Harlot by Tracie Podger is now live!
Read on below for an exclusive excerpt and links for a chance to win a £50/$50 Amazon Gift card among other fabulous prizes.
Synopsis
Charlotte Kenny is nineteen years old and a prostitute.
Not by choice, though.
When a client is murdered, Charlotte is thrown into a world she believes should be between the pages of a novel.
Beau Mercier is an ass with a dark past.
When Charlotte ends up on his doorstep, he knows trouble will follow.
Two people, who neither trust nor like each other, are forced together in a town where all is not as it seems.
Can Charlotte escape her trouble? Can Beau open up enough to help her?
Both want to, but secret pasts, murder, and intrigue, get in the way.
Harlot accompanies the thrillers, Gabriel and A Deadly Sin, and can be read as a standalone.
For readers over the age of 18.
Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2kr5dnB
Excerpt
I slumped into my broken and grubby
sofa, wincing at the soreness of my bare feet. I didn’t have the energy to
clean them. Instead, I poured myself a glass of cheap wine and gulped it down.
My hand shook so much it was hard to hold the glass to my lips. The wine burned
its way down my throat, mixing with the bile that was churning in my stomach. I
pulled my dirty feet up onto the sofa and curled up. Finally, the tears fell.
I hugged myself, trying to get some
warmth into my bones. The trailer I lived in was freezing with just a small gas
heater that gave off enough of a smell for me not to want to use it. I pulled a
quilt around my shoulders and then cried harder.
My grandmother had made that
quilt; it was the only item I had that reminded me of her.
I missed her bitterly. I had since
she’d died but more so then. She would have hugged me; she would have known
what to do. I would never have found myself in the situation I was had she been
around. I cried out her name, praying she could hear and guide me. Not that I
thought I could sleep, but I closed my eyes, hoping that dawn would arrive
quickly and I’d have a clearer mind.
A sweep of car headlights across
the room disturbed me. I sat up, pulling the quilt tight around me and held my
breath. The lights came to a stop outside my trailer. I quietly slipped from
the sofa, and in a crouch, I crept to the window. I sat on the floor, my back
to the door, knowing if someone looked in, they wouldn’t see me.
My blood froze in my veins when I
heard my name being called, more so, when I recognized the voice. If he wanted
to get in, one kick would have the front door fly off its brackets. I covered
my mouth to stifle the sob when the door rattled.
“I know where you’ve been, whore,”
he slurred, before laughing. “You won’t be going back there.”
“Please, go away,” I whispered,
hoping for divine intervention. That came in the form of a dog.
Barking echoed around outside,
becoming more frantic. I heard his heavy footsteps clomp down the wooden steps,
away from the door, and then the headlights swept across the room again. I sat,
straining my ears to listen for the engine of his car and breathed a sigh of
relief when that sound became faint.
I knew at that point I couldn’t
stay there. I had to leave. I scrambled to my feet and rushed into my bedroom.
I gathered what few belongings I had, and crammed them into a battered
backpack. The last thing I picked up was the quilt.
I pulled on some socks and
my sneakers, still aware of how dirty my feet were, and headed for the
kitchenette. Hidden in a cupboard, in a small tin, were my meager earnings,
well, the portion of earnings I was allowed to keep. In addition, there was my
‘gift’ of a hundred dollars. At the thought of that ‘gift’ and the person who
gave it, tears welled in my eyes again. I would call the police, but I would
have to do it anonymously. There was no way I could go forward and publicly
report what I’d seen.
I was scared, I was trailer park
trash, and I was a prostitute.
Copyright T J Podger
Riveting!
The first word that came to my mind when
I finished reading Harlot by Tracie Podger.
Tired is the second because I have to go to work and I didn’t have any
sleep—I couldn’t put the book down.
Abandoned by her mother as an
infant Charlotte (the Harlot) is now on the run. She is nineteen, she thinks, maybe
twenty. She isn’t sure. Charlotte was raised by her grandmother until
her grandmother died and sent her life spiraling down in the pits of despair. Ultimately, events happen that set her to run
away from the abuse and pain to a place where she finds some older women who
want to help her and give her hope that her life can be more.
This story made my heart ache at
times. Charlotte’s pain is so real and
heart-wrenching that my stomach churned or fell throughout the story. The character is strong which makes the
reader hopeful too. Charlotte is the
type of character that won’t let my eyes leave the book for a second.
The secondary characters are
well done too. A little mystery
surrounds every character making it hard to know all the motives behind their
actions. The two elderly women,
pseudo-grandmothers, are loving and kind.
They know Charlotte is troubled and help anyway. Beau has all sorts of secrets that reveal gradually.
Harlot is my first Tracie Podger book, so I didn’t know what to
expect when I started reading. What I
found is exactly what I love to read. The story unfolds at a perfect pace. There aren't any slow or weak moments. Everything that happens has a purpose that
keeps the reader’s attention.
Tracie Podger is an excellent
writer. I can’t believe this is the
first book I found by her. I love
mystery and suspense and Harlot didn’t lack in these areas. It is the suspense and trying to figure out
who is good and who isn’t that kept me turning the page. With each new page, I question the motives of
the various characters. Are they really
who they seem? Is this person going to
break Charlotte? Will she ever get away
from all the evil that surrounds her?
Harlot is my
perfect reading experience. The book is
a standalone told from Charlotte’s point of view. Charlotte’s story is complete and satisfying;
however, there feels like there can be more to the story if Ms. Podger is so
inclined in the future. I recommend
Harlot to my fellow fans of suspense.
You will love it I’m sure. I
immediately one-clicked a couple more Tracie Podger books because I enjoyed
this book so much. Great Job!
5 STAMPS
Enter Tracie's giveaway for a chance to win a £50/$50 Amazon Gift Card voucher, signed paperback of Harlot and ebooks of Gabriel and A Deadly Sin.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NWFjYjY0MWRhZmVhZmYxMjVhYzVlYTJhZGFiMDQ0OjM=/?
About the Author
Tracie Podger currently lives in Kent, UK with her husband and a rather obnoxious cat called George. She’s a Padi Scuba Diving Instructor with a passion for writing. Tracie has been fortunate to have dived some of the wonderful oceans of the world where she can indulge in another hobby, underwater photography. She likes getting up close and personal with sharks.
Tracie likes to write in different genres. Her Fallen Angel series
and its accompanying books are mafia romance and full of suspense. A Virtual
Affair is contemporary romance, and Gabriel and A Deadly Sin are
thriller/suspense. The Facilitator is erotic romance.
Available from Amazon,
iBooks, Kobo & Nook
Fallen Angel, Part 1
Fallen Angel, Part 2
Fallen Angel, Part 3
Fallen Angel, Part 4
The Fallen Angel Box Set
Evelyn - A Novella – To accompany the
Fallen Angel Series
Rocco – A Novella – To accompany the Fallen Angel Series
Robert – To accompany the
Fallen Angel Series
Travis – To accompany the
Fallen Angel Series
A Virtual Affair – A standalone
Gabriel – A standalone
The Facilitator – A standalone
A Deadly Sin – A standalone
Harlot – A standalone
Coming soon
Allana - 2017
Hitchhiker - 2017
Jackson - 2017
Letters to Lincoln – 2018
Rocco: The Missing Years –
2018
Stalker Links
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