Cara Bertoia : April 2022

Hi, I have drawn from my years working in the casino industry to create a critically acclaimed fascinating thriller. The Desert Sun raves, "Cara Bertoia stacks the creative cards in our favor in Casino Queen a compelling mystery set in Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. Crime-solving tales that revolve around strong female protagonists aren’t just a luck of a draw. They’re downright successful." Click on follow button to receive new updates to my blog. On mobile phone follow button on web version.

The Big Thrill Interviews Me, Cara Bertoia About My Novel Casino Queen

I want to express my appreciation to The Big Thrill for including an author interview from me in their April issue. I consider it a great honor to see my name beside so many accomplished authors. In the article I trace the inspiration for my story and the crazy journey I took to becoming a novelist.

When you write a novel you have a vision, and Susana Kuehne got it! My inspiration for a suspense novel was based on the noir classics. I love stories with quick-witted characters, twisty plots with red herrings thrown in for flavor, and realistic storylines. But Casino Queen was written for this century, it tries to capture the craziness of the first two decades of this century, when casinos opened in Southern California.

Check out the article here. Please share if you enjoy it.

Click the link below.

Casino Queen by Cara Bertoia | THE BIG THRILL

Cara Bertoia is the author of the critically acclaimed Casino Queen, a new suspense novel published by The Wild Rose Press. She has drawn from her years in the casino industry to create a fascinating thriller. It is all true although the names have been changed to protect the guilty. It had been featured at The Big Thrill and Women Writers Women's Books and at many other sites. Read the blurb here.

Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.

Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption.

In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. With her life on the line can she pull out a win?

Click the link below to order at Amazon, enjoy your stay at the Night Hawk!

Casino Queen (Night Hawk Casino Series Book 1) - Kindle edition by Bertoia, Cara. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Click the link below to order at Barnes and Noble

Casino Queen by Cara Bertoia | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com

Cara Bertoia

Growing up in a strait-laced Southern family, I was always fascinated with casinos. In my twenties on a summer hiatus from teaching in North Carolina, I drove to California and became a dealer at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. Well, I can tell you that after teaching high school, handling an unruly gambler was a piece of cake. My mother highly disapproved of my working in a casino, "a place so bad it has 'sin' in the middle." I wanted to write the first realistic novel about casino life from the perspective of an experienced table games dealer. I spent the next five years circling the globe for Princess Cruises. Sometimes life exceeds your dreams. I was awed by the wonders of Venice, the fjords of Norway, and the Northern Lights in Leningrad. I returned from ships with a very special souvenir, my Scottish husband Ray. We went to work in Palm Springs. We now live in Hollywood, Florida, where I write about my casino years while wistfully gazing out at the ocean.

An excerpt from my new novel 'Casino Queen' published by The Wild Rose Press

A few days, after a surprise rainstorm, the landscape erupted in wildflowers. Indian paintbrush, ocotillo, and purple mat along with a score of other blooms painted the desert floor in all shades of the rainbow. Caroline gazed out the window, admiring the countryside as she drove down the hill past the gun range, around the corner, and onto the road leading to the casino. Her car meandered down the nearly empty highway of the High Desert, on her way to work, slowly enough to enjoy the glorious day. Stopping at the local donut shop, she took her time choosing a wide variety of tasty treats for the staff. Small gestures like bringing donuts were always a big hit in the employee lounge. Back on the road, her eyes followed the arc of a bald eagle flying across the brilliant blue sky. The eagle landed on the far-left corner of the Night Hawk billboard, which stood above the road, fourteen feet high and forty-eight feet wide, enticing travelers to eat, play, win! Glancing upward she did a double take. A new message painted bright red and ten feet high covered the billboard. Caroline Popov must die!’

The Big Thrill Interviews Me, Cara Bertoia About My Novel Casino Queen

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