The Man in Cabin Number Five is an Indie Reads pick #litfic #womensfiction #indiereads #giveaway
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    • Dec 6, 2023
    • 4 min read

The Man in Cabin Number Five is an Indie Reads pick #litfic #womensfiction #indiereads #giveaway



Title: The Man in Cabin Number Five, Guest Book Trilogy Book One


Author: Chrysteen Braun


Genre: Women’s Fiction


Book Blurb:


When Annie Parker discovers her husband’s infidelity, she doesn’t let it destroy her. She packs her bags and heads to Lake Arrowhead, Ca, the mountainside town where her family used to summer. Immersing herself in the restoration of seven 1920s era cabins, Annie begins to put the pieces of her life back together. But starting over is never easy.


Alyce Murphy needs closure. When she discovers her father did not die from a heart attack, as she’s been led to believe for the last 30 years, but in a murder/suicide, she is determined to uncover the truth of his death. But when she visits the cabin where her father ended his life, Alyce has to accept she may never know the true story.


Annie is looking towards her future while Alyce needs to put the past to rest. In parallel stories, both women are drawn to the rustic mountainside cabins as they search for the missing pieces---but they soon discover that the cabins have their own stores to tell.


Excerpt:


“Everything going all right for you?” he asked.


I didn’t fail to note the sarcasm in his voice. He motioned me to sit at his conference table, distancing himself from me. Was it intentional? I felt as though he was treating me like a client, and I hated it. I was on his turf, and he was the one in control.


“Yes, it is,” I finally remarked. I wondered if he thought I hadn’t originally heard him, as he was shuffling some papers and I could tell he was off somewhere else. Once I had his attention again, he watched my every movement, and I tried to remain nonchalant.


“Here we go, then,” David said, handing me a stack of papers. “We spell everything out, if you want to take some time to review it all. I’ve blocked out time enough to get this portion completed.”


‘How accommodating’, I thought as I started reading. Everything seemed in order, how we’d written up the preliminary agreement, and how he’d written in my name first. David pushed a pen my way, but I took my own out of my bag and signed two copies everywhere he’d marked with a sticky note. David signed his copy and then gave me a complete set.


“I’ve also drawn up a Quit Claim to the house if that’s still what you agree to,” he said, handing me another document.


“Will you let me know when to expect the balance of the cash?” I asked.


“Yes.”


“How are your parents? And the children?”


“How do you think they are?”


“I feel like I should have talked to them, to let them know I’ll always care about them.”


“Don’t bother. I told them you left.”


This was it.


There was no turning back now. I’d never see Ruth and Ed or the children again. I wondered what they all thought of me. I couldn’t handle calling them...I would have to write to them once I figured out what to say.


I’d also never see our house again, and I sadly realized I hadn’t missed it while I’d been away.


“Oh, I almost forgot,” I said, taking my house key off my key ring and setting it on the table.


Was I mistaken, or did I see just a stab of something in David’s eyes? As quickly as it appeared, it was gone. As I watched him gather his papers, I realized there was nothing left for us now. I’d loved him, and I’d wished for the life I had, but it was all gone now.


There was nothing now to keep me from starting a new life, and that felt fresh and exciting. The closer I got to the cabins, the more comfortable I felt about my new life. I knew this was my new home. And I knew I’d made the right decision.


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What makes your featured book a must-read?


If you want to snuggle up to a good book this winter, then the Guest Book Trilogy is for you! It's Women's Fiction with intrigue, starting over and relationships, a little mystery all set up in the picturesque setting of Lake Arrowhead. Start with Book One, The Man in Cabin Number Five, and follow Annie Parker as she moves up to the mountains to start over and buys a series of cabins that all have their own stories to tell.


"Braun’s writing is captivating, personal and accessible. Her use of descriptive imagery makes you feel as though you are living each moment described, embarking on the same adventures, sharing in the same memories." Book Excellence Awards Review


Giveaway –


Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:



Open Internationally.


Runs December 5 – December 14, 2023.


Winner will be drawn on December 15, 2023.


Author Biography:


Chrysteen Braun is a California native, born and raised in Long Beach.

The mountains, where she and her husband had a second home, were the inspiration for her first three books, The Guest House Trilogy. These fictional restored cabins from the late 1920s all had their own stories to tell.


Her writing crosses genres of Women’s Fiction with relationships, and a little mystery and intrigue. She’s published articles about her field of interior design and remodeling, both for trade publications and her local newspaper.


She lives in Coto de Caza, with her husband Larry and two Siamese cats.



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