The Boy Next Door

Wes Armstrong

Wes loves helping his family run their real estate company and bringing paradise to people a week at a time—especially since it keeps him busy, keeps him from dwelling too long on his wife’s death two years ago…and the fact that he’ll never get to fix everything that had gone wrong in their relationship. But when Armstrong Realty gets an offer from a national vacation rental chain, suddenly everything’s up in the air. He’s glad Kenni’s home to work through it with him…except that when Kenni’s home, he can’t help but wonder about all the could-have-beens.

This is the book I wrote entirely while undergoing chemo last year, and focusing on a fun beach read, with plenty of family secrets and drama but also a setting I know and love and a book-theme that made me sigh in delight, was such a treat! Avon is one of a cluster of little villages on Hatteras Island near the famous Hatteras Lighthouse, and it’s where my family vacations almost every year. I love visiting Buxton Village Books a few miles down the road, and that shop served as the inspiration for the bookstore Kennedy and her sister, Lara, run in this story. With a little bit of Books to Be Red on Ocracoke thrown in too. 😉 (Thanks to both bookshop owners for answering my questions!)

There is a light historical time-slip element (about 1/3 of the story), but it’s mostly contemporary. And while historicals still hold my heart, it was definitely fun to get to write in the modern world. And especially to get to pick names without looking up if they’d have been use in a particular region at a particular time. 😉 LOTS of my P&P ladies have characters named after them in this one!

Kennedy and her sister Lara co-own the Island Bookshop, which they inherited from their grandmother, who converted her family home into the store when they were girls. The perfect place to stop by for your beach read!

And of course, some secondary Characters you’ll be seeing more of in the next books!

Beckett “Beck” Mills moved to Hatteras after his stint in the Navy and runs a fishing charter during the summer months…and is happy to be a recluse during the winter. He, Wes, and Asher have been a solid trio, in part because they know to leave him alone and not press him for the history he has no interest in hashing out.

Kennedy’s sister, Lara, has always been content to run the Island Bookshop. But when a Traumatic Brain Injury from a concussion leaves her unable to handle reading or working on screens, all her dreams come to a screeching halt, and she’s forced to ask herself what comes next, when nothing is what she wants it to be.

Welcome to the Launch Day Celebration
for An Honorable Deception!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

I am so, SO excited to welcome the final book in the Imposters series into the world…because let’s face it. Yates has been chomping at the bit very impatiently for his turn to take center stage. I love that we’ve had his POV in the first two books, so we already know him pretty well. We know his good heart. We know his sense of humor. We know how devoted he is to his family. We even know how hard he’s worked to get over his feelings for his sister’s childhood best friend, Lavinia.

So…what is Yates’s story? Who will win his heart, when he’s both intrigued by his beautiful and mysterious new client, Lady Alethia, who is so desperately in need of the peace and security she finds when she’s whisked away to Fairfax Tower to keep her safe from men out to kill her, and Lady Lavinia, who recruits herself into the Imposters when Marigold and Gemma are both a bit indisposed with coming babies?

Yep, we’ve got a love triangle, but where it’s the hero deciding between two equally wonderful women. And whenever people ask me who he’s going to end up, I have a ready answer: Penelope the monkey, of course! 😉 Seriously, Lavinia and Alethia even look similar from behind, which is why I specifically requested that the lady on the cover not have her face fully visible. Which one is that lovely model representing?? You’ll have to read to find out! (Mwa ha ha ha!)

Scroll down to learn more about the fun I’ve plotted up for this release!

Live Event!

Join me for a Facebook Live video tonight, Tuesday November 19, at 7 pm Eastern! (You can watch it afterward too, and I’ll try to answer any questions in the comments!)

• Behind the scenes
• Fun facts
• Short author reading
• What’s coming next

An Honorable Deception  focuses on Yates, Alethia, and Lavinia, so here’s a bit more about them!

Confession! I generated these images with MidJourney long before I plotted out the book, and it was actually the fact that these two ladies looked pretty similar that inspired a HUGE part of the plot!

Working left to right, here…

First we have Lady Alethia Barremore. Lady Alethia is the daughter of a (fictional) viceroy of India, so she spent most of her life in India. Her best friend, her only true friend, is Samira, her ayah (Indian nanny). When her family moved back to England when she was about twelve, Samira was obviously dismissed…but they’ve stayed in touch. Samira is the only one who knows the dark secret Alethia has struggled to escape. But when Samira goes missing, Alethia knows it’s that same secret rearing its ugly head and threatening to consume them all.

Lord Yates Fairfax may be an earl, but he’s the most unconventional one you’ll find in Edwardian England. He prefers his gymnasium to Parliament and feels a keen responsibility for the people who rely on him and the family estate, Fairfax Tower, for their livelihood. His sister is his favorite person in the world, with the circus performers who have retired to the Tower being close behind. “A veritable circus strongman,” Yates keeps a strict physical routine so that he can support his sister in their acrobatic feats, which aid them in the secretive private investigation firm of which he’s become the head. Yates is fun-loving and always quick to see the bright side of things…but the secrets they begin to uncover in this new case will challenge even him.

And finally, Lady Lavinia Hemming. Lavinia has been reeling ever since her mother’s duplicity and betrayal was revealed in A Beautiful Disguise. How can she ever trust anyone again? The only people she knows are safe are Yates and Marigold, and when she overhears that they’re the Imposters and invites herself into the organization, she finally finds something that sparks life in her heart again. But does being the daughter of a traitor make her half a traitor? Will she ever be anything but a burden to those who love her, few as they may be? She’s desperate to find her purpose…but when she does, it’s something she never would have thought herself capable of.

Shop the Imposters Collection

Lions, sprayed edges, handmade vintage style bags, peacock stationery, and more!
To celebrate this release specifically, I ordered some adorable stuffed animals from an amazing brand, Wild Republic, and created Penelope the capuchin monkey with a pink tutu. We also have Leonidas the Lion (he really roars!) and Pardulfo the leopard!

Also, I regularly joked, whenever someone asked me with whom Yates would end up, “Penelope the monkey, of course!”
So some of my reader friends demanded a “Team Penelope” T-shirt. Who was I to argue? LOL

Giveaway

US entrants, enter to win a copy of An Honorable Deception
(or another book of your choice) + a $25 gift card to my shop!

International entrants, enter to win a copy of any of my books, shipped from your usual online retailer.