In Her Skin by Kim Savage Blog Tour + Giveaway!

IN HER SKIN

Author: Kim Savage

Pub. Date: April 17, 2018

Publisher: FSG

Pages: 304

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain is about to take on the biggest heist of her life: impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn’t been easy, and Jo is hoping to cash in on a little safety, a little security. She finds her opportunity in the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family with ties to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

When Jo takes on Vivi's identity and stages the girl’s miraculous return, the Lovecrafts welcome her back with open arms. They give her everything she could want: love, money, and proximity to their intoxicating and unpredictable daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household—and some secrets refuse to stay buried. As hidden crimes come to the surface, and lines of deception begin to blur, Jo must choose to either hold onto an illusion of safety, or escape the danger around her before it’s too late.

Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

Excerpt

     You release your knees, unfold your long body, and walk down the stairs slow, slower than I know you have energy for, because I watched you before you knew I was watching. Your feet are bare and white, and bones rise under your camisole straps forming diamond caves. You stand in your pale cami and your hair braided at the temples (Temple!) and tucked behind your ears, so close I can see the pin-dot holes where the diamonds were and smell the black licorice you just ate on your breath. Your eyes start at the top of my head and work their way down: the crown of my forehead, eyes. A flick between both ears, down the nose and settling on my mouth. I twitch. To my chin and down my neck: chest, hands, waist, and knees, every part examined. I am not safe under plastic and your eyes are not my clumsy thumb. Years with Momma’s boyfriends have hardened me to stares, but by the time you get to my feet, my heart is pounding so loud I am sure you can hear it.

            Do you know me?

            In an instant, your mother is at my side. “You’re thinking it’s a miracle, aren’t you?” she says, hugging your shoulder.

            You only look at me.

            “Temple,” Mr. Lovecraft says. “Your mother asked you a question.”

            Silence.

            Mrs. Lovecraft waves it off. “Vivi’s been through so much. We have time to catch up. For now, sleep.”

            Your eyes wash over me one last time. I tell myself it’s not that my eyes are blue where Vivi’s were gray. It’s not that my left front tooth crosses over my right, where Vivi’s teeth were strong and straight. It’s that you don’t want Vivi back. And I don’t blame you. Vivi was your friend from third grade. You had third-grade things in common: boy bands and glitter nail polish and diaries. I’m going to have to win you over as Vivi, when Jolene Chastain would talk to you about Emily Dickinson and books with coffee rings on their covers and in a book, this is called irony. Of course you’re iffy about me. You’re Miss Number One Everything. Vivi’s return takes the spotlight off you. Where I spent half my life trying to become invisible from Momma’s boyfriends and the cops, you’ve spent sixteen years as the center of boot-licking admiration. You and Vivi may have history, but Vivi’s reappearance could make your whole life go sideways. So yes, it is to be expected that you won’t embrace me.

            Yet. 

About Kim

I was born and raised in Massachusetts, on the South Shore, which sounds beachy, even luxe. Think Winnebagos and chicken coops. My three brothers, 16, 10, and 8 years older, were teens by the time I became a person. Happiest around adults, who often forgot I was there, I spent days eavesdropping on gossipy moms in lawn chairs and nights listening under the table during tipsy Scrabble parties.

My dad read to me nightly. Eventually and early, I read to myself, everywhere. On top of an enormous freezer chest stuffed with meat. On drives until I grew nauseous. In bed until my eyes gave out. I read anything I could get my hands on. V.C. Andrews and Dickens. Black Beauty and the Bible. The Economist. Madeline L’Engle and Margaret Atwood. National Geographic.

I got a bachelor’s degree in English from Stonehill College and a Master’s in Journalism from Northeastern University. For a while, I worked as a business journalist. Instead of waiting for the Federal Reserve to release the Beige Book, I pitched story ideas along the lines of “Stigmatized Properties: When Murder Kills Property Values”. You see where things were headed.

Today, I live with my family northwest of Boston in a town a lot like Shiverton, near the real Fells reservation of AFTER THE WOODS. Born with dysgeographica—I’m directionally challenged—the fear of getting lost in that lovely, dark forest lives close to my skin.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Tumblr | Goodreads

Giveaway 

1 winner will receive a finished copy of IN HER SKIN and BEAUTIFUL BROKEN GIRLS, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

In Her Skin by Kim Savage Blog Tour + Giveaway!