Romance and Mystery in 1920s Manhattan!
An ambitious tabloid reporter stumbles on the story of her career when she joins up with a jaded homicide detective to solve the Central Park murder of a notorious bootlegger.
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New York City, 1924
Determined to pursue her dream of becoming a crime reporter, heiress Trixie Frank believes she’s off to a running start when she lands a job at the most successful tabloid in Manhattan. Unfortunately, her high hopes fade fast when she’s assigned to the rewrite desk.
Sean Costigan is a demoted homicide detective on the commissioner’s blacklist. The last thing he needs complicating his life is a perky debutante with delusions of becoming the next great American journalist. Too bad she happens to hold one of the keys to solving his latest case, the Central Park murder of a notorious gangster. The other key? Sean’s childhood sweetheart, the victim’s widow, who has gone missing.
Sean soon has more trouble with dames than any good man deserves. But that’s the least of his worries. When he suspects deadly corruption within his own department, it’s not just his and Trixie’s careers that depend on finding the killer. It’s their lives
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An excerpt…
As telephone bells jangled over the chatter of newspaper staff and the clacking of typewriter keys, Sean followed the girl reporter past rows of occupied desks in the bright, busy city room of the New York Morning Examiner.
Trixie Frank wasn’t what Sean had expected. Not that he’d known precisely what to expect. She was the daughter of Wilhelm Frank, who, along with his brother, owned the Frank Brothers Five and Dimes, a chain of about ninety stores across the country. What was the daughter of a multi-millionaire doing working for the sleaziest jazz sheet in town? She couldn’t be serious. This had to be the passing fancy of a bored debutante. Right?
He caught himself sizing her up from behind, taking measure of slim calves and trim ankles below the hem of her light wool coat. Nice gams, he thought and scowled at himself for noticing. He was beat. Otherwise, he’d know better than to look. This dame was as uptown as a dame could get. Not his type.
Trixie led Sean to a small desk in a remote corner of the city room. She took off her coat, hung it on a rack and smiled. She was more than just a pretty girl. She was stunning, with pristine white teeth and wide blue Clara Bow eyes that seemed to say, “Gee whiz, who, me?” But Sean wasn’t fooled. She was hoping to get something out of him.
Well, that was copacetic because he intended to get something out of her too.
“Be it ever so humble,” she said, tossing her purse down next to a Remington typewriter. “Pull up a chair.”
“What about the boy?”
“Hold your horses, Detective.” Perching on the corner of her desk, Trixie lifted the receiver of her telephone and tapped the hook. She spoke a number into the mouthpiece, then, “Harold? Trix Frank in the city room. Have you seen a kid hanging around this morning? Blond, scruffy, nine or ten years old?”
She paused, listening. “Mmhmm. If you see him, keep him there and give me a ring.” She hung up. “No luck. Maybe he’ll turn up later. It’s still early.”
“Or maybe he won’t turn up at all. I need you to give me a description and tell me everything you remember about your meeting with him yesterday.”
She placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward slyly. “Sounds like you want to find him pretty bad. Is he a witness to whatever happened to your mysterious Mr. Murphy?”
Sean didn’t answer. She was playing him, sure thing. And not half badly. Damn.
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THE REVIEWS ARE IN!
It Had to Be You is reviewed at Book Babe HERE, at Dear Author HERE, and at The Misadventures of Super Librarian HERE.
Read an interview at Mystery Reads HERE.
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It Had to Be You, a finalist for the 2014 NJRW Golden Leaf Award,
is available where most ebooks are sold.
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Product Description
Genre: Historical/Mystery/Romance – 1920s New York
Length: 98,000 words
Sensuality: Mild sensuality.
Version: First edition ebook.
Release date: April 2014
Published by: Carina Press
1920s Romance
1920s Fiction
1920s Mystery
Historical Mystery
1920s Manhattan
Roaring 20s
Prohibition
1920s Detective Fiction
Girl Reporter
1920s Romantic Mystery
Text Copyright © 2014 by Delynn Royer.
Permission to reproduce this text was granted by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Some excerpts may be abridged for purposes of brevity.
It Had to Be You – Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.
Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Cover Copy Text used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
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Copyright © 2014 – 2023 Delynn Royer
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Delynn Royer 