An Excerpt from Cheryl St.John's The Truth About Toby
"The deaths of your sister and nephew must have triggered your dreams again," he said.
Shaine attempted to sip her coffee, but her hands shook, and the hot liquid spilled over the side of the cup. A long-forgotten, well-hidden, slip of memory had come vividly into focus, and she wondered how she could have forgotten something so momentous. She blinked back tears she didn't want him to see.
Austin took the mug from her and set it on the low table; then he took her hands, one at a time, and brushed her palms dry with his callused fingers.
She closed her eyelids against the gentleness in that touch and held her breath so she wouldn't cry or groan or shame herself. He released her hands, and reached to take a strand of her hair and rub the tress between his fingers. She'd opened her eyes and was breathing again, but her heart forgot a couple of beats and then had to thump double-time to catch up.
He was so close, she could see the millions of tiny dark dots along his chin and jaw
where he'd recently shaved. She wondered what it would feel like if she drew her hand
along his jaw. Her palm burned with the temptation.
"First, Shaine, you have to learn to trust your instincts, your intuition." He released her hair.
She met his dark gaze, and without thinking about it, reached for his wrist. Her fingers wrapped around his warm flesh, the dusting of hair a pleasant sensation against her skin. "I trust the instinct that tells me Toby is alive."
Against his cream-colored sweater, his hair and skin were dark. His eyes closed for a brief moment, and when they opened again, they were grim. "All I can tell you is that in all the years I connected with victims, I rarely found anyone alive."
"But you did find some of them alive."
He was not a hard man by nature. Experience had driven him to protect himself. "The odds are not favorable," he warned. "Each time you open yourself to the possibilities, you take the almost inevitable chance of seeing and feeling things you don't want to experience. It's an unlucky crap shoot. And anticipating what you're about to open is almost the worst part of it."
His intensity would have convinced her if her reasons had been different. But this was Toby she was looking for.
He stared at her, giving Shaine an unexpected view into the pain-dimmed depths of his eyes, and for that instant, she shared his suffering. Thinking of his pain, her chest hurt.
Slowly his expression changed. That intense dark gaze roved over her face, touched her lips, dropped to her breasts, warming her with its eloquence.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, and heat rose in her limbs. Beneath her fingers, his pulse quickened. His fierce expression didn't frighten her. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she saw his throat move as he swallowed. She barely knew him. But she understood him in some elemental way. And she wanted to kiss him. Oh, Lord, she wanted to kiss him.
Her entire body prepared for the experience. If he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers she would explode in a million pieces. And if he didn't. . . .
. . . she would die.
His mouth came down over hers, his lips firm and warm and tasting of coffee, and the kiss seemed too beautiful and too fragile to bear. He tilted his head, aligning their mouths more perfectly, and her eager heart responded with a tumultuous pace. More than ever, the welling desire to cry rose up in her chest. Not from grief or empathy, but from the sheer joy of this man's touch.
He wasn't pushy. Or demanding. The ardent kiss was slow and easy, as though he wanted it to last. As if letting her know this was what making love with him would be like, too. It gave her time to imagine lying naked with him, to imagine his hands on her skin and his body pleasuring hers. He was a thorough kisser; he would be a thorough lover. His kiss slaked every hungering, thirsting ache she'd ever had, and she didn't want it to ever end.
But of course, it did.
As if by some sort of mutual amazement, they moved fractionally apart. His breath still touched her face. Reciprocal yearning configured his expression, and she prayed it wasn't just something she wanted to read.
"Is that what you meant by trusting my instincts?" she half-whispered.
"Cheryl St.John has once again delivered a great read that holds your attention from start to finish. Cheryl uses her skill to involve the reader in the hunt for Toby and the developing love between Shaine and Austin.
"To me a book is a keeper when I do these three things while reading it: I
laughed, I cried, and I cheered for the hero and heroine in Cheryl St.John's The
Truth About Toby."
--Shelia H. Sneed
B.Dalton Bookseller, Macon GA
"The Truth About Toby held my interest from beginning to end!
The suspense is just as titillating as the romance! Cheryl St.John deftly weaves
romance with intense
suspense and has written one of the most exciting books to hit the shelves! Ms.
St.John
showcases her immense talent and artfully blends romance and
suspense—stupendous!"
--The Literary Times
"Cheryl St.John has a real talent for characterization, drawing the reader into the story and giving one the feeling of really knowing the characters that people her novels. The way she uses dialogue between Shaine and Austin skillfully brings these two troubled, brave souls to life. Themes of trust, risk and personal sacrifice for love are deftly illustrated in a realistic, empathetic manner. A well-paced plot quickly involves the reader, but never seems rushed or incidental to the element of romance.
"I absolutely loved this book! Not often do I stay up, feverishly turning pages, not just to see what will happen, but to see what happens to the characters because the author made me care so much!
"The Truth About Toby is the quintessential candidate for review here at Under The Covers—engrossing believable and suspenseful, truly romantic, yet not full of emotionally overwrought pose. A great read—Very, Very Highly Recommended! Books like this are the jewels of the romance genre, and they come few and far between.
"Don't miss it; you have to read a lot of "toads" to catch a book
like this!"
--Under The Covers Book Reviews
http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/utc.html
"Cheryl St.John makes our day shine with The Truth About Toby,
a touching love story full of delicate strength and fresh emotion. A lovely
innkeeper haunted by visions of her lost young nephew seeks the help of a reclusive
psychic, a man whose own powers may hold the key to finding the young child.
Beautifully wrought, this sensitive romance features a gripping plot and vibrant,
appealing characters."
**** Romantic Times Magazine
"The Truth About Toby is provocative and inspired, with extraordinary
characters that will remain with readers long after they've turned the last page.
It's a profound portrait of people with an amazing and often misunderstood ability.
Ms. St.John has created a unique tale that belongs on the keeper shelf."
--Rendezvous
"The truth about a Cheryl St.John novel is that they are
always quite good, and her latest tale, The Truth About Toby, enhances
her deserved reputation. The lead protagonists are quite human and absolutely
fascinating as they cope with a gamut of problems ranging from trust to sacrifice
and danger. In the word processor of Ms. St.John, the reader receives a beautiful,
poignant, and exciting novel worth reading."
****+ --Affaire de Coeur
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