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:
“How did you find me?” I asked, leaving the mess on the floor and going to him, determined to not let him into my cabin. I’d never seen David violent before, but I didn’t like the way he was acting. I stepped past him, outside into my garden. Just the fact he was there invading my space made me more anxious.
He turned to look at me. “It’s easy to find someone when you want to,” he said sarcastically, then added, “This is a small town, remember.”
He’d violated my privacy, and I was getting more angry as we both stood there.
“What do you want?” I asked, coolly.
“Why are you doing this to me?” His face had really reddened, and I wondered if he was going to give himself a stroke. I saw loathing in his eyes, and I caught my breath.
“Why am I doing this to you? You threw away our marriage. Not only did you betray me, but you bought property that I never knew about. Why would you do that?”
“It was for me,” he said simply.
I couldn’t believe he said that.
“The fact you even did something like that just proves what a shit you are. If you bought it, it should have been for both of us. And now it will be!”
“It was so I’d have something...” he was almost pleading.
Then I realized he was making sure he’d have something if our marriage ever ended. Something he wouldn’t lose.
“You repulse me!” I said, and I could feel my heart pounding.
For the first time, I looked at him and detested everything about him. His face was ugly and distorted. He’d had time to work his way up to the hostility he now felt towards me. And the frightening thing was that if I’d had a gun, I could have killed him, and I don’t think I would have cared.
Buy Links:
Amazon ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y9KGZ3R
Amazon paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647044626
Amazon hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647044642
B&N paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-in-cabin-number-five-chrysteen-braun/1141373079?ean=9781647044626
B&N hardcover: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-in-cabin-number-five-chrysteen-braun/1141373079?ean=9781647044640
Google: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Man_in_Cabin_Number_Five.html?id=7D-uzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
What’s your favorite way to combat stress?
Aha. The perfect stress buster is to eat 85% chocolate and play mahjong on my computer. And when that brings me down a few notches, I read. What else would a writer do? (certainly not write when they're agitated! haha).
Why is your featured book a stress busting read?
Readers and critics alike rave about this book. Don’t take my word for it.
Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret and Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over.
"A touching novel charting two women’s parallel lives, tied together by mysteries, transformation, and a cabin." —BookLife
"Chrysteen Braun creates a masterpiece with smooth storytelling that juxtaposes the serenity of the mountains with the eruptive chaos of dangerous secrets and ends with a bang. What a terrific story! What a talented writer!" —San Francisco Book Review
"Masterfully written, intriguing, mystifying, and spooky...an entertaining work that will keep the reader hooked until the end." —Readers' Favorite
"In an intriguing set of stories, each cabin on the mountain serves as the setting for a compelling tale of loss, betrayal—and love. Chrysteen Braun’s clever premise gives us a satisfying glimpse into the lives of others—both past and present." —Anne Cleeland, author of the Doyle & Acton Mystery Series
"Annie and Alyce are two women without much in common, but whose lives intersect in a place that has surprises for both of them. In telling their stories, Chrysteen Braun blends memoir and mystery in an entertaining page-turner." —Susan Denley, former Associate Features Editor, Los Angeles Times
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $20 Amazon gift card
Open internationally.
Runs May 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on June 3, 2024.
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.
Contact her at chrysteenbraun@gmail.com, or www.chrysteenbraun.com
Social Media Links:
Website: www.chrysteenbraun.com