Inherent Truth (Blood Secrets, #1) by Alicia Anthony Pages: 376
Published by Drury Lane Books on January 14, 2020
A woman with buried secrets…An agent with an impossible mission…An inheritance that will destroy them both…
When Liv Sullivan’s dead grandmother beckons for help from beyond the grave, the reluctant psychic is forced back to her small Ohio hometown. Scrambling to make sense of her grandmother’s legacy, Liv finds herself face to face with undercover Agent Ridge McCaffrey.
Assigned to protect the woman whose gifts unnerve him, all for a covert psychic intelligence operation he doesn’t understand, Ridge struggles to place duty over desire. But when a body is found at Sullivan Farm and Liv’s allegiance is called into question, Ridge’s mission becomes clear.
Can Liv unearth family secrets that are best left buried before the ghosts of her past destroy her dreams of a normal future?
The Inspiration of Ancestry
Inspiration is a funny thing. When I was a young child, my grandmother subscribed to a magazine called Ireland of the Welcomes. One day she showed me a picture of a young girl on the cover that at the time, could have been my twin. That may have been the spark of inspiration that stuck with me until the day I sat down to write Inherent Truth.
I used to lose myself in glossy pages of lush Irish landscapes, peopled by smiling faces that resembled my own. I pictured myself there, and although I never dreamed that those moments spent flipping through my grandmother’s magazine stash would inspire an entire series, they certainly played a role when time reared its ugly head and my grandmother’s health began to decline. During that time, I found solace in those pages and even today feel closer to her when I thumb through my own bimonthly subscription.
But what does that have to do with a paranormal suspense series? You see, those moments became part of me. And later, when news of my birthmother’s death arrived in the form of a letter penned by a half-sister I didn’t know appeared at my door, a perfect storm of inspiration was born. My grandmother’s decline and my birthmother’s death were two completely unrelated events, but both left me with a boatload of questions and no one left to answer them. And as any reader knows, a writer with unanswered questions is a book waiting to happen. The questions I had about my own history, both biological and familial, evolved into a need to create a character with the capability to uncover the truth. Enter Inherent Truth’s heroine, Liv Sullivan, an Irish-American with a slew of family secrets only a psychic could uncover. I couldn’t wait to dive in and explore some of my own ancestral questions through Liv’s eyes.
Inherent Truth is my debut novel and the first book of the Blood Secrets Saga, a series birthed by loss and the ramifications of dementia, it’s a blend of psychological thriller and romantic suspense with light paranormal elements. The series explores the push and pull of human emotion, particularly trust–both in others and ourselves. It’s the story of Liv Sullivan, a reluctant psychic beckoned back to her small Ohio hometown by her grandmother’s ghost. As Liv struggles to piece together the reason behind her grandmother’s visit, her path collides with undercover agent Ridge McCaffrey, a man on a mission of his own. But when unspoken truths and a series of discoveries threaten to expose them both, the truth becomes clear–some family secrets are best kept buried.
And of course, those days spent flipping through my grandmother’s magazines make an appearance as Liv’s journey continues. Stay tuned!
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy meeting Liv’s grandmother, Grace, in this excerpt from Inherent Truth:
Grandma’s pale blue dressing gown fluttered gently against sun-starved legs. How many Saturday mornings had I come downstairs to the kitchen at Sullivan farm to see exactly this image? For anyone else, that’s what this would be–a memory-induced dream, a creation of the subconscious. But not for me.
The blue of her gown, coupled with the stream of light filtering through an imaginary window, added a shimmer to her eyes. My grandmother had the most beautiful eyes. Rich pools of pale cornflower blue that twinkled when she laughed. A knot rose in my throat. How I longed to hear that laugh.
“Do you remember this one, Liv?” She looked at me. Her gaze pulling like the fingers of some unseen force, coaxing me to join her at the table. I worked my toes into the carpet beneath my feet and I stood from the side of the bed, shuffling toward the vignette in front of me. She pushed a grainy photograph across well-worn oak as I slid into the chair opposite her. The spindles of the oak chair pressing into my spine were the only proof I’d moved from my perch on the bed.
“I took that when he was on a weekend leave in Germany. Can you believe I flew all the way over there just for a weekend with your grandfather?” A light chuckle, like a breeze through well-tuned wind chimes, escaped her lips.
I smiled at the mischievous glint in my grandma’s watery blue eyes. “I bet he was glad you made the effort.”
She reached her hand to cover mine and gave a squeeze. The warmth of her touch spiraled a note of helplessness down my spine as I battled the nugget of comprehension that explained her appearance. I clenched my jaw against the tears pricking at the backs of my eyes, determined to focus on the smiling faces of my young grandparents, primitively colorized in the photograph in front of me. They’d looked so happy.
“It’s time.” Playfulness evaporated from her voice. “You ignored the warning, but you can’t ignore your legacy.”
~~~
Inherent Truth is available today
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • Apple • Google Play
The next installment in the Blood Secrets Saga, Inherent Lies, releases March 17th and is available for Preorder here.
Alicia Anthony’s first novels were illegible scribbles on the back of her truck driver father’s logbook trip tickets. Having graduated from scribbles to laptop, she now pens novels of psychological suspense in the quiet of the wee morning hours. A full-time elementary school Literacy Specialist, Alicia hopes to pass on her passion for books and writing to the students she teaches. Her works of fiction have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Golden Heart®, Claymore, and Daphne DuMaurier Award for Mystery/Suspense. The second installment of the Blood Secrets Saga, Inherent Lies, was a 2018 Silver Quill Award winner. Alicia finds her inspiration in exploring the dark, dusty corners of the human experience.
Website: www.AliciaAnthonyBooks.com
Newsletter: Sign up for author news & a free sample delivered to your inbox.
Facebook: @AliciaAnthonyBooks
Instagram: @AliciaAnthonyBooks
Twitter: @AliciaAAnthony
To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win a $25 amazon gift card
Note: Book Briefs Contest Policy applies. All of the prizes, terms and conditions of the giveaway should be contained in the rafflecopter below. No Purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
Audrey Stewart
Where is the rafflecopter?
sherry fundin
a debut novel….sounds like a winner to me. thanks for sharing your thoughts
sherry @ fundinmental
Denise Duvall
Where is the rafflecopter?
Dana
What an interesting read-I love her inspiration for writing this. I should have asked my grandparents more about their lives when they were alive.