by: Anna J. Stewart
Series: Circle of the Red Lily
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: November 15, 2022
Publisher: CAEZIK Romance
Hollywood Secrets. Deadly Reveals.
Working as a Hollywood photographer means Riley Temple has seen it all, but that theory is put to the test when she finds herself staring at the chilling image of a dead woman. When her questions about the film’s origin results in violence, she finds herself reluctantly turning to the only person who assures her he can help: Detective Quinn Burton. Her history with the LAPD is complicated, her trust in authority, tenuous. But to find those responsible and to protect those closest to her, she’s willing to do anything. Even trust a cop.
After more than a decade on the job, Quinn knows a dangerous situation when he sees it and Riley Temple is up to her ears in trouble. But not for the reason she thinks. The pictures she’s stumbled on calls into question a notorious murder conviction; a conviction partially secured by Quinn’s own police commissioner father. A conviction powerful people have a vested interest in keeping in place. Quinn prides himself on being loyal but seeing this case through means betraying someone: his job, his family, or the woman he’s falling in love with.
As their investigation begins and old secrets are revealed, Quinn and Riley find themselves targeted by members of a secret society that for decades has maintained influence and violent control over Los Angeles and Hollywood’s powerful elite. A society that, until now, has remained hidden in the shadows.
A society that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
Part of the fun of being an author is having the opportunity to write the kinds of books we love to read. When I first began to flesh out EXPOSED, the first book in my new romantic suspense series, I knew three things: that my heroine Riley Temple would be photographer. That my hero would be a cop. And that the story would take place in Hollywood. Okay, maybe I knew four things because I also was intrigued by the idea that Old Hollywood, or the Golden Age of Hollywood, would be front and center of the mystery.
From a very early age, I’ve been obsessed with old Hollywood. I grew up on Shirley Temple, Abbot & Costello, on Errol Flynn movies. The Adventures of Robin Hood is my all-time favorite film. Olivia de Havilland, one of my favorite actresses. I share a birthday with film icon Marilyn Monroe and have read just about every biography that’s ever been written about her. I’ve also read countless books on the studio system of the 40s and 50s. The entire world surrounding film fascinates me to no end. Finally, with EXPOSED, I had the chance to incorporate one of my personal interests into my books. But first, the foundation to the book needed to be established.
One of my prized possessions is a pair of books I bought as a teenager. They’re compilation books of studio portraits of the stars: Bogart, Bacall, Brando… just about every star you can think of (whose names don’t start with B). Because I already knew that my heroine would be a photographer, I put those books to use and made her a bit of Hollywood royalty herself. Her late grandfather could have been someone who took the pictures in those books I have. A photographer to the stars. Oh, the stories he would have.
Oops. I was wrong again. I knew five things before I started writing. I knew the entire story would hinge on a cannister of long-lost film Riley comes across. She develops it and opens not only a can of worms, but a kind of portal into the past. Not literally of course. This isn’t a paranormal (although how cool would that have been?!). But that was the thread I found to tie the past of Hollywood into the present and soon, Riley is plunged into a dangerous mystery involving countless disappearances, a notorious murder conviction that is now in question, and a mysterious secret society that for decades has been living in the shadows of Hollywood. Now that’s the kind of book I’d love to read.
Which made it the absolute perfect book for me to write.
My CIRCLE OF THE RED LILY series will be five books in all. This, like all of my romances (and yes, this is a romance!), also focuses deeply on friendships and relationships and the families we make for ourselves on this crazy road of life we’re all on. All five heroines will be in all of the books and each woman will bring a unique talent or connection to the ongoing mystery which will resolve in book five. I hope readers will love the idea and the characters, but most of all, I hope they’ll find themselves pulled into a tangled web of mystery, action, romance, and happily ever afters. With a few dark shadows thrown into the mix.
Happy reading, everyone! And thank you, Kim, for the opportunity to share.
~Anna J
“What are you thinking deeply about, Riley?” Quinn asked.
“My Christmas to do list, what else?” She forewent her usual wine glass and instead chose one of the full-bottle ones Sutton had gifted her as a joke. As she poured, she could feel his gaze on her.
“Don’t judge.”
“Not about to.” But she heard the concern in his voice. It both calmed and unsettled her. Clearly he’d gotten some of his own pent up frustration out of his system, even while hers began to rebuild.
She drank, long and deep, set the glass carefully on the counter. Looking into its liquid depths, she said, “They sent you home.”
“They did. It’s procedure for when any cop fires his weapon,” he said as casually as he might have discussed recent sports scores.
He had fired, Riley thought to herself. The second he was back on his feet after tackling her to safety, he’d rolled over and fired. Second nature, she realized now. Protecting her had been second nature.
“IA and Professional Standards are examining the dashboard footage from the patrol units. I’ll be cleared and back on active duty soon.”
She drank, wincing against the red’s tannins as her system finally began to chug to a stop. Her insides felt as if an entire hive of bees had set up housekeeping, frenetically searching for a way out. She pressed a hand against her belly. “I’m finding it difficult to process everything. What you—” She drank again, wincing at the dull clink of the glass as she set it down again.
“We didn’t do enough.” His voice was flat, devoid of the emotion she herself couldn’t process. “The suspect’s dead—as are any leads he might have given us.”
She didn’t give a damn about leads right now. “You could have died.” And that, more than anything, was what left her shaking.
“We both could have.” He took a pull of his beer, leaned an arm on the counter as she circled around and toward him. “Cops don’t court death, if that’s what you’re thinking. I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve actually fired my weapon.”
“Good to know.” The caution she’d witnessed, the training. She’d never experienced what police officers did from their side of things before. It was sobering. Illuminating. Eye-opening.
“Don’t push the pendulum all the way over, Riley. We aren’t superheroes any more than we are villains. We’re just men and women trying to do the best job we can in the middle of this crazy world. Some days the results are better than others.”
But she knew what else he was thinking. That today was not one of those days.
“You sure you’re in the right frame of mind to talk about this now?”
“Actually,” she gulped down more wine, and set her glass aside. Keeping her eyes on his, she crossed her arms, reached down, and pulled her shirt up and over her head. “Since you got the ball rolling, I don’t want to talk at all.” She kicked out of her shoes, unzipped her jeans and shimmied them down over her hips.
She advanced on him, feeling both powerful and anxious. Nervous and angry. Her emotions were ping-ponging all over the place, but beneath them all lay one, unarguable fact.
She wanted him.
His entire body tensed, his fists clenching as his gaze dropped to the barely-there hot pink lace bra and panties set she’d chosen this morning. The set that had been crammed in the back of her underwear drawer for longer than she cared to admit. The underwear that had brought a devilish smile to her lips the second her fingertips had grasped it.
“Detective?” She knew forced nonchalance when she saw it. She appreciated it. Most of the time. But right now? She didn’t have time for games. “You’re overdressed.”
“My Christmas to do list, what else?” She forewent her usual wine glass and instead chose one of the full-bottle ones Sutton had gifted her as a joke. As she poured, she could feel his gaze on her.
“Don’t judge.”
“Not about to.” But she heard the concern in his voice. It both calmed and unsettled her. Clearly he’d gotten some of his own pent up frustration out of his system, even while hers began to rebuild.
She drank, long and deep, set the glass carefully on the counter. Looking into its liquid depths, she said, “They sent you home.”
“They did. It’s procedure for when any cop fires his weapon,” he said as casually as he might have discussed recent sports scores.
He had fired, Riley thought to herself. The second he was back on his feet after tackling her to safety, he’d rolled over and fired. Second nature, she realized now. Protecting her had been second nature.
“IA and Professional Standards are examining the dashboard footage from the patrol units. I’ll be cleared and back on active duty soon.”
She drank, wincing against the red’s tannins as her system finally began to chug to a stop. Her insides felt as if an entire hive of bees had set up housekeeping, frenetically searching for a way out. She pressed a hand against her belly. “I’m finding it difficult to process everything. What you—” She drank again, wincing at the dull clink of the glass as she set it down again.
“We didn’t do enough.” His voice was flat, devoid of the emotion she herself couldn’t process. “The suspect’s dead—as are any leads he might have given us.”
She didn’t give a damn about leads right now. “You could have died.” And that, more than anything, was what left her shaking.
“We both could have.” He took a pull of his beer, leaned an arm on the counter as she circled around and toward him. “Cops don’t court death, if that’s what you’re thinking. I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve actually fired my weapon.”
“Good to know.” The caution she’d witnessed, the training. She’d never experienced what police officers did from their side of things before. It was sobering. Illuminating. Eye-opening.
“Don’t push the pendulum all the way over, Riley. We aren’t superheroes any more than we are villains. We’re just men and women trying to do the best job we can in the middle of this crazy world. Some days the results are better than others.”
But she knew what else he was thinking. That today was not one of those days.
“You sure you’re in the right frame of mind to talk about this now?”
“Actually,” she gulped down more wine, and set her glass aside. Keeping her eyes on his, she crossed her arms, reached down, and pulled her shirt up and over her head. “Since you got the ball rolling, I don’t want to talk at all.” She kicked out of her shoes, unzipped her jeans and shimmied them down over her hips.
She advanced on him, feeling both powerful and anxious. Nervous and angry. Her emotions were ping-ponging all over the place, but beneath them all lay one, unarguable fact.
She wanted him.
His entire body tensed, his fists clenching as his gaze dropped to the barely-there hot pink lace bra and panties set she’d chosen this morning. The set that had been crammed in the back of her underwear drawer for longer than she cared to admit. The underwear that had brought a devilish smile to her lips the second her fingertips had grasped it.
“Detective?” She knew forced nonchalance when she saw it. She appreciated it. Most of the time. But right now? She didn’t have time for games. “You’re overdressed.”
Purchase Exposed from:
A Holt Medallion winner (BRIDE ON THE RUN), as well as a Golden Heart, Daphne DuMaurier, and National Reader’s Choice finalist, Anna loves writing big community stories where family found is always the theme. Since her first published novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has released more than fifty novels and novellas and hopes to branch out even more (horror romance, anyone?). Anna lives in Northern California where (at the best times) she loves going to the movies, attending fan conventions, and heading to Disneyland, her favorite place on earth. When she’s not writing, she is usually binge-watching her newest TV addiction, re-watching her all-time favorite show, Supernatural, and wrangling two monstrous cats named Rosie and Sherlock.
Places to find Anna J. Stewart:
I like the cover graphics. Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover art, synopsis and excerpt, Exposed is a must read for me. Thank you for sharing your bio and book details and for offering a giveaway
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteHappy Book Birthday, Anna! I enjoyed the guest post and the excerpt, Exposed sounds like my kind of thrilling read! Good luck with your book and the blitz!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with me and have a terrific day!
Sounds like a fantastic read!
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book. I like the cover and excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the spotlight and feature, Kim! <3
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome. The book is really good.
Deletewonderful cover and the story sounds fantastic.
ReplyDeleted
The cover really caught my eye. It has great colors and design.
ReplyDeleteCAEZIK Romance - that sure is an interesting genre.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this with us,