Ben’s new neighbor is a killer...of his cereal. Ben Parks is a lover of things, specifically collectibles which cover his bedroom from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Mattie Bender is the new girl in town, and she happens to be Ben’s next-door neighbor. Ben is none too happy when he first meets Mattie, but he soon learns she’s not so bad, especially when she’s teaching him all the things he never thought he’d learn. Just when Ben decides Mattie could be the girl of his dreams, things start to go sideways. Before he knows it, Ben is thrust headlong into the shadowy past of Mattie Bender, revealing secrets and horrors he thought only existed in movies. She sucks him into her world, only to leave him floundering in misery when she disappears, leaving a mysterious letter behind. It’s a race against the clock to find her before she does something stupid in the name of justice. Can Ben save the woman he loves, or will she make a fatal mistake?
Author
M. J. Padgett is first and foremost a mom. Her free-spirited daughter has quite the vivid imagination, and her antics sometimes find their way into her mommy’s work. She is a lover of all things chocolate, a Grimm and Dickens addict, a self-proclaimed smarty-pants, and an introvert to the core. Writing is her true passion (after raising her daughter, of course), and she writes as often as possible. One of her favorite things about writing is creating a world where people can escape reality for a little while, maybe even walk away feeling hopeful about the real world around them. When it comes to reading, she loves a book that can make her forget where she is no matter the genre. If she can get lost and feel like the characters are her real friends, she’s a happy reader.
