The first body is found under a trimmed Christmas tree,
the second as they ring in the New Year (1947), the third goes head long out a
window. Will a young pediatric nurse
determined to make it on her own be able to care for an infant whose mother was
murdered and escape the killer who has struck again? Can she trust the stalwart
village detective with her life and her heart as he works to catch this killer
before somebody else dies?
Pediatric nurse, Katrina Lenart, grew
up strong willed and independent minded, while sharing her mother's flair for
high fashion. When the police chief gives her an orphaned baby to care for, her
maternal instincts take over and she's willing to fight anyone who might not
have the infant's best interests at heart, even the man she's growing to love.
After an attempt is made to kidnap the baby, she and the resolute village detective
team up and do some sleuthing, undercover at a cult as well as at a fancy ball.
Detective Ian Daltry is a widower
with a child and is not interested in a new love. Hunting a killer who stops at
nothing has placed him in the position where he must protect a beautiful young
woman he's drawn to. Is there's something he's overlooked in analyzing the
case? Will he find out what that is before this ruthless murderer kills someone
he loves?
Excerpt:
Katrina wanted to throw
Detective Daltry into a snow bank. The nerve of him, barging into their house
twice in two days, demanding she bundle the baby up and take him into the cold.
How could that man not recall their harrowing, nighttime drive through the
storm of the decade? She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, and with great
difficulty held her tongue.
Momma apparently had no
such reservations. "Detective, what you are doing is very wrong."
Katrina came up beside
her mother, to show a united front. "This is outrageous." Her eyes
narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. She hated the tone of her
voice, but this baby wasn't a ping-pong ball to be batted back and forth as the
detective moved forward with his murder case.
He ignored her and
continued addressing her mother.
"I'm sorry,
ma'am." He removed his fedora. "Chief Ferguson has already made the
necessary phone calls and arrangements have been made. I must take Leslie Janos
Bauer with me to the home of his aunt in Bay Shore. The chief would prefer your
daughter come along in an official capacity as a nurse. It's up to her, but I
have to take the baby."
Momma's face flushed
beet-red, a sure sign she'd become enraged. "This is not good for him…
this hustle from place to place."
"With all due
respect, ma'am, a child belongs with his family, if at all possible." The
detective took a step toward Katrina. "Now, will you please fetch the
baby." It wasn't a request.
Katrina made sure she
stood tall. "Yes, I'll get Leslie." She clenched her fists at her
side and jutted her chin. "This is disgraceful. You are using this infant
to solve your murder case. Perhaps your own tragic life experience clouds your
judgment?"
His mouth fell open and
he took a step back.
"If you have it
within your heart, give me one minute. I'll get him ready and get my coat and
boots on." Without giving him a chance to reply, Katrina turned and
stormed up the stairs.
Leslie lay sleeping in
the baby-doll cradle Poppa had made for her when she was a little girl. Poppa
had that kind of talent. He could make anything. In her heart she knew, he'd
figured it would be her baby's bassinet. At least now, it had a real purpose.
She ran a finger over the hand carved leaves in the headboard.
"Milachku, time to wake up." She
took the infant into her arms inhaling the smell of baby, sweeter than the most
expensive imported perfume.
Leslie yawned and she
snuggled her nose in the soft folds of skin between his head and shoulder,
kissing his neck. He cooed, so safe in her arms.
She brought him to her
heart, holding him, rocking him and spoke softly to her reflection in the
mirror above her bureau. "Fat chance I'll ever walk down the aisle or have
a family of my own with the man shortage since the war." Something deep in
the core of her female-self rebelled, a throbbing turbulence, from which deep
hunger erupted.
She stroked Leslie's
cheek and made a funny face. The softness of his skin melted her heart.
He smiled at her and
kicked.
"I'm so sorry. I
promised I'd protect you and I can't." She forced a smile and made
clucking noises.
He grabbed her hair and
yanked.
"Ouch." She
laughed, removing strands of her hair from his little fist.
A tear escaped and ran
down the side of her cheek. "I can do this." She lifted her chin,
sucked in a long breath, wrapped Leslie in a heavy quilt, and picked up his
tote bag.
Nike, Why did you write GOODBYE NOEL?
I wrote it to give hope. The story is
set at the close of WWII, a time when the nation was recovering from the great
and devestation losses of the war. And yet, it is a time of great courage and
optimism in America. The people of that time were a get up and go generation.
They strove to make something of themselves and of this nation. I hope my
characters reflect the spirit of that era. Right now this country is facing a
very difficult time. I hope this story transmits a little bit of can do spirit
of an earlier era.
Is anything in this book based on real life
experiences or is it all purely imagination?
Most of it is pure imagination. Though certain
Christmas traditions seem to come from my life. My paternal grandmother was
Czech and all the baking comes from her kitchen. Katrina is sort of like me in
terms of a Christmas decorating philosophy: more is definitely more. Katrina is
a fashionista and something many in the Christian publishing world might not
know is my career before writing was in the fashion industry. I'm a graduate of
the Fashion Institute of Technology and I worked in the bridal industry. I
traveled to bridal fairs in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Las Vegas and of course
in my hometown NYC.
GOODBYE NOEL will be released December 15th
and will then be available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Sony Reader
Store, and Christianbooks.
Purchase
Links:
Desert
Breeze Publishing http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/NikeChillemi/Page.bok
