#NewRelease - CHASING SHADOWS by Cat Jameson - A Romantic Suspense Novel
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
#NewRelease – CHASING SHADOWS by Cat Jameson, is a romantic suspense novel about a St. Louis public defender determined to prove herself as the courtroom badass she knows she can be – only to find her career upended when the sexy stranger from her one-night-stand turns out to be the key witness against her client in the biggest case of her career. And someone is trying to kill him. Welcome Cat!
Why do I write romance?
Let's face it, romance novels are the Halloween candy of books, right? Fun, frivolous, and deliciously decadent. They are NOT the Great American Novel ... which is a tremendous trial to my overachieving lawyer ego bitch … since I both ADORE and WRITE romance.
Never mind that it was romance novels — not the Great American Novel — that got me through law school. Admittedly, they weren’t much help in learning Torts or Tax Law, but when that last exam of each semester was done and I emerged from the law library blinking in the sunlight like Punxsutawny Phil on Groundhog Day, romance novels made me whole. I’d devour them, one after another, letting my bruised and abused brain cells rest and recoup in the warm bath of a well-written romance.
When I became a criminal defense lawyer and my crazy hours shifted from the law library to jails, prisons, and courtrooms — romance novels balanced the grit of my everydays. High stakes and suspense make for great stories, but actually living them? Let’s just say I needed those happily-ever-afters more than ever. I owe romance novels for picking me up off the ground more times than I count. So. when I got the chance to actually WRITE them... my writer self locked the overachieving ego bitch in the closet and went for it.
Which is why, my dedication in Chasing Shadows reads:
Write what makes you happy. Write what makes you laugh.
Write what makes you sing.
To those who gave me the advice that got me out of my own head and made this book possible. You know who you are.
Heresy to my overachieving ego bitch (heresy I say!!), but words that broke me out of the straitjacket of self-judgment in which I'd been stuck for way too long and opened the way for Chasing Shadows and those currently in the works.
So, here's hoping that you fellow overachievers find the inspiration to step away from your own personal ego bitch overseer now and then and do what feeds your soul. And whatever stuff is going on in your lives, may our books and random musings make your days a little bit brighter, calmer, funnier, sexier, more happily-ever-after-er — like so many of the authors I relied on did for me. After all, life is all about paying it forward, right??
(Maybe that will calm the ego bitch down a bit. Or not. Time will tell!)
Cat
CHASING SHADOWS BLURB
Annie O’Toole is a St. Louis Public Defender, passionate about fighting for the underdog and determined to prove herself as the badass trial lawyer she knows she can be. Getting assigned to defend the kid charged with shooting billionaire businessman, Michael Grayson, is a big step up for her career. At least until the hot guy she seduced at the Justice for All Ball shows up at her office in response to her deposition subpoena. Turns out the sexy stranger who introduced himself only as ‘Mick', the guy she’s been fantasizing about since slipping away while he slept — is none other than the billionaire himself, Michael Grayson.
She's horrified. He's furious. He thinks she set him up. She thinks he's an arrogant ass in a Savile Row suit. Sparks, intrigue, and bullets fly in a mix of swoon and suspense as the two battle each other, the bad guys, and an off-limits attraction neither can ignore. When the evidence leads back into Michael's inner corporate circle, the two are plunged into a world of international intrigue, corporate espionage, and murder — with a side dish of unresolved family drama as Annie is forced to turn to the only expert in corporate intrigue she knows, her own uber-wealthy, estranged grandmother. Now all she has to do is solve the case, escape her grandmother’s plans to take over her life (again), and save her client, her career, and the man whose lifestyle she despises . . . and whose touch she can't forget.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
“I absolutely loved the characters in this book! I am not a romance novel fan, but a friend recommended it, and I loved it. I couldn’t put it down… It’s a great fun read and very well written!”— Amazon Review
“This book sizzzzles. From the very first, I was hooked by the chemistry between Annie and Michael, who are both strong-willed and whip-smart. The banter and tension are *chef’s kiss* and the mystery had me staying up a wee bit too late (worth it). If you like your spice with a side of Law and Order, you won’t be disappointed! I can’t wait for the next one.” — Amazon Review
This book is incredibly well done. Annie is smart, capable, and nearly impossible to dislike. She’s witty and caring, level-headed, and a straight-shooter. When she realizes that she slept with the victim she’s supposed to depose, she does everything she can to warn him and do everything above board. Would she have been kept on the case in real life? Obviously not. But the way the author crafts the logic around her staying on as counsel makes enough sense that it feels perfectly reasonable. Honestly, I think Annie working through those early legal decisions is what utterly hooked me. Did I feel like a legal expert nodding along sagely while Annie ran through different scenarios with her co-counsel? I did. I really did. The legal/crime suspense is the bulk of the middle section, but it’s so riveting it just flies by. Annie and Michael’s relationship development keeps being sidelined at the most inopportune (tension building) times, and they can’t seem to be sure they can really trust each other. The plot is layered and has a lot of tertiary characters, but no corners are cut as the final confrontation is cued up. It’s meticulous and layered, and every action has an airtight explanation….There are enough lingering glances and yearning thoughts to keep the romance going during the suspenseful bits and the banter is crisp and witty and full of inside jokes, just the way I like it. — Excerpt, The Smut Report Review
“Great characters, brisk paced plot. Romantic suspense is not my normal genre but the description of a public defender involved with a crime victim intrigued me enough to pick this one up. I’m glad I did. The fully developed characters just jumped off the page, the continuing obstacles to their steamy romance kept the plot moving at a brisk pace and I was so hooked, I finished it one day. Highly recommended. — Amazon Review
“Smart, sexy, and just so real… As a person who enjoys a little bit of action, thrill, spice, and romance — I was hooked all the way through. Chasing Shadows is an amazing story line that has it all. I especially appreciated the deeper psychological level that Jameson was able to go to with her character development… it gives you a chance to inspect a few of your own complicated beliefs and newfound boundaries — if you dare. Overall, great book. I am looking forward to more from this writer!” — Amazon Review
AUTHOR BIO:
Cat Jameson is enjoying her third career, this one as a writer of romance novels packed with equal parts suspense, snark, and spice. Before that, she was a criminal defense lawyer for almost three decades, a life experience that finds its way into her stories. Upon retiring from the practice of law, Jameson began a second career as co-owner of a metaphysical bookstore— exchanging her law books for books on astrology, tarot, and non-mainstream spiritual traditions. “People see that as a 180-degree shift,” Cat explains with a laugh, “but in truth, both have always been a part of me. The only thing that changed was which was front and center.” She says the same is true for her third career as a writer: “I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. I just never sent any of them out into the world.” That changed in 2024 when Jameson’s debut novel, Chasing Shadows, was not only sent out, but picked up by The Wild Rose Press.
A native Missourian, Jameson grew up in a small town near the Ozark Mountains, the middle child of a railroader and a teacher, before moving to St. Louis to attend Washington University School of Law. She wound up staying in St. Louis for most of her legal career and the city features prominently in both her debut novel and two others she has in the works. Today, she resides in Columbia, Missouri or, as Jameson calls it, “the middle of the middle of Flyover Country, halfway between the Kansas City Chiefs to the west and the St. Louis Cardinals to the east.” When not writing, shop-keeping, or playing with grandkids, Jameson is most likely to be off on a road trip with her best friend and business partner in a ten-year-old van named Woo — stopping at every bookstore and thrift shop along the way, loading up on ‘things they do not need and have no room for.’
CONTACT: CJ@CatJameson.com
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