***RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW*** The Fall by T. Gephart

RELEASE BLITZ
Title: The Fall
Author: T. Gephart
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 23, 2016

BLURB

Salvation doesn’t exist.

It’s a lie people tell themselves in the dark, alone so their conscience might be eased. To give them hope that,

in the end, we can all be forgiven.

Except we can’t.

And no amount of praying will change that.

For me there will be no redemption, and I will leave this world with the same black heart I entered it with.

The comfort in knowing who I am and what I am capable of keeps me warmer than any lie of having my soul

saved.

Because I know the truth.

Because I know there is no Heaven.

And there is no Hell.

There is only the fall.


Michael has no one. No family. No Friends. And not a soul in the world cares about him, only a system that

tried to break him.

With a strong dislike for establishments and conformity, he has lived his life as a rogue. A hired thug with no

allegiances except to his own word.

Sofia has grown up in the shadow of her father—one of the most powerful drug lords in the city. She has

vowed to bring him to justice, moving through the ranks of the Chicago PD in an effort to be as far removed

from her father’s lifestyle as possible.

Two worlds collide when Michael shows up at her door, a gun in his hand and a look in his eyes that terrifies

her. Suddenly, Sofia has a price on her head and Michael is the only one who can keep her out of the crossfire.

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 EXCERPT

Prologue

“Please.”

An anguished scream ripped through the night as the rain pummeled against the thick stained glass.

The heavy splat against the windows was not unlike the streams of unrelenting tears that rolled down her face.

Darkness had come, and with it the howling wind battered at the doors, stirring at the unrest. The fat

white candles that littered the room were the only source of illumination, a lightning strike killing the power an

hour or two before.

The sisters had gathered, huddled together as mumbled Our Father’s competed against the sound of

the storm, fearing the Devil himself was knocking at their door.

It wasn’t just the gale and torrential rain that crackled in the dark. Evil was dense in the air, rolling in

like an all-encompassing fog—heavier than the thickest winter coat.

Another scream pierced through the sound of the weather. The very voice tore from her throat like a

soul desperate to leave its earthly vessel.

There was no hope. It was the sound of death.

“Please,” she begged. The accumulation of fear and pain weighted in that one word made the sisters’

skin goose bump like the cold that had yet to breach the room. “Please, save him.”

Labored breaths dragged in air behind her chattering teeth.

“Please.”

“Save.”

“Him.”

It was more than a plea, and there was no mistake it would be the woman’s last request.

“Mother?”

Sister Catherine’s gaze rose to Mother Superior from her place on the floor. Her knees had been

cemented to the very spot for the last ten hours, but not for prayer like the others. She waited for direction as

blood stained the cold blue stone rock around her. Both the mother and child were closer to meeting the

heavenly Father than the dawn was to the new day.

“Mother, we’re losing her.”

Mother’s eyes closed as she drew out a long, deep breath—Sister Catherine was right—the end was

coming quickly.

“We will do all that we can, child. Be at peace.” Her hand brushed against the damp forehead of the

expectant mother.

They had been the only words of comfort Mother could offer without betraying the cloth. She couldn’t

lie to her. Not because of the promise she had made when she had accepted the habit, but because her very

eyes watched as mortality slipped from the blessed child on the floor, the gray pallor of her skin already making

her look like a corpse.

“One more push.” Sister Catherine’s attention was refocused, her actions determined to keep Mother’s

promise. “I can see the head, but you need to help me.”

Sister Catherine’s hands worked swiftly, her fingers doing their best to work with the limited

knowledge she had. Her calling had come during her second year of medical school; the important things not

yet learned. But she was young, just barely having accepted her final vows, and her determination to serve was

stronger than her fear.

This was not how she’d imagined her vocation, but one did not question when it came to serving the

Lord. She would do whatever she needed to do, and tonight it was the experience of her pre-cloistered life that

was desperately needed.

There were no further words, not from Sister Catherine nor from the woman who lay in front of her.

The last gasps of energy were needed if the mother was going to be able to birth her child, and only the Lord

himself knew if either of them would survive.

“Agh!” The mother fell back, the rock beneath her biting into her skin but she no longer felt pain. Not

from her body at least, her agony had long been numbed. It was the heaviness in her heart that was her only

emotion.

Just a little more.

She wasn’t sure if it had been Sister Catherine’s urging or her own internal thought that spoke those

words, but it had been enough to keep her going. Her face strained from the effort as she bore down through

the constant contractions. It would have to be enough. She had nothing left.

The child she had carried for nine months slipped from her body, finally making his entrance as she

whispered her offering to the Father. That offering being her own sacrifice.

Take me, she prayed. Let him live, take me.

Her eyelids closed as Sister Catherine delivered the son, but there had been no cry. Not from the

mother and not from her child, the eerie silence settling into the room as she accepted her fate. In fact, there

had been no sound as she took her last breath, her eyes not having the luxury of gazing on the boy she’d been

so desperate to save. Whether or not she’d succeeded, beyond her control.

“He’s breathing, barely.” Sister Catherine’s hands swaddled the boy with her own veil, his entrance into

the world only a few moments before. “He’s weak, but he’s fighting.” She hoped it would be enough. They had

already lost the mother; losing the boy would surely be too much.

“A fighter. Yes, we shall call him Michael.” Mother genuflected beside the altar, offering quick word of

thanks before she rose to her feet. There wasn’t a lot of time; they needed to get the child to the hospital and

fast.

“Blessed child, Michael.” The tiniest drop of holy water rolled off the infant’s forehead. Mother’s hand

hovered above it, her lips moving quickly as the sacred words of baptism spilled from them. It was the best she

could do without a priest, but at least she’d given him hope.

“There’s no time for an ambulance. Sister Mary, bring the car around. I will keep him breathing if

needed.” Sister Catherine’s resolve kicked in. He would live. He would not die on the cold stained floor of the

church.

“Go.” Mother clutched at the crucifix that hung close to her breast and slowly removed it from her

neck. “I will care for the mother.” The gold chain placed gently upon the lifeless body of the mother who would

never know the child she had birthed.

Sisters Catherine and Mary wasted no time; the boy’s breaths shallow as they ran out of the church

into the courtyard toward the old used sedan. The rain soaked their clothes in minutes, the doors closing

quickly behind them as the engine roared to life. Thankfully the hospital was not more than a few miles away.

And while it had been Sister Catherine’s previous expertise that had kept Michael alive, Sister Mary’s

reputation for her lead foot was exactly what they needed now. The church and the convent quickly faded in

the rearview mirror as they sped away.

Catherine and Mary’s attention had been about reaching the hospital, while Mother knelt beside the

woman whom she hadn’t known nearly long enough, but had loved like her own child. She remembered the

very day she had come to them, the day they had accepted her as one of their own.

She had been so brave; even as the end came her strength had not waned. Fearless, even in the face of

her own death. She was safe now, seated with the Father, free from pain and sorrow. The Lord would protect

her and do what Mother had been unable to do. God forgive her, while it had been Sister Catherine’s hands

that had been bloodied, it had been Mother’s who had worn the biggest stain.

Had her vow of silence been responsible for the death?

“Should we call the police?” Sister Bridget offered, her bright eyes blinking away tears they all felt

welling. “Mother? What would you like us to do?”

It was a question Mother had been contemplating for weeks. What she would do when the time came

and the child was born. Had she done the right thing? They should have taken her to a hospital. It was insanity

to try and handle this within the walls of their sanctuary, and yet it was exactly what she had promised. No one

would ever know about the child. Not how he came to be in this world or who his parents had been, his

existence hidden by not only her resolve, but that of her devotion to the mother.

No. No one could know.

The plan was set.

The boy was to be reported as abandoned, left in the church’s vestibule with no indication of who the

mother was. It was a lie and one she would take to her grave. Her father would judge her, but when that time

came she knew he would understand.

“No. No police.” Mother’s voice was hoarse as she removed the veil from her head and covered the

body. “Our sister is gone. We will see that she is buried with the faithful at the back, but there can be no

record.”

“Mother?” There was a collective gasp, the very fabric of their lives called into question as she told

them her plan.

“We must honor her. We must give her the peace in death she was unable to gain in life. I have prayed

on it and it is the only way. In this you must trust.” Her voice maintained its steely resolve, even if underneath

her heart was breaking.

Did she do everything she could?

God help her, she couldn’t be sure she had.

“Save him.” Mother’s eyes rose to the crucifix mounted on the wall, the words more a prayer than a

request. “Please, Lord. Save him.”

Her thoughts returned to the boy, his mother giving her own life so that he might live.

Only time would tell whether it had been enough.

REVIEW

This is a standalone book by an author I've never read before.

This story is about Michael. He's a hired killer. He has alliance to no one. Cold. Angry. Indifferent. His life is his own. He accounts to no one.

He receives a call from a local big criminal Jimmy Amaro to do a job for him. Used to being hired to kill or harm he's taken aback when Jimmy asks him to keep his daughter safe. It's a babysitting job and he is not a people person. Jimmy ups the fee and Michael agrees. Meeting Sophia, Michael feels nothing, appreciating her beauty but nothing else. He will do his job. He never fails.

Sophia is a Police Officer. She is estranged from her father and wants nothing more than to take him down. She's compiling a file on him and all his criminal friends determined to get them all sent to jail. Michael turns up on her doorstep, tells her she's in danger and that she's going with him. Sensing the danger she goes.

From this moment on their lives intertwine in ways they could never guess.

I'm really really torn on this book. I have no idea how to feel about it! The first 30%ish was steady and gave back story, then the action started and i really got into it. It pulled me in i became truly invested in them both. Michael is hard all the way through. He has no idea how to deal with feelings. He's spent his whole life not having any and when he does have some he doesn't know what to do with them. I did actually love him. He was strictly no BS and protective. Sophia is so strong. She deals with everything that is thrown at them, both for herself and for Michael. She guides him and helps him to deal. The s*x scenes with them is pretty hot and the way it's written is perfect for them.

Then the end came. I will not give spoilers but i can tell you the ending is what caused my dilemma. I don't think anyone will see it coming, i certainly didn't! and I'm not sure if i loved it or hated it! It was truly a WTF moment!! I liked that it was original and unexpected but i was also disappointed too! The character was never going to get a "walk off into the sunset" but come on!!! lol

I would recommend this book. It's story-line is great and pulls you in and keeps you guessing. I will warn you about that ending though! You won't see it coming and you won't know whether you want to smash your kindle or laugh or gasp or curse the author out! I will definitely be reading more by this author.

★★☆ 4.5 "WTF" Stars ☆★★

Buy it

Read it

Love it

 AUTHOR BIO

T Gephart is an indie author from Melbourne, Australia.

T’s approach to life has been somewhat unconventional. Rather than going to University, she jumped

on a plane to Los Angeles, USA in search of adventure. While this first trip left her somewhat underwhelmed

and largely depleted of funds it fueled her appetite for travel and life experience.

With a rather eclectic resume, which reads more like the fiction she writes than an actual employment

history, T struggled to find her niche in the world.

While on a subsequent trip the United States in 1999, T met and married her husband. Their whirlwind

courtship and interesting impromptu convenience store wedding set the tone for their life together, which is

anything but ordinary. They have lived in Louisiana, Guam and Australia and have traveled extensively

throughout the US. T has two beautiful young children and one four legged child, Woodley, the wonder dog.

An avid reader, T became increasingly frustrated by the lack of strong female characters in the books

she was reading. She wanted to read about a woman she could identify with, someone strong, independent

and confident and who didn’t lack femininity. Out of this need, she decided to pen her first book, A Twist of

Fate. T set herself the challenge to write something that was interesting, compelling and yet easy enough to

read that was still enjoyable. Pulling from her own past “colorful” experiences and the amazing personalities

she has surrounded herself with, she had no shortage of inspiration. With a strong slant on erotic fiction, her

core characters are empowered women who don’t have to sacrifice their femininity. She enjoyed the process

so much that when it was over she couldn’t let it go.

T loves to travel, laugh and surround herself with colorful characters. This inevitably spills into her

writing and makes for an interesting journey - she is well and truly enjoying the ride!

Based on her life experiences, T has plenty of material for her books and has a wealth of ideas to keep

you all enthralled.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://tgephart.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/T-Gephart/412456528830732

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tinagephart

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7243737.T_Gephart