Brake
Failure
By
Alison Brodie
Release Date: November 14, 2016
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Interested in receiving an advanced copy in
exchange for a review on Amazon/Goodreads?
Brake Failure is a contemporary romance with a
kick-ass heroine. The story is set in one of the most fascinating periods of
America's history: the months leading up to Y2K "melt-down."
"Is it too late to tell him you love him
when you're looking down the barrel of his gun?"
Ruby Mortimer-Smyth is an English debutante,
destined for Lady’s Day at Ascot and taking tea at The Savoy. She knows the
etiquette for every occasion and her soufflés NEVER collapse.
She is in control of her life, tightly in
control. Until fate dumps her down in … Kansas.
Ruby believes that life is like a car;
common-sense keeps it on the road, passion sends it into a ditch. What
she doesn't know is, she's on a collision course with Sheriff Hank Gephart.
Sheriff Hank Gephart can judge a person. Miss
Mortimer-Smyth might act like the Duchess of England but just under the surface
there's something bubbling, ready to explode. She's reckless, and she's heading
for brake failure. And he's not thinking about her car.
With the Millennium approaching, Ruby gets
caught up in the Y2K hysteria. She joins a group of Survivalists, who give her
a gun and advise her to stockpile basic essentials, such as gasoline and water-purifying
tablets. So she bulk-buys Perrier, Gentleman's Relish and macaroons.
Ruby, far from home, is making Unsuitable
Friends and "finding herself" for the first time. She falls in with a
gang of Hells Angels and falls foul of the law. At every turn, she comes up
hard against Sheriff Hank Gephart, whose blue eyes seem to look deep into her
soul. She desperately wants him but knows she can never have him.
She's angry at the emotions he arouses in her.
Pushed to her limit, she bursts from her emotional straightjacket.
As the clock strikes midnight of the new
Millennium, she's on a freight train with three million dollars, a bottle of
Wild Turkey and a smoking gun.
What happened to Miss Prim-and-Proper? And why
did she shoot Mr Right?
Note: Alison Brodie wrote this story from
first-hand experience. She lived in Kansas during this time and was stunned by
the hysteria, unnerved that the US government was spending $150 billion
preparing for Armageddon. As Lionel Shriver says in "We have to Talk About
Kevin": '1999, a year widely mooted beforehand as the end of the world.'
Alison Brodie is
a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s
side of the family. Alison was a photographic model, modelling for a wide
range of products, including Ducatti motorbikes and 7Up. She was also the
vampire in the Schweppes commercial.
A disastrous
modelling assignment in the Scottish Highlands gave Alison an idea for a story,
which was to become Face to Face. She wrote Face to Face as a hobby and
then decided to send it off to see what would happen. It was snapped up
by Dinah Wiener, the first agent Alison sent it to. Three weeks later,
Alison signed a two-book deal with Hodder & Stoughton.
Subsequently, Face to Face was published in Germany and Holland. It was
widely reviewed, ie: “Vain, but wildly funny leading lady.” -Scottish
Daily Mail. It was also chosen as Good Housekeeping’s “Pick of the Paperbacks.”
Unfortunately,
Alison then suffered from Second-Book Syndrome. The publisher’s deadline
loomed and she was terrified because she didn’t have an idea for a story!
She found the whole experience a nightmare; and this is why she cautions
first-time authors to write more than one book before approaching an
agent. She managed to finish the book – Sweet Talk – but it bombed.
While writing
Sweet Talk, she moved to Kansas and lived there for two years. She loved
the people, their friendliness, their free-and-easy way of life, the history
and the BBQs! Sadly, her visa ran out and she had to come back to the UK
– although her dream is to one day live permanently in America. Now,
Alison lives in Biarritz, France.
Alison has taken
the exhilarating steps to becoming an indie author. Her second ebook, THE
DOUBLE, is out on Amazon Kindle with some great reviews. “Excellent.” –San
Francisco Book Review.
Alison writes
contemporary romance. She aims for a strong plot line, set against the
background of a world-changing event, coupled with touches of humour, sexual
tension and character transformation.
She loves to
hear from her readers.
Social Media Links
Thank you to Lauren and Lara at Smut Fanatics for such a vibrant Cover Reveal of my upcoming release, BRAKE FAILURE. You guys have such a great blog. x
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