This morning I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for The Secrets You Keep and sharing an extract with you all!

Title: The Secrets You Keep

Author: Kate White

Publisher: Canelo

Publication Date: 11th September 2017

About the book:

What would you do if you realized that your new husband, a man you adore, is keeping secrets from you–secrets with terrifying consequences?

Bryn Harper, an accomplished self-help author, already has plenty to deal with. She’s still recovering from a devastating car accident that has left her haunted by recurring, smoke-filled nightmares. Worse still, she can’t shake the ominous feeling her dreams contain a warning.

In the beginning, Bryn’s husband, Guy, couldn’t have been more supportive. But soon after moving in together, Guy grows evasive, secretive. What the hell is going on? she wonders. Then, a woman hired to cater their dinner party is brutally murdered.

As Bryn’s world unravels–and yet another woman in town is slain–she must summon her old strength to find answers and protect her own life. Her nightmares may in fact hold the key to unlocking the truth and unmasking the murderer.

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The Extract

Chapter 1

I wake to the smell of smoke.

It’s faint but enough to rouse me, and I jerk up in bed, eyes wide open. For a few seconds I freeze there, propped on an elbow and trying to make sense of it. What’s burning?

I start to shove my legs out of bed, but the top sheet fights me. I have to wrench it loose from the mattress so I can force my feet to the ground.

As my eyes adjust to the dark, I realize that I’m not at home. I’m in a hotel room. I’ve been traveling on business… yet I can’t remember where. The burning smell intensifies, boring into my nostrils and propelling my head back. Panic surges through me. Fire, I think. Fire.

Using my hands for help, I edge around the second double bed in the room, fast as I can. Warning phrases I’ve read bombard my brain: Fill the bathtub with water. Wet a towel and cover your mouth with it. But I don’t have time for that. I need to get out.

Then there’s a noise, a tapping sound, and I realize someone’s knocking at the door. Maybe hotel staff, warning people.

‘I’m in here,’ I yell. ‘Don’t go, I’m coming.’

Now I can actually see the smoke wafting toward me. I stub my toe hard on the outside wall of the bathroom, but I keep going, practically hurling myself forward.

Suddenly I hear a man’s voice—from behind me in the hotel room.

‘Bryn, are you okay?’ he calls out.

‘Yes,’ I respond. ‘But we’ve gotta go.’

‘Wait,’ he says. ‘There’s something—’

‘I can’t. We have to run. Hurry.’

Reaching the end of the hallway, I frantically pat the wall until I locate the light switch, but nothing happens when I tap it. The power’s off. Even without any lights, I see smoke boiling from the crack at the bottom of the door. I moan in anguish.

More fumbling until my fingers find the security latch on the door and flip it over. To my relief it’s not hot to the touch, just warm. I take a second, trying to picture the exit sign in the corridor. Was it to the left or the right? I have no freaking clue. I still can’t recall the hotel, or the city, or even checking in at the front desk. I grasp the handle and press down, my fingers trembling.

Horrified, I feel the handle begin to dissolve. It sears the skin of my palm, and I snatch my hand away in pain. My lungs start to scald, and I cough again and again, unable to stop.

Somehow, though, the door swings open. Yes, yes, I think. Then I see it. A mass of smoke and pulsing red light fill the hallway. I stare at flames devouring the carpet, licking up the walls.

There’s no way to get out.

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What a fantastic opening! I can’t wait to read more! The Secrets You Keep is published by Canelo and released today!

Be sure to check out other stops on the tour!