Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for The Danger with Diamonds by Traci Hunter Abramson & Sian Ann Bessey, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Some secrets are worth keeping. Others are not.
When Lars Hendriks arranges to meet Marit Jansen in Vienna, he is hoping their friendship will blossom into romance. What he doesn’t expect is a surprise visit from his cousin Cole or the loose diamonds he brings with him.
As a CIA operative, Cole Bridger is used to uncertainty, but when his work takes him back to Vienna, he looks forward to reconnecting with Isabelle Roberts, the fellow agent he dated briefly before duty took him away from Austria. Unfortunately, his silence over the last few months has created a chasm that he can’t cross without help. He barely takes a step toward repairing the damaged relationship when a brazen jewel heist seemingly links Cole, Lars, Marit, and Isabelle to the crime. The group is drawn into a deadly mystery, and once again, the treasures of Falcon Point are threatened. It doesn’t take long for them to realize they have stumbled upon something far bigger and more dangerous than a simple robbery. And someone on the inside knows it.PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
GUEST POST WITH AUTHOR SIAN ANN BESSEY
If you were to ask any two co-authors how writing a book together worked, each pair would probably give you a different answer. When Traci and I wrote Heirs of Falcon Point with Paige Edwards and A. L. Sowards, we learned that our writing styles are remarkably compatible. We also enjoy a close friendship. Those two things made all the difference as we took on the task of writing this new book together.
We live on opposite sides of the country, so plotting for this book involved many Zoom calls. In general, we took it in turns to write the scenes, but occasionally the order shifted as we discussed which character’s POV was best suited for a particular scene. We each created two main characters and wrote from their points of view. The author who created the character had final say on the character’s actions and speech, no matter who wrote the scene. Interestingly, we hardly ever needed to make any of those types of changes because we both understood each other’s characters well enough to know how they would act and what they would say.
Neither of us creates detailed, overarching story plots when we write, so our plotting was done in 6-10 scene increments. Traci rarely knows who her bad guy is before she’s three-quarters of the way through writing her books, but after some friendly persuasion on my part, she discovered him a little earlier than usual in this novel. By the time we reached the latter part of the story, our focus turned to making sure we pulled all the threads in the story together to create a satisfying conclusion.
As far as the location for this book goes, we both enjoy traveling, and felt that Vienna was the perfect place to set this story. The fact that we’ve both visited the city made it easier to describe the specific locations mentioned in the book, along with the food and the Austrian culture. Admittedly, neither of us has actually attended a ball at Schonbrunn Palace, but we loved doing it vicariously through our characters, and hope our readers will enjoy the experience too.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Traci Hunter Abramson was born in Arizona, where she lived until moving to Venezuela for a study-abroad program. After graduating from Brigham Young University, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for several years, eventually resigning in order to raise her family. She credits the CIA with giving her a wealth of ideas for suspense novels as well as the skills needed to survive her children's teenage years. She has gone on to write a number of bestselling suspense novels that have consistently been nominated as Whitney Award finalists. She considers shoes an optional accessory which became evident when she won her first three Whitney Awards in 2013 (Code Word), 2014 (Deep Cover), and 2016 (Failsafe). Safe House won Whitney Awards for both the mystery/suspense category as well as 2017 Adult Novel of the Year. She added two additional awards in 2019 (Mistaken Reality - best mystery/suspense and Sanctuary - Adult Novel of the Year.) She currently lives in Virginia with her family where she enjoys sports, travel, writing, and recently retired from coaching high school swimming.
Connect with Traci by visiting traciabramson.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
Sian Ann Bessey was born in Cambridge, England, but grew up on the island of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales. She left her homeland to attend university in the U.S. and earned a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in English. She began her writing career as a student, publishing several magazine articles while still in college. Since then she has published historical romance and romantic suspense novels, along with a variety of children's books. She is a USA Today best selling author, a Foreward Reviews Book of the Year finalist, and a Whitney Award finalist. Although Sian doesn't have the opportunity to speak Welsh very often anymore, she can still wrap her tongue around, "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch." She loves to travel and experience other cultures, but when she's home, her favorite activities are spending time with her family, cooking, and reading.
Connect with Sian by visiting sianannbessey.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a signed copy of The Danger of Diamonds, and book-themed swag (including stickers, bookmark, and postcard).
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 17, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 24, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!