Friday 20 March 2015

Spotlight: Well Kept Secrets by @LizaOConnor


Melissa: Before Vic arrives for her interview, I should tell all my blog followers that Vic Hamilton is actually a young woman, not a young man. Although I must say, she makes a good-looking young man. However, why she wishes to live life as a man is something of a mystery.
One theory is that she’s afraid of skirts, since her mother drowned in the ocean due to her heavy skirts pulling her under. But I don’t think that’s true since Vic wears a dress in this story and survives her disguise just fine.
Another theory, which I lean towards, is Vic knows men have more interesting lives and thus she pretended to be a young man so she could be properly educated at Oxford and is now learning the exciting profession of investigating, taught by the greatest sleuth in all of England, Xavier Thorn.
Whichever the reason, Vic is always to be referred to as a ‘him’. If Xavier catches you referring to his ‘pup’ as a female, he will scold you severely. So you have been warned.
Here’s Vic now!

The attached picture of Vic shows her dressed as a female and has an inset of her normal appearance.
She insisted this note be placed so you would not believe she had a head growing out her side.
She’s got enough troubles already!
Now get to the interview, because she’s getting hungry.
Melissa: How are things going?
Vic: *grimaces* I wish I could say wonderful, but L’il Pete’s mother, Maggie, was killed.
Melissa: That’s terrible. How is he taking matters?
Vic: To be honest, I don’t know. I’ve been disguised as a woman, living in Maggie’s old tenement and working her job, trying to get proof as to who murdered her.
Melissa: Any clues?
Vic: My boss came very close to admitting he had Maggie killed, and I’m pretty sure he had a bizzie kill her.
Melissa: What’s a bizzy?
Vic: It’s the sorry excuse of coppers who ‘protect’ the lower docks. As far as I can tell, they are worse than the sailors. They got the name bizzy for always sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong or possibly because whenever you need help, they are too ‘busy’ doing something else. Not sure which explanation is the true one, but trust, if you are in need of help, they won’t be anywhere around and if you don’t want anything to do with them, they’ll be in your business, giving you grief.
Melissa: Sounds like trouble. If you already know who did it, why don’t you return to wearing pants and report it to Scotland Yard…perhaps in the opposite order..
Vic: *sighs and hangs her head*  I’m working on intuition right now. The only proof I have that something is off is that the apothecary I’m tending uses enough laudanum and chloroform to sedate all the ladies in London. And so far there have only been 2 customers, one wanting morphine for what I suspect was appendicitis, and the other was my landlady who just wanted me to give her an all alcohol tonic drink for free.
Melissa: Sounds like you’re having a rough time.
Vic: I am. I’m off my game, overly emotional, and I’m constantly hungry—and I’m putting on weight.
Melissa: Oh dear, that sounds like a baby might be on the way.
Vic: What? Don’t be ridiculous! Has Claire been dragging out her picture of me dressed like a girl again? That doesn’t mean anything! I can’t have a baby. It would destroy my life. I’m just getting fat, nothing more. Now I need to return to work so I can discover evidence that will move Scotland Yard to arrest someone. *Vic storms off*
Melissa: Well, that was interesting. I wonder if she really is having a baby? That would definitely create some obstacles for Vic.


The great Victorian sleuth Xavier Thorn and his partner Vic Hamilton take a case close to home. Their youngest staff member, L’il Pete, discovers his mother murdered in the alley. Jacko is called up from the country to assist in solving the crime. The good woman’s murder proves to be tangled up with a much larger and shocking list of crimes perpetrated by a powerful man who may truly be above the law. Making matters more complex: Vic discovers her recent weight gain may be the result of a condition that could destroy her life and everything she loves.

Vic stormed towards him in fury. He held his ground, which meant she was soon inches away from his face, her feminine scent tantalizing his nose.
“Xavier told you to kiss me?”
He breathed in and he was once again overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her. She smelled just like Alice. Finally, he knew what caused the attraction. “You’re pregnant.”
She stepped back as if slapped. “What? No! And stop changing the topic.”
“I’m not. I just realized why the kiss was so…”
“So what?” she growled.
“More than it should have been.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because pregnant women give off a smell men find tantalizing.”
Vic stamped her foot. “I’m not having a baby!”
He eyed her ample breasts. Those had to be new. No way in hell she’d been hiding mountains under her young man’s clothes all these years.
“You’re definitely pregnant.”
Panic entered her eyes. “Why are you certain I’m pregnant and not just getting fat?”
“You smell like Alice does. That’s why I kissed you when you opened your mouth to me.”
“I did not—” She stopped and bit her bottom lip. After a deep breath in, she asked, “What other evidence do you have?”
He placed a hand softly on her belly, which she instantly pushed away. “Swollen belly, plump breasts. Bet they’re sore too.”
“That’s where people put on weight first,” she grumbled.
“When was the last time you had your curse?”
She looked away.
“Can’t remember?”
“It’s not a sure sign.”
He rolled his eyes. “How can a clever sleuth like you be so damn clueless about your own body?”

Book 4
Well Kept Secrets
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Need to catch up?
Book 1

Book 2

Book 2.5

Book 3
All Xavier books Free with Amazon Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved normally. But all those bad behaviors have given her lots of fodder for her humorous romances. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.
You have been warned.
Mostly humorous books by Liza:
Ghost LoverTwo British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance)
Untamed & UnabashedThe youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.
A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance)
Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions.
Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible.
Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason.
Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.
The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Sleuth series: (Late Victorian/Mystery/Romance)
The Troublesome Apprentice — The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man who turns out to be a young woman.
The Missing Partner — Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.
A Right to Love A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?
The Mesmerist The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.
Well Kept Secrets L’il Pete’s mum is murdered, and discovering who & why reveals a great many secrets.




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3 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having Vic over!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh no! I suspected but this is going to be a blunder for Vic! I hope things work out happily....

    ReplyDelete