Every
Wednesday The Latina Book Club features excerpts from exciting novels by Latino
authors.
Happy Reading and Happy Holidays!
JEWELER’S MARK by R.V.
Reyes is a fun, breath-stealing, edge-of-your-seat page turner! Read The
Latina Book Club review here.
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Click on title to order your copy. |
By R.V. Reyes
*Excerpt
“The table was sticky with soda rings. The
light bulbs were doing that weird buzzing flicker thing. It was nothing like
CSI. No tight six-packs, just beer bellies—so disappointing,” Lourdes said with
a pout.
Just like her not to take things seriously. She
hadn’t been arrested but she’d been asked to come to the station for
questioning.
“I’m sure the police station is not the
Intercontinental, but put that aside. Are you a suspect?” I asked her. All day
yesterday I’d worried. Every time the phone rang I’d expected to hear word
she’d been thrown in jail.
“I guess so,” she replied, shrugging in that
way a teenager admits they might be wrong. “My lawyer told me to find an
alibi.”
“Lou, did you do it?” I asked. My voice
hesitated as the words forced themselves from my mouth.
“No way! You know me better than that.” She
slammed her palm onto the marble café counter. “I wanted to kill her when she
called me a whore, but she was so loca I
was afraid of her. She was like a rabid dog.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I gave my best friend a
hug. “It is just too strange. Right? Alive one moment, murdered the next.”
We paused in a reflective moment, drinking our
coffee, remembering the surreal scene. I thought about Rosario screaming in the
shoe department. It was hard to believe she was dead now. I took one bite of my
toast and tossed it aside.
“I need something sweet. You want a guava
pastry?” I asked Lou. The counter waitress slid open the door of the small case
that held the Latin versions of danishes and muffins. I pointed to one and she
passed it to me.
“No, I have to fit into that size four I
bought,” Lou said.
“You wear a six,” I chided.
“This designer cuts big so I got a smaller
size to be safe.”
“You got a size smaller because you like to
show off your fondillo!” I said with
a laugh.
Thank goodness we’d changed the subject to
something as trivial as Lourdes’s butt. Her butt isn’t trivial as in
insignificant. It’s proportional to her height and weight but with surprising
roundness and oomph. Oh my God, was I having
an internal monologue about my best friend’s ass?
At least that was better than the conversation
I’d had with myself late last night before finally falling asleep. I’d
convinced myself she’d killed Rosario. I even dreamt of Lourdes and a giant
pumpkin. In the dream, she’d torn a boulder-sized squash from a floor display,
thrown it down the escalators, and laughed when it smashed into the fragrance
counter.
“Let’s talk about the reunion. It’s only two
weeks away,” Lourdes said.
“I can’t. I’ve got to get back to work. I have
a buyer coming.” I threw away the wax paper, sticky with guava paste. We gave
each other a kiss and parted ways. ###
*Excerpt published with permission of R.V. Reyes. All rights reserved by author.
BOOK SUMMARY:
Gigi
Santos, wedding ring designer and diamond appraiser, is looking forward to her
ten-year high school reunion. She is trying to be a better, less gossipy
person, but Lourdes, her BFF since forever, has not matured past teenage
pettiness.
Cover boy–handsome Detective Carlos Garcia comes into the picture to investigate a year-old burglary at Gigi’s jewelry business. They flirt, and sparks fly. Gigi is sure she will have him on her arm as her reunion date. That is, until her BFF becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the reunion's organizer.
Gigi knows Lourdes is innocent and she is determined to prove it. When Gigi’s sleuthing puts her and the people she loves in danger, Detective Garcia tries to keep her out of harm’s way. But she wants a date, not a hero.
Will Gigi and Carlos dance under the Miami moonlight? Or will fake diamond rings send them all to jail? Find out in the first of the Love and Diamonds mysteries.
Cover boy–handsome Detective Carlos Garcia comes into the picture to investigate a year-old burglary at Gigi’s jewelry business. They flirt, and sparks fly. Gigi is sure she will have him on her arm as her reunion date. That is, until her BFF becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the reunion's organizer.
Gigi knows Lourdes is innocent and she is determined to prove it. When Gigi’s sleuthing puts her and the people she loves in danger, Detective Garcia tries to keep her out of harm’s way. But she wants a date, not a hero.
Will Gigi and Carlos dance under the Miami moonlight? Or will fake diamond rings send them all to jail? Find out in the first of the Love and Diamonds mysteries.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: R.V. Reyes writes what she knows. As the third
generation to work in her family’s jewelry business and as a Cuban-American
living in the culturally diverse city of Miami, Raquel is passionate about
representing multi-culturalism in the mystery genre. An active member of
Mystery Writers of America- Florida chapter, she volunteers for their annual
conference SleuthFest.
Follow her
blog, Cozy in Miami, where she interviews other Florida writers or
find her on Facebook and Twitter.
READ LATINO!