Goodbye Noel, by Nike Chillemi - FREE eBOOK

Salena: Tell us about your book.


Nike: This novel resonated with me on a really deep level. I so wanted things to come out right for the heroine. I wanted her to find true love and to be able to give her heart to the hero. Every time I put an obstacle in her way, I so hoped she'd overcome it. I'll give you a short synopsis of the story.

GOODBYE NOEL Blurb: Historical Romantic Thriller

The first body is found under a trimmed Christmas tree, the second as they ring in the New Year (1947), the third goes head long out a window. Will a young pediatric nurse determined to make it on her own be able to care for an infant whose mother was murdered and escape the killer who has struck again? Can she trust the stalwart village detective with her life and her heart as he works to catch this killer before somebody else dies?


Pediatric nurse, Katrina Lenart, grew up strong willed and independent minded, while sharing her mother's flair for high fashion. When the police chief gives her an orphaned baby to care for, her maternal instincts take over and she's willing to fight anyone who might not have the infant's best interests at heart, even the man she's growing to love. After an attempt is made to kidnap the baby, she and the resolute village detective team up and do some sleuthing, undercover at a cult as well as at a fancy ball.

Detective Ian Daltry is a widower with a child and is not interested in a new love. Hunting a killer who stops at nothing has placed him in the position where he must protect a beautiful young woman he's drawn to. Is there's something he's overlooked in analyzing the case? Will he find out what that is before this ruthless murderer kills someone he loves?

Salena: Can you give us a sneak peek?

Nike: Sure, I'd love to show you an excerpt. This is Chapter 5, Long Island, NY, late December, 1947. At the local police chief's command, just the day before Katrina has driven through a raging blizzard with Ian to take an orphaned infant to the local hospital for a physical checkup. Now the detective is back.

Katrina wanted to throw Detective Daltry into a snow bank. The nerve of him, barging into their house twice in two days, demanding she bundle the baby up and take him into the cold. How could that man not recall their harrowing, nighttime drive through the storm of the decade? She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, and with great difficulty held her tongue.

Momma apparently had no such reservations. "Detective, what you are doing is very wrong."

Katrina came up beside her mother, to show a united front. "This is outrageous." Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. She hated the tone of her voice, but this baby wasn't a ping-pong ball to be batted back and forth as the detective moved forward with his murder case.

He ignored her and continued addressing her mother.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." He removed his fedora. "Chief Ferguson has already made the necessary phone calls and arrangements have been made. I must take Leslie Janos Bauer with me to the home of his aunt in Bay Shore. The chief would prefer your daughter come along in an official capacity as a nurse. It's up to her, but I have to take the baby."

Momma's face flushed beet-red, a sure sign she'd become enraged. "This is not good for him… this hustle from place to place."

"With all due respect, ma'am, a child belongs with his family, if at all possible." The detective took a step toward Katrina. "Now, will you please fetch the baby." It wasn't a request.

Katrina made sure she stood tall. "Yes, I'll get Leslie." She clenched her fists at her side and jutted her chin. "This is disgraceful. You are using this infant to solve your murder case. Perhaps your own tragic life experience clouds your judgment?"

His mouth fell open and he took a step back.

"If you have it within your heart, give me one minute. I'll get him ready and get my coat and boots on." Without giving him a chance to reply, Katrina turned and stormed up the stairs.

Leslie lay sleeping in the baby-doll cradle Poppa had made for her when she was a little girl. Poppa had that kind of talent. He could make anything. In her heart she knew, he'd figured it would be her baby's bassinet. At least now, it had a real purpose. She ran a finger over the hand carved leaves in the headboard.

"Milachku, time to wake up." She took the infant into her arms inhaling the smell of baby, sweeter than the most expensive imported perfume.

Leslie yawned and she snuggled her nose in the soft folds of skin between his head and shoulder, kissing his neck. He cooed, so safe in her arms.

She brought him to her heart, holding him, rocking him and spoke softly to her reflection in the mirror above her bureau. "Fat chance I'll ever walk down the aisle or have a family of my own with the man shortage since the war." Something deep in the core of her female-self rebelled, a throbbing turbulence, from which deep hunger erupted.

She stroked Leslie's cheek and made a funny face. The softness of his skin melted her heart.

He smiled at her and kicked.

"I'm so sorry. I promised I'd protect you and I can't." She forced a smile and made clucking noises.

He grabbed her hair and yanked.

"Ouch." She laughed, removing strands of her hair from his little fist.

A tear escaped and ran down the side of her cheek. "I can do this." She lifted her chin, sucked in a long breath, wrap ed Leslie in a heavy quilt, and picked up his tote bag.

Salena: What inspired this book?

Nike: I like to read and write character driven crime fiction stories. Take a complex character, perhaps with some quirky personality traits and drop him or her into the middle of the action. That's what I did with GOODBYE NOEL. I had a great time creating Katrina Lenart and Ian Daltry, both of them deep, three dimensional characters, and then brought them to the scene of a henious murder. They are forced to interact and discover each other as they try to catch a killer before there is another murder.


Salena: What has been your most challenging experience writing a book?

Nike: I wanted my main characters to be believable, warts and all, yet also sympathetic. So, I'd say the hardest part was showing their less than perfect side and yet somehow getting the reader to cheer them on. There were times when they might not be so likeable in their actions, still I think the reader will understand their inner turmoil and route for them. I wanted to show how two ordinary people could rise up, face evil, and do the right thing. A difficult challenge.

Salena: What is your favorite thing to write about, (i.e., forgiveness, rebellion, etc)?

Nike: The main theme in both of my novels, I think, is that LOVE triumphs over all. There is nothing that can stand up to love. Nothing can defeat love. I try to show that if my characters love, even if the villain or antagonist wounds them, still my heroine and hero win. They win because they love. A secondary theme in all my novels is to champion the victim. Someone in my novel will always stand for the rights of the victim. One of my main characters will speak on behalf of the victim.

Salena: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

Nike: Hope. I purpose in my writing that my readers will take away hope. GOODBYE NOEL is set at the close of WWII, a time when our nation was recovering from the great and devestation losses of the war. And yet, it is a time of great courage and optimism in America. The people of that time were a get up and go generation. They strove to make something of themselves and of this nation. I hope my characters reflect the spirit of that era. Right now this country is facing a very difficult time. I hope this story transmits a little bit of can do spirit of an earlier era.

Salena: What is your favorite color?

Nike: I mostly wear black. That's the uniform in New York City, where I live. It's also slimming. However, I also wear royal blue. I love a velvet or velour royal blue top with black slacks. This past summer I got into pink, in teeny-weeny amounts. I'll wear an entirely black outfit and add a splash of hot pink.

Salena: Do you have a favorite recipe?

Nike: I'm a foodie. I like to cook. I like things I can whip up at a moment's notice and serve to family and friends. I'll create a Roasted Chicken Pasta dish with Alfredo Sauce at the drop of a hat. My husband is Italian-American so he really loves that. My family's heritage is Slavic. I can also whip up a mean Beef Stroganoff. If there's an ingredient I can't live without it's sour cream. I throw that into anything that needs to become creamy or needs thickening.

Salena: If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

Nike: I'd go back to the late 1940s in America, to the setting of my novels GOODBYE NOEL and BURNING HEARTS. I love that era. I love the pluck of Americans then. Americans were a classy people then. The fashion of that period was classic and really hot. The slang was so upbeat.

Salena: What project are you currently working on?

Nike: I'm working on two projects. HUNTING DANGER is a contemporary novel set in Brooklyn, NY. It's heroine, Phoebe Andropolis, is a feisty NYPD detective in the elite Special Investigations Unit. Think the roller coaster ride of Janet Evonovich, but think clean. I'm also working on a new historical series set in the 1950s. The heroine is out of work and becomes a private detective almost by default.

Author Bio:
Nike Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and its Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. BURNING HEARTS is the first book in the crime wave that is sweeping the south shore of Long Island in The Sanctuary Point series, published by Desert Breeze. GOODBYE NOEL, the second book in the series was released in December, 2011. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers (Ning).




Nike has been kind enough to give away one free ebook. At least 10 people need to leave comments WITH email addresses for there to be a contest. OR you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest - Noel" in the subject line. Winner announced 2/19/12