BOOK BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT: Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're shining the BOOK SPOTLIGHT on a title celebrating it's BIRTHDAY in the publishing arena that is sure to deliver chills, thrills, and keep you up long into the night.  Don't believe me?  I'm not worried.  By post's end, I am certain you'll be convinced.  Without further ado, don your party hats and grab your noisemakers, here comes today's book birthday celebrant...

Behind Closed Doors

by

B.A. Paris

9781250121004

St. Martin's Press

About the book...

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace: he has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You'd like to get to know Grace better. But it's difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart. Some might call this true love.

Picture this: a dinner party at their perfect home, the conversation and wine flowing. They appear to be in their element while entertaining. And Grace's friends are eager to reciprocate with lunch the following week. Grace wants to go, but knows she never will. Her friends call—so why doesn't Grace ever answer the phone? And how can she cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim?

And why are there bars on one of the bedroom windows?

The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?

 A runaway #1 bestseller in the UK, with over 220,000 copies sold in its first two weeks of publication, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS is about the “perfect marriage” that just might be a terrifying nightmare beneath the surface.

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Equal parts ripped from the headlines (scary as that may be) and uber creepy psychological thriller, I can see why it was a hit overseas...and foresee it taking the same route stateside. 

The topic of many conversations past and yet to come...how much DO we really know about each other?  Friends?  Neighbors?  Coworkers?  No matter how close we say we are, we really only ever know as much of their true selves as they'll let us see...and even then we can't ever be absolutely 100% certain that it's not a front of some kind.  A harsh way to view the world?  Perhaps...but in a story such as this it is perfectly illustrated.  I for one have a place for this title on my future reads list.  Who's with me?


Now, let's take an exclusive look INSIDE the book for even more tantalizing tidbits...






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~~~ EXCERPT ~~~

Chapter 2

PAST

My life became perfect eighteen months ago, the day

Jack danced with Millie in the park. Some of what I

told Esther was true—I’d seen Jack in the park the

previous Sunday but hadn’t thought he’d be interested

in someone like me. First of all, he was exceptionally

good-looking and back then I didn’t look as good as I

do now. And then there was Millie.

Sometimes I told my boyfriends about her from the

beginning, sometimes—if I liked them a lot—I said that

I had a younger sister who was away at school but only

mentioned that she had Down’s syndrome a few weeks

into the relationship. Some, when I told them, didn’t

know what to say and didn’t stay around long enough

to say anything much at all. Others were interested,

supportive even, until they met Millie and were unable

to classify her spontaneity as wonderful, as Jack did. Two

of the best were still there long after they met her, but

even they had trouble accepting what a huge part of

my life Millie was.

The clincher was always the same; I’d told Millie

from the beginning that when the time came for her

to leave her wonderful but highly expensive school she

would come and live with me, and I had no intention

of letting her down. It meant that six months previously

I’d had to let go of Alex, the man I thought I would

spend the rest of my life with, the man who I’d lived

very happily with for two years. But when Millie had

turned sixteen, the imminence of her arrival began to

weigh heavily on him—which is why I found myself,

at thirty-two years old, single once again and seriously

doubting that I would ever find a man who would

accept both Millie and me.

In the park that day, I wasn’t the only one who

noticed Jack, although I was probably the most discreet.

Some—mainly the younger women—smiled at him

openly, trying to catch his attention, while teenage girls

giggled behind their hands and whispered excitedly

that he had to be a film star. The older women looked

at him appreciatively and then, more often than not,

at the man walking beside them, as if they found him

wanting. Even the men looked at Jack as he walked

through the park, as there was a casual elegance about

him that couldn’t be ignored. The only one who

remained oblivious to him was Millie. Engrossed in

the card game we were playing, there was only one

thought in her mind—winning.

Like many others that day in late August, we were

picnicking on the grass not far from the bandstand. Out

of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack head for a nearby

bench and, when he took a book from his pocket, I

turned my attention back to Millie, determined not

to let him see me looking at him. As Millie dealt the

cards for yet another game, I decided he was probably a

foreigner, an Italian perhaps, in London for the weekend

with his wife and children who were visiting some

monument or other and would join him later.

As far as I was concerned, he didn’t even look my

way that afternoon, unperturbed, it seemed, by Millie’s

loud cries of ‘Snap!’ We left soon after because I had to

get Millie back to her school by six o’clock, in time for

dinner at seven. Even though I didn’t think I’d ever see

him again, my mind returned again and again to the

man I’d seen in the park and I found myself pretending

that he wasn’t married, that he had noticed me and had

fallen in love with me and planned to return to the park

the following Sunday in the hope of seeing me again.

I hadn’t fantasised about a man in such a way since I

was a teenager and it made me realise how much I was

beginning to despair of ever getting married and having

a family. Although I was devoted to Millie, I had always

imagined that by the time she came to live with me I

would have children of my own, so she would become

a part of my family rather than my sole family. I loved

her dearly, but the thought of the two of us growing

old together on our own filled me with dread.

The following week, the day the band was playing in

the park, I didn’t see Jack until he walked up to where

Millie was dancing by herself in front of the bandstand,

her arms around a partner only she could see. At such

times, the emotions Millie provoked in me were often

hard to deal with. While I was fiercely proud of her, that

she had managed to master the steps she was performing,

I was also fiercely protective, and when I heard someone

laughing behind me I had to remind myself that their

laughter was probably kind and that even if it wasn’t,

it wouldn’t affect Millie’s enjoyment of what she was

doing. But the urge to stand up and bring her back to

her seat was so strong that I hated myself for it, and for

just about the first time I found myself wishing that

Millie was ordinary. Images flashed through my mind

of how our lives—my life—could have been and it was

as I was quickly blinking away the tears of frustration

which had filled my eyes that I saw Jack making his

way towards Millie.

At first, I didn’t recognise him and, thinking he was

going to ask Millie to sit back down, I got to my feet,

ready to intervene. It was only when I saw him bowing

to her and holding out his hand that I realised he was

the man I’d been dreaming about all week. By the time

he brought Millie back to her seat two dances later, I’d

fallen in love with him.



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About the author...

B.A. PARIS grew up in England but has spent most of her adult life in France. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. Behind Closed Doors is her first novel.

TWITTER  |  GOODREADS

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Special thanks to Meriah at Wunderkind PR for the chance to bring this title to the forefront for all of you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this release, the author, the publisher, or those promotions on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is IN STORES NOW via St. Martin's Press, an imprint of MacMillan, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

Until next time...happy reading!