Title: Drowning Rapunzel
Author: Annette Gisby
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Pink Petal Books
Cover Designer: Valerie Tibbs
Format: Ebook
Length: 217 pages
Buy Links: Pink
Petal Books | Amazon US
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UK | B&N
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Recently released from a mental institution, Beth Gregory accepts a job as a live-in secretary/PA to the reclusive painter Josh Warrington. Beth's long red hair fascinates him from the first moment he sees her and Josh wants her to be his Rapunzel for a series of fairy tale paintings he's working on.
Beth has two major fears: that she will be sent back to the mental hospital and the visions which landed her there in the first place will return. They do; this time giving her glimpses of murders before they happen. Beth becomes the main suspect in the murder investigation and then she has the most disturbing vision of all: she will become the next victim...
Annette Gisby grew up in a small town in Northern Ireland, moving to London when she was seventeen. She writes in multiple genres and styles, anything from romance to thriller or erotica to horror, even both at the same time.
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EXCERPT
An avenue of ash trees stood like sentinels
on each side of a pebbled path, which in turn led the eye to the large fountain
at the end of the avenue. Cherubs were busy spitting droplets of water high
into the air, before they fell with a splash into the bowl below.
"It's beautiful," breathed Beth.
"Behind the fountain is the lake,"
said Josh. "Would you like to see it?"
"Oh, I'd love to," said Beth and
started walking down the steps. The sun was just beginning to get a little
higher in the sky and she could feel the warmth on her back. She hoped they
wouldn't stay out too long; her pale complexion made her prone to sunburn. Josh
followed her down to the path and they strode briskly towards the lake.
They saw Ian when they'd reached the
fountain; he was further down the garden, mowing the lawn on a red sit-on
lawnmower. He waved at them, before turning and heading off in the opposite
direction to them. Beth had never been inside a garden this big before, the
small patch of grass and weeds at her aunt's hardly qualified compared to this.
The lake was as smooth as a sheet of glass, a
few orange specks of sunlight reflected on the surface. On the opposite bank
was a white wooden boathouse and jetty. Tied to the jetty was a small rowing
boat, hardly moving at all in the water. Beth went closer to the lake, wanting
to take a closer look. Small waves lapped against the shore with a gentle swish
and she felt like she could stay there all day.
She looked round to talk to Josh, but he was
nowhere to be seen. "Josh?" she called. No answer. The sky suddenly
darkened, a blanket of grey clouds obscured the sun, and she shivered.
"Josh?" she called again, worried now. Where had he gone? He was
right behind her a minute ago. The waters of the lake began to move, whipped up
in frenzy by the sudden wind; the boat bobbed as though it was being pushed by
invisible hands.
There's
something in the lake.
The thought appeared out of nowhere and she
took a step back, away from the water.
But something had other ideas. Her feet
seemed to move of their own accord, taking her further towards the shoreline.
The waves weren't so gentle now and she felt her heart beating erratically
against her chest. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to look.
But look she did. She saw a face in the
water. A face pale and grey; the red hair a stark contrast against the sallow
features. She opened her mouth to scream, feeling chilled to the bone.
The face in the water wasn't hers.
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