Art of the Chase by Jennifer Giacalone [BLITZ]

When a notorious art thief surfaces, warring detective exes reunite for the hunt. A second-chance lesbian romantic suspense that fuses the f...

When a notorious art thief surfaces, warring detective exes reunite for the hunt. A second-chance lesbian romantic suspense that fuses the fine line between love and hate.

Six years ago, the “Fabulous Gustave” slipped the grasp of Agent Fleur van Beekhof, making off with a priceless artwork…and Fleur’s beautifully ordered life. Suddenly the cool, pragmatic Europol detective lost her detective partner and wife, her rising career, and her control, thanks to the addictive lure of cards.

When a new Italian art theft bears all the markings of Gustave’s taunting style, Fleur is put back in the field, because no one knows him better. She jumps at the chance to correct the mistake that ruined her life. The hitch? She has to work with her fiery ex-wife.

Where Fleur is by the book, Renata skirts the rules, leaps into danger, and looks frustratingly hot while doing it.

As Fleur and Renata chase flamboyant Gustave around Europe, will their case push them back into each other’s arms, or shatter what’s left of Fleur’s heart?

 ⇛Click to Preview Book⇚ 

$9.99 at Time of Posting!

Adult | LGBTQ+ | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Published: October 9, 2023

Length: 268 Pages

Tour Provided by Xpresso Book Tours

Add to Goodreads TBR→

    

 ⇛The Excerpt⇚ 

When the phone rang at 6:00 a.m., Fleur was still propped in the same position. She startled awake, sending the folder’s contents sliding all over the duvet and onto the floor. Swearing, she picked her phone up off the bedside table.

It was Captain Wilt, the grumpy paternal figure of Europol’s Amsterdam Art Crimes Division.

“Sir? It’s 6:00 a.m.”

“I know. You’re wanted at the Questura in Florence.” His tone was sharp and urgent. It cut through her early morning bleariness. Her eyebrows shot up.

“When?”

“Now. Or four hours ago, actually.”

“Why?”

“Gustave is back.”

Fleur’s pulse stumbled. The tips of her fingers went cold. Her mind scrambled to catch up with itself, processing what Wilt was saying. She sat blinking into the soft early sunlight for a full three seconds. “Are…are you joking, sir?”

“I don’t have a sense of humor. Anyway, you know him better than anyone; you’ve been obsessing over his file for the last six years. So here we are.”

Her mind refused to push the piece into place. “Does this mean…I’m going back in the field?”

Wilt paused. “Yes.”

“Permanently?”

She could practically picture him scratching his graying beard as he considered her question. “We’ll see. Don’t be reckless; don’t fuck it up. That would go a long way toward reinstating you.” He cleared his throat. “They think the painting was stolen four hours ago. Get there as fast as you can, please.”

“Yes, of course.”

She took a few breaths to steady herself. This was a real opportunity to get back some of what she had lost. To cleanse her record of the failure that had broken her career, her marriage, and her life. She couldn’t do anything for a few seconds but sit and shiver underneath her thick comforter.

Fleur recovered her wits, hauled herself out of bed, and slid into a thick, fluffy bathrobe. Then. she hit a button on her phone and walked into the kitchen as it rang.

A sleepy male voice answered. “Fleur? It’s early.”

“Alain, I’m sorry to bother you at this hour.” She put some water on the stove to heat while they spoke.

“No bother. What’s wrong?”

She held the phone between her chin and shoulder and pawed through her purse, looking to make sure she had her passport. “They’re sending me into the field.”

“That’s good, no? You’re dying to get back out there.”

Her fingers brushed across a large, enameled coin: her Gamblers Anonymous five-year chip. “Gustave’s returned.”

“Oh. Oh.” That second oh was the sound of him absorbing the significance of what she had just said. “The one that got away.”

“Exactly.” She assembled her French press and dumped in the coffee. The smell of the ground beans alone was making her more alert by the minute. The Italian wife may have left, but she couldn’t take away Italian coffee.

“Are you ready for that?”

“I’ve been ready.”

A muffled groan came from Alain’s end of the line. It sounded female. Fleur tsked. “Do you have that teenager in your bed?”

Alain was a forty-year-old Frenchman living in Amsterdam with a trust fund and a very open-minded girlfriend who gamely went along with whatever nonsense he was of a mind to experiment with. Fleur could not have imagined herself being friends with someone like him a few years ago. Hitting rock bottom will change the way you think about some things.

“Her name is Viki and she’s twenty-five. Don’t change the subject.”

Alain was making some rustling noises on the other end while he spoke. “So there’s a bit of pressure on this one, eh?”

“It’s not just the job. When Gustave got away from me, it was the beginning of everything getting away from me.”

He whispered, “Darling, can you untie this?”

Fleur shook her head, smirking. They’d fallen asleep while he had one or more limbs still tied to the bed. There was something comforting about the fact that her GA sponsor was not exactly a paragon of order and discipline. “Anyway, this may feel like a big gamble, but there is a difference between gambling and taking a chance on something. You ought to know that better than most.”

“Yes, I know, I know,” Fleur said, rolling her eyes. Alain was fond of saying this, but it always felt like a platitude.

“You can do this. Chin up. Don’t be an emotional cripple—”

“I thought that was part of my charm.”

“—and call me if you need me.”

She resolved to not need him.

 ⇛About Jennifer Giacalone⇚ 

Website  Facebook  Instagram  Goodreads  Amazon

Jen Giacalone is a former rock star, a graphic artist, a parent, a baker, amateur plumber and a timelord. She toured much of the east coast of the U.S. as a musician in her 20s, spent her 30s in corporate boardrooms of fortune 500 companies as a graphic artist, and in her 40s, became a published author.

She's the author of the novel "Loud Pipes Save Lives," published by Carnation Books, about a damaged detective pursuing a gang of vigilante lady bikers, and the current romantic suspense, "Art of the Chase," a tale of a divorced detective couple thrown back together to pursue a notorious art thief who has come out of retirement. She writes whenever she can and when she can't, she's thinking about writing: novels, screenplays, poetry with clever heroines, ill-advised romance, arts, and usually some weaponry.

 ⇛The Giveaway⇚ 

a Rafflecopter giveaway