Tuesday, August 9, 2016

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...







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. 




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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
Image result for male silhouettenoticed 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.
Image result for park music pavilionThe 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.










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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!













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