Excerpts

Sometimes it is hard to judge a book by its brief summary or vibrant cover. Many of us shop on our kindles or other devices and it's not always easy to tell if the book is to our taste or not. I admit I am a very picky reader, even though I am a writer. I absolutely must have a happy ending, and I like troubled moments to be brief, the Amazon's Look Inside feature gives us all a chance to read a number of pages, but it isn't available on every device. Sometimes the beginning of a book doesn't always tell us what to expect later on.

I have decided to begin posting excerpts from my books here on my blog to give a hint of what lies later on between the pages, beginning with my book Gems (It's not about diamonds).

Gems is a book that is slightly hard to categorize. It contains a wide variety of characters, an enigmatic butler, a lonely billionairess, a determined cowboy, and a sweet little girl in need of treatment, plus moments of humor and an element of mystery that ties all these characters together in the end.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter Two:

Samantha Amethyst Silverstone watched in fascination as a tall lean cowboy climbed the wall into her home; the security camera clearly showed a large dark horse on the other side of the wall, probably an Arabian. What did he think he was doing? It was odd, he didn’t look menacing, but then not many people who committed crimes did. Looks were apparently no way to judge since most people looked like they were posing for mug shots on their ID cards. She grinned glancing at the wall bearing the panel of photographs identifying her security staff, in looks alone, it would appear she was being guarded by a crew of humorless dour faced inmates. She highly doubted they’d appreciate the sentiment.

Oliver, her butler, had called her into the security room the instant the silent alarm had gone off as the man approached the perimeter. They’d told the security team to hold off for a while, they could handle it themselves.

“Shall we release the dogs, Sam?” he asked, arching a dark eyebrow.

“Hmm,” she thought for a moment, “Yes, Oliver, I think we will. I want to see his reaction.”

“Very well.”

Samantha watched the screen, with a push of a button she zoomed in on the face of her uninvited guest. The sudden ferocious sounds of barking dogs and animals running through the undergrowth didn’t seem to faze him particularly. He looked around cautiously, and then grinned, he obviously knew very well there were no dogs, and she’d thought the sound effects were quite convincing! They had always worked in the past to deter any intruders, sending them scurrying away in a hurry and negating the need for her security to staff to intervene and the local cops to be called.

Pushing a small yellow button on the panel, she turned on the sprinklers; the cowboy stood stock still as a sudden cascade of icy water gushed over him. Taking off his hat, he slapped it against his knee, wiped the water from his eyes with the sleeve of his denim jacket, and then calmly replacing the hat, glared toward the house and purposefully resumed his approach.

The doorbell rang loudly.

“And now, Sam?” Oliver asked, curious as to their next move.

“I think he deserves an audience, as he’s made it this far,” she smiled. “At least he had the courtesy to ring the bell. But don’t make it too easy on him. I want to see what he’s made of.” And to get some idea of how determined he was about whatever he needed, she thought. It must be something important for him to be so resolved.

Samantha Silverstone had more requests for donations and help each day than she could count. She couldn’t help them all or she would be bankrupt, and some turned out to be quite false. Every request was checked out, and nothing got by her investigative team. She grinned, some team, herself and Oliver! Oliver had come to work for her when she had first come to the United States; he’d showed up at her door, briefcase in hand asking for a job. Lips twitching, she remembered well how his brows had risen perceptibly, when after reviewing his very varied and accomplished resume and checking his references, she’d offered him the job as her butler! But it was more, much more than that. He was her personal bodyguard, her security specialist, her pilot, and her friend. He was old enough and protective enough to be her father, and acted almost like he was, without ever quite crossing the line of employer/employee. He was a real treasure and her right arm.

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