These Small Hours

by Gloria Herrmann

Keep writing…or die trying.

Charlene Vanderberg is a bestselling author whose world is turned upside as she experiences writer’s block for the first time. She now faces a deadline to redeem her career after her last book, a sappy romance, flopped. Charley had only wanted to try her hand at a different genre, one with a little less murder and mayhem, but had ended up creating some disgruntled fans. That’s when the words disappeared, and Charley found herself unable to write a single sentence.

After being plagued with crippling writer’s block for months and about to hang up the towel, Charley’s agent Pamela has convinced her that a change of scenery would help get her creative juices flowing again. She sends Charley off to a cozy lake resort and has enlisted some protection for her in the person of Nick Capra, a detective who is running from his own demons, has no desire to babysit the famous author but finds himself unable to stop developing feelings for his charge.

Famous for writing chilling tales, Charley isn’t prepared for the nightmare in store for her. The sleepy lake community where nothing bad ever happens begins to see a string of grisly murders. Charley discovers these murders were meant to inspire her to write her next novel. A copycat killer is reenacting scenes from her bestsellers. No one is safe from this killer—not even Charley.

Reader advisory: This book contains incidents of alcohol use, violence and murder.

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2021

About the author

Gloria Herrmann is a contemporary romance author originally from southern California who is now living in Washington with her family and pugs, Rizzo and Louie. Her stories are a reflection of the love she has for family, friends, culture, and real-life moments. Her debut novel, Loving Liam, the first book in The Cloverleaf Series was released in October of 2015, and three more titles from that series were released by Limitless Publishing. Gloria then wrote Single in Seattle, a steamy three-book contemporary series released by Totally Bound in 2017, and her first romantic suspense These Small Hours in 2021. She has several self-published titles available at amazon.com, including The Pass Through, which hit #1 in Native American Literature and Paranormal Romance. All of her books are available at amazon.com.

To find out more about her books and current projects, please visit the links below.

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/authorgloriaherrmann
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TIKTOK www.tiktok/@authorgloriaherrmann
TWITTER www.twitter.com/gloriaiswriting
AMAZON amazon.com/author/gloriaherrmann
BOOKBUB www.bookbub.com/authors/gloria-herrmann
GOODREADS www.goodreads.com/authorgloriaherrmann
LIMITLESS PUBLISHING www.limitlesspublishing.net/authors/g...
TOTALLY BOUND PUBLISHING www.totallybound.com/author/gloria-he...

Reviews

[Wonder Tre Reads -Tre Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read other books by this author in the past and have enjoyed them but this story blew me away. I loved how she tried something new and ventured off because my oh my this is a page turning story from the beginning until the end. Charley is a writer that is trying to overcome her writer’s block and stays in a small town for a bit in a cozy cabin. This story takes us into a twisted path that will give you goosebumps and having you wear your detective hat more often then not. In the beginning I was torn with being on team Nick or team Tucker but as the story develops I was hands down cheering Nick all the way. I was certain I knew what was happening a little past the halfway mark in the book but man oh man was I mistaken, my jaw was on the floor when all secrets were revealed. A must read.

[Downward dog · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for murder, mayhem and suspense with some romance thrown into the mix, These Small Hours is the book for you. The story centers on Charlene (Charley), a bestselling crime writer and Nick, a burnt out detective.

Charley has decided to visit the small town of Crescent Lake with the hope of getting over her writer's block. What she didn't expect is dead bodies turning up.This story starts a little slow, but once Charley enters the sleepy community of Crescent Lake, things start to heat up.

Along with the suspense there is a romance brewing between Nick and Charley. I liked both these characters but it took a while for me to connect with them.

Suspense and romance is typically just the type of story I love and I was anxious to start reading this one, but unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with the writing. I found the pacing a slow and the characters one dimensional. Although, the ending was a surprise. Usually, I can figure out the ending, but with this one, I could not.

So, for me, the writing wasn’t what I had hoped for, but maybe it was just the mood I was in. If you like mystery and suspense with some romance, give this one a try.

Originally posted on Long and Short Reviews

[Sherry Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was already a fan of Gloria Herrmann's having read "The Past Thru" some time back. If you haven't yet you are missing out on a fab story. So I was excited to read a mystery in which an actual writer was telling a story about an author called Charley (Charlene). What a concept!

At first, I thought Charley may be a bit conceited or comfortable with her lifestyle but as always, life happens and it happened in a smack in the face. Charley is a sweet enduring young woman who forgot to fall in love because as many writers do they become obsessed with their characters.

When she is sent to what is normally a quiet beautiful park to finish what she started which was another best-seller, all hell breaks loose as she seems to bring death and murders on her trail. Someone wants to help Charley write her thrillers. And they will kill to do it.
I loved the burnt-out but sexy detective Nick and his fur-baby Ruger. Let's give the doggie a hand here. I love me some dogs in a story.

I pride myself on figuring out who the killer in a story is but not this time. I did not see this coming so great shock to me. A wonderful story covering loss, love, and murder all in one. I couldn't put it down!

[Lisa Michelle Pichner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlene is a bestselling crime author who has writers block. She decides to go to a small town named Crescent Lake where she hope to get her inspiration back. What she didn't expect is to be caught up with dead bodies and a hot detective named Nick. This read kept me glued to the pages and with the suspense of all the murders I couldn't put down the books. I loved the unexpected romance between Charlene and Nick. This book was brilliant and I cant wait to read what eles Mrs. Herrmann comes up with. I highly recommend this read to anyone who loves suspense, mystery and romance.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlene is a writer so that was a teaser on going into this story. It also must be hard when a writer has trouble trying too. So she also thinks a change of where she is might help. She also meets Nick where she goes whom has his own story. Things start to happen like what she writes so much so in fact like her books. This also puts her in the line of sight of the one creating real life murder. There is also a taste of romance so turn the pages to see if she is the next best seller.