Showing posts with label Demelza Carlton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Demelza Carlton. Show all posts

Monday, August 3, 2015

RELEASE DAY BLITZ - MAID FOR THE ROCK STAR by DEMELZA CARLTON - NA CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE


maid for the rock star release day

Release Day Blitz

Maid for the Rock Star ebook cover

Book Title: Maid for the Rock Star 
Author: Demelza Carlton 
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance 
Release Date: August 3, 2015 
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

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Book Blurb

A maid at the exclusive Romance Island Resort, Audra knows how to handle rock stars, billionaires and celebrities. She keeps their secrets, cleans up their mess and makes sure their holiday is a memorable one. There's just one rule: no relationships with guests.

And Audra never breaks the rules.

Jay Felix is rock royalty and he knows it. When one of his bandmates threatens to break up the band, he goes into hiding at the Romance Island Resort. Looking for a distraction, he sets his sights on the unattainable Audra. But what's a rock star to do when the girl he wants is the one woman he can't have?

Welcome to paradise, where the romance is as hot as the weather and the tides aren't the only thing surging under the surface.

excerpt

A soft chime sounded, echoing in the villa. "Housekeeping at the door," a recorded but mellifluous English voice announced. "Maid service required?"

"Hell yes!" Audra heard Plum-Bum's excited shout.

His sister hushed him. The front door flew open and Audra found herself face to face with a young woman about her own age. Audra lowered her gaze to the woman's expensive shoes. "We don't need anything. We just arrived today and haven't made enough mess to need a clean-up yet."

But I did, Audra thought but didn't say. The bath tub was still full of frog-tainted towels. "Towels," she said, pointing.

"Ask her!" Plum-Bum insisted, his bare feet appearing on the tiles behind the woman. "You'd fuck me, right?"

Wow. He might have decent equipment, but that's all that defined this dickhead. Probably a porn star for sure. "No, thank you," Audra said faintly.

"What'd she say?" Plum-Bum demanded.

The woman shook her head and guided Audra to the bathroom, then blocked the doorway to keep her brother out. "She doesn't understand English. Most hotel maids are foreign migrants, waiting for their qualifications to come through as they improve their English so they can get higher-paying jobs. Besides, she could lose her job for sleeping with a guest. Don't you remember what the hotel manager said about fraternisation policies during our tour? Leave her alone, Jason."

Audra snorted. In Perth, maybe, hotel staff were recent migrants, but not here in Broome. Even the casual staff were Aussie. But if the woman's words kept her oversexed brother's hands off her, all the better. She set the stack of fresh towels on the edge of the spa and stuffed the froggy ones into the laundry bag.

Glass clinked on metal. An empty beer bottle going into the bin, most likely. The crunch and crackle of plastic followed it. Definitely the bin. She'd empty that on the way through and then she could escape the Pearls for the day.

Fixing her eyes firmly on the tiled floor, Audra marched to the kitchen to the approaching beat of helicopter rotors. Third flight today.

"Right, there's my ride returning. Don't get into too much trouble, don't make too much trouble for the staff, and enjoy your holiday. If you're not fit and ready for the band's farewell tour, you know it'll be your balls on the chopping block."

Band? Did she say he was in a band? Audra raised her gaze to scrutinise Plum-Bum's face. Even with the sexy stubble along his usually clean-shaven jaw, she recognised the face from the poster that had adorned her bedroom wall for the better part of the last five years. The one Sam kissed every morning. One she'd fantasised about since high school. Maybe she'd even kissed that poster once or twice herself. She glanced away before he could catch her staring. Oh shit. She'd already seen his –

"Promise me that if you get lonely, you'll call me. Don't do anything stupid." The sister sniffed. "I do love and care about you, you know."

"HA!" he shouted. "I knew it. Told you that you wanted me. It's not incest if I'm your stepbrother. Everyone wants me."

Audra snorted. Arrogant prick. Even she could tell the girl didn't.

"You're delusional, Jason. I love you because you're my brother, blood or no blood. I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth." She pulled out her phone and tapped it meaningfully. "Promise me you'll call me."

He nodded sulkily.

Her eyes met Audra's. "Don't take any shit from him. There's a place in town that neuters tomcats for half-price. You can put it on his hotel bill." She winked.

Audra stifled a snort of laughter. Mess with this man's glorious equipment? The world would weep. Especially if castration robbed him of his signature, underwear-igniting singing voice. Even she'd shed a tear for the loss.

She waited for the sister to leave before she pulled out the rubbish bin to change the bag inside.

Bare feet appeared beside the bin. "You understood every word, I bet," he said. "And I know you recognised me. If you know who I am, we both already know the answer to my question. So answer me. Would you fuck me?"

Teasers





Meet the Author

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below. Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all. Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world. The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.
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Friday, January 16, 2015

GIVEAWAY - AFTERLIFE OF ALANNA MILLER by DEMELZA CARLTON - NIGHTMARES TRILOGY # 3 - RELEASE DAY BLITZ - MYSTERY THRILLER


Afterlife B
 
Afterlife Of Alanna Miller Cover

AFTERLIFE OF ALANNA MILLER

(Book Three in the Nightmares Trilogy)

By Demelza Carlton

 

Genre: Mystery Thriller

 



Synopsis:

 
Five years ago, Nathan's world came crashing down. The witness protection program stole the woman he loved and now he's lost everything - including hope that she's still alive. His security job is a daily reminder of the girl he failed to protect, dragging him deeper into despair.
Forced to assume the identity of a dead girl, Caitlin struggles to rise from the ruins of the life she lost. A career change summons her home, but Perth isn't the safe haven it seems. Someone is hunting her - one of her kidnappers, a long-lost relative or another terrorist with an axe to grind?
When nightmares from their past threaten to engulf Nathan and Caitlin, can a broken hero and a girl living another woman's afterlife finally fight their way free?


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Trailer for Afterlife



Or watch it HERE


Afterlife Excerpt #1

"Seriously, what the hell is this, mate?"
Navid swallowed his huge mouthful of pie. "What do you mean?"
"This!" I shook the letter at him. "Is ASIO trying to buy my silence or what?"
Navid took the letter, held it at arm's length and squinted at it. Looked like he needed reading glasses. Was he really getting that old? He passed the paper back to me. "It's not a bad sum for not telling a story you're not going to talk about anyway. I'd take it and book a nice holiday with it, if I were single like you. You could spend a month touring in the US or Europe for that, including flights."
"But I can't take a holiday if you need me as a witness in the inquiry. Have they finally set a date yet? It's weird, getting offered money for silence before the hearings. Is this because there'll be press coverage on the inquiry into that bastard Mott? And they want to make sure we won't talk to the press?"
Navid stared at something in the distance. "No, no one's set a date for the inquiry."
"So why now?" I persisted. "Why are they throwing money at me? It's Caitlin they have to worry about, and this is nowhere near as much money as the TV stations or magazines offer. I don't see her agreeing to take ten grand to keep quiet. Not when she can get a hundred times that for an exclusive."
Navid coughed. "I think they'll be offering her a lot more than that. After all, she's the one who almost died."
"So it's not just hush money? It's compensation for damages suffered and…all the other shit it says in the letter? What about my sister? What about Alanna? Did she get a posthumous payout, too? And a hypocritical letter saying the department deeply regrets her kidnapping, rape, torture and death, but here's some money to make it feel better? Shit, if Caitlin's letter says that, expect fireworks." My heart ached at just the sound of her name. I'd give anything to see her explode. I'd know she was alive and okay, wherever she was.
He lowered his voice. "If they can find her. There's a rumour in the department that all the documents in her file are gone. Papers, digital, recordings of statements…everything, just gone. And the details of her witness protection arrangements, too, so that means she's disappeared."
I stared at him in shock, silence money forgotten. "You don't know where she is? She could be dead or hurt or God knows what! You have to find her! She'll need to give evidence at the inquiry, too. I mean, she nearly died because of him." And I'd get to see her if she came for the inquiry, even if I had to camp outside the building. I'd know she was alive and okay, even if only for a moment. "Ask him where she is. He'll know."
"She was never going to be part of the inquiry. She didn't have any contact with him beforehand and her statements will be enough, or they would have been, if we could find them. Now, I don't even know if there'll be an inquiry at all." He sighed and lobbed his empty pie bag into the nearest bin.
I stopped dead. "What do you mean, no inquiry? I get paid off to shut up while that dickhead gets off scot-free? Fuck that."
Navid sighed. "The justice system isn't geared toward punishing dead people."
"Yeah, which leaves Mott, seeing as everyone else is dead. Wait, hang on…are you saying he's dead, too?" My mouth hung open. "Who killed him? Whoever did it's a legend and I owe him a carton of beer. I've wanted to do it for years!"
Navid coughed out a laugh. "Then you owe Mott a carton of beer, because the official report says he killed himself. With an ornamental dagger, no less. Bit melodramatic, if you ask me."
I found myself shaking my head. "That can't be right. Mott was a mean bastard. He'd never do the world a favour and off himself. And if he did, he'd take people with him, or at least set someone up for his murder, so he could laugh all the way to hell. Who do you suspect?"
Navid shrugged. "Well, how many people hated him? It could be anyone."
Caitlin was good with a knife, I thought idly, not willing to believe it was her. If anyone deserved to be on the point of her blade, it was him. His negligence…his indifference to what she might suffer had almost gotten her killed.
"Look, I got to get back to work. They've got Michael and me looking for her. One girl in twenty million people, if she's even still in the country. The guys in Canberra want this whole affair over and done with as quickly as possible, so we got pulled off other projects to look for a girl who doesn't want to be found." He laughed, but sobered quickly. "Hey, she never mentioned anything to you, did she? About where she was headed, or the new name she'd be using? I remember the day Mott told her about the arrangements. She was really pissed off about them. Wish I'd asked her then."
I shook my head. "If she'd told me anything, I'd have given in and started hunting for her long before now. I'd change my name and go into hiding, too, if I had to." His words started to sink in. "Hang on. She never met Mott. He visited her in hospital when she was unconscious, but never afterwards. I'd never have let that bastard anywhere near her!"
He wouldn't meet my eyes. "She spoke to me privately when you weren't around, requesting a meeting with your superior. I made the arrangements and I drove her to the office and home again for both meetings. She spotted some inconsistencies in what he said, and told me she suspected he was corrupt. I dismissed it at first, figuring she was just a teenage kid with on overactive imagination, but some of the things she said rang some pretty loud alarm bells. Then I started to see him make mistakes, too. It took me four years to get enough evidence together to warrant an enquiry, and now he's dead, so we'll never know why he did it, or what else he knew." He laughed quietly. "I wonder if she knew. I'd love to ask her now."
I hesitated, then ploughed ahead anyway. "If you find her, can you tell me? I just want to know that she's okay. It's killing me, not knowing."
He shook his head and wouldn't meet my eyes. "Nathan, you know I can't do that. She's in witness protection for a reason, even if the official five years are up and she can let up on the secrecy now. She's not the sort to go splashing her photo on every social media channel she can find just because she can." He inhaled sharply, considering. "I'll tell you what. If we do find her and I get a chance to speak to her, I'll tell her that you wanted to know she was okay, and that you'd love to talk to her, but only if that's what she wants. It's not like you offered to go into hiding with her."
"I would have if she'd asked me, or even wanted me," I whispered, more to myself than to him.


 

 

NIGHTMARES

BOOK ONE

Nightmares Of Caitlyn Lockyer

 

Synopsis:

 
Six months ago, Nathan's sister was brutally murdered.

Now the former playboy desires only one thing: revenge.

Late at night, Nathan trudges down the beach where his sister's body was found. He's searching for answers, but all he finds is a new nightmare: another girl's tortured body.

Only this one isn't dead . . . yet.

The unlikely hero becomes the prime suspect. Saving Caitlin's life was just the start. Nathan must win her trust and unlock the memories hidden in her nightmares to find out who's really responsible . . .before it's too late.


Purchase FREE on Amazon



 

 

EVIL 

BOOK TWO

Necessary Evil Of Nathan Miller

 

Synopsis:

 
"And now in breaking news, Caitlin Lockyer has been found. In the early hours of this morning, a man discovered her body dumped on a south-west beach. A police spokesperson would not confirm whether the girl known as the Absent Angel is alive or dead..."

Caitlin wakes in hospital, her damaged body telling a brutal story of torture, kidnap and rape that she will never forget. Her only lifeline is Nathan, the mysterious man who saved her life and promised to protect her. But Nathan is a broken man, hounded by his own demons and secrets he can't bear to tell.

Burning for retribution, Caitlin will stop at nothing to get her life back. Can she trust Nathan to help her - or will his past destroy them both?

Purchase from Amazon



 

 

About the Author:

 

dem
Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.
She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.
Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.
Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.
The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.
The suggested reading order for each series is as follows:
 

Turbulence and Triumph series:

Ocean's Justice
Ocean's Trial
Ocean's Triumph
 

Ocean's Gift series:

Ocean's Gift
Ocean's Infiltrator
Water and Fire
Ocean's Depths (to be released in 2015)
 

Nightmares Trilogy:

Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer
Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller
Afterlife of Alanna Miller (to be released 15 January 2015)
 

Mel Goes to Hell series:

Welcome to Hell
See You in Hell
Mel Goes to Hell
To Hell and Back (to be released on 1 February 2015)
The Holiday From Hell (to be released on 26 March 2015)


If you'd like more information about the background behind her books, you can visit her website at: demelzacarlton.com

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Friday, May 2, 2014

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY - SEE YOU IN HELL by DEMELZA CARLTON - MEL GOES TO HELL # 2 - LOST PLOT PRESS


See You in Hell Banner photo Banner_zps4a7f5abe.jpg





Title: See You in Hell (Mel Goes to Hell #2)

  Author: Demelza Carlton
  Genre: Paranormal romance/ Office Satire
  Publish Date: 30th April 2014 
Publisher: Lost Plot Press 
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.  


~ Book Synopsis ~

Hate your job? Try working in HELL! Melody Angel takes a job as a temp at the HELL Corporation. Surrounded by eternal bureaucracy gone mad, demons who love making life miserable, and dying for a decent coffee, it may take a miracle for Mel's mission to succeed. She must find out what evil plans the Lord of Lies has up his sleeve and stop him, using any means necessary. Lucifer and his minions are out to take over the world, but there's more than money at stake when the Devil drives.

Adding trouble and temptation to Mel's job is Luce Iblis, the damnably hot CEO, who has set his smouldering eyes on the new office angel and is determined to claim her, body and soul.

Can ultimate evil and angelic perfection escape a limbo of desire and find a paradise of their own?

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EXCERPT

 Mel carefully blew on her coffee as she returned to the lunchroom turned training room.

Luce reclined against the tiny bar in the corner, resting his arms on it so his hips were pushed into greater prominence.

Mel recognised his stance as one meant to draw attention to the bulge in his pants. The implied message was clear: the pants could be unzipped for the right girl or boy, if someone played their cards right. Mel had far more experience with such a stance than Luce probably realised – for she remembered a time in Russia when it had merely meant the man was rich enough to own a spare pair of socks to stuff in his pants against the frostbiting cold. Ah, Napoleon had been stubborn and arrogant, too, she recalled, but he'd been good for intelligent conversation. He'd also owned an ample supply of socks.

No one seemed game to speak to the CEO, so Mel took pity on him. Resting her elbow on the end of the bar, she asked, "Do you get bored, delivering the same orientation presentation every month?"

"Of course not," came the easy answer. "Every time I tell new staff about the achievements of the HELL Corporation, I see their pride in being part of my company, knowing the next team of new staff will be hearing about the achievements that they personally helped happen."

Mel laughed heartily. "That sounds like a rehearsed response if ever I heard one. Do you ever answer a question honestly?"

"Of course," Luce replied. Mel barely knew the man, yet she knew he was lying.

She pressed her lips together and gave a little smile in response, before turning her attention to her instant coffee. Attention it didn't deserve, but the muddy brew was an improvement to listening to the demon's rehearsed rhetoric.

Luce seemed to realise that he'd hit a wrong note. "It's Mel, right?"

"Yes," she acquiesced gracefully. "From the Helpful Angels Agency." A careful sip of coffee kept her eyes from meeting his as the cup hid her smile. She waited for the implied warning to sink in: far from being one of his demons, she played most emphatically for the other team.

"Ah. Ah, yes. I remember now. You're the new girl who's working under Lili, right?"

"I'm in the office beside her and I report to her, yes," Mel corrected. "I'm looking forward to seeing precisely which projects she has in mind for me. I understand the company's interests are quite diverse, so I expect the work to be different to anything I've done before, if nothing else."

"So what were you doing before deciding to be my angel?"

Mel gave him her serene smile, knowing Hell would freeze over before she'd ever be his angel. He evidently didn't know that yet, so she replied, "Other temporary assignments, as required. I go where I'm needed, that's all." She took a larger mouthful of her cooling coffee, trying not to grimace at the taste.

"I'm sure I'll need you for something. Lili does a lot of work for me. She may even delegate some of her more delicate tasks to you, if you're lucky. We could be working very closely together on some of my pet projects." Luce grinned. "You'll want to make sure you wear a skirt." He stared at her pants-clad legs hungrily.

Mel wondered what he'd say if she admitted the closest he'd get to her was precisely where he was now – just out of arm's reach. She chose to say nothing. Instead, she smiled and nodded, then excused herself so she could wash the sludge out of the bottom of her coffee mug. She wanted to wash her whole body – the sleazy CEO made her skin crawl – but she hardly had time before the next orientation session resumed.

She slipped back into the training room, relieved to see that Luce had left. Somehow, she suspected she'd be seeing him again soon, though she hoped the opposite. Slimy snake of a CEO…


Purchase From

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About the Author

 photo AuthorPicture_zps7536ce79.jpg

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish. She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below. Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world. The Ocean's Gift series is her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

Author’s Social Media


Giveaway

 
Two copies each of
Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer
Ocean’s Gift; and Water and Fire.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

DEMELZA CARLTON - GIVEAWAYS - NIGHTMARES OF CAITLIN LOCKYER - NIGHTMARES # 1 - AUSSIE AUTHOR ROAD TRIP - DAY 10



Happy Release Day for paperback version of 
Nightmares Of Caitlin Lockyer 

DAY 10: Demelza Carlton has had quite the success with the draft of her book , Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer, with over 1.3 million reads since November 2012. Read on to find out about this author and her book and 5 Quick Things.

Don't forget to enter her giveaway. 

Welcome Demelza.



About the Author

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.

Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy.




5 QUICK THINGS:



 A quote that means something to you. 



“Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love.” – Albert Einstein 



I printed this quote on the invitations to my husband’s and my engagement party. I take it to mean that love is more than just the laws of the universe and science we don’t understand. 



A song that describes you. 



I’ve had a song written about me in a children’s musical once – it was called The Meow Song. It was a love song between a cat and a quoll (an Australian marsupial cat). One of the animals was supposed to be me and the other was my husband (then fiancé). We were given free tickets to the production and we sat there in prime seats, surrounded by families with children. In the middle of a touching (G-rated) love scene, the creatures broke into song and I burst out laughing. How many people see an actor in cat ears pretending to be you in a theatre production? 



 Who is your book boyfriend?


I’d never heard of this concept until recently! I really like a lot of male characters from other people’s stories, but my head is occupied mostly by my own. Most frequently, I go to bed with Nathan Miller from Nightmares, because as I stretch out, I’m reminded of the time Nathan carried a semi-conscious Caitlin to bed and tucked her in. Hey, he’s been there since I was a teenager and I’m 31 now. 

 Author that inspired you and why? 

Australian author Glyn Parry. I met him when I was 12 and I’d just started writing Nightmares. I remember him encouraging me to keep writing, despite how young I was and how many rejection letters I would receive from publishers. I didn’t believe him at the time, but it’s stayed with me, particularly now that I’ve published Nightmares. 

 Will you be attending the Indie Author Down Under Gold Coast event 22nd March 2014? 

Facebook Link

At present, I don’t think I will be…though I could change my mind. It would be a good excuse to go visit Sea World again afterwards so I can pat the stingrays.



Synopsis:


There are real monsters out there. The worst part is that they're human. 

"Name?" 

"Nathan Miller." 

"What happened?" 

"I was shot." 

"Her name?" 

"Caitlin Lockyer." 

"What happened to her?" 

"Looks like someone tried to kill her." 

Nathan found a girl lying on a beach covered in blood. Saving her life was just the start. Now he's the prime suspect and he has to find out who's really responsible. Both of their lives depend on it. 

What did he promise? 

Why doesn't his story add up? 

Who was the dead man on the beach? 

What will she remember when she wakes up?



Nightmares a Dream Come True

How can the nightmares of a 12-year-old Western Australian girl captivate over a million people worldwide?

When those nightmares are turned into a horror thriller like Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer.

I started writing the book when I was twelve, jotting down my impressions of my own recurring nightmares in the hope that they'd go away. Fortunately, they never did. Instead, they became a captivating story that I didn't want to wake up from – so much for being nightmares.

Eighteen years later, I released a few chapters of the disturbing draft on Canadian website Wattpad, described as the world's largest community for discovering and sharing stories. Within a few short weeks, more than 10,000 people had read those chapters and they demanded more.

The draft of this book has garnered over 1.3 million reads since November 2012, inspiring me to not only finish but publish the book. Following extensive editing, Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer was released in July 2013. The sequel, Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller, was released in August 2013.

It's the nightmarish story of Nathan Miller, the unlikely hero who found an unconscious girl on a West Australian beach, and Caitlin Lockyer – the girl who was abducted, abused and left for dead. As she recovers, her haunting nightmares are the key to finding the people who hurt her – before they can hunt her down to finish what they started.


Every story needs a hero, even Caitlin's, and Nathan certainly seems the type, but the undercurrents in Nightmares run deeper and darker than either of them could have predicted.




Excerpt from Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer: 

They took her away from me. 

I mumbled a protest through the haze of pain and exhaustion that had turned me into little more than a zombie. I'll never be able to watch a zombie movie again without remembering this night, I thought.

"It's all right – we have to move her somewhere else to take care of her. She's hurt worse than you," I was told. "We need to treat you, too. There's a gunshot wound in your shoulder."

I couldn't remember how long it had been since I'd last slept, so it took a few seconds to register what she'd said. Gunshot wound. My shoulder. Oh yeah, it hurt. I couldn't help her 'til that was sorted. Hospital staff would take care of her until I was okay.

The pain began to dull as a local anaesthetic took effect. I turned to look at the mess of blood my right shoulder had become. The smell of disinfectant jolted my brain out of sleep and most of the way to alertness. All that blood and it was barely more than a graze. A few stitches would sort that.

One of the hospital staff held a clipboard while she spoke to two police officers just out of earshot. She nodded, looked grim and came over. She started firing questions at me.

"Name?"

"Nathan Miller."

"What happened?"

"I was shot."

"By whom?"

"A homicidal lunatic with a gun and bad aim."

The next question came tersely. "Her name?"

"Caitlin Lockyer."

"What happened to her?"

"Looks like someone tried to kill her."

"Was that you?"

"No, it was the homicidal lunatic and his mates, for all I know."

"What's your relationship to her?"

"Friend." What the hell, I thought. She'd probably agree with that, for the moment, at least.

"There. Done." The nurse stitching up my shoulder was cheerful, glad to be finished with me. "Now I'll show you to your room – just overnight..."

"I want to see her."

"She's still in Emergency."

"I want to see her," I repeated.

"Only family are allowed. She's in a critical condition..."

"Which is why I want to see her."

"But you can't..."

"Take me to where she is, now."

Nurse Grim was reluctant, but Caitlin wasn't that far away. Instead of a normal Emergency Department curtained cubicle, they'd put her in the room for child patients, with cheerful pictures and mobiles on the ceiling. Small though she was, I hadn't made the mistake of thinking she was a child.

Nurse Grim stopped to speak in a low voice to an orderly outside. I accosted a nurse on her way out of Caitlin's room.

"How is she?"

"She's fighting us. Calls out for someone and tries to get up. We can't do anything for her unless she calms down."

I glanced inside and saw someone with a syringe, advancing on her. "Please – don't hurt her!" I blurted out.

The orderly blocked my path. "You're not family..."

"I'm the one she's calling for."

"You said your name was Nathan Miller, and..."

"But she doesn't know that." I pushed past him.

The syringe-wielding nurse stared at me, her mouth open. Caitlin struggled to sit up and grabbed the syringe from the distracted nurse. "Don't let them hurt me again!" For an instant, I saw her face. Her eyes had hell in them.

I approached her slowly, looking deep into her tortured eyes, avoiding looking at the injuries that caused her so much pain. "I'm here. We're in a hospital and they're trying to help you." I kept my voice calm and steady.

She sagged back against the bed as she took this in, her eyes never leaving mine. The syringe rolled across the floor as it slipped from her fingers.

"So... tired," she managed to say, "but... scared to sleep. What if... I wake up... you're gone and I'm still... there... with them?" She didn't look away, even as her eyes filled with tears. "Please."

"I'll be here. When you wake up I'll be here. Here, in hospital with you," I promised recklessly, forcing myself to smile as I reached to touch her hair.

"Thank you," she murmured, closing her eyes.

I waited until I was sure she was asleep before I said anything else. "You cut her hair off. She won't like that." Her long hair was now a short, dark cap that curled slightly around her ears.

"She didn't," came the nurse's voice behind me. "That must have been what woke her up. But we couldn't leave it – it was matted with blood and sand. We had to clean the wounds on her back. I've never seen so many ulcers, especially ones that bad. It's a good thing she's unconscious for this, because those must really hurt..."

She talked as she worked. I tried to keep my eyes firmly fixed on Caitlin's sleeping face, so I didn't see the extent of her injuries, but occasionally my eyes would stray to the subject of the nurse's running commentary. Every time I wanted to close my eyes in horror at the thought of what Caitlin had been through, but I didn't. Instead, I dragged my eyes back to her face.

When the nurse had finished with her now-cooperative patient, she said, "Now I'm taking her up to her room..."

"And I'm taking you to yours," an orderly behind me chimed in.

"If you think you're taking us to separate rooms, you've got another thing coming."

"The police want you under guard..."

"And she won't feel safe without some sort of protection. We'll share."

As they wheeled her bed out, I followed, along with a police officer I hadn't noticed earlier.

"Can I have a word with you?" he asked abruptly.

I shrugged. My eyes were on Caitlin, asleep on the hospital bed.

"Look, you found an injured girl on a beach and got her to hospital, probably saving her life. That sort of thing can get you a medal. But there are a few suspicious things that just don't add up. You were walking down a beach in winter at 2 am. You got into the ambulance with her. She refused all medical assistance until you were there. There was a dead body on the beach, not far from where you found her, shot with the gun you were holding. And she was last seen three weeks ago, speaking to someone in a car just like yours."

I shrugged again. "Look, I've already told two different officers this, but I can tell you, too, if you like. I couldn't sleep so I went for a drive, then decided to take a walk on the beach. I saw a couple going for it near where I'd parked my car when I got back, so I decided to take a longer walk and come back a bit later.

"When I returned later, they were still there and I tried to keep my distance from them, but I heard her telling him to stop. When I gathered he wasn't stopping and she was getting increasingly upset about it, I went over and asked if they were all right.

"She asked me to help her and the guy told me to fuck off. He pulled a gun out and started waving it around and threatening me. I dived for the gun and got into a fight with him. I managed to knock the gun out of his hands and I didn't see where it landed.

"The next thing I knew, there were gunshots and I threw myself to the ground, but he didn't. She'd gotten hold of the gun and shot him. I'm lucky she didn't hit me, her aim was so bad.

"I told her that he wasn't going to hurt her again and tried to take the gun off her, but she wouldn't let go until I promised they wouldn't hurt her again. So I did."

I took a deep breath and went on.

"I rang an ambulance and waited with her. The police turned up, someone got mixed up and figured I was the one responsible, possibly because I was holding the gun.

"They let me carry her to the ambulance. Then one of your guys shot me, or tried to, but he only grazed me and managed to shoot her instead. The last thing she said before she passed out was, 'You promised...'" I gritted my teeth, remembering what she'd looked like as she said it. "I got in the ambulance because I was carrying her, I stayed because I'd been shot and I'd promised.

"She's been beaten and worse by the dead guy, then when I tried to help her we both got SHOT by the police who were supposedly trying to help her. About the only person who hasn't hurt her is me, so she doesn't trust anyone else. Damn it, your guys shot her!

"And yes, I'm staying. I found some random girl on a beach, fought off her attacker and helped to get her to hospital, while getting shot in the process and winding up in hospital myself. So I'm sticking around because I want to know she's okay. If you were in my place, I imagine you'd want to know whether you'd wasted your time, too." I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

He looked unmoved. "You have no witnesses to confirm your story before the police showed up? Anyone you told you were going for a walk, anyone who saw you?"

I nodded toward Caitlin. "She saw me." After thinking a moment, I added, "My doctor knows I have trouble sleeping. He gave me something called Temaze, but I only use it as a last resort."

"And how do you explain that your car was seen when she disappeared?"

I narrowed my eyes. "My car? I drive a red Mercedes. I know it's an unusual car, but I bet it's not the only one in Perth. You know it was my car? Someone saw the licence plates of my car?"

The cop looked abashed. "Okay, no, we don't know what the number plate was. We don't know it was your car. But it is a hell of a coincidence, all the same."

I took a deep breath and laughed. "Look mate, do you think she'd trust me if I was the guy who'd raped her?" More soberly, I continued: "Hell of a coincidence – more like someone's trying to set me up for this."

He looked indecisive for a moment, before replying in a low voice, "If someone's trying to set you up, they'll need to set you up with accomplices. Her medical report says that she's been raped repeatedly by at least four of them, probably including the dead one on the beach. And judging by her injuries, they've been at it for at least a couple of weeks. Three of them are still out there. When she wakes up she might be able to tell us who they are. But I never told you."


Nightmares Trilogy 


Dark, disturbing and definitely scary - Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer is the first book in Demelza Carlton's Nightmares Trilogy. The second book is Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller.


Tomorrow on the Aussie Author Road Trip I have a busy day , my review for Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters is straight up followed by later in the day Kylie Scott's feature spotlight and Giveaway.