Kimberly Belle is dear to us...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to welcome Kimberly Belle to CLC today. Melissa A read The Marriage Lie and Three Days Missing and enjoyed how suspenseful both novels were. Her latest novel, Dear Wife, is publishing next week and we're excited to read it!  Kimberly has one signed copy for a lucky reader!

Kimberly Belle is the international bestselling author of five novels of suspense. Her third, The Marriage Lie, was a semifinalist in the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller and has been translated into ten languages. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Kimberly worked in marketing and nonprofit fundraising before turning to writing fiction. She lived for over a decade in the Netherlands and currently divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam. (Bio courtesy of Amazon.)

Visit Kimberly online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Beth Murphy is on the run…

For nearly a year, Beth has been planning for this day. A day some people might call any other Wednesday, but Beth prefers to see it as her new beginning—one with a new look, new name and new city. Beth has given her plan significant thought, because one small slip and her violent husband will find her.

Sabine Hardison is missing…

A couple hundred miles away, Jeffrey returns home from a work trip to find his wife, Sabine, is missing. Wherever she is, she’s taken almost nothing with her. Her abandoned car is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play.

As the police search for leads, the case becomes more and more convoluted. Sabine’s carefully laid plans for her future indicate trouble at home, and a husband who would be better off with her gone. The detective on the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened and bring this missing woman home. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The only thing that’s certain is that someone is lying and the truth won’t stay buried for long. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What did you learn from writing your previous novels that you applied to Dear Wife?
It’s funny. Every time I sit down to write another novel, I think I know how to do this thing, and then the story is so different from my previous novels that it requires me to come up with a whole new way to tackle the story. A new structure, maybe, or a new way to present a plot twist so that my readers don’t know what’s coming around every corner. I don’t want any of my stories to feel predictable.

But I also learn with every novel—how to build a plot and create realistic characters and keep amping up the suspense—and I apply all my skills to each new novel. That’s why it takes me a good six to eight months to write that first draft, because I’m using old skills and learning new ones at the same time. Those first few books, you don’t know what you don’t know, but now that I’ve got six books under my belt, it’s easier to see when you’ve taken a wrong turn. It makes the writing harder and easier at the same time.

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
I love and adore any reader who tells me they lost sleep because they couldn’t put my book down. That’s about the best thing you can say to a writer, that their story kept them from daily life because they were glued to the pages. But Booklist recently compared me to two authors I really admire, Gilly Macmillan and Alafair Burke, and that was a great compliment, as well.

If Dear Wife were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
These questions are always so hard, but I’d love to see someone like Jennifer Garner play Beth. She’s strong and talented and she could play the heck out of an angry abused woman taking back her power. As for the male roles, Miles Teller would make a great Jeffrey, and Chris Pine would be perfect as Marcus. A girl can dream!

What TV series are you currently binge watching?
Younger. It’s hilarious and so, so smart, and I love all the publishing references. Season six has just begun, but while I wait for the next installment, I’m rewatching the earlier seasons.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
I don’t know if it’s funny, but this past winter my husband and I were on vacation in the Caribbean, and one night at dinner, I look across the room and straight into the eyes of Bono. He’s instantly recognizable, of course, though no one but me and my husband seemed to notice him at all. It was late, the restaurant had turned into a nightclub, and people were many drinks in at that point, so he was just hanging out incognito. So I did what any fangirl would do and posted about it immediately on Twitter. A couple days later we ran into him again, at another bar but this time in the middle of the day, during Carnival celebrations. He was wearing one of those Hamburglar masks, flying under the radar yet again. I told my husband and all of Twitter it was destiny.

What is your favorite summertime beverage?
Long live rosé season, preferably French rosé. But I’ve also recently discovered Aperol Spritzes: 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts aperol, and 1 part soda water. Drink them over ice and from a big red wine glass—refreshing and delicious!

Thanks to Kimberly for chatting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends June 23rd at midnight EST.