Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway: Relative Strangers by Helen Treharne!

Relative Strangers by Helen Treharne

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 301

Published: August 23rd, 2014



Blurb:

Meet Sophie Morgan… practical, Welsh, prone to occasional profanity, and seemingly a vampire magnet. 

Sophie Morgan is 23 and has always done the right thing. She’s caused no stress for her family, worked hard through university, has taken a successful leap onto the career ladder and nurtured a reasonably healthy bank balance. It’s no small surprise then when, on a post relationship break-up, mini-break to Antwerp, she pursues a pair of thieves who steal her friend’s handbag. But this is only the start of her world being turned upside down. Ripped from the streets into a dark alley she is violently attacked, barely alive when quirky Irish bar worker, Michael Kelly, stumbles across the scene. 

The pair, shocked by their experience and uncertain whether they have killed her attacker in the brawl which follows, go into the night for answers. They get more than they bargained for. Sophie quickly learns that vampires exist, her neighbours back home aren’t what they seem and new boyfriends can be found in the strangest of situations. 

Relative Strangers is the first in a new vampire series with a distinctly British flavour, but which will appeal to everyone. Reviews call it " a vampire tale with bite", with "brilliant characters that draw you in" and a very fresh take on the genre. Read it now to find out reviewers are raving about. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Excerpt:

It took a few seconds for me to hear the sounds of other footsteps running behind me. By then, I’d picked up the pace, heading down the cobbled road to an even darker side street. I don’t know why I picked the route I did, I think I just assumed that a robber would probably try to make off into a shadier part of town, literally and metaphorically. Tracy and I had established on our daytime wandering that there wasn’t much this way other than dodgy looking restaurants and a few bars – the sort of place I assumed a thief would hang out.

I think that the fact I caught up with the thieves within a few minutes surprised me more than I legged it after them in the first place. I had no idea I could run so fast. They were also not what I expected. Okay, I wasn’t expecting striped jumpers and a bag on their shoulder labelled ‘swag’, but I wasn’t prepared for two well-groomed guys in blazers and fine knit sweaters either. They looked like they should have been extras on Miami Vice.

“Give me the bloody bag,” I shouted.

I don’t know if they were first-time opportunists or whether they were just taken back by a five foot nothing Welsh woman chasing after them, but they stopped in their tracks.

“Give me the fucking bag,” I repeated.

And blow me, didn’t blazer boy just hand the bag right back. I don’t know if it was the conviction with which I spoke, or the fact that Mickey had just about caught up with us.

“Wait there,” I ordered. I was surprisingly good at this.” Everything better still be in here.”

The two men stood completely still as I rummaged through the bag. Due to its size it took me a while to go through it, but my cursory inspection of the contents indicated that everything was there; everything that was important anyway. As I turned on my heel, I saw Mickey behind me, looking like a man who had experienced every sort of emotion all at the same time.

“Jesus, thank God you’re alright. What the hell were you thinking of?” he panted. “You’re a feckin' idiot.”

“It had her passport and everything in,” I retorted, slightly bemused by his question. I think my actions had even surprised me a little, but the shock was making me act like I’d behaved in the most reasonable way in the world.

Author Bio:

After a successful career in business and career coaching, Helen Treharne returned to South Wales in 2010 to focus on writing, among other things. 

Relative Strangers, a modern vampire story featuring an increasingly feisty Sophie Morgan, hits digital bookshelves in 2014. In addition to being the creator of the developing"Sophie Morgan" series, she is an urban poet and social commentator who can frequently be found ranting in the Twitterverse. She knew the degree in Sociology would come in handy some day!

Helen lives with her husband, three cats, an entrenched tea addiction and an increasing collection of stringed instruments.She can't be trusted near stationery.

Author Links:

Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Website

Giveaway:

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This tour was organized by Good Tales Book Tours.