Return to Autumn House--A Halloween Serial--Chapter One--Lenora Worth

Return to Autumn House

(A Halloween Serial)

Chapter One—Lenora Worth

     She’d never planned to return to this house. But Hallie Cyder didn’t have a choice. She’d received the letter three days ago:

     You have inherited a piece of property located on Autumn Road. Immediate attention needed. Property could be condemned.

     There was more to the letter. Her great-uncle Macintosh Appleton had left her his summer home, located on the coast of Marshmallow, Maine. She was now the reluctant owner of Autumn House.

     The letter had been signed Kane Cornelison.

     Kane was a lawyer now. Her great-uncle’s lawyer. Obviously successful and settled here in this quaint coastal town. Probably married with children.

     As the thunder clashed, Hallie caught sight of the dark mansion hanging along the high bluff like a broken box. Autumn  House had once been a lovely Victorian house with wraparound porches and lush gardens.

     Now it stood abandoned and lost, the wind and rain pushing at it with a strength that could make the whole thing topple into the crashing sea below.

     “What am I doing here?” she asked.

     Too late to turn back now. She didn’t have anywhere else to go. So she drove her pumpkin orange roadster up the curving drive and stopped in front of the house. Kane had indicated she’d find a key underneath the fake rock by the front door.

     But there were a lot of rocks surrounding what was left of the flower bed. When she reached down to the first rock, a hand grabbed hers.

     Hallie screamed and tried to get away but the man tugged her down and she toppled over him, her eyes meeting his.

     “Don’t move.”

     Lightning clashed and spears of cold rain slashed across her skin. “Kane?”

     Blood dripped down his temple. But beyond that, he still was the best looking man in the world. Reddish-brown hair as rich as cider and eyes as icy as the ocean. He was more tempting than candy corn. She couldn’t believe he was here and hurt.

     “What happened?” she asked as she stared down at him, memories of candied apples and hayrides flashing through her mind.

     He held her wrist. “Hallie? We have to get out of here. It’s not safe.”

     Then he passed out.

     Hallie heard a crash from inside the house.

     Someone was coming for them.

The Suspense Is Killing Me--Lenora Worth

Hello, Readers and Writers! Around here, we love suspense! So beginning today, we are celebrating our love of things that go bump in the night and doors that creak and houses that never have lights on at midnight. "Did you hear something?"

It's Harlequin's Romantic Suspense Event! Not quiet as fun as a shoe clearance but it ranks right up there. If you visit our Harlequin website at www.eharlequin.com you can take a fun quiz, enter a contest to win a year's subscription to your favorite series line and to win a gift card and have fun with so many other things, it's like running from a bad guy and right into the arms of Mr. Right On Time :)

And there's more. We will be on Twitter suspensing with the hashtag #HarlequinSuspense and we'll have a Pinterest board that is all about romantic suspense. So many clues????

We'll be all over Facebook, too, like fingerprint smudges on a white wall! So much fun my head is exploding.

Now, I'm wondering. What are some of your favorite suspenseful TV shows? What are some of your favorite romantic suspense books and authors? What would you like to see more of in the way of romantic suspense? And what is your pet peeve when it comes to romantic suspense plots and characters?

Answer one or more of these questions in your posts and I'll draw two names to give away copies of my creepiest romantic suspense ever--Deadly Holiday Reunion.  Let's discuss why we love romance and suspense mixed together to make us sigh and make us run away in fear!