A
BODYGUARD OF LIES (release: Jan. 13th) has a dual setting, a contemporary one
and a WWII/London setting. It's a blend of romance, mystery and WWII espionage.
I researched it while in England, Ireland and Germany in 2009. The story
involves a Jewish-American FBI analyst, who's recruited by MI-5 to go
undercover and investigate a naturalized American grandmother. The elderly
woman is suspected by MI-5 of being a notorious Nazi spy never caught by the
Allies during the war, who caused the deaths of thousands and is wanted for war
crimes. Jake Bernstein runs into a series of unexpected obstacles and
complications: This spy knows a secret that could endanger the royal family;
the old woman has a beautiful granddaughter who threatens to derail his
investigation; a neo-Nazi group in Ireland known as the Celtic Wolves; and a
clever, cagey old woman who's not as weak as she looks
Here is my review of A Bodyguard of LIES:
This books pulls you right in. Jake is an FBI analyst, he is undercover and needs to meet and form a friendship with a beautiful young woman and her grandmother. Will his attraction to Mary cloud his judgement. This book is action packed and an easy read!
Excerpt:
The major handed Jake a secure mobile phone, which he tucked
into his jacket’s inside pocket.
Acknowledging the older man’s military background and bearing, Jake gave
a quick half-salute, biting back the sarcastic retort that sprang to mind. I’m
thirty-two, Major, not thirteen.
“Will do, Major,” he said and grabbed the handle of his
suitcase. “Where the hell is this motor coach going, anyway? Besides the
Republic of Ireland?” Major Temple’s bushy gray eyebrows arched. “No, didn’t
have a chance to read the itinerary. Too busy with the files.”
Temple chomped on his pipe, one side of his mouth upturned
in another wry smile. Jake sensed the man was holding something back.
“Southwest England, Wales, Republic of Ireland, a bit of
Scotland. Two weeks’ worth.”
“And if I conclude this investigation in less time?”
“Then we debrief and back home you go. We’ll handle the
filing of charges and arrest warrants if needed. Extradition, if necessary, for
Mrs. Snider. Well then, good luck, ol’
man.”
Jake nodded and took his leave. Outside, he hailed the
guide, a friendly, outgoing sort who introduced himself as Robert Morse. The
man quickly turned the suitcase over to the driver, who stowed it in the
storage bin at the side of the motor coach. As soon as Robert checked him in
and indicated that he could take on board his carryon, Jake moved to the
coach’s front door. He suddenly stepped aside as a young, very pretty blonde
climbed down, spun around and helped an elderly woman descend.
“Sorry, Robert, my grandmother has to visit the restroom.”
The blonde glanced over at Jake, grinned in greeting, then
took her grandmother’s arm and followed the direction of Robert’s sweeping arm.
The two women entered the glass-fronted hotel lobby and walked slowly around
the corner of the lobby’s counter. Jake’s gaze clung to them.
So there they were. Mary McCoy Snider and her granddaughter,
Meghan Larsen. What a hottie!
“Quite a looker, that one,” Robert murmured them, his eyes
following their progress as well.
An understatement, Jake thought as he nodded to the man in
agreement. The granddaughter was lovely—had the face and figure of a Hollywood
starlet. She had a wholesome but sexy look about her. The red lipstick she wore
accentuated her full, sensual mouth; her deep-set blue eyes were large and
luminous. A boxy navy-blue pea jacket concealed some of her curves, but the
overall effect of a beautiful, symmetrical face, a tanned complexion, long
blonde waves partly covered with a large, black beret, and graceful motion was
powerful. Like a slap of warm sunshine in this cold, damp country. Seduc—er,
schmoozing that girl was going to be a perk, not a chore.
Already, he was warming to this assignment.
The grandmother, bulky in a long wooly coat, looked
attractive despite her purported eighty-five years of age. The elderly woman
was well preserved, he decided, and must have been quite a beauty in her youth.
Like her granddaughter, she would’ve turned men’s heads and carried her power
over them like a Hollywood pinup girl.
“Would you care to board, Mr. Schoenberger?”offered Robert,
the tour guide, interrupting his reverie.
“Call me Jake. I’ll
wait until the women return.”
The tour guide tossed him a knowing smirk.
A few minutes later, Jake was helping the elderly woman up
to the steep first step. Mary McCoy Snider paused on the steps, holding onto
the railing on the coach’s door, and looked back at Jake, her dark blue eyes
sharp with intelligence.
“Thank you, young man. What’s your name?” she asked, a
slight Texas drawl softening her naturally strong, clear voice.
“Jake. Jake Schoenberger from Virginia.” He smiled up at the
elderly grandmother, who then nodded and moved up into the coach. He slid his
gaze down to the granddaughter, who’d paused at the coach’s door. The top of
her head came to his jawline.
“Thanks for helping, Jake,” she said, blinking up at him before
climbing the steps herself. Her long honey-blonde hair brushed his shoulder
when she moved past him. There was a self-conscious shyness in her manner.
Which Jake found odd, for such a beautiful woman. Wow. His pulse revved up.
Dude, you’re on duty.
Wasn’t that why they chose him? Get close, peel off the
layers of distrust...
He proceeded up after Meghan Larsen, appreciating the rear
view. Too bad, he thought, when the two women took seats near the front of the
packed coach. The one vacant double-seat was in the rear of the coach. He
nodded a friendly greeting to all of the passengers as he passed them on his
way to the back. They were mostly couples but another single man, an older guy
in his fifties, sat alone at the halfway point in the coach. Two women of about
the man’s same age—maybe mid-forties—were behind him. They perked up as he
walked by, shot him wide smiles beaming with anticipation.
He knew that look.
After stowing his carry-on underneath the empty seat next to
him, Jake sat down. His long legs brushed against the seat in front. Damn, like
traveling in coach. Two weeks in this freakin’ bus—how was he going to stand
it?
He leaned over. From his vantage point, he could see the
blonde’s wavy locks falling about her shoulders. She was sitting on the
opposite side of the coach in the aisle seat, her grandmother in the window
seat. Damn, he’d have to find a way of sitting closer to them. Maybe their
seats on the coach weren’t fixed ...or he could feign motion sickness and ask
Robert to place him further forward.
As he was plotting a way to chat up Mary Snider and her
granddaughter, the blonde swiveled her upper body and looked down the aisle.
Their eyes locked together briefly and she smiled. Despite a night without
sleep and heavy with jet lag, his pulse kicked up. Something lurched in his
chest. His groin clenched. Jake returned the smile.
Good, he thought, she noticed me. Contact with targets made.
Donna Del Oro spent her childhood in two places, Silicon
Valley, CA and the countryside of East Texas, as her father tried several job
opportunities. Finally settling in Silicon Valley, she grew up in a bilingual,
bicultural world--Spanish on her mother's side and English on her father's.
Comfortable in both worlds, she decided upon retiring from teaching to write
about her Hispanic side. Four women's fiction books resulted and a series about
professional singers, their careers and love lives. Retired and devoting much
of her abundant free time to exercise, writing, singing and her grandson, Donna
has finally reached a point in life that totally satisfies her. Life is good
and she has no complaints, just a lot of gratitude for her many blessings.
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