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New Release + Excerpt + Review: The Devil’s Daughter by Katee Robert

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The Devil’s Daughter

Hidden Sins Series – Book 1

By Katee Robert

Release Date: January 24, 2017

Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Synopsis

Growing up in a small town isn’t easy, especially when you’re the daughter of a local cult leader. Ten years ago, Eden Collins left Clear Springs, Montana, and never once looked back. But when the bodies of murdered young women surface, their corpses violated and marked with tattoos worn by her mother’s followers, Eden, now an FBI agent, can’t turn a blind eye. To catch the killer, she’s going to have to return to the fold.

 

Sheriff Zach Owens isn’t comfortable putting Eden in danger, even if she is an elite agent. And he certainly wasn’t expecting to be so attracted to her. As calm and cool as she appears, he knows this can’t be a happy homecoming. Zach wants to protect her—from her mother, the cult, and the evil that lurks behind its locked gates. But Eden is his only key to the tight-lipped group, and she may just be closer to the killer than either one of them suspects…

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Excerpt

“This is stupid. Get out of the car. Get out of the car right now.”

She threw her body into motion, half-afraid that if she didn’t force herself to move, she’d sit there until someone decided to report her for being creepy. Who am I kidding? The people in this place are just as likely to knock on the window and ask me if I need any help.

The fall air had a little bite to it, and she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Home.

No. It’s not home. It’ll never be home again.

She’d made a life for herself in the FBI, and if she didn’t have much in the way of roots . . . Well, she’d left the possibility of roots behind when she left Clear Springs. Most days it didn’t even bother her that much. She was doing good in the world, using her nontraditional childhood to give her an edge that had helped her make a name for herself over the last six years in the cult division. She was Eden Collins, FBI agent. She wasn’t that scared little girl. Not anymore.

One step at a time, she made her way into the police station. She’d half expected it to be a whirl of motion, with people rushing here and there, trying to come to terms with the fact that death had touched their small town. But there was no one in the room except a man sitting behind the desk in the corner, glaring at the phone on his desk.

Zach Owens.

The golden boy of Clear Springs in every sense. His blond hair was still cropped short, hearkening back to his days as a marine, and his body was obviously well taken care of. This wasn’t a man who’d let his years working in a sleepy little town turn him soft.

While Zach took her in, she conducted her own perusal. She’d never met him personally, but she knew him by reputation and pieces of information stolen via eavesdropping. He’d gone off to war a boy and come back a man with shadows in his eyes. Or maybe she was just seeing him with rose-tinted glasses, the tragic figure representing everything she’d never have. Acceptance. Loyalty. The love of the people here.

Something like jealousy curled through her stomach. It was silly and childish and she was better than that, but it was hard not to resent someone who so obviously fit. Eden had done a bit of traveling since she’d turned eighteen and run as far and fast as she could from her mother, but she’d never found a place that was well and truly hers.

He caught sight of her and narrowed his eyes. “Can I help you?”

Being pinned in place by those blue eyes made her second-guess the intelligence of her plan yet again. It didn’t matter. He needed her help, even if he didn’t know it yet. She stepped forward. “I’m here about the body.”

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4.5 Star

Tracey’s Review

Something is not quite business as usual in Zach Owens’ town. As sheriff of Clear Springs, Montana, he’s concerned when news of a girl gone missing leads to something far worse. Hometown daughter Eden Collins left Clear Springs behind years before, shaking the dust off and vowing not to return. But when an insidious evil infiltrates the town, she’ll have to put aside her feelings and return to help Zach before it’s too late.

Author Katee Robert is a go-to of mine. From mafia reads to guys in – and out – of uniform to cowboys, she really has written everything. So, when I saw that her latest, THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER, is a full-blown romantic suspense, complete with disappearing girls, enigmatic and downright chilling cult leaders, and an FBI agent and hometown sheriff working together to bring everything to light, I was all in.

I really enjoy some suspense and mystery in my romances, and Katee has delivered, big time. THE DEVIL’s DAUGHTER is taut and has plenty of suspense. The story of a town where mind-games are rife, and a breathtakingly subtle and crafty evil hides out just below the surface had me from the first page.

This book builds slowly, which I really appreciate, because I think that it helps build the feeling of something ominous and much bigger than Zach, or even Eden, is prepared to deal with. The mind games that Elysia leader Martha uses are chilling, and that Eden is willing to put herself in the crosshairs in order to help solve the crimes in Clear Springs is a true testament to her dedication to getting the bad guys.

Suspense and intrigue aside, this wouldn’t be a Katee Robert book without some romance. Zach and Eden make strange bedfellows, but this is another thing that Katee does so well, to write a romantic couple that would seem to be at odds. I think that it’s Zach’s steadfastness and commitment that help Eden trust him, and to feel confident in his feelings for her, and it doesn’t take long for the closeness that builds between them working together to turn into something more.

THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER is a welcome addition to Katee’s catalog of work, and one that I very much enjoyed reading. It’s an easy 4.5-stars for me, and I highly recommend it for fans of romantic suspense. I look forward to seeing what comes next in the Hidden Sins series. If Katee’s writing it, it will be well worth the wait.

***ARC generously provided for an honest review.***

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katee-robert-03-originalNew York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. She found romance novels at age twelve and it changed her life. When not writing sexy contemporary and speculative fiction romance novels, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her wee ones, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram |

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Sneak Peek… Excerpt Reveal… The Devil’s Daughter by Katee Robert – Hidden Sins Series – Book 1

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The Devil’s Daughter

Hidden Sins Series – Book 1

By Katee Robert

Release Date: January 24, 2017

Pre Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

f9de4-goodreads

Synopsis

Growing up in a small town isn’t easy, especially when you’re the daughter of a local cult leader. Ten years ago, Eden Collins left Clear Springs, Montana, and never once looked back. But when the bodies of murdered young women surface, their corpses violated and marked with tattoos worn by her mother’s followers, Eden, now an FBI agent, can’t turn a blind eye. To catch the killer, she’s going to have to return to the fold.

 

Sheriff Zach Owens isn’t comfortable putting Eden in danger, even if she is an elite agent. And he certainly wasn’t expecting to be so attracted to her. As calm and cool as she appears, he knows this can’t be a happy homecoming. Zach wants to protect her—from her mother, the cult, and the evil that lurks behind its locked gates. But Eden is his only key to the tight-lipped group, and she may just be closer to the killer than either one of them suspects…

kr_tdd

Excerpt

“Martha.”

Her mother’s eyes lit up and she half pushed to her feet. “Eden. I admit, when Abram told me you were back in town, I could hardly believe it.”

“I’m not back.”

Her smile dimmed, and Eden called herself an idiot ten times over for wanting to do something to bring it back. Manipulation, that’s all it is. Martha motioned to the cups in front of her. “I got your favorite.”

There was nothing else to do but take the empty seat and get this over with. She took a sip—sweet with lots of cream—and didn’t bother to tell Martha she’d switched over to drinking her coffee black a few years back. It would serve no purpose, and her entire goal was to get out of here with the least conversation possible.

“It’s been a long time.”

She shifted, not sure how to take the searching look her mother was giving her, as if she was trying to memorize Eden’s features—or, possibly, was comparing them to the ones she’d had ten years ago. What was there to say? I hated the life you created and forced me into, so I left. You won’t change, and neither will I. This will never be what you want it to be. She couldn’t force the words past her closed throat, so she took another drink of coffee.

Martha hesitated, and then mirrored the motion. “A lot is different from when you were last home.”

Not nearly enough, she’d wager. But if her mother was offering information, she’d be a fool not to get everything she could from Martha. “Oh?”

“Our community has grown. It’s flourishing.” She gave a small self-deprecating smile. “But, then, you didn’t come back to talk about Elysia. How have you been?”

Over the years, she received phone calls from Abram, demanding information at odd times in that quiet terrifying way of his. He never asked more than a few questions, and she never offered more than strictly necessary for those forced check-ins—whatever it took to get him off her back. She didn’t want to now, either. “I’m still working for the government.” Safe enough to admit, since her mother already knew about it.

Sure enough, Martha’s lips thinned. “The FBI.”

“Using the skills I learned from you.” She knew better, but she couldn’t help the dig.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Of course she didn’t. Because Elysia most certainly wasn’t a cult. Right. She didn’t roll her eyes, but it was a near thing. “You might like to pretend otherwise, but I know for a fact that Elysia has been on the FBI watch lists for years, so you’re not fooling everyone.”

“Eden Magdalene, you might be a woman grown, but that doesn’t mean you can take that tone of voice with me.”

Or speak too many truths, apparently. Eden stared at her coffee cup, suddenly exhausted. “I don’t suppose you know anything about a photograph showing up in my email yesterday?” It had all the hallmarks of one taken for an official police investigation, but that didn’t explain how it had found her. She’d had a friend in the tech department try to trace it, but it had been routed through several IP addresses before disappearing into the Internet-ether. Call her paranoid, but her first instinct was that her mother had something to do with it. How was the question, though.

Martha cocked her head to the side, frowning. “I’m not sure what you’re speaking of.”

Of course she wasn’t, though Eden was at a loss to decide if that was truth or because she didn’t want to admit to somehow being the leak in a murder investigation. She sighed. “What am I doing here, Martha? You know very well we couldn’t sit in the same room without going for each other’s throats when I was eighteen, and it would seem nothing’s changed since then.”

“I want what I’ve always wanted, baby. I want you to come home.”

There’s no home for me to come to, not now. Not ever. No matter how much I wish that wasn’t true. She cleared her throat. “I—” Think. Think fast. A hard no would just have Martha digging in her heels, and she wasn’t sure yet if Zach would change his mind. “I’ll think about it.” The lie rolled off her tongue with the ease of long practice. She wasn’t going back. She’d set herself on fire before she willingly walked through the gates of Elysia and put herself under her mother’s control again. The only reason she was here was to make sure no other girls turned up dead.

“It would mean so much.” Martha’s smile brightened, and a traitorous part of Eden brightened in response. It was how it always was with her mother. She rarely had to take the stern role when she could manipulate much more effectively with a soft word and a particular look. And when that wouldn’t work? Well, she wasn’t above getting her hands dirty, either.

Did you do it? Did you see that girl killed?

Eden couldn’t ask. The sheriff had already refused her help, and she’d have to be a special kind of stupid to go investigating on her own. There was nothing she could do without the power of the law on her side. If she tried…

Well, if she tried, there were plenty of unmarked graves in Elysia. What was one more?

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katee-robert-03-originalNew York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. She found romance novels at age twelve and it changed her life. When not writing sexy contemporary and speculative fiction romance novels, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her wee ones, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram |

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