Those problems lend themselves to crime fiction. Unfortunately those problems can’t be solved as easily as the murders in Trust Me.
In the end, Trust Me is fiction. It allows us to escape reality and spend a few hours as armchair detectives solving crimes so the good people can win. If Trust Me does that, I’m happy and I hope the reader is too!
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GIVEAWAY:
Win an autographed paperback of Trust Me by Kelly Irvin - three winners! (US only.)
(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Kelly Irvin (the author) assumes all responsibility for this giveaway.)
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Loved the in-depth look at San Antonio, Kelly. I visited several times many years ago and know that much has changed, but much still remains the same. Loved your book, too.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a generous giveaway! As a single mom and teacher I love to read with my family and to my family and Trust Me seems like a book we all might enjoy!! (nicole bowers, nicole 2 inspect at yahoo dot com)
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