a Touch of Ice (An Everly Gray Adventure) [Kindle Edition]

L. J. Charles (Author)

Book Description

Everly Gray's fingers are a magnet for trouble.

When she touches photographer Mitchell Hunt and sees the image of a dead body, she dives into the murder fingertips first. Life takes a turn for the dangerous when she discovers the body is related to a small-time crime family that accidentally stepped on the toes of notorious criminal, Delano West. Caught in a web of intrigue where nothing is as it seems, El discovers an aptitude for breaking and entering, the pain of an up close and personal meeting with a bullet, and the terror of facing a cold blooded killer. What she doesn't learn--to keep her fingers to herself.


What they're saying...


A TOUCH OF ICE is a suspense-filled romance that will keep you up late turning the pages. Everly and Violet make perfect partners in their sleuthing, complementing one another perfectly. The romance between Mitch and Everly is sweet and blossoms into something spicy and wonderful. The mystery twists and turns, keeping this reader thoroughly entertained, trying to figure out the clues. Romantic suspense readers won't want to miss this one!
~Romance Junkies

"A fun adventure with characters who sizzle."
~ Adrienne Girodano, author of the Private Protector series

Editorial Reviews

Review

4 1/2 Stars from Romantic Times

The first Everly Gray adventure gets the series off to a promising start. There is a fine romance deftly integrated into the action. The momentum is never lost as all the pieces of the puzzle dovetail into a nicely-wrapped conclusion. Readers will look forward to the other books in the series.

Reviewer: Donna Brown

From the Author

In the Everly Gray Adventures I intended to grow her personality with her experiences--a 'coming of age' series so to speak.
 
In a Touch of Ice, Everly is closer to a twenty-something than a thirty-something. She's sheltered herself from the world to protect her gifts, focusing only on her personal coaching business to the exclusion of life experience.
 
A Touch of TNT brings her into the 'tumultuous twenties' when she begins to share her gifts and use them to help law enforcement. In To Touch a Thief, Everly stretches her wings to become a leader rather than a follower, and a Touch of the Past brings her to a critical turning point when she faces her heritage and begins to accept who she is as she moves into her true chronological age.
 
In a Touch of Betrayal, Everly becomes an adult and discovers 'the other side of romance.' This is not a happy-ever-after story, but it opens the door for a new world of adventure.
 
As Everly has grown up, she's pushed my boundaries as a writer, and Betrayal took both of us into new territory. I hope you enjoy the ride.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 493 KB
• Print Length: 296 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005MGEOYU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,272 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A captivating romantic suspense October 13, 2011

By Wendy L. Hines VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Everly Gray has ESP fingers. Everything she touches, material items and people, gives her a glimpse of something in the past, the present or the future. She doesn't date much because her dates usually end in disaster when they touch her and she 'sees' something disturbing that turns her off.

Her best friend, Violet, is a private investigator. Violet knows about Everly's gift but not many others do. When Everly has a bad vision about herself as an old woman in a rocking chair, they go to the beach to walk it off, but someone is taking photographs. Everly decides to introduce herself to the man, and Violet asks questions about why he's photographing them. His name is Mitchell Hunt and he's just staying busy, trying to forget the memory of seeing his best friend murdered the night before.

They talk, and he asks Everly out on a date. She explains about her ESP fingers but he doesn't seem worried, although he does hire Violet to investigate the murder. He knows he is a person of interest, and he wants the real killer found. However, after their date, Everly gets a phone call about Mitch being missing.
Everly and Violet search Mitch's house and Everly gets visions of Mitch being brutalized by three men. He's alive, but she doesn't know where they took him. Fortunately, Mitch is dropped off at a hospital hours later, but Everly still can't shake the visions of the men. She convinces Violet to investigate the matter further.

Everly convinces Violet to help her break into Tony's house - the murdered friend of Mitch. Everly's gift is changing; she can see the visions without even touching anything. Her mind tears magazines and makes a collage on its own, and she can't shake the thought that diamonds are involved, even though Violet can't use that information in any shape or form.

Everly and Mitch begin a sweet romance, and between the three of them they try to uncover the real killer. But when danger comes for Everly, will her ESP fingers get her out of it, or will she die with regrets like she saw in her vision?

A TOUCH OF ICE is a suspense-filled romance that will keep you up late turning the pages. Everly and Violet make perfect partners in their sleuthing, complementing one another perfectly. The romance between Mitch and Everly is sweet and blossoms into something spicy and wonderful. The mystery twists and turns, keeping this reader thoroughly entertained, trying to figure out the clues. Romantic suspense readers won't want to miss this one!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, as expected September 21, 2011

By Susan McAllen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've come to have certain expectations when I pick up a book by Ms. Charles. Humor, mystery, edge-of-your-seat action, delving into the paranormal in a way that is easy to accept. It's all here in spades, along with that trademark voice that I can't get enough of. The characters here are easy to latch onto and the story will keep you reading as fast as you can. Definitely give this one a go. You won't regret it.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous read by a talented new author November 13, 2011

By LyndyM

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Perfect mix of suspense, romance and a touch of the paranormal. Can't wait for the next book in this exciting, new series.

More About the Author

I have worked with energy both as a yoga instructor and as a body worker for many years. When I left that profession behind, I was driven to write about energy and the paranormal. Many of the situations my heroines experience are created from my own encounters with energy, it's power and possibilities.

As to the "writing," well, that started when I was eight and penned my first book on pink construction paper with a purple crayon. It was a romance that involved a princess, and although I remember very few details about the plot, I do remember that it was illustrated and there was music and dancing involved.

At about the same time I created my first story, I discovered Nancy Drew and my love for reading was born. It has only grown over the years, and I am rarely without a huge to-be-read stack, and a book within easy reach.

Now days I write women's fiction and young adult novels. All of my stories combine romance, mystery, and paranormal elements. The paranormal, because it's a huge part of my life, the adventure and romance because I haven't ever outgrown my early reading adventures with Nancy, Ned, Bess and George.

I live in the frozen north with my husband, whose TBR stack is taller than mine, and two felines who have been known to add entire pages to a manuscript without telling me.


AN EXCERPT OF LIFETHREAD:


"McKenna Fin." I snapped out the syllables of my name and a shimmer of energy coated the walls of the history classroom. The back of my neck prickled with unsettling intensity, and I couldn't stop my fingers from rifling the pages of my textbook. Four times the substitute teacher from hell had called me by some other name. Count them. Four. Too many, even for an evil imbecile of a substitute unit. Not only was she unable to cope with a simple seating chart, but...uh-oh, her eyes were taking on the vacant stare that telegraphed "demon" in blossoming shades of red.
Dammit all to Zeus, I'd have to kill her and it was only third period.

No way around it seeing as I'm the Moirai Priestess, connected to the Fate, Atropos. There are three of us roaming the Earth at any given time, each assigned to one of the Fates. My boss just happened to be responsible for cutting lifethreads. Ending human life. Or in my case, ending demon life.

I fingered the glowing blade tucked into a special pocket on my backpack--the kind of blade made of Ouranian magick that didn't set off metal detectors, or any other detector for that matter. Ripples of energy came alive under my fingertips as I stroked the glassy smooth surface, deftly avoiding the killer edge. I love my blade.

My fingers twitched with urgency. I had to kill it before its eyes turned completely red with demon strength. The thing is, Atropos gets all hinky when I draw attention to myself, and I seriously hate when she calls me in front of the Triad for behavior unbecoming a Moirai Priestess. Not good. It would probably mean another one hundred years being stuck in my senior year of high school. And seriously, the first fifty were more than enough. Immortality sucks. I mean, who can tolerate being seventeen years, eleven months, and twenty-five days old, for like forever. You'd think she could have created me with a birth date that came with voting privileges and didn't require emancipation papers.
My sigh must have been über loud because Nathan Quinn, the one and only guy at Brighton High worth my time, had his baby greens fixed in my direction. My nerves jumped to attention and a warm glow heated my cheeks, probably noticeable even though I was blessed with naturally dark skin. We'd been eyeing each other all year, but it was way complicated for a priestess to date.

"He's just fine." Merritt's honeyed voice plowed into my head; bless her golden eyes and sun-kissed brown hair. Mer belonged to Lachesis, the Fate who decided human destiny, and who twisted time to accommodate said destinies. My sister priestess was down the hall in biology class, but Moirai Priestesses have telepathic bonds that provides instant communication. Sometimes good, sometimes majorly inconvenient. Right now? A total pain in the butt.

"Not now, Merritt. Seriously bad timing." I scooted my chair back and jammed the history text in my backpack.
"Do not diss my timing, McK. Not when you need me to adjust time so you can kill that hell spawn pretending to teach history."

I shot a glance at the demon in question. Shiny orange scales had broken out along evil-pretend-to-be-a-teacher's arms. Noticeable. But only to me. Thank Zeus and Nyx the vastly inferior human eye couldn't see demons. Most everyone was nose-to-desk taking a nap, and the few attempting to pay attention had that glazed asleep-sitting-up look. They weren't processing a thing--thank the Fates--so, they didn't notice when the sub morphed into demon form. Looked like it had targeted that smallish kid in the front row. Not that it mattered. It was my job to rescue all human kids. An equal opportunity deal.

I balanced my blade, aimed for the base of demon teacher's throat, and sent the weapon in a smooth, precise arc across the room. One demon lifethread severed. The blade returned to my hand, leaving behind a crumpled, orange scaly body. "Done. Ready for clean up, Mer. At least this one was quick, no hand-to-hand, no battle to the death. You gotta appreciate how easy the young ones are."

"No prob, sis." She blinked out of my head to create a blip in time, and I used the pause to sheath my blade, and roll my gaze over that "fine boy." I mean, time was paused, so why not indulge in a little--

"Hey, you gotta bury that demon and get out of the room." Merritt again.

"Nah. No one will--"

"Time didn't pause for the hottie. Get. Out. Of. The. Room."

She'd called it right. Nathan Quinn wasn't suspended in time, nor was he ogling the suddenly empty space in the front of the room. He was staring at me, questions blazing in his beyond gorgeous eyes.