Beatrice Parquet–A new author enters the world!

THANKS FOR BEING WITH US TODAY. FIRST, WOULD YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? WHAT AREA OF THE COUNTRY DO YOU LIVE IN, DO YOU HAVE FAMILY, PETS, ETC.

I’m a single mom of adult twin daughters. I live alone since my girls deserted me for marriage, and my cat went to kitty heaven earlier in the year. Originally, I hailed from New York City but landed on a few mountaintops and a Florida lakefront teeming with alligators before settling in Delaware with my children.

ARE YOU A COFFEE FIEND, OR DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER ADDICTION YOU MUST HAVE ON YOUR DESK AT ALL TIMES?

I am not a coffee fiend, but I require a cup to get moving in the morning. And since I’m a klutz prone to spills, you won’t find my cup on my desk. There are no must-haves on my desk, other than chaos.

IS YOUR EDUCATION RELEVANT TO YOUR WRITING, OR HAVE YOU BRANCHED OFF IN SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TO CREATE? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BOOK?

I majored in business administration, so writing was not on my radar. It has just evolved. Who Said Forever? is a sweet romance.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR MOST RECENT PUBLICATION.

Who Said Forever? follows the unexpected romantic entanglements of Cassandra, a woman not keen on men after she dumped her cheating fiancé. Her matchmaking father doesn’t make her life easy and add an out-of-town rancher to the mix, and the woman who dislikes men is suddenly up to her elbows with the male species.

I hope the message it conveys is that one broken heart isn’t a life sentence. The novel is a bit of a rom-com novel with real-life problems.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS STORY? WHAT INTERESTING THING DID YOU LEARN OR RESEARCH TO WRITE IT THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE?

What inspired me to write at that time initially had nothing to do with this particular story. First, there was the pandemic, and then I suffered my second bout of breast cancer. To keep from going stir-crazy and doing yet another Word Search book, I sat down at the laptop. And writing a romance novel was my way of vicariously seeking a happy-ever-after in my unsuccessful world of romance.

I am a stickler for accuracy. One character is the lieutenant governor of Florida. The man needed a stately home, and I took to Zillow to find him one. Another character is a rancher from Wyoming. Knowing nothing whatsoever about ranching or Wyoming, I Googled up the specifics of cattle ranching and learned that you need to own at least 10,000 head of cattle to have a substantial ranch. Who knew? And since the novel is set in Tallahassee, Florida, it was necessary to know the logistics of air travel from Casper, Wyoming. I found out there are no direct flights. Air travel between those two cities could use some improvement.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE BOOK FEATURED HERE TODAY? ANY SPECIAL MEMORIES YOU HAVE IN THE CREATION OF IT?

I’m happy that I was able to write an ending that I felt did the characters and the story justice. The one readers would be most happy with.

When I started writing, Who Said Forever? I knew how and where I wanted it to begin and how it would end. What I didn’t know was what would happen in between. I was amazed by the way the story evolved and the direction the character’s lives took.

WHAT DO YOU MOST LIKE ABOUT WRITING? LEAST LIKE? WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE AN AUTHOR?

What I like most is that I feel like I’ve been given a vacation without a return date, tour guide, or a map. I have no set timeline to return, can stop wherever I want along the way, and I am solely in charge of the journey. What I like least is the endless rewrites and edits. The writing bug hit me when I started writing poetry in high school. I began writing novels in earnest about thirty years ago, but life got in the way.

DO YOU BELONG TO ANY WRITING GROUPS? ARE THERE ANY WRITING WEBSITES YOU FIND PARTICULARLY USEFUL?

I belong to a group of writers who meet at the library once a month. There are two moderators who run workshops. I am also a member of AutoCrit, an editorial online program, and attend weekly webinars by their team on how to improve or polish your writing skills. I find both to be invaluable.

IS THERE ANY SPECIAL MUSIC YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO WHILE WRITING?

I prefer quiet when I write. But for a change of pace, as an opera fan, I listen to LaBoheme or Madam Butterfly.

DO YOU BELONG TO A CRITIQUE GROUP?

I do not care for critique groups. They are usually not genre-specific, and the comments are like comparing apples to oranges.

TO ENCOURAGE THOSE STILL ON THE PATH, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PATH TO PUBLICATION. HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED? HOW BOOKS DID YOU WRITE BEFORE SELLING ONE?? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE KEY TO SELLING THAT FIRST BOOK?

In the last three years, I wrote three manuscripts. The first two are more of a literary style. Who Said Forever? is quick-paced and contemporary.Through direct submission, I was working with a small press publisher. We parted company when the editor requested a change of style that didn’t represent my writing.Wanting to get this novel out, I chose self-publishing. Who Said Forever? is my debut novel. Since this book is self-published, perseverance, drive, and confidence in my writing were crucial in my novel making it to print.

WHAT ARE YOU WRITING NOW? WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU—WILL YOU BE MAKING PERSONAL APPEARANCES ANYWHERE OUR READERS CAN FIND YOU?

I am working on a Rom-Com. Who Said Forever? is available on Amazon in eBook and paperback, and I am in the process of working with Barnes and Noble for online publication. Book signings at local stores are a possibility in the future.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?

Like me on Facebook: Beatrice Parquet, or follow me at: Beatrice Parquet Author  Get in on the ground level and watch me grow!

A gypsy by nature, Beatrice Parquet originally hailed from New York City before touching down on a few mountaintops and a Florida lakefront teeming with alligators. A “Jackie” of many occupations—Human Resources manager, high-rise building management, and the medical field—she now writes full-time from her Delaware home. She is as comfortable behind a laptop as with a chainsaw cutting down a tree.

Who Said Forever? is her debut novel and was written while undergoing treatment for her second bout of breast cancer treatment. Besides being a novelist, she is a published poet and short-story writer and a single mother of adult twin daughters.

Lyndi Alexander confesses…

Have you found Shepherd.com yet? Ben has curated lists of books chosen by authors to get you to the exact category you want! Lyndi’s first list came out today–but there’s lots more! Can you guess what her other four are?? https://shepherd.com/best-books/fantasy-with-female-underdogs

Things I do when I should be writing…

Lately, I confess I’ve fallen into a hole of creating pictures of characters from my stories with AI. Granted, I am in a tenuous position with this confession, because I am obviously not happy that some authors are creating whole books with AI that are now in competition with my own. But I will say that there are no competitions in play here–I already have a cover for the book and won’t use these pictures commercially, other than to occasionally bring attention to my little twaddles.

For example, in TENDER MISDEMEANORS, a romantic suspense from The Wild Rose Press, my heroine is an officer with the Bureau of Land Management, which gets her into all sorts of trouble with the less-than-law-abiding characters in the story. But–fun fact–she is a full time RVer, living in an RV with her pet iguana at the edge of a national park in Montana. Here’s the story the book tells:

Caryn Orlane has law enforcement in her blood; her father was a cop, and his father, too. She’s a federal agent in northwest Montana, protecting the old forests and keeping the peace.

Levi Bradshaw also believes in protecting the forests, but has a very different MO. He’s the leader of a group of eco-warriors, determined to save the trees of the Bitterroot by legal—and illegal—means.

When they meet in the woods at gunpoint, their encounter ignites a spark of interest, despite operating on opposite sides of the law. When their worlds turn on them, they only grow closer. If they don’t work together, can either survive?

( For more info– book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlVFvMZw0a0&t=63s and general links, etc. here: https://alana-lorens.com/tender-misdemeanors/)

While I did like seeing Caryn as her weekend self, I couldn’t forget she is also all business. So here she is then:

Previously I’d done a feature post on Levi Bradshaw, her nemesis-turned-lover, so don’t think I’m being unfair! Check it out: https://alana-lorens.com/2023/04/12/meet-levi-bradshaw-from-tender-misdemeanors/

Okay–back to writing now. I hope. 🙂

Get ready for a wild ride!

 A tenacious TV reporter has 48 hours to illegally enter Cuba, find
her sister, and avenge her mámá. Don’t miss the
spine-tingling sequel to Emmy-award winning journalist Linda Hurtado
Bond’s immersive thriller, All The Broken Girls.

All the Missing Girls

by Linda Hurtado
Bond

Genre: Thriller,
Suspense

Once
you enter their world, there is no escape…in this gripping and
undeniably chilling thriller from Emmy-award winning journalist Linda
Hurtado Bond.

As a crime reporter for a Tampa TV news
station, Mari Alvarez knows when an investigation enters dangerous
territory. But with her estranged sister missing and almost no
information to go on, Mari can’t trust anyone but herself to find
the truth. Now she has just 48 hours to sneak into Cuba undetected,
track down her sister…and pray to her orisha that she’s not too
late.

This is nothing like reporting in her neighborhood,
though–a place she knows like the back of her hand. In Havana she
has no contacts and only an ice-cold trail of cryptic clues. When
Detective Tony Garcia offers to help, Mari puts aside her instincts
and tries to let someone in. But soon they’re caught in a maze of
lies, deception, and an undercurrent of the island’s own
witchcraft, a sinister Brujería.

Every lead draws Mari
further into this world of shadows, especially when her sister isn’t
the only young woman who’s gone missing. Each step pushes Mari and
Tony toward a revelation they never saw coming. And as they close in
on the horrifying truth, one thing becomes clear…no one will let
them leave Cuba alive.

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Also by the Author: 

All the Broken Girls

Get it on Amazon

 Linda Hurtado Bond is an award-winning journalist for Tampa’s Fox 13
by day and author of romantic thrillers by night. She has won 13 Emmy
awards, numerous Society of Professional Journalist and Associated
Press awards, as well as a Florida Bar and an Edward R. Murrow award.
A breast cancer survivor, she’s also active in the Tampa community
with The American Cancer Society, Hooked on Hope, and The Shoot for a
Cure, raising money and awareness any chance she gets. She’s the
mother of five, four athletes and an adopted son from Cuba. She has
passion for world travel, classic movies and solving a good mystery.

Website
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Sometimes one plus one equals three…

Welcome frequent blog guest Lisabet Sarai with a new boxed set of love!

Who knew?

It had been months since I’d published any new titles. Meanwhile, my current WIP was proceeding at a snail’s pace due to the demands of my day job, summer vacations, and other real world interruptions. So a few weeks ago, I decided to mine my back list and put together a boxed set to sell on Kindle Unlimited, to see if I could push my Amazon ratings back into positive territory.

I had a few stories in mind, romance tales in the twenty-thousand word region which were originally published years ago, and which might not be familiar to my current readership. (In addition, the KU audience doesn’t overlap much with my usual readers.) I started with three titles. When I looked at the works I’d selected, I saw that they shared a focus on three-way relationships. Then, as I scanned my publishing history, I started to find additional stories on the same theme.

I ended up including six tales in the Triad collection (over 100K words). Actually, I identified a number of other candidates as well, but decided they weren’t as good a fit. Indeed, when I examined the romance I’d written over the past decade and a half, I discovered that I’d written nearly as many threesomes as I had couples.

This was something of a revelation to me. I’ve always been attracted to polyamory, but I didn’t realize how pervasive that interest had become in my writing. If you’d asked me what my “favorite” genre or theme was, I would have cited dominance and submission. But it seems three-way love is at least as common in my writing.

Who knew?

Why should soul mate be singular? Can one person really satisfy every need and desire?

Triad is a compilation of erotic romance tales about threesomes – not fleeting, lust-driven ménage a trois encounters but stable, loving relationships that involve three people. A long-married couple’s ardor is rekindled when another man seduces each of them in turn. A lonely, embittered vampire finds redemption in the arms of his two young victims. A mistletoe kiss reawakens passion between old friends, until Suzanne discovers Gino already has a life partner. An alien pair offers love and immortality to the only survivor of a interstellar disaster.

Steamy and explicit, unapologetically romantic, Triad celebrates the joys of three-way polyamory.

EXCERPT:

Rated R (From Once Upon a Blizzard)

Suzanne had never seen stars so bright. The night sky was a black bowl above them, studded with blazing jewels. The snow blanketing the yard gleamed with some faint inner radiance. At the edges of the property, evergreens clustered in deeper shadow like silent sentinels.

She took a deep breath of the crystalline air, so cold and sharp it hurt her lungs. The tiny hairs inside her nose stood on end. Her earlobes felt like icicles. From the neck down, though, she was bathed in delicious warmth. The bizarre contrast almost made her giggle.

Smooth, hard muscle brushed her thigh. After a moment, roving fingers skittered across her lap and burrowed into her pubic fur. A fiery bolt of lust struck her core.

“Gino!” she scolded. “Behave!”

“Why should I?” asked her lover, rubbing his body against hers under the surface of the water. “Harry doesn’t mind. Do you?”

The lanky blond on Gino’s other flank grinned. “Not at all. Long as you keep up what you’re doing over here, that is.”

Harris had untied his ponytail. His golden locks flowed over his shoulders, darkening to sepia where wet. With his thin face and chiseled features, he looked like some warrior ascetic, a knight on a quest for some sacred prize. Suzanne could understand why Gino found him attractive. She wondered whether he really was one-hundred percent gay.

Leaning back against the redwood wall and closing her eyes, she allowed the peace of the night to enfold her. Her limbs were heavy. Her heart felt as though it was about to overflow.

The growl of motors and a rattling of metal reached her ears. Gino’s solar-heated hot tub was at the back of the house, away from the street. Still, the faint noise shattered the intense quiet of the snow-smothered night.

“Plows,” said Harris, cocking his head in the direction of the sound. “At last.” He pointed to the cloudless sky. “Looks like they were wrong about more snow, though.”

“We’ll drive you over to Pelham early tomorrow morning,” Gino added. “Actually, the highway department might have towed your car already. We’ll call first, assuming we’ve got power. Anyway, don’t worry, you’re likely to be well on your way back home by tomorrow afternoon.”

Home. Suzanne didn’t want to think about California—her neat, modern, empty condo, all the problems and decisions awaiting her at work, the bland weather and the vacant sky.

“There’s no rush,” she said finally. “I’m going to miss my Monday appointment anyway. But thank you.” She squeezed Gino’s hand. “For everything.”

Now, despite all that they had done together, she found she was shy. Steam drifted up in pale swirls from the heated surface of the water. Underneath, she could barely make out the shape of their naked limbs. “I’m going to miss you,” she murmured finally. “Both of you.”

“You’ll be back for Christmas, though, won’t you?” Gino’s eyes were shadowed but Suzanne understood the yearning she’d see there, if there were more light.

“Maybe…” she began. She imagined another holiday with her parents, pleasant but predictable. They wouldn’t mind if she disappeared after the opening of the presents. And suddenly she couldn’t bear the thought of not being with Gino again, very soon. “Yes. I’ll be back. I promise.”

“Wonderful.” Gino pulled her into a kiss that made her heart pound and her pussy tremble. “You can stay over, you know,” he added when he finally released her. “You can stay for as long as you want.”

“The house has six bedrooms,” Harris commented. “Way more space than we need.”

“Yeah—even with my office and Harry’s studio, there are two rooms we barely use.”

“We do have broadband Internet, by the way. Even if we don’t have mobile service.”

“There’s a local limo company that can get you to Logan in two hours. Harry uses it when he has an exhibition in New York…”

“This is freak weather,” Harris interrupted. “Most winters we don’t get much snow.”

“And the summers here are glorious, green everywhere, bright sun and lingering twilights, fresh sweet corn and luscious home-grown tomatoes…”

“I know!” Suzanne couldn’t keep from laughing. “I grew up here, remember?”

“I thought that maybe you’d forgotten,” said Gino, his voice soft.

“No,” she replied, flush with a recollection of the loyal, clever tease he’d been in school. “I remember very well.”

Buy Links

Free on Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCT7NC8C

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCT7NC8C

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCT7NC8C

Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217367481-triad

About Lisabet

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

Reviews coming in–do you have your copy yet?

CRUEL CHARADE has been out one whole week, and the five-star reviews are piling up! Check out some of these:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page-turner with a Great Twist Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024

Bet

If you like a good legal thriller with an engaging protagonist, you will enjoy Cruel Charade. In this latest offering in the lady lawyer series by Alana Lorens, Bettina Lenard wakes up in a Florida swamp and tries to figure out how she got there and who wants her dead. Unfortunately, there are many possibilities. It could be one of several former clients, a drug kingpin she has crossed, or maybe her ex-husband.

This book is fun, but it’s instructive, too. In addition to the mystery, Cruel Charade is also an accurate description of the journey to diagnosis for a woman with an autoimmune disease, from her husband assuming she is faking pain to cover a drinking problem, to a line of doctors who have no clue how to help her and little interest in trying. The reader has sympathy for Bet but doesn’t pity her. She is a strong, capable woman dealing with an illness that she doesn’t let define her.

The story skips around in time, which can be a bit confusing at first, but stick with it because you will get into the rhythm as you read on. Cruel Charade is a page-turner with a great twist. It’s the perfect book for a weekend at the beach or a me-time treat.

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024

The Everglades

CRUEL CHARADE by Alana Lorens is exciting with plot twists and turns that will keep you reading through the night. The story revolves around the murder attempt of attorney Bet Lenard who has lost everything in a bitter divorce. She finds comfort with her dearest friend and a new therapist. Written by juxtaposing the past with the present is intriguing and makes you really think when putting the story line together. It boils down to, can Bet figure out who tried to kill her before they try again? A great read all the way to the unique and surprising end. I highly recommend this book.


July 15, 2024

The doctor

There is a lot going on in this story. It’s all about Bet Lenard, and the story is in her POV, but it goes back and forth from present time to her past so you get all the reasons behind what’s happening in the back story. Bet is nearly killed in the Everglades in a car fire. She barely gets back from that before other things start happening. As a criminal lawyer, she’s often worked with dangerous people, but she’s not sure who is doing this to her—and there are a lot of possibilities, including her ex-husband.

There’s enough going on in this story that you definitely will not get bored – right up to the last page! Just when you think everything is solved, you turn the page and… it’s not! Nicely done. The only thing that kept me from giving this five stars was the back-and-forth in past/present. Not one of my favorite types of writing, but overall, the story is excellent.

Recommended.

June 29, 2024

The husband

I really enjoyed my review copy of Cruel Charade, a crime thriller by Alana Lorens. The story begins when Miami attorney Bettina (Bet) Lenard, wakes up in a spectacular WTF situation. Someone is out to kill Bet and, given the criminal element she and her not-so-ethical attorney ex-husband have represented over the years, that would-be killer could be anyone. Bet has to stay one step ahead of the killer’s attacks; while battling debilitating pain from an undiagnosable illness, keeping her estranged kids safe, and eluding a mob boss intent on forcing her to work for him. This unusual protagonist is one reason Cruel Charade kept me interested. Bet is a flawed person who doesn’t have all the answers, but she’s doing her best to navigate personal relationships while solving the case. I really loved Bet’s deadpan sense of humor, fashion sense, and foodie sensibilities. I enjoyed the inventive way she got herself out of jams. Cruel Charade is an engaging story with characters that feel real, in a setting that came alive in a sensory way (I really want to try that Cuban coffee). The action kept me hooked. The end satisfied and left me smiling.

  Miami attorney Bet Lenard has had a rough year. She’s battling an unknown illness that drives her to drink to cope with her pain. Her lawyer husband has divorced her and taken the best part of their business, their home and their children.

On the night of May 16, 1996, Bet finds herself in the Everglades in the middle of the night, drugged, lost and next to a burned car with a dead body in it. Hoping she’s hit bottom, Bet must drag herself out of her living hell and discover who tried to kill her. Was it her ex-husband, not satisfied with stealing everything that mattered? An angry client, unhappy with the outcome of their case? Her best friend’s husband, livid that Bet’s restraining order kicked him out of her life forever? Police officers fuming that Bet helped a client convict a dirty cop who was their friend? She has no idea.

As she tries to sort out the motives behind her would-be killer, even more suspects come to light. The only thing keeping Bet sane is her relationship with her therapist, who encourages her to struggle and survive, despite everything that’s gone wrong. How will Bet discover the truth and bring her enemy to justice before they strike again and, this time, succeed?

What are you waiting for? Get your copy here:

Amazon
Walmart
BooksAMillion
IndieBound
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Google Books
ITunes

Goodreads

Bookbub

A broken family and intrigue on the hot, deadly streets of 1996 Miami #MFRWHooks

Yes, today’s the day! CRUEL CHARADE is out from The Wild Rose Press– and its five-stars future looks good. Do you have your copy yet?

May 13, 1995

One year before The Incident

Bettina stumbled out the side door of the Barracuda Taphouse, straining to focus fuzzy eyes. Leaning against the side of the building, she muttered to herself.

I only took my attention off that pina colada for a minute. Someone dosed it. I’ve got to get straight. Now. 

But she couldn’t. Her knees threatened to mutiny and drop her on the pavement. Music pulsed through the wall behind her. She started to spin out of control.

Five things. “Street lights. Blue Lexus. Palm trees.

Lady with a purse. Man with a purse.” Should it bother me that his is nicer?

She straightened her back against the bricks, her fingers scrabbling in the grooves for a handhold. Her eyes closed and the spinning got worse. She forced them open again.

Four things. “Bricks. Space between bricks.” She tapped her expensive shoe on the ground. “Sidewalk.” She didn’t dare let go to touch anything else. Her arm rubbed against hard plastic discs down her side. “Midnight blue sequins.” Her new blouse that screamed take me home to bed, stranger. 

Three things. “Um…traffic. Drums. Horns beeping.”

Was her breathing easier? She thought so.

Two things. “Cigarette smoke.” She cast an envious glance at the couple standing half a block up with cancer sticks in hand. “Diesel fuel.”

One thing. She couldn’t taste anything at first. Whatever was in her system had taken over. Then bile swirled in her stomach and rose to the back of her throat. Burning, it made its way out as she vomited into a potted plant.

Now isn’t that a lovely picture. Up-and-coming criminal defense attorney ralphing al fresco like a common street drunk.

She wiped her mouth and faced the wall, drooping against it, one hand propping her up.

The door she’d come out of flew open. “Bet? Oh my God, what are you doing?” Mela grabbed her arm. “Are you all right?”

“Nope,” Bet replied. “I surely am not. Someone dosed me. I think it was that suave Nicaraguan.” Her stomach roiled and she threw up again. 

“The one with the haircut? You think so?” Mela rubbed Bet’s back. “Come on, let’s get out of here before a Herald reporter shows up. That’s all you need is for Rich to have proof you’re unfit.”

Bet reared upward with a scowl. “I’m not unfit. I don’t have the children in my custody, do I? He won that round, damn it.” 

What the story’s about:   Miami attorney Bet Lenard has had a rough year. She’s battling an unknown illness that drives her to drink to cope with her pain. Her lawyer husband has divorced her and taken the best part of their business, their home and their children.

On the night of May 16, 1996, Bet finds herself in the Everglades in the middle of the night, drugged, lost and next to a burned car with a dead body in it. Hoping she’s hit bottom, Bet must drag herself out of her living hell and discover who tried to kill her. Was it her ex-husband, not satisfied with stealing everything that mattered? An angry client, unhappy with the outcome of their case? Her best friend’s husband, livid that Bet’s restraining order kicked him out of her life forever? Police officers fuming that Bet helped a client convict a dirty cop who was their friend? She has no idea.

As she tries to sort out the motives behind her would-be killer, even more suspects come to light. The only thing keeping Bet sane is her relationship with her therapist, who encourages her to struggle and survive, despite everything that’s gone wrong. How will Bet discover the truth and bring her enemy to justice before they strike again and, this time, succeed?

Where you can get it:

Amazon
Walmart
Target
BooksAMillion
IndieBound
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Google Books
ITunes

Goodreads

Bookbub

You’ll like it–I promise!

https://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=313926

Hot, new paranormal romance from Tina Donahue!

 
 

The Craving

NEW RELEASE

Book Two The Wanderers

Erotic Paranormal Romance

AMAZON

 

She’s everything he’s desired… He’s the one man she shouldn’t crave.

Knowing the danger the Wanderers pose, Erica Vega intends to hunt down the mysterious
group steeped in dark magic, curses, and mind control. As a Deputy U.S. Marshal,
she has the law behind her, along with her telekinetic powers. Let the chase
and battle begin.

Not so fast. Her superior forbids her to go after any Wanderer, instead ordering
her to work cold cases with her new partner Lucian Navari.

Tall, dark, and hotter than sin, Lucian doesn’t play by the book. He has his own
agenda and agrees to help Erica hunt Wanderers on the sly where he and she can
be up close and personal.

Erica’s not one to mix duty with pleasure, but he’s impossible to resist in too damn
many ways. As they investigate an elusive Wanderer, nothing is as it appears—she
can’t trust what she sees or believes. Lies masquerade as truth, and deception
rules while she and Lucian grow closer in a carnal dance that will change their
lives.

Excerpt:

He shoved his hair back. “You still don’t trust me.”

She did, more than any man in her life, except for Mike. However, when people got
rattled or drank, they sometimes blurted stuff they shouldn’t. Not their fault,
but it didn’t make things better. “If by chance you ever say anything about my
power, I’ll deny it. I’ll make you sound like a loon. That’s a promise.”

“You think I’m that much of a prick?”

She’d never met a finer man. With him, she felt comfortable and safe. He’d protected
her after the tree incident and tried to stop her from behaving like a maniac.
Today, they’d become friends without even trying. She should have been scared
at the notion and for breaking one of her work rules. Instead, relief washed
over her. She wasn’t alone in this. “You’re the man. How many times do I have
to keep telling you?”

He chuckled. “God, you’re something.” He searched her face. “Are you all right?”

Her insides still trembled. She suspected from doubt and unease about Pope, and at
having Lucian here, close and alone with her. “I won’t lie, I’ve been calmer.
Maybe a beer will help. Can I get you one?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She delivered the brew, along with damp dish towels to clean their faces and hands.
Once they were finished, she dropped the things onto the cocktail table and
gestured him to her cloth sofa, large enough to seat four or serve as a
makeshift bed for an overnight guest. They sat on adjoining cushions. She
didn’t mind having him near. His proximity, scent, and heat unsettled her in a
good way. She gulped her beer, hoping it would help her forget the bad stuff.

Lucian sipped his drink and regarded her.

Her throat and face stung with heat. “You’re staring again.”

“Do you mind?”

“Maybe.”

“Then stop making it so easy.”

She lowered her face and smiled. “There’s dust on your shirt and pants.”

He looked and shrugged. “I don’t care, if you don’t.”

His deep voice soothed. His big body promised excitement, comfort, refuge from a
crappy world. Stuff she shouldn’t want, at least from him. Work relationships
always got complicated no matter how she controlled her feelings. Throwing
attraction into the mix made things worse. She gulped more beer.

“You’re sure you’re all right?”

Bubbles tickled her nose. She rubbed it and wanted to lie, tell him to go home, she was
okay and didn’t need him here. The words wouldn’t come. She looked at him.

He lifted his shoulders. “What?”

Never had she wanted a man as she did him. “Screw this.” She put her bottle on the
cocktail table and crawled onto his lap, straddling his legs. “Don’t talk, please.” She cupped his face. “Unless you don’t want me.”

His eyes rounded. “Are you joking? Hell yeah, I do.”

“Shhh.” She didn’t want words. She needed intimacy and fitted her mouth to his.

He smiled. So did she, their lips lifting together, seeking each other.

The room spun. A ride like no other. His stubble rasped her cheeks and chin. His
lips couldn’t have been softer or warmer. Better than what she’d experienced in
her dream.

He pulled her close and speared his tongue into her mouth.

Shelost her breath. This was past epic and straight into legendary. Even her
fantasies weren’t this good.

They kissed with abandon and stark need, each pressing nearer, trying to eliminate
any separation between them. His strength thrilled, showing her his power, yet
it also felt like a caress.

He growled and tore his mouth free.

“No.” She cupped his head to pull him back to her. “I’m not through.”

“Neither am I.” Holding on to her, he leaned forward, put his bottle on the table then
twisted around and pushed her to the sofa. The cushion whooshed from her weight. “Not a word, understand?”

Several locks had fallen over his forehead. His eyes were bright with lust. Face flushed. So gorgeous. “Yes, sir.”

He laughed and captured her mouth with desire, using it with skill. His kiss was savage and unrestrained, tongue burrowed deep, giving her no chance for words. Wild sounds poured from them, more animal than human. It fueled her lust.

Reason and good sense fled, replaced by carnal instinct feral in its intensity, nothing timid or gentle about the act.

They rocked and rolled deep kissing. The sofa jerked on the hardwood floor.

He broke free again.

He had to stop doing that. She grabbed his hair. “Come back here.”

He hauled her up then pushed to his feet.

She wrapped her legs around his lean hips, her arms about his shoulders.

“Where’s your bedroom?” He looked right, left.

“Behind you.”

He pivoted, carried her across the room, and halted. “Where’s Rápido?”

“By the chair. Give me a sec.” Using her power, she transported him to his tank. There he could take a soak or bask beneath his warming lamp. Turtle heaven. “What are you waiting for?” She squeezed Lucian’s shoulders. “Get going. I’m about to die.”

“And I’m not?” Huffing, he raced into her bedroom and brought her down to the mattress with him. Springs popped. The frame creaked.

Their mouths were welded together, their kiss long and lingering, deep and wet. The best kind.

He jerked free. “Wait.”

“No.” She kept kissing him.

He pulled away. “We have weapons.” He left the bed and put his Glock on the bureau.

She was right behind him and placed hers next to his.

Grinning, they tore at each other’s clothes. Shoes, pants, tops, and underwear flew.

This time, she pulled him onto the mattress.

 

TEASERS FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE…

_______
EROTIC PARANOMAL
DECADENT – AMAZON

The Yearning

Book One The Wanderers

Erotic Paranormal 

 

To break this curse, they’ll have to turn the heat up. Way up.

Jasmine Dante prowls Key West’s nightlife, fighting a losing battle against a jealous rival’s curse that forces her to seek carnal pleasure, no matter the danger. Weakened from lack of sleep and driven by insatiable lust, she spots a man who stirs her desperate craving, and begins yet another dance of seduction.

Except the dark stranger who returns her direct stare is no ordinary lover. Inside his powerful body lies a raw sexuality that just might be enough to break her curse. There’s only one way to find out—imprison him in her bed and feed on his passion.

Former Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike Stearn is many things, but he’s no woman’s sex slave. The deadly telekinetic power he ruthlessly suppresses comes alive again at Jasmine’s touch. Beneath her bold, potent sensuality, he senses vulnerability and desperation. He may be in handcuffs, but she’s the one who’s enslaved.

As Mike resurrects his power to free himself so he can find the curse’s source and defeat it, Jasmine revels in his masterful rule. Her ravenous yearning evolves into rapture as she surrenders to his hunger, her darkest needs—and the emotional connection that lies beyond. Unless the curse takes her life first…

 
 
 

 

About Tina:

Tina’s an Amazon and international bestselling novelist who writes passionate romance for every taste – ‘heat with heart’ – for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. She’s won Readers’ Choice Awards, was named a finalist in the EPIC competition, received a Book of the Year award, The Golden Nib Award, awards of merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competitions, and second place in the NEC RWA contests. She’s featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.

On a less serious note: she’s an admitted and unrepentant chocoholic, brakes for Mexican restaurants, and has been known to moan like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally while wolfing down tostadas. She’s flown a single-engine airplane (freaking scary), rewired an old house using an ‘electricity for dummies’ book, and is horribly shy despite the hot romances she writes.

Website/Blog: http://tinadonahuebooks.blogspot.com/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tina-donahue

MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/tinadonahue

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1wFmIu6

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tinadonahue

Amazon author page: http://amzn.to/1ChWFkO

My page at TRR: http://bit.ly/1vb7eEc

Kensington Author Page: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/24772

Sweet ‘n Sexy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K

 

In the Crosshairs: The Body on Leffis Key

PLEASE WELCOME MY GUEST M.S SPENCER!!

Someone is killing people with a crossbow, but what connects the murders is a mystery, and only a birder and the aide to a dead Senator can find the answers.

Intro

I grew up in the DC suburbs and came back as a young adult to work in the US Senate at a time of great upheaval (1980s). The Washington of my youth was genteel, southern, sleepy, and dull. Members of Congress spent most of their time in their districts. There were no restaurants to speak of—the only parties were at diplomats’ residences. There was a single theatre—the National. JFK allegedly quipped that Washington was a city of northern charm and southern efficiency.

By the 1980s it had changed dramatically (I won’t even talk about the depths it’s risen to today). Perhaps because of the advent of television, politics rather than diplomacy now rule the social life “inside-the-Beltway.” There are hundreds of expense-account restaurants and massive theatres. The celebrities aren’t ambassadors and foreign princes, but pundits, “influencers,” and Hollywoodites.

In the excerpt below the widow of a prominent US Senator confesses to an adulterous affair with a high-powered global investor. This is not uncommon, but in this case there’s murder involved.

OUR STORY:

Palmer Lind, recovering from the sudden death of her husband, embarks on a bird-watching trek to the Gulf Coast of Florida. One hot day on Leffis Key she comes upon—not the life bird she was hoping for—but a floating corpse. The handsome beach bum who appears on the scene at the same time seems to have even more secrets than the dead man.

His story begins to unravel as the pair search for answers to a growing pile of dead bodies. Spies, radical environmentalists, and wealthy businessmen circle around each other in a complex dance. Which one is lying? What do a seemingly random group of individuals have in common, other than being targeted by a crossbow?

In the Crosshairs: The Body on Leffis Key

The Wild Rose Press, May 27, 2024

Mystery, Suspense

89,710 words; 392 pp.

Excerpt: Joanna Confesses

Joanna whirled around and advanced toward Palmer, her cheeks flaming and her teeth bared.

Palmer fell back a step. “I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me, you…you floozy. Keep your smutty hands off Wilfred!”

Palmer was too astonished to respond, but the thought gamboled through her head that jealous rage was hardly a suitable look for a bereaved widow. She was weighing options for escape when Joanna toppled into a chair.

“Oh Miss Lind, I’m so sorry. You must think I’m a crazy person. My emotions are all over the place.” To prove it, she burst into tears.

Palmer gave her a box of tissues and went for a glass of water. When she returned, Joanna had regained her composure. “Thank you.” She sniffed. “I suppose I should explain my behavior.”

That would be nice. “If you like.”

“You see, Atticus and I had what you’d call a political marriage. We did love each other in the beginning, but after a few years, the unabating hostility from my relatives…” She broke off and sipped the water. “My family has lived in Mobile, Alabama, for over two hundred years. We’ve always been Democrats…well, for as long as there’s been a Democrat party, that is. Atticus was not only from the Midwest”—she said it with a moue of distaste—“but he was a Republican. Two colossal strikes against him in the view of my grandmother Rose, the matriarch of the clan. She turned everyone against him, shunned him. At least, until he was elected senator.” She gave a resentful snort. “Even then they barely acknowledged him at family gatherings. I got tired of defending him all the time, and we drifted apart, but the demands of the job meant we had to pretend we were the idyllic power couple.”

That’s how Carson described them. Palmer had trouble feeling sorry for her but could hardly interrupt the flow. “Go on.”

“Last year we were at Davos—that’s an annual economic forum in Switzerland. Everybody who’s anybody in the financial and political worlds goes. Atticus was giving an interview to Forbes, and I took to the slopes for an afternoon’s skiing.”

The lives of the rich and famous…

“I was on my last run and visibility was poor. I took a spill, and suddenly Wilfred appeared out of the gloom. He helped me up and escorted me back to the lodge. We had tea together and…and one thing led to another.” She raised damp eyes to Palmer. “Do you hate me?”

“Me? Why would I hate you? It’s nothing to do with me.”

“Even though I’m a rival for his affections?”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“He came here to see you, didn’t he? Why would he do that unless he was attracted to you?” She produced a tiny hiccup. “He’s left me, you see.”

Buy Links:

In the Crosshairs: the Body on Leffis Key

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/IntheCrosshairs

Wild Rose Press: https://wildrosepress.com/product/in-the-crosshairs-the-body-on-leffis-key/

I Tunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/in-the-crosshairs-the-body-on-leffis-key/id6479648097

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Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-crosshairs-m-s-spencer/1145026462?ean=2940185979617

About the Author:

Librarian, anthropologist, research assistant, Congressional aide, speechwriter, nonprofit director—M. S. Spencer has lived or traveled in five of the seven continents and holds degrees in Anthropology, Middle East Studies, and Library Science. She has published seventeen mystery or romantic suspense novels. She has two children, an exuberant granddaughter, and currently divides her time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and a tiny village in Maine.

Contacts:

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