Perception and Deception
Book 1
by Andrea Hintz
Genre: New Adult Spy Action Adventure Romance
Felix Jaynes is a special agent for the Real Life Immersion Program (also known as RLIP). A few months earlier, she had a traumatic experience that caused her to go from a confident agent who was a phenomenal expert in her field, to suddenly doubting her career. She has recently been sent to an extremely rural town called Toselville; playing the part of a young nature photographer. Everyone has their cliques in Toselville. As a twenty-one-year-old, she finds herself having to network with the younger people in town. Her mission: find the middle aged son of two weapons designers who created blueprints for the United States government. As time goes on, she befriends Ashton Mathis, the owner of the only grocery shop in town, and his best friend/employee. Ashton instantly becomes enamored with Felix's beauty and kindness she shows towards them and he begins to pursue her while she is in the midst of working on an incredibly dangerous mission.
RLIP agents have partners who talk to them through their small earpieces that cannot be seen. These agents are not allowed to see their partners or even know their names. Felix has had many partners who are generally cold and over-professional. But Felix has been assigned to Wolf, an older gentleman who becomes a sort of wise father figure to her. After going with Ashton and his friends to the town bowling alley, Felix finds that she is starting to get into a clique of her own. Ashton is there to hopefully win Felix's heart, and Felix is there strictly on business, hoping to get information for her case...or so she keeps telling herself. Against Wolf's initial words of wisdom, Felix finds herself thinking about Ashton and accepts his invitation to go out on a date. But Felix accidentally blows her cover, and soon, Ashton is attacked. Felix was able to save him once, but now her enemies will stop at nothing to get to them. Felix is reassigned to a new mission...witness protection for Ashton and herself. Their budding romantic relationship comes to a sharp halt as they now have to focus on working together to survive. They can run, but they know their enemies are never far behind. Their only option to save themselves is to solve this case. And it is not going to be easy.
Book Trailer
Perception and Deception II
Book 2
Twenty-two year old Faith Evans (formerly known as Felix Jaynes) is a former special agent for the Real Life Immersion Program, an organization that the FBI calls upon in the midst of unsolvable cases. Faith has been enjoying her normal life outside of the agency by spending time with her boyfriend, Ashton Mathis. They have become inseparable since meeting during Faith’s final mission with the agency several months prior. Although they seem to be safe from the events that unfolded during that final mission, both of them are having feelings of uneasiness and find themselves looking over their shoulders at all times. After spontaneously eloping at the courthouse, things begin to take a strange turn when Faith suddenly disappears without a trace…
Perception and Deception III
Book 3
Twenty-two year old Faith Evans is a former special agent for the Real Life Immersion Program, an organization that the FBI calls upon in the midst of unsolvable cases. After being betrayed by RLIP, she decides to cut ties with them permanently and move on to a normal life. So when she’s asked to return to the agency to help with a difficult case, her immediate answer is no. However, she soon discovers that the case involves the kidnapping of her former partner's teenaged grandson, Paul Spencer. There’s no way she can stay away and sit quietly.
Paul was being groomed to become a future tech agent, but having computer hacking skills of his caliber at such a young age may have exposed him to a dangerous cybercrime ring that wants to use him for something life shattering. The agency suspects that Paul’s computer club classmates may have been the associated link. Faith is the only agent young enough to pass as a high school student and must befriend Paul’s classmates to find out what’s going on. But when politicians suddenly get involved, this case may be far more twisted and dangerous than she initially realized. On top of everything else, RLIP seems to be attempting to recruit Faith's new husband, Ashton Mathis, into the agency.
Book Trailer
Chapter
25
Felix
The
white tent was filled with glowing lanterns setting on top of white-table
cloths. The harsh street ground was
completely covered in several rugs that had beautiful paisley designs of red
and off-white.
There was a warm glow about the room that not only
surrounded the people, but seemed to fill them as well. I was not used to such beauty and
warmth. And that’s when I really discovered
something important about myself.
I was cold on the inside.
And I had allowed myself to become used to it. I could tell because of the discomfort that
this atmosphere was causing me. I needed
my heart to thaw. I still clung to
Ashton’s arm as we walked towards an empty table.
“Wow,” I said.
I found myself resting my head on his shoulder for a
moment. I wasn’t sure why. I could feel him turn his head towards me, so
I lifted my head and looked him in the eyes.
He smiled. Then he pulled a chair
out for me.
He took the seat off to my left.
“So, tell me about your family,” Ashton said after we were
situated. “What do your parents do?”
This was when it was usually nice to have a partner in my
ear to feed me some fake information.
But I could hopefully get by on my own.
“My dad is in business,” I replied. “He works in a corporate office in New
York. My mom was a stay at home mom
until I started high school and then she started working as an insurance
agent.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Unfortunately, no,” I replied. “I sometimes wish I did.” That part was true. “What about you?”
“I was an only kid too.”
“Did you ever want any siblings?” I asked.
“Sometimes,” he answered.
“I always thought it would have been really cool to have an older
brother.”
That’s when a loud, booming voice interrupted our quiet
discussion. “Why? So you could have someone to defend you
against big, bad Kalvin?”
There was laughter coming from Kalvin and his friends as
they all sat down at the table with us.
Ashton stayed calm, but I could tell by the way he started to clench his
hand under the table that he was getting either angry, uncomfortable, or both.
“What, did we interrupt something?” Kalvin asked, feigning
innocence.
Lucas and Derrick started smirking. A moment later, Jamie came over to the table
and sat down in between the two.
“Hello, Felix,” Jamie said.
Her slight smile disappeared.
“Ashton.”
“I think these guys are on a date,” Lucas said.
“Well then,” Kalvin said.
“I don’t think they’ll mind if we join.”
“Actually, I do,” Ashton answered. “There are plenty of other tables around
here. Why don’t you guys just go sit
somewhere else?”
Kalvin just laughed.
“I swear. You must be paying this
girl to go out with you.”
I was getting angrier by the second, but before I could say
anything, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I looked up to see Janice.
“Hi, honey,” Janice said.
“Could I borrow you for a second?”
I glanced at Ashton, who nodded and mouthed, “Go ahead.”
I hated leaving him there, so I made sure to keep an eye on
the table while Janice led me away. When
we were out of earshot, Janice took my arm and pulled me closer.
“Don’t let those nasty kids ruin your night,” she said. “Do you want me to say something to
them? I can get them thrown out for
causing trouble. They have no right
talking to you guys like that. You have
to be careful with Kalvin. He and his
friends can be pretty violent if they’re provoked.”
“It’s ok, it’s ok,” I replied quickly. I was quiet for a moment and then I snapped
my fingers. “I have a plan. I’ll take care of it.”
She looked at me uncertainly.
I grinned. “Trust
me.”
She started to smile back and then gave me a pat on the
shoulder. “Alright. But if you need anything, just come get
me. I’m sort of like Ashton’s other mom,
so I’m pretty protective of him and his friends.”
She walked away and
I slowly began making my way back to the table.
As I got closer, I heard everyone at the table burst out laughing except
for Ashton, who set his jaw tight. I
hadn’t heard what they had said, but it was obviously enough for Ashton,
because he stood up to walk away. Lucas
reached over, grabbed his arm, and jerked him back down into his seat.
Ashton yanked his arm away.
“Cut it out and grow up!”
“Grow up?” Kalvin said.
“Why don’t you try giving yourself some advice? Felix is going to be gone before the clock
strikes eight. Watch me work my magic.”
Ashton gritted his teeth.
“Stay away from her.”
“Make me,” Kalvin sneered.
I stopped and slowly turned away without them seeing
me. Then I made my way over to the
refreshments table. I picked up two
glasses of punch and headed back over to the table. Then I set one down in front of Ashton and
the other in front of myself before taking a seat.
“I brought us some drinks, handsome,” I said. “I hope I got what you like.”
Ashton suddenly looked over at me, obviously hiding his
surprise at my sudden change of dialogue.
“Oh, thank you.”
I dropped a straw into my drink. “I’m so glad that you are finally taking me
out. It was hard to catch him, but I saw
what I wanted and didn’t stop chasing until I got it.”
Jamie glanced at me funny and then frowned. Kalvin furrowed his eyebrows.
“You chased him?” Kalvin said, making a sound
of disbelief. “You must be as big a dork
as he is.”
‘Dork’ was such an immature term.
“Oh, I was a bit of a nerd in high school,” I replied. “Studying anthropology and the human
condition. People just didn’t
understand. But that’s how I ended up
getting into photography. Well, it was
actually my modeling career that got me interested in photography in the first
place. One day, I just looked at the
camera and realized the powerful influence I could have if I was on the other
side of the lens.”
“Modeling career?” Jamie said.
“Oh, yes, I was a model for awhile after I graduated from
high school,” I replied. “Then I used my
photography skills to take photos that related to anthropology, traveling to
different countries to study people and the way they lived. It was quite fascinating.”
“How did you afford the travel?” Jamie asked suspiciously.
“Oh, my parents financed everything,” I answered. “My dad was a farmer, and he struck oil on
his land right after my mom and dad got married. They took care of all of my trips. But after I began making my own income,
selling my photos to travel and social research magazines, I refused to use any
more of their money.”
None of the others at the table said a word. Neither did Ashton, who just stared at
me. He suddenly got a slight grin on his
face and looked down. He knew what I was
doing.
“You look so good tonight,” I said to him.
He looked back up at me, and the second he did, I grabbed
him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him.
I’ll admit, it was my first kiss, and it didn’t necessarily come about
the way I had always expected, but I didn’t care. In fact, it turned out even better.
Chapter
26
Ashton
Ashton
didn’t kiss back right away out of pure shock.
But once he snapped out of it, he kissed her back. He didn’t really know if he was doing it
right, but apparently he must have been because she wouldn’t stop kissing
him. Ashton had no problem with that.
When she finally pulled away, there was a different look in
her eyes. Something about the way she
looked at him. Suddenly, the gaping
stares of the others at the table didn’t exist.
“Let’s go,” Ashton said.
Felix got up. She put
her arm through Ashton’s as they walked away and didn’t even look back at
Kalvin or the others.
As they walked away, Ashton glanced at Felix, who was
starting to grin.
“I think we won,” she said under her breath.
Ashton started to laugh.
“I want to go, though,” she said.
“You want to go?” Ashton replied. “We can do that. I’ll take you somewhere else. What did you have in mind?”
As they walked past Janice, she gave Felix a thumbs up.
“What was that about?” Ashton asked.
Felix just smiled.
They left the tent and walked out into the street. They let go of each other, and Felix started
laughing.
Ashton broke into a smile.
“Alright, how much of your story was made up?”
Felix looked him in the eyes. “Pretty much all of it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” Ashton broke
into a smile. He wasn’t sure if he
should mention it, but it slipped out anyways.
“What about the kiss?”
Felix suddenly turned very serious. “Does this feel real to you?”
She leaned forward and kissed him again. Only this time, it was different. They were by themselves. Kalvin wasn’t watching. And it was the realest thing Ashton had ever
felt.
After she pulled away, he looked a little confused. “What’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?” Felix asked.
“I don’t know…I just can’t believe this is all
happening…nothing like this has ever happened…”
Felix watched him steadily.
“I know exactly what you mean.”
Tell us about
a favorite character from a book.
When it comes to
a favorite character from a book…I would have to go with Darby Carter from the,
"Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse
Island" series. She was a strong,
loveable, intelligent, and very brave YA character who felt very real. I was about her age when I read the stories
so I looked up to her. Her character
development over the series was incredibly fun to follow. She went from a shy, city girl to a strong,
determined ranch woman in Hawaii.
What made you
want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?
I wanted to
become an author because I have a very fast-paced head that's always filled
with stories, and this is my outlet. It
was most certainly the right decision.
Now I'm also finding that another outlet for this is screenwriting.
A day in the
life of the author?
I have a normal
job outside of writing. I take a little
time everyday working on my spirituality (reading Bible verses and praying),
spending time with my family, and keeping up with the daily tasks of having a
home. At the end of the day, if I have a
little down time, I work on marketing my books and writing.
Advice they
would give new authors?
Everyone is
subjective. You can have one person tell
you that your world building in your book was terrible, and the next person
will say that the world building was their favorite part (go figure). You also have to be open to constructive
feedback. Try not to get offended and
really think about what was said. If you
really don't agree with the advice, you don't have to! So it's all about that perfect balance. Just do what you know is good writing for
your story. Also, it's always good to
practice and hone your skills by writing and reading. Also, please, please look up how to do a good
book launch before you publish your first book. I found that out much later in the game. Start with a Google search on book
launches.
Describe your
writing style.
According to one of my reviewers, "The
author keeps the reader glued to pages with a keen eye for detail and a taut
writing style." I'm concise in my
writing.
What makes a
good story?
I feel like
likeable characters are key to a good story.
I can read a book and the story and the main idea can be awesome, but if
the character isn't likeable or doesn't become likeable by the end of the book,
then I have a hard time relating. That
is my subjective opinion.
What are you
currently reading?
My current read
is, "Asbury High and the Thief's Gamble" by Kelly Brady
Channick. It's super awesome!
What is your
writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the
chapters first?
I usually will
write a very light outline but will add in a lot of storyline as I go along,
and I don't always follow the outline. I
usually don't know how the book will end until I get there.
What are
common traps for aspiring writers?
Feeling like
writing a book is going to be too hard and you could never do it. Trust me…if you have a story to tell, it's
not like writing an essay. It's like
watching a really good movie. And don't
worry about making it perfect right away.
This is a first draft. Just get
the ideas out. Don't worry about the
sentence structure or how many times you start a sentence with,
"I." If you get stuck on a
scene, skip it and write it later.
You'll be able to go back and change all of this later and more
effectively. The most important thing is
to just get the ideas out.
Also, I think many aspiring writers worry about getting
published. There are plenty of avenues
to publish your books that won't cost you anything. Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace were
my platforms! Send out your query
letters to agents. Dream of making it
big with HarperCollins or Scholastic. I
still do! But also appreciate your
self-publishing options in the meantime and know that the industry is changing
and self-publishing has proven to be just as, if not more, effective than going
with a larger publishing house. But once
you self-publish, prepare for the marketing.
That's the hardest part. Do your
research, find other authors who were successful in self-publishing, network
with them, and do what they do.
What is your
writing Kryptonite?
I love having a
fully charged laptop, a cozy room or couch, and a Friday night where I can type
until 2am. I get some great scenes out
when I'm tired and my mind is looser hahaha.
Do you try
more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I try to be
original and true to myself, although I've been pondering and weighing the pros
and cons of writing what I want versus what's popular in the world right
now. You have to do what feels right to
you. Never stray away from your values
or beliefs for a story. You don't have
to. I always want to deliver what the
readers want. For example, I kept
hearing positive feedback about Wolf and Juro's characters. Originally, I wasn't sure how involved they
were going to be for the remainder of the series, but once I heard that
feedback from my readers, I continued involving the characters heavily into the
storyline and developing them, which only made the readers love them even more.
If you could
tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don't let your
need to market overshadow your love of writing.
There are some days where I market and market but I'm not writing, and
then I start to lose sight of why I'm doing it in the first place. Marketing is important, but make time for
creation. It'll refresh you and fuel
your passion so you keep moving forward.
What’s the
most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
I have to be
honest, I don't find any issues with writing male characters. Maybe it's because I grew up with brothers,
so I was able to see firsthand how boys work and that their feelings aren't all
that different from girls. We all want
the same thing at the end of the day.
How long on
average does it take you to write a book?
If I stuck with a
good schedule, I could probably write one in about two months. But my life outside of writing is busy and I
usually end up writing one book every six to twelve months (from first word to
absolute final draft). I think my record
was a few weeks because I had some time off from work (that was,
"Perception and Deception II").
Do you believe
in writer’s block?
Absolutely. I've written about this topic online
before. I
deal with writer's block by taking a rest from my writing. Sometimes, you have
to let the inspiration build up in your mind from your own life
experiences. And then suddenly, you wake
up in the middle of the night with ten chapters worth of ideas! It's very
interesting how our minds work.
SEEKING BETA READERS FOR PERCEPTION AND DECEPTION III!
Email me at tesoroseries@gmail.com if interested in a free PDF copy in exchange for your honest review! This is the third book in a spy series, however, the first two books do not need to be read to get into the story. Each book has a stand-alone case to solve, so you won't get lost starting here.
Andrea Hintz has loved writing her whole life. She began college at the age of thirteen and graduated at seventeen with a Bachelor's in Public Management and Administration. Having endless stacks of books, she has a particular interest in fiction genres that contain lots of adventure and take her to other places of the world. She has written many books including the books in The Tesoro Series, the Perception and Deception series, additional short stories, guest articles for writing blogs and literary magazines, as well as a short guide for beginning authors. Andrea also plays the guitar, sings, and has written notebooks and notebooks full of songs and book ideas. Her favorite books were very special to her growing up, and she believes that if at least one reader feels that way about her work, she will have successfully done her job as an author.
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Thank you! God bless!
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