Bulletproof by Regan Black @ReganBlack

Thanks for having me here today, courtesy of Orangeberry Book Tours. It’s always a pleasure to share my books with readers, especially with sneak peeks like the one below. This excerpt from Bulletproof showcases Amelia, the heroine in this first book in my new paranormal romantic suspense series, Unknown Identities.

Amelia is a tough investigative reporter in Boston. She always gets her story and this one could make her career. But the powerful politician she’s after isn’t ignoring her investigation with a simple ‘no comment’:

Her apartment had been ransacked.

No… no. That wasn’t right.

Ransacked was nowhere near an apt description of the damage done. The whole place looked as if a scare-the-controversial-reporter bomb tucked into the sofa had exploded. About the only item still intact was the front door. The same door with – count them – three state-of-the-art deadbolts that were still locked when she arrived home to this chaos.

The intruder must have had a key… or maybe he was a ghost.

Amelia Bennett took a big, deep breath. She forced her respiration to slow, and outright refused to permit her heart to keep up the wild pounding.

The intruder had succeeded in scaring her. Bully for him.

She’d found the mess and called 9-1-1 as she ran out of the building. Like a stunned bystander watching the rescue efforts after a massive pile-up on the Turn Pike, she’d stood outside – in the rain – until the police arrived.

Anger compressed her lips. The first officers on the scene had gotten a good look at Amelia Bennett scared witless. Cutting herself some slack, she had to admit that this was not just another nasty phone call or threatening letter.

This was over the line…way over the line.

One thing was absolutely certain…whoever did this wouldn’t get that opportunity again.

In the last hour she’d grabbed back control. Staying calm and rational was essential. Her competition didn’t call her the stone maiden for nothing.

Tomorrow she would have her locks changed and call in a contractor for her own personal security system.

The mutilated and busted furniture she could deal with. It wasn’t even the end of the world that so many of her most personal belongings, photos, clothes, basically everything, were damaged beyond repair in one way or another. What really made her nuts was the idea that someone had gotten in here so easily and had the balls to leave her a message on the living room wall scrawled in blood.

Knock, knock… you’re dead, bitch.

According to one of the techs, who wasn’t supposed to tell Amelia anything, particularly at this point in the investigation, it was not human blood.

That she was thankful for.

Amelia took a mental step back. Dragged in a deep breath. She spent an enormous chunk of her paycheck each month on a Back Bay location. The building had topnotch security and was located on the best block in the area. She’d had two extra deadbolts installed when she moved in. And it hadn’t been enough to stop this.

“How long will it take to determine if there are prints or whatever?”

The idea that someone had come into her place and touched her stuff gave her the willies. Banished any patience she attempted to dredge up for the weary detective who’d been here for hours already. He hadn’t offered much in the way of hope for finding the culprit. She doubted any amount of time was going to change that sad fact.

“Depends,” Detective Arnold Fincher scrubbed a hand over the salt and pepper stubble on his chin, “we’ll run everything we get through the usual databases.” He executed another of those listless shrugs. “Techs took photos. Video.” He gestured to the man and woman still picking through Amelia’s stuff. “Soon as we have something, I’ll let you know.”

Writing strong, independent female leads is important to me. Amelia might not have the covert skills or martial arts expertise of my previous heroines, but she has grit and determination in spades. Which made her journey to survive the process of getting the story out there a fascinating roller coaster ride for me and I hope readers will feel the same way.

Live the adventure!

Regan