Category: Teaser Tuesday

I’m thrilled to unveil an offer that’s bound to make your heart race and your pulse quicken! Darkness Calls is a gripping blend of heart-pounding romance and spine-chilling suspense. And did I mention a sexy Southern vampire? Even better, it’s now available for the very special price of just 99 cents and free on Kindle Unlimited. You can download Darkness Calls at https://amzn.to/3PjLvXW.

Excerpt

Chapter 1
His was a life filled only with empty dreams, if one could call those fleeting thoughts in a vampire’s sleepless nights dreams. His existence was without end and ruled by a loneliness that made each day harder to bear than the one before.

High above the crowd, Ryder Latimer smelled the sting of the alcohol as the humans drank and spilled it in copious amounts in their search for oblivion or nirvana. Acrid smoke from cigarettes floated high into the air, and in that hazy cloud were the underlying tones of sweat. Sweat laced with lust, he thought, sniffing the air and detecting the pheromone the humans exuded as they played their pitiful mating rituals.

Scents, he had discovered, were important to a vampire. Musks and other aromas literally brought out the beast in him. He normally avoided the smells, but it was tough to do in a crowd as large as this.

This far up, the sounds of the band and the crowd were garbled. Indistinct. A low buzz, like static, and a heavy thumping vibration from the bass of the music. An insistent lub-dub lub-dub, like the beat of a heart.

Ryder closed his eyes, placed his hands on the metal railing of the catwalk and the vibrations traveled up his arms. He took a deep breath, absorbing the smells. Soaking everything up as if by doing so he could restore a small part of the life he had lost when a strange turn of events during the Civil War had condemned him to this solitary life. It was a fleeting moment, the human scents and sounds racing through him, enervating him as he stood near the ceiling of the club.

In no time, however, Ryder was back to normal, watching like a disinterested deity, bored by the repetition of the activity below. Every night the same scene was replayed. Until tonight.

He had discovered in this morning’s paper that there was some killing going on in that mob of humans. The murderer had struck last week and then a few nights ago. Maybe he would hunt another soon, Ryder thought, glancing down and wondering who might be the next one to be taken.

Who might become another trophy for the psycho stalking his club. The papers hadn’t mentioned The Lair, but Ryder had no doubt it was here that the hunt was on.

Ryder had sensed something different in the last few weeks, that unique smell of blood lust that had made him wonder if another of his kind had come to feed. A club like this would be an excellent place to select a victim and then cull them from the herd.

He looked down once more and he saw her, standing at the edge of the crowd, searching for someone.

It wasn’t possible, he thought as he hurried along the catwalk, keeping the apparition in sight. For nearly a century she’d been in his dreams. Or maybe it was better to describe them as his restless nocturnal musings.

Regardless, Ryder had stopped questioning why the spirit came to him. Sometimes she arrived at times of unrest, the visions she brought portents of things to come. At other times, when the monotony and uncertainty of his existence made him question why to go on, she’d come to soothe his soul and give him the peace he was unable to find elsewhere.

But tonight, she was no longer just an apparition – or was his loneliness deluding him?

He struggled to get a glimpse of her face, but even with his vampire night sight, he still couldn’t be certain his imagination wasn’t getting the best of him.

After all, for more than a century he had been virtually alone with only a human keeper and his apparition to comfort him. Maybe that was why his mind and eyes were playing games with him tonight. It was just a trick, Ryder told himself, and yet he stood, poised on the edge of the catwalk. Watching. Waiting. Hoping.

I love a slow build in a book and that’s just what happens in this scene in my K-9 romantic suspense DECOY TRAINING. The slow build leads to a huge explosion of the need between military veteran Shane and dog trainer Piper. In this scene, Shane has had a nightmare. It’s one that he’s had before only this time, something very important is different, confirming to him that the feelings that have been growing for Piper are both real and dangerous to what he wants for his life. You can read Decoy Training for free on Kindle Unlimited. You can also read several other books and novellas for free on Kindle Unlimited! Take a moment to check them out at https://amzn.to/3X0UvTT.

WARNING: Only for mature audiences!

Excerpt

PIPER BLOCKED HIS arm and took hold of his hand as he sat up in bed, bare-chested. His scars, both emotional and physical, revealed to her.

“You were having a nightmare,” she said and smoothed her hand across his chest. His skin was damp and chilled from the night air.

“I’m okay,” he said, but when his gaze focused and settled on her, he cupped her cheek, almost as if to confirm she was really there.

“You’re okay. Everything is okay,” she said, trying to reassure him.

Shane rubbed his head, as if trying to dispel the last remnants of the nightmare. He looked away for the briefest moment before settling his gaze on her once more.

“It was different this time,” he said and ran his thumb along her chin and the slight dimple there.

She squinted, trying to figure it out, but couldn’t. “How was it different?”

“You were in my nightmare,” he said, shocking her.

She laid a hand on her chest and squeaked out, “Me. I was in it?”

“You, Piper. You were there, trapped. I was trying to reach you, but I couldn’t,” he said.

“I’m here, Shane,” she said.

“You are,” he said and wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. As he lay down, he took her with him, and she ended up lying along his length.

His body was so hard beneath hers, calling to the woman who hadn’t experienced emotions like this since her husband’s death. But as she inched up to meet his lips with hers, she knew it was about more than physical longing. Shane had breached the walls of her heart and she could no longer deny what she was feeling.

She kissed him, moving her mouth along his. Taking in his breath as if she needed it to breathe. Dipping her tongue in to taste him because she wanted to know everything about this strong and caring man.

As he cupped her breast through the thin fabric of her nightshirt, her nipple beaded against his palm. Her breast heavy with need, she covered his hand and pressed it to her, moaned when he tweaked her hard nipple with his fingers.

*

HIS BREATH EXPLODED from his chest at the sound of her needy moan and the feel of her breast against his palm, beneath his fingers. The softness of her belly cradled his erection and he wanted nothing more than to strip off her thin cotton nightshirt and make love to her, but not like this.

Not when their emotions were running high from the danger threatening Piper’s life and his. He had no doubt that if the intruder needed to get to Piper, he’d kill Shane to do it.

“Shane?” Piper asked and leaned a hand on his chest to look at him in the dim light of the room.

“I… I care for you, Piper. I really do, but things are too unsettled now. We’re both not thinking straight.”

Her eyes widened at his words, and she scrambled off him, but stood by the bed for a halting second. “I care for you, too.”

Then she burst from the room, Chipper barking and hopping up and down as she chased after Piper.

The Calling is Reborn is a series of my heart. From the moment that Diana and Ryder popped into my brain, I knew their story would be special and I’ve loved combining their romance with intriguing suspense stories and a Scooby Gang of other characters as well as vampires from various cultures, like a chupacabra and Chiang Shi. If you loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files, I think you will love the stories in The Calling is Reborn. The various books have been critically acclaimed as Romantic Times Top Picks and finalists in several paranormal romance contests. You can now read the first three books for free on Kindle Unlimited. You can download them at https://amzn.to/3qslQlL.

I love being able to share with you some of the things I’ve learned on my various adventures, like in Aztec Gold. I was lucky to be able to visit Mexico a number of times for business and learn about Mexican culture that I included in this paranormal romance novella as well as The Fifth Kingdom which I will be re-releasing in August. I was able to visit many amazing places, like Teotihuacán where I was able to climb the Pyramid of the Sun and also see the Pyramid of the Moon and Avenue of the Dead. Another great visit was to the Archeological Museum in Mexico City where I got to see so many wonderful artifacts and treasures from the Aztecs. It’s what inspired me to write these exciting stories which incorporate Mexican culture. You can read Aztec Gold for free with Kindle Unlimited and it’s also available for purchase if you don’t have that service. You can find it and many other free reads at https://amzn.to/3IMgpo4.

Excerpt

The feel of old papers called to Cynthia Guerrera the way a lover’s skin might.

Even with the gloves she wore to protect the fragile documents from the oils on her fingers, she sensed the raspy texture of the heavy parchment beneath her fingertips. Smelled the mustiness that hinted at the fact that it had been some time since these papers had seen the light of day.

At first, she had been skeptical about the provenance of the documents. Missouri cornfields were not the place one expected to find a trunk filled with nearly five-hundred-year-old Spanish artifacts. But a Missouri cornfield was just where the trunk holding the papers, journal and maps had been discovered when a developer had begun excavations for a new strip mall.

Setting aside the missive—a letter from Coronado himself to one of his seconds in command—she turned her attention to the leather-bound journal of Juan Domingo Cordero, one of the conquistadors who had accompanied Coronado on his adventures. Gingerly opening the cover, she traced her fingers over the sprawling script. The first entries in the journal had provided her with the identity of the author and the date of the documents thanks to Cordero’s meticulous notations.

With that information, she had been able to check several other sources to confirm that Cordero had indeed been one of Coronado’s lieutenants. When Coronado had left Mexico City in 1540 in search of the fabled Cities of Gold, Cordero had been at his side for the first leg of the journey. Coronado had eventually separated from Cordero and his contingent, ordering them to search in one direction while he went in another.

Cordero’s entries in the journal carefully detailed their travels throughout the south-central portion of Mexico, before his band had turned northward until they crossed the Rio Grande. Eventually the group had drifted eastward and reached the Mississippi, hugging the fertile banks of the river until it landed them in the area that would become known as Missouri.

Tired of their journeys and with their group decimated by a number of incidents, the Spanish conquistadors had built a small settlement a short distance from the sluggish and fruitful waters of the Mississippi.

The notations in Cordero’s journal gradually diminished after the establishment of that settlement, with the conquistador’s adventures giving way to the routine of farming and family life. It seemed that Cordero had finally stopped writing at all.

Cynthia supposed that was when the conquistador had tucked the journals detailing his explorations into the small wood and leather trunk together with his other papers. The trunk in turn had been put in a cellar, and over time, the floods that often occurred in the area had covered Cordero’s home and the surrounding settlement with mud. Further flooding and natural events had added to the layers over the former community, hiding its existence from sight until the developer’s bulldozers had dug up the first hints of the earlier colonization and the trunk.

Cynthia picked up the report that had arrived that morning. The assorted laboratory tests she had requested absolutely confirmed the age of the documents.

With that endorsement came proof of one thing, while serious doubt remained about a series of entries in the journals—unusual and unbelievable tales.

When I set out to write Brickell Avenue Ambush, I knew the heroes were going to be very different from the kick-ass, take no names heroes of Lost in Little Havana. Ricky and Mariela are ordinary people pulled into an extraordinary situation where they will be forced to not only fight for their own lives, but possibly also save the lives of dozens of other people. The book is also kind of a second-chance-at-love story, but not in the traditional way. Mariela has only recently escaped an abusive relationship and has to learn to trust men again when Ricky comes into her life. I loved exploring how Ricky and Mariela navigate their growing attraction in light of Mariela’s past. This Teaser Tuesday I’m sharing an excerpt from one of their first encounters in the book. You can download Brickell Avenue Ambush at https://amzn.to/3C9ld3f.

Excerpt

“YOU’RE A GOOD daughter. A good person,” Ricky said, sensing that she had some doubt about her dream of bringing her family back together again.

Her lips twisted up in a half smile and she did a little laugh. “Jorge didn’t think so.”

“Jorge is an ass,” he said and brushed a whisper-soft kiss across her cheek and then down to lightly trace the edges of her lips.

It was a kiss of promise, of invite. He wanted her to accept him and what might be possible between them.

She leaned into him, opening herself to him. Her lips on his, tentative at first, but growing more mobile, more intense, as they kept on kissing until he needed her closer. Needed to feel her, her heartbeat against his, racing as his was.

He leaned back onto the arm of the sofa, urged her to come with him, and she crawled into his lap, her center over him. Over the growing hardness at the feel of her against him.

Breaking apart from her only long enough to say her name, almost as a prayer, he cradled her back in his hands as they kissed over and over.

He opened his mouth and accepted the slide of her tongue, tasting her, a mix of the Scotch and sweetness. Mariela’s sweetness, he thought with a groan as she shook in his arms.

He didn’t want to misread the signals so he shifted away the slightest bit, and husked, “We can stop whenever you want.”

“I don’t want to stop,” she said and stroked her hand across his cheek before tunneling her fingers into his hair and urging him into the kiss again.

It’s time for a teaser from Lost in Little Havana. After surviving a drive-by shooting, police officers Trey and Roni have have gone back to the penthouse in the South Beach Security offices. Emotions are running hight and Trey is tired of fighting his feelings for his baby sister’s best friend and the woman who is now his partner in an investigation. I loved this friends-to-lovers story and how Trey and Roni explore the changes and challenges in their relationship. You can find out more about Lost in Little Havana and the rest of the books in the South Beach Security series at https://amzn.to/3KOTutt.

Excerpt

The adrenaline was wearing off as they returned to the penthouse.

Trey’s hand shook as he reached out to take Roni’s uninjured arm and applied gentle pressure to urge her to face him.

She did, her muscles trembling beneath his hand as she finally released her grasp on the control she’d exerted at the crime scene. Lifting her gaze, she met his and the invitation there was clear.

He might have lost her tonight. Might have died himself. He wasn’t going to refuse her. He wasn’t going to hold back.

He hauled her close and kissed her, meeting her mouth over and over again as she strained against him.

He moaned, needing her more than he needed breath. Needing to make love to her to remind both of them that they were very much alive. That it was time they stopped denying what they felt for each other.

Still kissing, arms wrapped around each other, he backed her up until they were lying on the large couch in the middle of the room. Her body all soft womanly curves against his, but he worried he was too heavy on her. Shifting slowly, he let her be on top and in control because he had to know she wanted this as much as he did.

She slipped over his hips, her dress hiked up almost to her waist, and cradled his erection at her center. She leaned her arms on his chest, mindful of his injured shoulder. “I want this,” she said as if reading his mind and with no hesitation, she reached down and whipped the dress up and over her head.