About the Book

Book: The Curator’s Secret

Author: Denise Weimer

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Release date: March 1, 2025

It’s taken six years for Lacey Colbert to escape the heartbreak that caused her to disappear from Golden Isles Christian Camp and the life of her summer sweetheart, Trent Stevenson. Then a museum curator job at a Gilded Age resort lures her back to Georgia’s Jekyll Island. Lacey finds Trent no longer an employee in his dad’s lawn care business, but director of landscaping right in her historic district.

Winter Haven cottage’s century-old mystery of a vanished fiancé compels Lacey to settle her own past with Trent. Just one thing stands in the way … the fact that someone else likes uncovering secrets, too—Lacey’s. And her unknown foe won’t hesitate to use them against her.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A mother of two wonderful young adult daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

More from Denise

When Secrets Lead to Suspense…

The Curator’s Secret is a bit of a departure from the historicals I’ve been releasing over the past year—not only in that it’s contemporary romantic suspense, and released independently rather than through a publishing house, but in its theme and setting.

Have you ever found yourself unable to keep a promise you made with the best intentions? This could happen due to unforeseen circumstances, mistakes, or information you didn’t have when you offered the pledge. The inability to follow through may break our heart, haunt us, and sever relationships. Secrets can do the same thing, stealing our ability to live authentically, blocking our blessings, and creating a stockpile of lies.

Broken promises and secrets choked the life from Lacey and Trent’s youthful romance six years before the hero and heroine of The Curator’s Secret are reunited when Lacey takes a job as a curator for a historical complex on Georgia’s Jekyll Island, where Trent, unbeknownst to her, is the landscape director. Rather than the restart Lacey expects with her new career, God brings her face to face with her past—not just her first love, but also her grad school stalker who has somehow followed her to the remote island. As the threat escalates, the tale Lacey uncovers in Winter Haven Cottage of a vanished fiancé seems to parallel her own tragic romance…and possibly offer answers and healing. If her past doesn’t destroy her chance of happiness first.

The Curator’s Secret was originally written as a time slip or dual time period novel. It was my mom’s favorite story and my agent’s favorite story I’ve ever written! But somehow, we couldn’t find a publishing home for it. So at last, I’m releasing it myself to my readers who enjoy stories of faith and unique Georgia history. Even though I made the decision to pull the historical backstory out so as not to slow the modern suspense story, the history of Jekyll Island is paramount to the plot. And BONUS, I also have the historical tale of William and Clara that I can share separately to anyone who emails me from my website with their Amazon receipt number for their purchase of The Curator’s Secret.

I’ll close with a fun fact. My mom and I love to take research trips when I’m gathering info for my novels. We enjoyed a beautiful stay at Jekyll for this one…until a hurricane came roaring up the coast! We had to hightail it out of there as workers boarded up the historic district. The eerie sense of impending doom sparked my idea of having a hurricane crescendo with the action in The Curator’s Secret. Imagine being trapped on an island with a storm and a stalker both bearing down on you! That’s exactly what happens to Lacey at the end of the novel. I hope you enjoy this exciting tale of redemption and romance.

Interview with Denise

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

My first rambly, never-to-be-published novel was completed by eleven-year-old me. My parents would take me to historical sites, and with my active imagination, I started coming up with stories about the people who lived in those places and what their lives might have been like. I continued writing my novels until I was almost published right out of college. My first novella actually went to print when I was in my late twenties. Then, after about ten years of raising kids and doing odd jobs, I managed to research and write my Georgia Gold Series.

Do you base your characters on real people?

My fictional characters are just that…fictional. Despite the sayings you see on T-shirts and mugs about authors, I personally never write other people into my books. However, it’s reasonable to suppose that my main characters have little parts and pieces of me and maybe some of the people I’ve known really well. And certainly, in my historical novels, real people sometimes make cameo appearances.

Have you experienced writer’s block, and how do you handle it?

I’ve never had full-fledged writer’s block. Except maybe when my daughters were really young, and I believe God took away my desire to write for a time so my attention wouldn’t be pulled away from where it needed to be at that time. That said, there are days I have slated to write when I don’t feel the inspiration. To get myself going, I read back over what I had written most recently and study my research. If that doesn’t do the trick, a walk or a mindless task will often let my right brain engage.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I think I recently counted around twenty-five published novels/novellas, although two or three of those were reprints or re-releases. Safe to say, over twenty. My favorites? Oh, thanks for asking! On the contemporary side, this one…The Curator’s Secret! It was also my mom’s and my agent’s favorite story of mine. For historicals, Bent Tree Bride and A Cherished Betrothal are my favorites. I tend to prefer love stories with a bit of action and angst.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Connect with Denise here:

Monthly Newsletter Sign-up

Website

Facebook

Twitter

BookBub

Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

My trilogy set during the 1830s Georgia Gold Rush. Book one, The Songbird and the Surveyor, will debut this fall with Wild Heart Books. If you’d like to read a historical before then, check out my Scouts of the Georgia Frontier Series. If you prefer more contemporary romantic suspense, you might like my Restoration Trilogy.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 1

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 2

Texas Book-aholic, March 3

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 4

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 5

Stories By Gina, March 6 (Author Interview)

Simple Harvest Reads, March 7 (Guest Review from Donna)

For Him and My Family, March 8

Blossoms and Blessings, March 9

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, March 10 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, March 10

Holly’s Book Corner, March 11

Pause for Tales, March 12

Cover Lover Book Review, March 13

Fiction Book Lover, March 14 (Author Interview)

Roads to Everywhere, March 14

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Denise is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a print copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54175