What happens you're running for the wrong reason? Kelli Carpenter is afraid someone will connect her to the self-defense killing of a former lover. She's changed her identity, found a new career and thinks she's safe, but prefers to keep distance between herself and everyone else.
When handsome stranger Blake Windsor shows up purporting to be a handyman doing much needed repairs at the wilderness jobsite where Kelli is working, a site to give inner city kids temporary respite from their lives dominated by concrete and drive-bys, Kelli's instincts tell her to leave, but the man has her boss's approval, and without him, the project won't be completed on time.
Blake, corporate executive who accepted his boss's request to find out if Kelli Carpenter is really Casey Wallace, begrudgingly returns to the blue-collar construction lifestyle he vowed to leave behind. The woman he meets bears little resemblance to the woman he's supposed to find, but something about her mystifies him, and he decides to continue with his deception to learn more about her.
When someone comes after Kelli, she runs--but she takes Blake with her. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer is her philosophy. And Kelli is convinced Blake knows something that will link her to her lover's death, ending her life as she knows it.
*****
What's in a Name? is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Contest, the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and the Aspen Gold Contest (romantic suspense division).
Excerpt
The thud from the front porch was definitely a knock.
Kelli Carpenter jumped, clutching the plastic shower curtain to keep from slipping. “Just a minute.” She reached across the cascading spray to twist the taps off. So much for the hot, steamy shower she’d been dreaming about while she lay, freezing her butt off, in a stinking mud-puddle waiting for the perfect shot. She squirmed back into her grimy jeans.
From the road, she heard the distinctive roar of Harley engines. The knock repeated, growing more insistent.
“Take it easy,” she muttered. Without bothering to towel off, she slipped her sweatshirt over her head, working her damp arms into muddy sleeves while she headed for the door, her mind racing through the possibilities of who would be there. Only park rangers ever came by. But they wouldn’t pound unless something was wrong. And if they did, they’d call her name. The familiar fear gnawed at her. Had someone found her?
Shit. She’d forgotten her contacts and although she doubted any of the rangers would notice—or care—she hadn’t survived as Kelli Carpenter this long by neglecting the details. She hurried back to the bathroom and inserted the lenses, turning her pale gray eyes into a nondescript brown and grabbed her oversize tortoiseshell-framed glasses. “Coming!” She hurried through the living room and peered through the window.
Her stomach flipped at the sight of a total stranger on her porch. Hardly anybody knew about this field station, tucked away in the Washington mountains. Behind him, she caught a glimpse of a gray pickup truck, one she’d passed on the road in her haste to get home.
Calm down. He’s lost and wants directions. Tell him what he needs and he’ll be gone.
“Yes?” she called through the door, trying to remember if she’d locked it.
“I’m looking for Kelli Carpenter,” a deep male voice said.
Kelli. Not Casey. Okay. She inched the door open. Swallowed. Twice. A man waited on her porch, wearing jeans and a windbreaker over a black turtleneck, holding an olive-green duffel bag. He stood at least six-two, with black hair that hung almost to his shoulders. Even the fact that his face and a razor hadn’t kept company in several days didn’t detract from his raw good looks.
“I’m Kelli.” She forced herself to meet his eyes. Dark chocolate brown, they grabbed and wouldn’t let go. He stared, a little longer than necessary and she crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly all too aware her bra lay on the bathroom floor.
She took a step backward into the dimmer light of the living room. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing.” His startled expression dissolved into neutrality. “I…um…I suppose I’d expected a man.” He took half a step forward.
Avoiding his eyes, she took a deep breath and managed a quick smile. “Can I help you with something?”
He dropped his duffel and extended a hand. “Sorry. I’m Blake Windsor. I’m here to repair a dormitory cabin. If you’ll point me to my room, I can put my stuff away and take a look before it gets dark.”
She ignored the offer of a handshake and suppressed a shudder at the thought of a stranger invading her home. “I’m afraid there must be some mistake. There’s no room for you to stay here.”
He raised an eyebrow and looked beyond her. “I can take the couch. No problem. Jack Stockbridge said you’d be expecting me.”
Her mind whirled. Knowing her boss’s name didn’t mean he was legit. Camp Getaway was hardly a secret project. A ripple of fear crept up her scalp. The way he looked at her when she opened the door, like he was studying her and not in a man-woman way. A man hadn’t looked at her like that in a long time, but not so long she didn’t recognize the difference. Had someone connected her to Robert after all these years? No. If they had, that man on the porch would be here with handcuffs, not a duffel bag.
“I haven’t heard from Jack Stockbridge and I’m sure he’d have told me if someone was coming.” Don’t antagonize him. She kept her tone civil. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Windsor, but I suggest you start down the mountain. These roads can be tough to navigate in the dark.”
The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted. She twisted her head toward the kitchen. Should she answer the call there, where she could keep an eye on this stranger? Or take it in her office, where it was private? But that would leave this man free in her space. She waited for the answering machine.
Jack Stockbridge’s voice floated across the room. “Kelli? Jack. Are you back? If you’re there, Kiddo, pick up.”
Kelli dashed to the kitchen and picked up the receiver on the red wall phone. Its old-fashioned rotary dial stared at her like a multi-eyed alien.
“I’m here, Jack.” She cocked her head at her visitor and raised her eyebrows. With a nod of understanding, he backed out the door.
“I’ve been trying to reach you all day. You ever answer the phone? Or check your messages?”
“Hey, I’ve been out, doing what you pay me for. You know how hard it is to get decent bird pictures?” She paused, waiting for him to say the inevitable, hoping she was wrong.
“You love it and you know it.” He cleared his throat. “There’s been a change in plans. Thornton’s pushed up the schedule. Wants to open right after Labor Day.”
“Labor Day? That’s not even two weeks from now. What happened to spring? You know our deal. I do the environmental studies—alone—and then you send in the labor crews.”
“Kiddo, I know, but there’s no way to finish on time without help. If we lose the funding, it’s all over. I can’t replace you at this late date and the dorm cabin has to be repaired, pronto. I’ve sent a handyman to take care of it. I’m sure you’ll manage.”
She glanced at the front door. “Six-two, long hair?”
“Yep. Blake Windsor.”
A lead ball filled her stomach. “He’s here.”
Professional Reviews
5 Angels From Fallen Angels Reviews
Kelli Carpenter, aka Casey Wallace, has been on the run far too long to remember who she was as Casey. The circumstances were necessary unless she wanted to go to jail for the rest of her life. Kelli loves her new life as a wilderness conservationist and is an accomplished computer whiz, but chooses to work with children instead. Her past is still haunting her.
Beautiful Blake Windsor is sent to keep an eye on her. Blake’s cover is a handyman for the cottage Kelli is residing in for this project. It’s out in the wilderness and his boss hasn’t told him all of the details, but being the logical corporate executive, he believes his boss has good intentions and does him the favor.
Someone is after Kelli and Blake has no choice but go along for the ride. Kelli, after all her time alone and on the run from her past, doesn’t truly trust anyone, including Blake. But Kelli needs his help to discover the connection between her past and their present.
Terry Odell does an outstanding job of intertwining mystery, romance, and suspense in What’s In a Name? I love the wilderness setting and the duo that Kelli and Blake become, not only in solving a mystery, but also as they explore themselves as humans, male and female, and ultimately a possibility to move on in their lives. What’s In a Name? gets you from page one. You want to find out about these characters, what makes them do what they do? I can guarantee you’ll be satisfied with What’s In a Name? It’s fast paced, with a little action, adventure, and romance. What more could you want from a great novel?
Reviewed by: Tracey
4 Hearts from Love Romance & More
Blake Windsor is used to corporate negotiations, boardrooms and Armani suits. Now his boss has sent him to Camp Getaway to see if Kelli Carpenter is really Casey Wallace, and in order to infiltrate her cover he is to assume the identity of a handyman sent to do repairs.
Kelli has kept her past a secret all these years and has gotten used to the solitude of her situation. When a disarmingly handsome repairman shows up at her cabin she isn’t prepared for how her body reacts. She immediately starts questioning his presence, trying to reassure herself that he is not there trying to find her former self. After finding evidence that he might be there to do just that, she decides to temporarily put him out of commission while she makes her escape. However, someone has other plans for her departure, and they are not temporary. Blake and Kelli are now trying to stay one step ahead of whoever is after them before the hired assassins finally hit their mark.
WHAT’S IN A NAME pulls the reader in and keeps them there all the way through. At the beginning, it is unclear to the reader if there will ever be a connection between Blake and Kelli, as Kelli is frustratingly distant. Thankfully, Blake manages to break through some of her walls and we are introduced slowly to the real Kelli. Ms. Odell does a great job of always keeping some things hidden; Blake appears to be putting everything out there on the surface however later on the reader finds out that even the charming Mr. Windsor has some buried emotions.
The love scenes are well written as Kelli has a very traumatic past to deal with and this is not ignored when Blake attempts to be intimate with her. As wonderful as the love scenes are they are not overpowering, the real theme for this would be suspense. This reviewer would recommend WHAT’S IN A NAME when you are in the mood for a good mystery with some passionate sex for seasoning.
Mandie
Romance Reviews Today
WHAT’S IN A NAME? – Terry Odell
Cerridwen Press – www.cerridwenpress.com
April 2007
Romantic Suspense
Present Day
Kelli Carpenter may have been another woman in a past life, but she’s learned her lessons over the years, through deception, disguise, and distrust. A strange man knocking on her door in the middle of nowhere is cause enough for her to be suspicious, but Blake Windsor is here in the mountains to do some construction work at the camp Kelli works for. There shouldn’t be any reason to worry about him, and Kelli cannot ignore the thrill of attraction she feels for him. Through her work as an environmental biologist, Kelli has not only created a new life for herself, but now she can almost sleep an entire night without dreams of the life she left behind as a computer security specialist, a wife, and a mother. In her past life, she was Casey Wallace, but now, as Kelli, she’s carved out a new identity, purpose, and is trying to forget the horrifying memory of her husband's and son’s murders.
Blake Windsor is so out of his element, it isn’t funny. An acquisitions and mergers specialist, the only reason he can pass himself off as a construction worker with carpentry experience is because of his childhood as a carpenter’s son. Ordered by his boss, Victor Hollingsworth, to verify that Kelli is, or isn’t, Casey Wallace, Blake doesn’t question the reasons he’s roughing it in the mountainous, but does wonder what Hollingsworth has to do with Casey...err, Kelli. When Blake first meets Kelli, it’s hard not to notice the emotional walls she’s built up between herself and anyone she comes in contact with. The shadows in her eyes hold a lot of secrets, but Kelli’s clammed up tighter than a tick. Whether or not she’s Casey Wallace is a mystery, but it may be a secret that can get them both killed if they’re not careful.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? quickly becomes a “road romance” as Kelli and Blake hit the highway to escape her past and the goons sent to hurt or kill them. Someone is paying a lot of money to silence Kelli, but even she doesn’t know why anyone would want her dead. So far, it’s gotten Blake hurt when a man posing as a park ranger tries to rape her and Blake is stabbed coming to her rescue. Even knowing that Blake has his own secrets and isn’t truly a carpenter hired to work on Kelli’s environmental project, Camp Getaway, she finds herself wanting to trust him, if only for a few minutes so she won’t feel so alone.
Terry Odell spins yet another twisting romantic suspense tale where it’s impossible to not want her two main characters to realize what they could have with each other. With taut suspense and Ms. Odell’s aptitude for characterization and plotting, WHAT’S IN A NAME? is very tightly knit and offers an entertaining read for fans and newcomers alike.
I’ve quickly become a fan of Terry Odell’s books and greatly look forward to future works from her. Why not pick up WHAT’S IN A NAME? at Cerridwen Press today and see for yourself.
Audrey and Sue, both 42, took a trip to England completely paid for by Audrey's cheating millionaire boyfriend. “Cougar” describes older women on the prowl for much younger men, and although they didn't begin the trip on the prowl, somehow they bec
Book 1 of a Life Changing Love Story Trilogy
An incredible love story about the bonds of trust, passion and friendship that will forever change the lives of a fireman, the manager of a horse rescue ranch and everyone around them. A story of compas
