Saturday Spotlight - Christy French

Hello Again!

Christy French joins us one more time with her book, The Bodyguard and the Rock Star

Born and raised in the South, award winning, internationally published author and poet Christy Tillery French loves to write about quirky Southern women and has published six books to date: Chasing Horses, Wayne's Dead, Chasing Demons, The Bodyguard, The Bodyguard and the Show Dog, Book 2 of the Bodyguard Series, and The Bodyguard and the Rock Star, Book 3 of the Bodyguard Series. Chasing Secrets will be published 10/08. French resides on a mini-farm in Powell, TN, with her husband, four dogs and two cats. Avid boaters, she and her husband are restoring a 1965 47’ wooden Trojan Cabin Cruiser. In addition, Christy enjoys working in her flowerbeds and vegetable gardens, horseback riding, camping and, of course, reading. She is a volunteer with Wolf Creek Weimaraner Rescue and donates proceeds from her book sales to this group as well as the local animal shelter. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Guppies and Tennessee Mountain Writers.

Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding popular English rock star Giki during a tour of the Southern states will be easy and loads of fun, but she couldn’t be more wrong. In no time at all, she finds herself bogged down in Giki’s crazy world of sex, drugs, shoplifting and an uncontrollable sweet tooth. If that's not bad enough, Giki is being hunted by a ruthless cyber-stalker intent on putting an end to her career.
When Natasha is shot after the first concert, her fiancé, Jonce Striker, steps in. Determined to keep Natasha safe, he sends his best men, Pitt and Bigun, to watch over her. Striker wants Natasha to marry him and give up her dangerous line of work, but he's having trouble convincing her of that fact.

Natasha's torn between her love for Striker and her desire to do her job. Will she give in to Striker’s demands and forget about her profession? Or will she stay with Giki and do whatever it takes to protect her? The choice is obvious to Natasha, but will she live to regret it?

EXCERPT: Fragrant flowers pelted the clustered group as they made their way toward the idling bus. Behind wooden barriers, fans chanted, “Giki,” the name of the rock star they had paid precious dollars to watch perform that night’s concert. Natasha walked close to the rock star, her eyes scanning all directions in search of potential threats to her client. She fought the urge to duck her head, hoping any roses thrown would be thornless. Although the screaming voices conveyed frenzy, the crowd remained behind the posted barricade, and Natasha allowed herself a moment’s relief. So far, the concert had gone smoothly and it looked like this gig was going to be not only easy, but fun.

White, cottony fabric smacked into her face, entangled in her hair and around her neck. Natasha peeled it away, trying not to breathe in. What was that smell? Bile rose in her throat when she realized she held a large pair of men’s jockeys in her hands. With a shriek, she dropped the underwear and swiped her face with her jacket sleeve, making phhht noises with her mouth. She froze when she noticed the others stuttering to a halt—watching her. This was not how a professional bodyguard reacted. She should be ready for anything.

“Keep moving.” Natasha gestured for the group to close rank, continue onward. She thrust out one hand as she strode along. “Somebody give me some liquor.” A silver flask slapped into her palm. She unscrewed the top, tilted her head back, and splashed the contents of the phial over her face. She held her breath to keep from inhaling the fumes as the sour odor of whiskey wafted over her. Damn, as potent as this stuff smelled, it had to have some heavy alcohol content, should kill any living germs. She poured the brown liquid on her hands and scrubbed her lips with her fingers. She swallowed hard, her stomach churning at the thought of what might have been on the underwear. No way was she going to do such a sissy-ass thing as throw up. A bodyguard never displayed weakness in front of others. She shoved the flask in her jacket pocket and picked up her pace.

Heat pierced her thigh a fraction of a second before a loud pop sounded nearby. Her leg gave way beneath her and she lurched to the side. She reached out to steady herself, locked onto Giki’s arm. The rock star stumbled and both went down, Natasha landing on top.

Warm fluid trickled down Natasha’s leg, pain flared along her thigh. Her hand explored her jeans, where a jagged hole oozed blood. Shock surged through her body like a jolt of electricity. She needed to get Giki out of here—now! The hard, rigid feel of her firearm as she pulled it free helped calm her rising panic. She struggled to stand, forcing her leg to move, and bit down hard on the inside of her cheek when the world began to tilt beneath her. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, but it worked: images sharpened and her mind cleared. Using her body as a shield, she helped Giki to her feet.

One hand gripped her gun pointed at the ground, the other clutched Giki’s arm. “Move.” Cameras strobed in the darkness, fans converged on them in a rush. “Now!” She pushed Giki toward the bus.

Once inside, Natasha collapsed on the floor. Her eyes could not maintain focus—a buzzing sound filled her head. A man yelled, “Call 911,” his voice bleeding pitch, fading away. Blackness descended over her, as dark and impenetrable as an executioner’s hood.

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Looks like another winning story from Christy! Find out more information about Christy and her writing at http://www.christytilleryfrench.com/ or www.authorsden.com/christytfrench

Well folks, that wraps up another Saturday Spotlight! Join me again next week when Keena Kincaid visits again!

Until later....take care and be Blessed!