Read a deleted scene from Finding Persephone by PJ Braley

 

How many of you like to watch the deleted scenes on your DVDs? (Or should I say, do you remember watching those on your DVDs? They don't always have them streaming, lol.) Did you know that books also often have deleted scenes? Today you get to read a deleted scene from PJ Braley's new book Finding Persephone. You also get to take a peek at an excerpt that did make the final cut. Download your copy and let the author know your thoughts in the comments section. And then happy trails as you visit the rest of the tour for more! Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Caroline Taylor is very good at pretending.

The polished surface of her life appears perfect until the morning a smitten grad student brings the cracks in her illusions into sharp focus. No longer willing to live a lie, Caroline’s journey of transformation sets her on a collision course with Dr. Grant Gates. Blinded by his quiet power, good looks, and impressive credentials, Caroline fails to see that Grant is also very good at pretending.

Created from flesh and fire, Grant has a past he would like to forget, an assignment he cannot reveal, and a forbidden obsession with his newest client whose beautiful eyes miss nothing. As the enforcer of an underground brotherhood, he must protect their secrets at any cost, but Grant is determined that Caroline will not become his latest victim. Striking a devil’s bargain to keep the woman he has been searching for safe from his brothers’ plans, Grant struggles to hide who–and what–he is until he becomes her only hope of escape...but will he let her go?

There’s not a chance in Hell.

A contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, Finding Persephone is a compelling tale of an alien assassin's search for absolution and the human woman who becomes the catalyst and heart of his redemption.

Read an excerpt:

Why was she different?

He, more than anyone else in the colony, knew how a single curious mind could affect the colony’s safety.

Taking the nearest employees’ exit to the catwalks, Grant scanned the building to make sure no one was around to see him. He grabbed the black metal railing with both hands. Even as he fought the urge to kill her, he found himself calculating the different ways he could lure her into one of the empty rooms where he could sedate her and devour her at his leisure.

The image of the gold ring on her left hand flitted through his mind. A woman with a job and family couldn’t just disappear. Well, she could, but inquiries would be made. A quick risk assessment put killing her out of immediate consideration. Nevertheless, he had to do something. In the facility for less than an hour and she suspected—out loud—that certain areas were designed to elicit a specific response. Allowing that level of awareness to continue unmonitored was more than dangerous; it was reckless.

What else would she notice in the days, weeks, and months ahead? And why now, when they were so close…

Working with a non-negotiable deadline, Grant knew he could not allow anything—or anyone—to delay or distract his brothers from achieving their objective on time. His hands tightened and twisted on the rail. He tried to imagine them on her neck but instead saw the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. His hands slowly relaxed.

She would see nothing.

For reasons he did not fully understand, Dr. Grant Gates decided to let Mrs. Caroline Taylor live a little longer.

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Deleted scene

Jemma’s Ghost was deleted from Finding Persephone when Emilee, one of my beta readers, objected to it on the grounds that although ghosts and spirits are expected in the paranormal and/or horror genres, they do not necessarily fit within science fiction parameters. After much consideration, I agreed with Emilee and deleted the chapter from the final manuscript.

As a short background for anyone who has not read Finding Persephone; Grant, Gregory, and Gabriel are brothers who operate a health clinic and spa. Jemma is a client whose crush on Gregory became more dangerous than he could handle alone.

Jemma’s Ghost (from Finding Persephone by PJ Braley)

The facility’s maintenance crew refused to clean the dance studio on the sixth floor.

They were offered more money but insisted it wasn't about the money. They were threatened with dismissal but said they would quit first. The crew foreman would not explain and simply declined to discuss it further. Unable to be maintained at Grant's standards by the interns alone, the dance classes had to be relocated to the lower floors.

When Gabriel gave the ballet instructor the new classroom assignment, he could not miss the expression of relief on her face and questioned her. Speaking in a low voice, she told him that some of her ballet students reported seeing a woman wearing a blue dress reflected in the mirrors, but when they looked around, no one was there. It didn't happen often, she said, but too often to be any one person's imagination.

Lyostians are not superstitious, and scary ghost stories do not exist in their culture. Grant immediately went to investigate and found nothing. He checked every corner of the room and inspected the mirrors from every angle. Using a laser pointer, he calculated the reflective and projective properties of the buildings around them, but there were no direct lines of sight. Finally, standing near the elevator doors, he looked at the expanse of the entire sixth floor. Infuriated at the waste of space, Grant angrily pressed the elevator button. When the chime signaled its arrival, he heard Jemma's voice whisper, “Gregory?” precisely as he'd heard it the evening she died. Turning around quickly, he saw the flounce of a sapphire blue dress reflected in the mirror across from him.

There was no one else in the room.

After a brief discussion, the sixth floor was closed. The elevator button was disabled, and Gabriel padlocked the exit door. They were not afraid of Jemma's ghost, but the last thing they needed was a rumor the building was haunted by a woman wearing a blue dress.

After sunset the following Sunday, Grant and his assistant hung curtains matching the building’s blue and white awning over all the windows on the sixth floor. They bricked the elevator entrance and permanently sealed the exit door. Before returning to the tunnels, they agreed never to say a word about what they saw and heard that afternoon.

No one ever returned to the sixth floor. The dance studio was left to Jemma who patiently waited for Gregory to join her as she twirled in front of the mirrors admiring the sapphire blue dress that matched her eyes.

Deciding that copyediting other writers’ manuscripts was not enough, PJ decided to do something about it. Purchasing a new laptop because new beginnings require new tools, she began transitioning from copy editor to author. Her debut novel, The Fire Slayers, blended science fiction with love, friendship, and horror. Her newest book, Finding Persephone, takes all those genres a step further when an alien assassin charged with keeping the secrets of their underground brotherhood at all costs risks everything when he falls in love.

When PJ isn’t writing novels about aliens saving the planet, you can find her sitting on the sun deck with her husband, Jim, and their rescue corgi, Nymeria. She will be the one with a book in one hand and a glass of sangria in the other. More of her work can be found at http://pjbraley.com/.


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P.J. Braley will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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