SLEIGHT OF HAND mystery/romantic suspense New Release

Monday, March 3, 2025, is the release date for my latest novel, a mystery/romantic suspense titled SLEIGHT OF HAND by USA Today Bestselling Author Shawna Delacorte. Published by The Wild Rose Press.  Excerpts and other information available on my website.  www.shawnadelacorte.com

This is the story of Huntington Wolfe III, international playboy born into a wealthy socially prominent family, a man with a secret past and a job to do. And Aurora Brentano, a woman on a mission to discover the truth behind her father's death and prove him innocent of the crime he was accused of doing.

He is suspicious of her activities, can he trust her? She has him at the top of her suspect list, can she trust him? When they team up, it's murder.

Excerpt #2:

“If Quentin is dead, it certainly came at an extremely convenient time. Add to that the woman working for Prestige Caterers at last night’s soirée, wearing a name tag that said Gwen but drove away in a car registered to Aurora Brentano, and…”

“You think this guy is still alive? It seems to me if he faked his own death to get the cops off his back, it would be stupid for him to continue ripping off jewelry—at least in the same part of the country where he had been plying his trade. If it was me and I’d just faked my death, I’d be out of town so fast you wouldn’t even see my dust. I sure wouldn’t stick around so I could pull more jobs in the same place following the same pattern.”

“Yeah…me, too. Just one of several inconsistencies that don’t make any sense.”

“So, any preference about where you want me to start, or can I handle it at my discretion?”

“First on the list is Aurora Brentano. The car registration shows a San Francisco address. Find out when she left San Francisco, whether she was anywhere else between leaving there and ending up here, or if she came straight to Seattle. I need to know where she’s staying. Scope out her father’s house in Bellevue. That’s the most logical place for her to be.”

“Unless she’s in hiding and staying off the grid.”

“If that’s the case, then it seems to me she wouldn’t be driving her own car with the California license plates. I’m guessing she’s being cautious but doesn’t think anyone’s actually looking for her.”

Johnny nodded. “If her father’s house doesn’t pan out, I’ll check the utilities to see if there’s anything in her name in the greater Seattle area and surrounding towns. If that doesn’t turn something, I’ll hit the motels that rent suites on a monthly basis.”

“Check both names…Aurora Brentano and Gwen York. All I have for Gwen is a pager number that Charlie Gorman gave me, no phone number. Apparently, not even a disposable cell phone. At least not one that Charlie knows about. Locate an existing phone number, and see if you can track a location for her through the GPS chip and cell towers from her phone calls. If that doesn’t work, maybe you can find a local address through Gwen’s pager.” Hunt texted the pager number to Johnny.

After Johnny left, Hunt refilled his coffee mug and stepped out on the terrace again. He stared at the water. Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then slowly exhaled. No matter where in the world he traveled, to what exotic location, it always soothed his soul to return home. He took another deep breath, then once again turned his thoughts to the business at hand.

There’s a lot more going on with this case than just the theft of some high-dollar jewelry. But what? Could the police theory be right? Quentin Brentano did it and now his partner is continuing with the thefts? A partner who just happens to also be his daughter?

The image of delectable Aurora played across the screen of his mind. His breathing quickened. He might have been doing a number on Charlie Gorman in order to get the information he wanted, but he couldn’t deny the way she made his pulse race or the serious impact this woman had on his libido.

No question about it, she represented a definite obstacle to his investigation.

Excerpt #3:

On-going tension churned inside Aurora, and a new wave of anger surged through her body reinforcing her determination. During her San Francisco calls with the obnoxious Lt. Montrose, he had made it clear he held her father responsible for the stolen jewelry and refused to give it further discussion. Her primary objective was to clear her father’s name, but she couldn’t deny being compelled to also bring down Montrose’s smug arrogance and make him publicly eat his words about her father.

She returned her thoughts to her current plan of action. Step one is to figure out how to make personal contact with Huntington Wolfe III without making him suspicious. Establishing some sort of personal connection with him will make my investigation easier.

She had even scaled the wall surrounding his estate hoping to get some kind of information she could use. A cold shudder assaulted her senses as she recalled the moment she saw a man emerge from the house and stand on a second floor balcony. She had bolted toward the wall surrounding the grounds with only one thought in mind—make it over the wall and to her car before someone saw her and called the police. Or worse yet, before someone took a shot at her. Ending up in jail or the hospital, neither had been on her agenda.

Reality had surprised her when her primary suspect suddenly showed up at the Swanson’s party. Doubt pushed at her followed by a rush of uncertainty. It’s too late now, but I should probably have been more receptive to his obvious flirting rather than being all business.

She once again tightened her jaw. No one would ever convince her of her father’s guilt. Lt. Montrose had literally hounded her father to his grave. A wave of despair washed over her, but she quickly wiped away the tears welling in her eyes.

Correction—hounded him to his death. They never recovered his body. He doesn’t have a grave. No place where I can go and be close to him.

She would find the person responsible for the thefts and make Montrose look like the despicable fool she knew him to be, no matter how long it took.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Sleight-Hand-Shawna-Delacorte-ebook/dp/B0DQQFLBMR/ 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sleight-of-hand-shawna-delacorte/1146673688?ean=2940184576602 

And other online vendors.  Available in both ebook and print.

Blurb:

Six years ago, Huntington Wolfe III, heir to a fortune and with a reputation as an international playboy, was a jewel thief. Now, he uses his skills and knowledge as a freelance insurance investigator to recover stolen jewelry, and he has a new case. But when he encounters a beautiful pickpocket at the scene of the next heist, he sets out to discover her identity and what other secrets she might be hiding.

Devastated by her father’s death during a high-speed police chase, Aurora Brentano goes undercover to prove his innocence. At the top of her suspect list is Huntington Wolfe III...until he catches her red-handed in her quest for clues and suggests they work together. She's not sure she can trust him, but they say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

As their unexpected alliance leads to an undeniable attraction, can they bring the true thief to justice, or will they be caught in a web of danger and deceit?

Check back on my blog next week (Saturday, March 1) for a character interview with Hunt and Aurora.

Shawna Delacorte website:  www.shawnadelacorte.com

Shawna Delacorte blog:  https://shawnadelacorte.blogspot.com 

9 Weird Allergies

Allergies are caused by the body's defense system overreacting to some substance it comes in contact with. We're all familiar with the allergies to everyday things such as mold, pollen, specific foods, and animal dander. There are 40 to 50 million Americans allergic to these common bad guys. But you'd be surprised at the uncommon allergies people can develop.

Here's a list of 9 (in no particular order) weird and unusual allergies.

1)  Water Allergy

Water is absolutely mandatory for our survival, but there are those rare people who get the hives from water. The hives and itching usually go away in 15 to 30 minutes and antihistamines will relieve the symptoms.

2)  Exercise Allergy

This type of allergy has only been officially reported in medical journals about 1000 times since the 1970s. Of course, unofficially is a different story…at one time or another I imagine most of us have professed being allergic to exercising. :)  In mild cases the result is hives. But in more severe cases it can lead to anaphylaxis, a dangerous condition where the blood pressure drops suddenly and there is difficulty breathing. This is the same type of reaction as severe food allergies and is treated as a medical emergency, usually with injections of epinephrine.

3)  Sun Allergy

Solar exposure can result in hives with the itching and stinging symptoms relieved with antihistamines, but not prevented. Sun allergy is very rare. The hives appear within 30 minutes of exposure to the sun and will clear up within minutes of getting out of the sun. Needless to say, avoiding the sun can prevent this reaction but is not always possible.

4)  Electricity Allergy

Those who claim to suffer from electro sensitivity say they are sensitive to electric fields generated by products such as cell phones, microwaves, computers, and power lines. The symptoms include headache, ringing in the ears and fatigue among other complaints. The experts say this is one type of allergy that you don't have to worry about because it doesn't exist. There have been several studies done and almost all of them have come up empty.

5)  Shoes Allergy

A poison ivy-type rash on your feet after you've worn leather shoes could be allergic reaction to the chemicals used in the leather tanning process. This type of allergy is known as contact dermatitis and can be diagnosed with a patch test. Contact dermatitis is somewhat of a catchall term for a common skin condition resulting from contact with many possible irritants. The solution to shoe allergy? Wear socks or shoes made from something other than leather.

6)  Allergy to Money

Another type of contact dermatitis can be an allergic rash on your hands after handling coins. The culprit would most likely be the nickel metal in coins, also an alloy found in the manufacture of jewelry, zippers, and eyeglass frames among other things. The best treatment is to avoid the substance. Good luck with this one with regard to handling money.  :)

7)  Allergy to Touch

This is known as dermographism and is another form of hives. The literal translation is skin writing and was named because with this type of allergy a person can write his name on his skin using nothing more than the pressure from a fingernail. That pressure on the skin causes an itchy hive reaction. This reaction can also be the result of tight clothing or even toweling off after a hot shower. The resultant itching can be controlled with antihistamines.

8)  Cold Temperature Allergy

This allergy is very rare, but potentially dangerous. It can be life-threatening if a person with this allergy is suddenly exposed to extreme cold, such as diving into very cold water. This can cause a massive release of histamine, which can severely drop the blood pressure. Handling this kind of allergy is to focus on prevention such as avoiding exposure of large areas of skin to the cold.

9)  Allergy To Pollinated Fruit

Millions of Americans have allergies to pollen and some of them could also experience a type of allergy known as oral allergy syndrome. This happens when someone allergic to pollen eats a fruit that contains the same protein as the pollen. This is a cross reactivity and can happen between such things as ragweed and bananas, grasses and tomato, and birch trees with apples, plums, or peaches. The symptoms are itchy mouth and throat and sometimes swelling of the lips and will go away if you swallow or spit out the fruit with treatment usually being unnecessary.

And there you have it…9 weird and unusual allergies. But not the only ones.

The History of Valentine's Day

Every February candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day and its patron saint is shrouded in mystery. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, how did St. Valentine become associated with this ancient rite?

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men—his pool of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform secret marriages for young lovers. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered him put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself.  While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him during his confinement who may have been his jailor's daughter. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and most importantly as a romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial which probably occurred around 270 A.D., others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to Christianize celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Around 498 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of the mating season for birds, which added to the idea that the middle of February should be a day for romance.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America. Valentine's Day is the second largest card-sending holiday of the year with Christmas being the highest.

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. 

Groundhog Day…And I Don't Mean The Movie

NEWS FLASH—SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, PUNXSUTAWNEY, PENNSYLVANIA:  PHIL WILL EMERGE FROM HIS BURROW TO PREDICT WHEN WINTER WILL END.  NO SHADOW…NO MORE WINTER.  SEES HIS SHADOW…SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!

By a strange coincidence those six more weeks of winter takes us almost to the Vernal Equinox which signals the official end of winter and the first day of spring.

Every year on February 2 a furry rodent of the groundhog variety named Punxsutawney Phil sticks his head out of his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to do his annual weather forecast.  In the United States and Canada, this is celebrated as Groundhog Day.  If Phil sees his shadow, it will frighten him and he'll return to his burrow.  If he doesn't see his shadow, he'll emerge and winter will soon be over.

At least, that's what the tradition claims.

The earliest American written reference to a groundhog day was 1841 in Pennsylvania's Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch) referring to it as the German celebration called Candlemas day where a groundhog seeing its shadow was a weather indication.  Superstition says that fair weather at that time was seen as a prediction of a stormy and cold second half to winter, as noted in this Old English saying:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,

Winter has another flight.

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,

Winter will not come again.

Since the first official celebration of Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania in 1886, crowds as large as 40,000 people have gathered in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for the annual celebration.  And in recent years it's been covered live on television.  Quite an accolade for the little ol' groundhog.  Since 1887, the groundhog has seen his shadow over 100 times [hmm…I wonder how many of those recent times were due to the television lights] predicting a longer winter and has not seen it only a few times to predict an early spring.  There is no record of his prediction for 9 years in the late 1800s.

The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, is a member of the squirrel family.  The current Punxsutawney Phil weighs fifteen pounds and lives in a climate controlled home in the Punxsutawney library.  On Gobbler's Knob, Phil is placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on a stage before being pulled out at 7:25AM to make his annual prediction. Quite removed from the concept of the groundhog waking from hibernation and emerging from his burrow in the wild.  :)

Over the decades, the groundhog has only about a 30% accuracy record. Today's meteorologists are far more accurate than that.