Smeared Lavender

by Natalie Rucando

Overview

Landing a new client from the Middle East, a woman travels to Beirut, where her past involvement with the IRA resurfaces through her abduction by Hezbollah, converging with a Russian suitor and her supernatural gifts.

Nexxa Davoren lives in her triangle of coveted spots around the broker-dealer she works for in Manhattan. While having drinks one evening in the rooftop bar, Salon de Ning, she meets a man who works for the National Lebanese Bank. This encounter is the premise for her trip to Lebanon, where a man abducts her in Beirut. Her past involvement with the IRA becomes entangled with Hezbollah.

If Hard Candy Kristmas wins the race, she might find herself in Moscow with Sergei. A jaunt to Rome with a newly acquired baby girl is mixed in somewhere, which seems innocent until her vengeful ex-husband surfaces. In the end, she finds herself at her annual Ice Queen party back in upstate New York, searching for the white glow.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798990869004
Publisher:	Smeared Vampire, LLC.
Publication date:	12/01/2024
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Natalie is originally from Arkansas, and in her twenties, she moved to NYC, where she continued her career in finance, working on Wall Street and Fifth Avenue. She's fortunate to be the coveted Chinese sign, Dragon, and loves Vampy weather paired with wine. She resides in NJ with a view of New York City, where she writes and homeschools her children.

Editorial Reviews

2025-05-01
In Rucando’s thriller, a financier embarks on a dangerous international adventure while working with a new client.

It’s 2013, and Nexxa Davoren is a successful broker-dealer who specializes in the fixed-income bond market at Kuretz Investments in New York City. Her career and luxurious lifestyle are worlds away from her dangerous past in Ireland as a member of the Irish Republican Army. One afternoon, Nexxa meets Faroud Abboud, the general manager with the National Lebanese Bank, who presents her with a proposition: His employer is raising capital to find infrastructure projects in Beirut, he says, and he thinks that Kuretz Investments would be the ideal partner for what they have in mind. Nexxa travels to Beirut with her sister, Iliada, to advise Faroud; however, what begins as a mere business trip soon turns into a matter of international intrigue. It starts when Nexxa and Iliada meet Medan and Zarian, two handsome strangers with secretive political connections. Later, when Nexxa meets Russian entrepreneur Sergei Kozlov at a Beirut racetrack, the spark between them is immediate and intense. Their passion, however, is threatened by forces intent on permanently separating them, and Nexxa must use her skills and intuition to survive. Debut author Rucando’s series starter is an intricately plotted work of romantic suspense with an intriguing premise and vividly drawn characters. Nexxa is a strong protagonist who anchors a sprawling cast of supporting characters, which also includes Kilmer Davoren, her dangerous ex-husband. The prose is plainspoken, straightforward, and sometimes crude: “Medan thought he had privacy when he was out on the terrace. He needed to fart; he did that when he was worried or before flying.” That said, some passages would have benefited from sharper editing: “Nexxa mentioned that a Native American man, Thomas, raised her along with her mom, and through this, Patrick learned that she was the young girl come woman that Thomas had spoken about over the years.” Overall, the impressive scope of the narrative and ambitious worldbuilding will make readers eager for the next installment.

A lively, if occasionally uneven, globetrotting tale.

Kirkus Reviews