Book Tour & Giveaway for Innocence Lost by Sherilyn Decter! {Ends 3/2/19}

When you mention the Roaring 20s you can’t help but think of Prohibition and the mystery surrounding it. Today, lets step back in time and see how a widow copes with criminal elements and comes to rely on a ghost from the past.

Author Sherilyn Decter is visiting today to share her latest release, INNOCENCE LOST, the first installment in her Bootleggers’ Chronicles. She also has a fun giveaway she’s hosting for the tour. Be sure to check it out at the end of the post

In a city of bootleggers and crime, one woman must rely on a long-dead lawman to hunt down justice…
Philadelphia, 1924. Maggie Barnes doesn't have much left. After the death of her husband, she finds herself all alone to care for her young son and look after their rundown house. As if that weren't bad enough, Prohibition has turned her neighborhood into a bootlegger's playground. To keep the shoddy roof over their heads, she has no choice but to take on boarders with criminal ties…
When her son's friend disappears, Maggie suspects the worst. And local politicians and police don't seem to have any interest in an investigation. With a child's life on the line, Maggie takes the case and risks angering the enemy living right under her nose…
Maggie's one advantage may be her oldest tenant: the ghost of a Victorian-era cop. With his help, can she find justice in a lawless city?
Innocence Lost is the first novel in the Bootleggers' Chronicles, a series of historical fiction tales. If you like headstrong heroines, Prohibition-era criminal underworlds, and a touch of the paranormal, then you'll love Sherilyn Decter’s gripping tale
 INNOCENCE LOST is also available to buy on Amazon. The second book in the series, TASTING THE APPLE, is available to pre-order.  

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REVIEW by LAWonder10:
Inspector Frank Geyer observes bootlegging activities along with the bad influence it has on young boys. He wonders why he is still here. He cannot do anything about what is happening.

Maggie Barnes has been a widow now for about four years. Her young seven year old son is the main focus of her life. She refuses to return to her parents house for them to try to raise Tommy in the uppity manor they raised her. They disliked her husband and never cared about seeing their grandson until after their son-in-law's death. They do not need to be near him now. No, she will find some way to save their home and support her son. She will take in boarders and provide meals too. Thee are soon more ideas she has to be self-sustaining.

This is an intriguing  tale attitudes during the rapidly changing times that occurred after World War 1. This story centers in Philadelphia during the days of prohibition, women's rights to vote, own property , etc. It is also a time of Jazz, the Charleston, shorter skirts and hair and of "Speakeasies". It was still deemed improper for a single woman to house and feed single men.
However, Maggie was a rebel and didn't care how shocked her mother and others were.

Maggie interviewed many people settling on a policeman, an accountant, and a school teacher but wait!... There is someone she hadn't counted on! Is she crazy?

This is a fun suspense/mystery with a touch of the paranormal. The fans of "Topper" oer "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" wil certainly enjoy this first book of a new series.

The characters are "colorful" and are portrayed in a way the seemingly become real! The scenes are additionally portrayed and easily visualized.

This author's writing style is captivating and "flows" smoothly. It was fast moving and left me eager to read the next book in the series.  The Book Cover and Title were very well-chosen.

READER BEWARE: There is some profanity and some intimate sexual terminology. 
This earns a Five Stars rating
*This book was gifted me with no request for a positive review. This is my honest review.

Chapter 3


What am I going to do now? The house isn’t that old, but it’s falling apart. The cupboards are bare. The plumbing barely works. Tommy’s clothes are all too small. I’m so tired of trying to make ends meet. It’s not supposed to be this hard.


Peggy sits, elbows on the table, and rests her chin in her hands. This is definitely not the life she bargained for when she ran off and married the dashing Jack Barnes. That girl had rushed starry-eyed down a road of romance and adventure and into his rebel arms. He was so handsome: tall, strong, a wicked grin, bright blue eyes. It was thrilling to work side by side with him. To be caught up not only in Jack, but in the work he was doing: fighting for workers' rights, passing out handbills, late nights at this very table writing letters to politicians, signing up new members at the rallies. Passionate times.


During the Great War, America had needed men like Jack to build the mighty warships. Thousands of men had been hired at Hog Island Shipyards, working ‘round the clock to make sure America and its military had the ships they needed to win the war. And when that glorious day finally happened, there was no further need for battleships. Thousands of welders like Jack were laid off overnight. Other trades too, and on down the line of suppliers and others dependent on the shipyards. All turned out on the street.


Jack and the rest of them had been so proud of the work they did to fight the Huns, and then to be discarded so abruptly. But Jack and those in the labor movement would make sure that they didn’t go quietly, that they would get the respect they deserved. After he and his pals had been
let go, Jack had joined the fight for their rights, Peggy at his side. That had caused a bit of a stir; she was the daughter of Hog Island's chief accountant, the second in command—the man who controlled the purse strings at the shipyard. Peggy’s parents were adamant she should have been home in their parlor pouring tea, not waving placards and shouting demands for fairtreatment.

And that’s not all she and Jack had been up to. Passionate times, indeed. A baby.

That rebel spark still flickers, not completely stamped out by reality. Now I shake my fists for other reasons. A single mother has other foes to battle. No longer the carefree girl; these days, she’s a widow, a single mother of a hungry son, estranged from her family, isolated in a neighborhood of foreigners—people she chooses not to mix with. They’re just not her kind of people.
The pressure from her mother rests alongside the opportunity to walk away from hard times by considering Howard’s marriage proposal. The lesser of two evils? As the owner of his own grocery store, he would be a good provider. He’s also kind. Tommy likes him. But he’s twenty years older than her, and a walking example of the effects of a generous diet.
People married for love, not security. People like Jack and Peggy married out of pure passion. No, she couldn’t marry someone like Howard after being wed to someone like Jack.

The Roaring Twenties and Prohibition were a fantasy land, coming right after the horrors and social upheaval of World War I. Even a century later, it all seems so exotic.

Women got the vote, started working outside the home, and (horrors!) smoked and drank in public places. They even went on unchaperoned dates (gasp)! Corsets were thrown into the back of the closets, and shoes were discovered to be an addictive fashion accessory after hemlines started to rise. And thanks to Prohibition, suddenly it was fashionable to break the law. The music was made in America- ragtime, delta blues, and of course jazz. Cocktails were created to hide the taste of the bathtub gin. Flappers were dancing, beads and fringes flying. Fedoras were tipped. And everyone was riding around in automobiles (aka struggle buggies and I leave it to your imagination why- wink.)

Bootleggers’ Chronicles grew out of that fascination. Writing as Sherilyn Decter, I will eventually have a series of historical crime fiction novels dealing with the bootleggers, gangsters, flappers, and general lawlessness that defined Prohibition. The Bootlegger blog rose out of all the research that I’ve been doing about this incredible era.

Growing up on the prairies and living next to the ocean, I am a creature of endless horizons. Writing allows me to discover what’s just over the next one. My husband and I have three amazing daughters, a spoiled grandson, and two bad dogs.

Sherilyn Decter is enthralled with the flashing flappers and dangerous bootleggers from the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition. Through meticulous research, that lawless era is brought to life. Living in a century-old house, maybe the creaking pipes whisper stories in her ear.

To get the inside skinny on the Bootlegger’s Chronicles, you can  contact Sherilyn Decter at:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST |

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TOUR SCHEDULE:
Monday, Feb. 25 - What Is That Book About - Spotlight
Juneta @ WritersGambit - Guest Post & Excerpt
Mythical Books - Excerpt
The Story of a Writer - Excerpt
Rockin' Book Reviews - Review & Excerpt
Tuesday, Feb. 26 - Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews - Q & A
Thoughts in Progress - Spotlight
Wednesday, Feb. 27 - A Smile And A Gun - Interview
Thursday, Feb. 28 - Book Reviews by Pat Garcia - Review
Hank Quense's Blog - Excerpt
No Genre Left Behind - Excerpt
Friday, March 1 - Carole's Book Corner - Spotlight
Celticlady's Reviews - Excerpt & Spotlight
Reviews by Crystal - Excerpt

Author Sherilyn Decter is giving away two autographed paperback copies of INNOCENCE LOST. Each of the books comes with a couple of sheets of flapper paper dolls. Click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instruction to enter.

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                   Presented by MC Book Tours