books

What happens when the madam falls in love? #MFRWHooks

SecretsintheSand_w5649_300After a run of bad relationships, Lily Pearl Evans has finally become an independent woman. In the New Mexico desert town of Chaparral, she works for herself, sets her own rules, and is determined no man will hold her back again.
Gene Nicholas worked for more than a decade to achieve his dream to be a doctor. Wanting to share his gifts with those less fortunate, he leaves south Florida to volunteer for Doctors Without Borders in Mexico.
When Gene provokes a showdown with the local Mexican drug cartel, he becomes a man with a price on his head. On the run, he ends up on Lily’s doorstep–a mystery man forced to conceal his past to protect them both. With the cartel’s dangerous web drawing tight around them, can Lily and Gene survive a drug lord’s revenge?

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Buy the ebook:

Publisher  https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/secrets-in-the-sand

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Sand-Alana-Lorens-ebook/dp/B004XJ5YIC/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=Alana+Lorens&qid=1570815927&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-7

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-in-the-sand-alana-lorens/1030929480?ean=2940012668950 

Excerpt:

The women weren’t dressed in what he expected as usual afternoon casual wear in suburbia. No culottes or capris here. Their hair curled loose around bare shoulders. Two wore cocktail dresses; the rest some sort of silky lingerie. They seemed perfectly comfortable as his gaze crawled over their exposed bodies. Most wore no makeup, they were all beautiful.

Gene’s diagnostic brain clicked forward along some trail of logic. “Is this a…?”

The woman smiled. “Bordello? You could say that.” 

The redhead walked across the room toward him, the front of her skirt flowing open, revealing legs that couldn’t possibly be on the upward side of thirty, although his trained eye recognized subtle evidence of her age. She held out a peach-nailed hand. “I’m Lily Pearl Evans. Welcome to the Sassafras Social Club.”

He automatically took the extended hand, felt the softness of her skin against his. Up close like this, he could see she had cultivated an early beauty into striking middle-age allure. “I’m sorry to impose.”

“So, Mr. Richards, I’m curious what brought you to us.” Her fingers held his hand, turned it over to examine it.

He tried to pull away, but she held tight, her grip stronger than he’d expected. “What are you looking for?” he asked. What if the bordello had ties to Agustin’s cartel? Several of the girls had olive skin, dark hair and eyes. Thinking he was safe, he could have landed in the snake pit.

“Your fate line is very strong,” Lily said, tracing the midline of his palm.

“Is it now?” He didn’t look at his hand, his mind’s eye still seeing it covered in blood.

The warmth of her hand didn’t leave his. “An itch under my skin tells me there’s more to you than meets the eye, Mr. Richards.”

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A woman on the Rebound –Love, sex and mystery

the rebound effect teaser 1Today’s guest is LINDA GRIFFIN, author of THE REBOUND EFFECT. Welcome, Linda!

Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author? 

I was an enthusiastic reader from day one. I read my very first Dick and Jane primer to everyone in the house, including two captive kittens, one tucked under each arm. Then I read it backwards. As soon as I figured out that somebody had to create the words I was reading, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up—a “book maker.” I dedicated The Rebound Effect to Dick and Jane “who first ignited my passion for the written word.” I’ve been writing all my life and was first published when I was in college, but I’ve been able to spend more time on it since I retired from my position as fiction librarian for the San Diego Public Library. My stories, from short shorts to novellas,  have been published in numerous literary journals. The Rebound Effect is my third published novel and the second with the Wild Rose Press.

What is something unique/quirky about you?

I enjoy washing dishes by hand, but only if somebody reads to me while I do it.

Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!

Earlier this year, our old, unused dial-up phone started calling 911. The police came to the door several times, once in the middle of the night, before we figured it out.

What are some of your pet peeves?

The puzzling notion that conjunctions somehow reverse the pronoun rules. Only a two-year-old would say “Me went to the store,” but I constantly hear things like “Me and him went to the store” and “She gave it to he and I.”  Like Teresa, the heroine of The Rebound Effect, I also hate distracted driving and movie previews that give away too much of the story.

Where were you born/grew up?

I was born and raised in San Diego, California, and would never want to live anywhere else. I enjoy visiting other places, but San Diego will always be home.

If you knew you’d die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?

Reading! And eating chocolate.

Who is your hero and why?

Jaycee Dugard, because she chose to live her life with strength and joy and purpose, helping others instead of dwelling on what was taken from her. I also very much admire former President Jimmy Carter for all the good work he does all over the world.

What kind of world ruler would you be?

A terrible one! Overwhelmed and confused.

What do you do to unwind and relax?

I love the three R’s –reading, writing, and research. I also enjoy movies, Scrabble, and travel. I’ve been to three countries and forty-eight states, most recently Hawaii. I like to visit art museums, galleries, and botanical exhibits too—beauty feeds the soul.

Describe yourself in 5 words or less!

Klutzy, independent, honest, and impatient.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I wrote my first story. I lifted the basic plot from a Nancy and Sluggo comic book and wrote “Judy and the Fairies”at the age of six.

Do you have a favorite movie?

I always find it impossible to choose just one favorite of anything, but the one I have watched most often is the 1968 film, No Way to Treat a Lady, with George Segal and Rod Steiger. Love, Actually may eventually overtake it, though.

 Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

I can see my forthcoming novel Guilty Knowledge as a movie, or better yet a TV series. I would cast Boris Kodjoe or Trai Byers as the hero, and his partner is one of my favorite supporting characters. I always enjoy writing dialog for tough, sassy women.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

I’m not sure if it counts as a literary pilgrimage, but I went to England to visit the places described in the Poldark novels by Winston Graham. Cornwall is lovely.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I have two. My sometime writing partner, Huxley, is a stuffed writer mouse from Starbucks. I consider him co-author of the novella “Starbucks” (Eclectica April/May 2015.). He named the characters and insisted that it not be a romance, although he is otherwise partial to bedroom scenes. My muse is a lizard named Sparkle. They can both be seen on my Facebook author page. Sparkle is in the cover image.

#OnTour with @SilverDaggerBookTours | #SilverDaggerBookTours #Romantic Silver Dagger Logo#Suspense #Psychological #Thriller #TheReboundEffect #TheWildRosePress @lindagriffinauthor @lindagriffin50702

About the book:

In the small town of Cougar, struggling single mother and veterinary assistant Teresa Lansing is still bruised from a failed relationship when Frank McAllister sweeps her off her feet.
Frank is a big-city SWAT officer who moved to Cougar only four months ago. He’s handsome, charming, forceful, very sexy, and a bit mysterious. He had his eye on Teresa even before they met and is pushing for a serious relationship right away.
Teresa finds his intense courtship flattering, and the sex is fabulous, but she doesn’t want her deaf six-year-old son to be hurt again. Her former fiancé cheated on her when he got drunk after being unjustly fired, but he loves her and her son, and the whirlwind romance is complicated by his efforts to win Teresa back.
And then there’s the matter of the bodies buried at Big Devil Creek…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45862670-the-rebound-effect

Buy Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SS8SGT1/

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rebound-effect-linda-griffin/1131957492

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Linda_Griffin_The_Rebound_Effect?id=WmqhDwAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-rebound-effect-2

Website: http://www.lindagriffinauthor.com/the_rebound_effect_134160.htm

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda Griffin_400x400I was born and raised in San Diego, California and earned a BA in English from San Diego State University and an MLS from UCLA. I began my career as a reference and collection development librarian in the Art and Music Section of the San Diego Public Library and then transferred to the Literature and Languages Section, where I had the pleasure of managing the Central Library’s Fiction collection and initiating fiction order lists for the entire library system. Although I also enjoy reading biography, memoir, and history, fiction remains my first love. In addition to the three R’s–reading, writing, and research–I enjoy Scrabble, movies, and travel.

Christmas stories Galore in Christmas Book Fair!

Do you like reading happy Christmas stories? Or even those not so happy?

Author Viviana Mackade has gathered a whole Christmas list for your enjoyment, including my story KEEPING CHRISTMAS in the book Christmas Lites V. Check them out and enjoy!!