Welcome to my stop on L.M. Pruitt's Spotlight Tour for the Irish Rover and Taken, the first two books in her Frankie Post series. Please make sure to leave a comment or question below to let L.M. know you stopped by. You can also enter my Rafflecopter giveaway for the series below.
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Guest Post - It's a Man's World - Writing Women in Noir by L.M. Pruitt
The world of noir is, to sum it up in one word, fascinating. It’s dark, gritty, and sexy as hell. There is one problem with this world, though.
Most of it belongs to men.
The men in noir get the best roles. They’re the hard-boiled, cynical detective, sucked into a crime bigger than they imagined but honor bound to finish the case. They’re the masterminds behind the crime, the villains who get the best lines. They’re the henchmen who get to twirl their mustaches or the poor, poor schmuck who gets taken for everything he has.
Like I said, they get the best parts.
Women are stuck with one of two rules—the femme fatale or the fainting virgin.
If you’re the femme fatale, chances are good you’re in league with the bad guys. Sure, you get to wear slinky clothes, wisecrack with the best of them, and have sex with whoever you want. But you’re probably going to run foul of the law or at least of the hard-boiled detective. And the odds are higher that you’re probably going to bite the dust before the end of the case.
Not that things are better if you’re the fainting virgin. You get to pine away for someone—probably the schmuck but maybe the detective. That little bit depends entirely on whether or not the detective is deemed worthy of rehabilitation. If he is, you’re probably going to die, either at the hands of the big bad guy or at the hands of the femme fatale. If he’s not and you’ve had the luck—good or bad, depending on how you look at it—to fall in love with a nice guy, you’re still probably going to die. Hey, noir is a tough world.
So what’s a writer to do when they decide to step into the world of crime fiction and noir? Well, I decided to combine some roles—in particular those of the femme fatale and the detective. Why should the men get to have all the fun, get to enjoy all the sex without negative consequences, and go around chasing the bad guys? Why should men get the best lines and have the biggest brass balls?
Well, in the world of Frankie Post—they don’t.
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Irish Rover
by L.M. Pruitt
Frankie Post, Book .05
Publisher: Red Hot Publisher
Release Date: October 19, 2011
Buy Link:
Book Description:
Cheating husband?
Call Frances "Frankie" Post, a private investigator with a trick or two up her sleeve.
In this flash fiction piece (approx. 1500 words) join Frankie as she spends the afternoon in Queens masquerading as a member of the "personal entertainment" business community. A note to cheating husbands - never use the joint checking account.
Taken
by L.M. Pruitt
Frankie Post Series, Book 1
Publisher: Red Hot Publisher
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Buy Link:
Book Description:
Cheating spouse? Stolen jewelry? Missing person?
Call Frances--Frankie--Post. A private detective with a trick of two up her sleeve and a few skeletons of her own.
What starts out as a simple missing person's case dumps Frankie and her lover Jack right in the cross hairs of a dangerous human trafficking organization. With lives on the line, bad blood and old wounds finally see the light of day. And Frankie and Jack are forced to realize: The past always catches up with you.
Always.
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About the Author:
L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice. As a result, she's not allowed to walk in the gardening department of any store without supervision. She's also not allowed in the card aisle of any grocery store without an escort since she'll spend thirty minutes opening cards and laughing for no good reason. She is the author of the best-selling Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and the Frankie Post series. She continues to make her home in Florida in spite of the heat and mosquitoes and shares her home with two cats--one of them smart, the other not so much.
Connect with her at:
Facebook: L.M. Pruitt
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My Review of Taken
Tackling the topic of human sex trafficking, L.M. Pruitt introduces us to her female, film noir inspired private detective Francis "Frankie" Post. With a dark history of her own, a super hot police detective lover and a couple of questionable assistants, Frankie is given a case that can make or break her in more ways than one. Using the dark and gritty underbelly of New York City and their nightclubs, Ms. Pruitt grabbed my attention from the first page and never let go.
Private investigator Francis "Frankie" Post is used to pursuing cheating husbands, missing persons and stolen money. When a new client gives her a missing person's case, Frankie knows things are not quite what they seem, the client agreed to an exorbitant fee and she discovers the police had referred the client to her. Realizing the missing young woman is the victim of human sex traffickers and discovering who set the young woman up, Frankie realizes this case could result in the secrets in her past putting an end to not only her career but the life she's built in New York.
Homicide detective Jack Waters and Frankie Post have been more than friends for a very long time. Shared secrets could result in the end of both of their lives. Determined to protect Frankie watch over and protect Frankie from possible harm, Jack finds himself helping her with a missing persons case. Wanting to make their relationship more permanent and keep them both safe, Jack is willing to do whatever it takes.
Written in first person, Ms. Pruitt gives us everything from Frankie's viewpoint. While we don't get Jack's viewpoint, we do get to see his actions and reactions to everything that happens in Frankie's life. We also get their shared history through flashbacks and conversations between them. Ms. Pruitt does a great job with Frankie's character; we find out about her "secret seer" abilities inherited from her Irish family, discover she and Jack are a little kinky in the bedroom (they both like threesomes involving another woman occasionally) and watch her deal with the realities the life she's built might soon be coming to an end.
Will Frankie and Jack find the missing young woman before it's too late? Will their past ruin their future?
You'll have to read Taken to find out. I enjoyed it and hope we get to see more books in this world in the future.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I love this series!! L.M. is such a gifted writer and, for me, everything she writes is amazing. Great review!
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