61.Blog Tour: 'The Keeping of Secrets' by Alice Graysharp

The keeper of family secrets, Patricia Roberts grows up isolated and lonely. Trust no one and you won't be disappointed is her motto. Three men fall in love with her and she learns to trust, only to find that their agendas are not her own. With secrets concealed from her by the ultimate love of her life, and with her own secret to keep, duplicity and deceit threaten their relationship. In a coming of age story set against the sweeping backdrop of the Second World War - evacuation, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, buzz bombs and secret war work - Patricia ultimately has to decide whether to reveal her deepest held secret for the sake of her future happiness.

I am delighted to be sharing an extract from 'The Keeping of Secrets' on my blog as part of the blog tour. Here we find Jon is unexpectedly back in London in connection with secret war work.

Thank you to Rachel from Authoright for sending me a copy of the book (review will follow later this month so keep an eye out for it), and for asking me to take part in this Blog Tour. 

Click 'Read More' below to see it!

Jon staggered along Whitehall towards Westminster, drained of energy, his only emotion relief. Seeing the Red Lion across the road, he hesitated barely a moment before diving in to the lounge bar, waiting his turn and ordering a pint of best bitter. Retreating to a corner as the pub was very full he drank deeply, the alcohol relaxing his tense muscles. Just this one, then I’ll be off. Closing his eyes for a few moments, leaning against the wall, wondering how to explain alcohol-laden breath to his mother, he heard as if from afar a vaguely familiar female voice.

‘Jon, it is Jon, isn’t it?’

He opened his eyes to a vision in a smart dark brown skirt suit, a white blouse and a cascade of autumn colours around a neck rising to a luscious-lipped mouth, a tip-tilted nose and large brown eyes set in luminous skin beneath shoulder length straight, shiny raven black hair. A memory surfaced of a warm curvaceous body pressing against him below soft, insistent lips. Summer 1940. Reward for walking her home from a party hosted by his cousin Margery. Feeling a stirring, a hardening, down boy, not now!, he stooped slightly forward, exclaiming wildly,

‘Stella is it? Yes, Stella, yes indeed.’

They smiled at their mutual recognition and he thought, I never followed her up, I can’t imagine why not, she’s gorgeous.

About the author: Born and raised in the Home Counties, Alice Graysharp has enjoyed a varied working life from hospitality to office work and retail. She currently lives in Surrey. This is her first novel, and the first title in a two book series, she is also already working on a seventeenth century trilogy. Published in the anniversary month of the outbreak of the Second World War and the Battle of Britain

Website: https://www.alicegraysharp.com/

Purchase from Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Secrets-Alice-Graysharp-ebook/dp/B0744239GJ/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1502975713&sr=1-8&keywords=the+keeping+of+secrets

Purchase from Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-keeping-of-secrets-alice-graysharp/1126686543?ean=9781911110910&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP78860

Want to follow the rest of the blog tour? Check out the next stops: