Saturday Sampler: THE TWELFTH DAY by Alicia Dean

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Alicia Dean’s Novella, The Twelfth Day:

Blurb:

As a teen, party girl Sabrina Spencer was the lone survivor of a serial killer’s attack on her family. Her testimony put the killer behind bars, and she spent the following decade carving out a new life and trying to forget.

But someone hasn’t forgotten. Two weeks before Christmas, she begins receiving daily packages containing bizarre gifts and threatening messages with demented references to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Handyman Josh Cravens is remodeling the lake house she rents each year to escape the painful reminders Christmas brings. While his dimples and blue eyes are hard to resist, he’s the exact kind of player she’s been avoiding since she outgrew her wild days. But the isolated cabin and threatening messages boost her paranoia to fever pitch.

As Christmas draws closer, she’s torn between finding comfort in Josh’s arms, and fear that he might be behind the twisted countdown to the twelfth day.

Excerpt:

Sabrina ended the call with Halley and was about to shut down the laptop when the song started. Holding her breath, she warily eyed the screen. A note appeared.

On the sixth day of Christmas…

You cheated death a decade ago, but time is running out.

She let out a scream and jumped from the chair.

Footsteps pounded. She glanced back to see Josh and Dustin standing behind her.

Josh frowned at the screen. “What’s that all about?”

She slammed the laptop shut. “Nothing.”

“You’re trembling. It’s not nothing. Tell me.”

She wrapped her arms around her body. “I-I really don’t know what it is. I’ve been getting these crazy messages.”

Josh’s frown deepened. “That’s not the first one?”

She shook her head.

“Have you called the police?”

“And tell them what? That somebody, I have no idea who, is sending me creepy messages?”

“After what happened to you, don’t you think this might be a little more than that?”

Her cheeks were numb, and she had trouble forming words. “The killer is behind bars.”

Dustin’s eyes rounded. “The killer? Is there a killer?”

Sabrina forced a reassuring smile. “No, there’s no killer. Everything is fine.”

His confused expression turned petulant. “Don’t lie to me. Are you in trouble, Sabrina?”

“I’m not lying. There’s something a little…freaky going on, but I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

Josh pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “Maybe you should tell us everything.”

Sabrina sat as well and explained what had been going on since the day she arrived at the cabin.

By the time she finished, Josh’s scowl had become ferocious. “I don’t like this. Not at all.”

“I’m a high school teacher. I’m sure it’s just one of the kids playing a prank.”

“It’s not a very damn funny prank.”

She grinned without humor. “I never said it was funny.”

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About Alicia:

Alicia Dean is a suspense and paranormal author in Edmond, Oklahoma. She wrote her first romance at age 11 (featuring a hero who looked just like Elvis Presley), and she still has the tattered, pencil-written copy. 

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Website: http://aliciadean.com/

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