Moonrise - #TeaserTuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph / Tuesday Intros

I stopped by the library recently to return some books and browsed the stacks. That's when I found Moonrise by Cassandra King. I grabbed it! Several years ago I read The Same Sweet Girls and loved King's writing. Now I'm wondering why I haven't read all her books. 
     Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the book is told through the eyes of three different characters: a society insider (Tansy), a local woman who works for the summer people (Willa), and a newcomer (Helen) who's trying to fit in. The book deals with love, loyalty, intrigue, and obsession. FYI: Moonrise is the name of the mansion where much of the action takes place. It was named after the estate's gardens where night-blooming plants grow. Readers who enjoyed Daphne de Maurier's Rebecca will love this story.


First Paragraph: (FYI: Helen is the newcomer to Moonrise)
Helen
Moon Gardens
     I sit up with a start, my heart pounding. A noise like a scraping of a chair against the wooden floor wakes me, and for a brief moment, I have no idea where I am. The fire has died out, and a melancholy whiff of woodsmoke lingers in the cool air. Woodsmoke and something else, like the pungent aroma of sage. Pushing aside the crocheted coverlet, I swing my legs over the side of the bed, a bed so high that my feet barely touch the floor. I wait for a minute and listen for the noise again, but the room is quiet and still. The only sound is the soft snoring of my husband, who always sleeps like the dead. His back is turned my way, and I watch the gentle rise and fall of his bare shoulders. He is not one to be disturbed by things that go bump in the night.

Teaser #1: (FYI: I couldn't resist posting two Teasers):
Willa (the local woman)
     I can't think of a blame reason for me to be so nervous, but I know what Momma'd say if she was still here. If you don't feel right about doing something, then you'd best stop and ask yourself how come. Could the Lord be trying to tell you to think twice?

Teaser #2:
Tansy (the society insider)
     Like most Southern women, I was raised to ingratiate myself. Speaking one's mind was unheard of in a well-bred lady of my generation, as was having an unlady-like opinion. As Noel constantly reminds me, I flunked out of -- or was kicked out of -- that course, yet I still can't bring myself to tell Kit what I think of her newly remodeled house.

Genre: Romance / Gothic 
Amazon link: Moonrise
Book Length: 400 Pages
Website: Cassandra King

Synopsis:
When Helen Honeycutt falls in love with Emmet Justice, a charismatic television journalist who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident, their sudden marriage creates a rift between her new husband and his oldest friends, who resent Helen’s intrusion into their tightly knit circle. Hoping to mend fences, the newlyweds join the group for a summer at his late wife’s family home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Helen soon falls under the spell not only of the little mountain town and its inhabitants, but also of Moonrise, her predecessor’s Victorian mansion, named for its unique but now sadly neglected nocturnal gardens. But the harder Helen tries to fit in, the more obvious it is that she will never measure up to the woman she replaced. Someone is clearly determined to drive her away, but who wants her gone, and why? As Emmet grows more remote, Helen reaches out to the others in the group, only to find that she can’t trust anyone. When she stumbles on the secret behind her predecessor’s untimely death, Helen must decide if she can ever trust—or love—again.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by The PurpleBooker. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please! List the author and book title too.
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First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

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