#TeaserTuesday – COLD CASE REOPENED Coming in March 2021

I love real-life cold case stories and programs about investigations into unsolved crimes. It’s what made writing COLD CASE REOPENED so much fun! I used so much of what I had gleaned from various sources to craft the story of Rhea Reilly and how she’s trying to find out the truth about what happened to her twin sister. If you like cold case and forensic kinds of mysteries, I hope you’ll check it out. Did I mention there’s also a romance with the sexy detective Rhea has convinced to help her investigate? For now, here’s a teaser and free read for you!

Teaser

They are on a cold trail

And running out of time.

Rhea Reilly is certain her twin sister’s sudden disappearance six months ago wasn’t a suicide, no matter what Colorado authorities think. She can’t afford to trust police detective Jackson Whitaker—even if he’s risking his career to uncover the truth. But a lethal trail of lies is drawing them together…and into an inescapable trap.

Excerpt

Rhea had barely finished unpacking her things when the knock came at the door.

She hurried there and threw it open, expecting to find room service with the extra blanket she’d requested. That earlier chill hadn’t left her, not that a blanket would end it, but it had been worth a try.

It wasn’t room service. It was six-plus feet of lethal male, dressed in police blues, with a white Stetson held in hands that he shifted uneasily on the brim. He had shortly cropped sandy-brown hair that screamed former military and eyes the gray of lake waters on a dreary day. He clenched and unclenched his chiseled jaw as he stood there, obviously hesitant, before he finally said, “You should be more careful and check to see who it is before you open the door.”

Anger ignited instantly at his chastisement. “I was expecting room service. Not the police.”

He tipped his head, seemingly sorry, but he didn’t strike her as the type to apologize. Not willingly anyway. And it occurred to her then that he was the officer she’d run into outside the police station. The one who’d helped her pick up her papers and whom she hadn’t thanked.

“Rhea Reilly,” she said and held out her hand. “I’m sorry I was so rude before. I was upset.”

“I understand. Detective Jackson Whitaker. Jax to my friends.” A ghost of a smile danced across full lips, and he enveloped her hand with his big calloused one.

His touch roused a mix of emotions. Surprising comfort. Unwelcome electricity and heat.

“We’re not friends…yet,” she said as he continued holding her hand, longer than expected. Longer than necessary.

She withdrew her hand from his and wrapped her arms around herself. “And I doubt that you can possibly understand.”

That slight dip of his head came again, as if accepting her statement, and he motioned inside her room with his Stetson. “Do you mind if I come in?”

She both did and didn’t mind. Something about his presence was unnerving, but if he was here, maybe it meant that the chief had reconsidered her request.

“Please,” she said and waved him in.

He entered and, as he did so, his gaze swept the room, assessing. Observant. A cop’s eyes taking in the scene and immediately focusing on the thick folder sitting on a small bistro table beside French doors to a balcony facing the lake. The lake was a constant reminder of why she was here.

“May I?” he said and pointed toward the folder.

“Is that why you’re here? Did Chief Robinson change his mind?”

Order

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3iGCbKr
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3kAloKb
Amazon Kindle Box Set: https://amzn.to/2PSVRyn
Apple Books: https://bit.ly/coldcasereopened
Apple Box Set: https://bit.ly/applecoldcaseboxset
B&N: https://bit.ly/BNColdCase
B&N Box Set: https://bit.ly/BNColdCaseBoxset
Harlequin: https://bit.ly/HarlequinColdCase
Harlequin Box Set: https://bit.ly/HarlequinColdCaseBoxset
Kobo: https://bit.ly/KoboColdCase
Kobo Box Set: https://bit.ly/KoboColdCaseBoxSet
Cold Case Reopened

#TeaserTuesday – A little snippet from HONOR CALLS

Today’s teaser and free read are from HONOR CALLS! HONOR CALLS is available for free on Kindle Unlimited.

Teaser

FBI Assistant Director Jesus Hernandez deals with crime on a regular basis in New York City. But nothing can explain what he sees in the alley behind a Goth bar called the Blood Bank: a young warrior woman slaying what appears to be a vampire. Jesus is skeptical at first, but vampire slayer Michaela Ramirez won’t give up until he believes in the demons and monsters that inhabit the city. As Michaela draws him deeper into her deadly world of darkness and danger, he finds her courage and honor to be more than he can resist…

But Michaela has secrets of her own and fears telling Jesus that she is part vampire herself. She’s falling hard for the tempting FBI agent, only everyone she’s ever loved has either run away…or died and Michaela is afraid to risk her heart and Jesus’s life for a chance at love.

Free Read

Ahead of him and about four small blocks down was a line of people at a nondescript building—the Blood Bank, he assumed. The line was relatively long, considering the hour, and it was filled with a decidedly rough-looking crowd clad in black leather and metal. That at least was not very different from what he had expected.

As he proceeded along the cobblestones, bright with the light from a full moon and uneven beneath his shoes, he kept a wary eye on the smaller, narrower side streets and tight gaps between the buildings. It was at the mouth of one of those alleys that the last body had been found.

Or at least, parts of the body.

A grunt, loud and painful sounding, snared his attention. Two turn-of-the-century brick buildings, built so closely together that the moonlight did little to illuminate the area between them, did a good job of hiding whatever activity was going on in the gap.

Another grunt was followed by the din of metal trash cans crashing together.

Definitely a fight and, judging from the sounds of it, someone was getting their ass kicked.

Jesus pulled out his Sig and advanced to the opening of the alley. He took a step within and let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, revealing the two people locked together in combat. One was tall and much bigger than the other, and as they grappled together, the light from a side-door lamp illuminated their features.

The smaller one was a woman, while the other…

Eerily bright blazing eyes shot a glance his way while long white fangs gleamed under the artificial light of the lamp. The creature growled at him, the sound like the rumble of a mountain lion, but then turned back toward the woman.

Jesus blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing, but another glimpse of the creature’s face confirmed what he was—a vampire. Or at least, someone posing as one.

The much smaller woman had her arms braced against the creature’s jacket, trying to keep those wickedly long fangs away from her face, but with the vampire’s greater height and bulk, Jesus feared she might be fighting a losing battle.

Ño, he cursed as she continued with the fight, totally ignoring his presence.

The creature spun the woman around and as the light swept over her face, he could tell she was young. Mid-twenties he guessed before she whirled out of sight again, struggling to break away from the demon’s grasp.

With a quick upward jab of her arm, the woman snapped the creature’s head back. It emitted a louder growl, but the woman’s blow did little to slow the demon. It reached behind to grab the woman by the scruff of her neck and whip her against a brick wall. She hit with a thick thud and fell to the ground dazed, prompting Jesus to action.

“FBI. Stop or I’ll shoot,” he called out, training his gun on the demon as it took a step toward her.

The thing actually halted and looked at him. What he guessed passed for a smile erupted on its face, but then a second later the demon reeled back, grabbing at its chest with long taloned fingers.

The woman had buried a wooden stake deep into its chest.

Shock filled the creature’s face, mirroring Jesus’ own surprise as he realized she had just killed someone… Ño, make that something, before his eyes.

Blood leaked from around the edges of the stake, staining the off-white shirt the man-beast wore. It stood, hands flailing, long nails clacking against the stake, disbelief on its face before the look became blank and the creature dropped to the ground.

“One down, too many more to go,” the woman said, her voice deeper than what he would have expected from someone so petite. She nudged the creature’s body with the toe of her black boot and then bent to examine it, as if to make sure she had finished the job.

One down, huh? He turned his gun on her and warned, “FBI. Put your hands up.”

She faced him and just for a moment he thought he saw a hint of fang at her mouth and a glow in her gaze, but then she stepped into the puny shaft of light from the side lamp on the building.

Her face was anything but demon-like.

Order

You can order HONOR CALLS at https://amzn.to/3etq2aL.

#TeaserTuesday – Honor Calls Vampire Romance Novella

I’m so so excited about the re-release of HONOR CALLS, one of the novellas in The Calling is Reborn Vampire series.
In HONOR CALLS you get to meet Michaela Ramirez, a vampire slayer with a dark secret of her own. You also get to learn more about FBI Assistant Director in Charge Jesus Hernandez who has appeared in a number of novels in the series. I always loved Jesus and his strong calm in the face of so much craziness. He was the perfect foil for impetuous and headstrong Michaela. When Jesus and Michaela get together – WATCH OUT! This is one of the sexier stories in the series and you can read Michaela and Jesus’s full story in DIE FOR LOVE.

Teaser

A Vampire Romantic Suspense Novella

FBI Assistant Director Jesus Hernandez deals with crime on a regular basis in New York City. But nothing can explain what he sees in the alley behind a Goth bar called the Blood Bank: a young warrior woman slaying what appears to be a vampire. Jesus is skeptical at first, but vampire slayer Michaela Ramirez won’t give up until he believes in the demons and monsters that inhabit the city. As Michaela draws him deeper into her deadly world of darkness and danger, he finds her courage and honor to be more than he can resist….

But Michaela has secrets of her own and fears telling Jesus that she is part vampire herself. She’s falling hard for the tempting FBI agent, only everyone she’s ever loved has either run away…or died and Michaela is afraid to risk her heart and Jesus’s life for a chance at love.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Michaela had been tracking the vampire since she’d sensed the elder during her scouting mission in Central Park.
He wasn’t the one she sought, but the heightened thrum of his power told her he had just killed. Reason enough to pursue him until she could find the right vampire and dispatch him.

Then and only then could she leave New York City for a kinder, gentler place.

She discovered the elder vamp’s victim just beyond one of the jogging paths. The kill was fresh, the scent of the elder strong on the female runner who had been tossed into the underbrush like garbage. As Michaela bent to examine the jogger’s body in its shredded clothes, she realized the vampire had not just been content to drain the woman of blood. The victim had been sexually assaulted as well and in the most brutal of ways—ripped apart by the vampire sating his lust.

Michaela opened her senses to pick up every last scintilla of the elder’s trail, from the metallic taste of the victim’s blood on his breath to the unique wake of energy the immortal left behind.

She reached the southern end of the park and something ahead of her spooked one of the horses attached to a hansom cab waiting along Central Park South. The animal reared up, hooves flailing.

She darted behind the cab and caught a glimpse of a blurry figure speeding through Grand Army Plaza. As she raced to the fountain in the center of the square, the pulse of undead power beat at her more strongly, signaling that she was getting closer to the ancient vampire.

Another indistinct flash weaving through the pedestrians on Fifth Avenue confirmed the immortal was within her reach.

She focused on that vague shape, keeping a watchful eye and a respectful distance as she chased after him. She could not engage the vampire elder out in the open where either humans or other vampires might see what was happening. To do so might expose her presence in the city and possibly bring down the wrath of the vampire council.

Despite her caution, the elder must have sensed that he was being followed.

He increased his speed, weaving in and out of the humans on the sidewalks, climbing to the rooftop of a building in lower Midtown Manhattan and leaping from one structure to the next before dropping to the ground. The vampire moved at an almost frantic pace, as if he knew the nature of her mission.

Michaela kept up her determined pursuit, patiently waiting for the moment when the time would be right. She dodged pedestrians and vehicles as the vampire attempted to elude her, well aware that she had to act before the immortal reached the safe haven of the Blood Bank.

If he made it there, she would have to pull back and wait for another night. There were too many undead in that place to risk a confrontation within its doors.

Too many, and she was just one against them.

She drove back the crush of loneliness that nearly choked her, reminding herself that there was no other way. Her life held too much death and destruction; it hindered any kind of personal commitments.

The few people she had allowed to get close had run away when they discovered the truth about her existence.

The truth about her.

Or they’d ended up dead.

In Union Square, the vampire geared down to human speed, using that pace to lose himself amongst the many mortals still present in the park. The beat of the humans’ life forces and their scents served to disguise his presence.

Michaela paused at the far edge of the square, examining the walkways, attempting to separate the humans from her undead prey, but she was unable to pin down the immortal. She waited, hopeful that once the elder moved beyond the boundaries of the crowded area, she would be able to pick up his presence once again.

Her wait was futile.

Long minutes passed with no activity that she could discern.

She finally acknowledged that she had been bested by his subterfuge, but that didn’t mean the chase was over.

She knew just where the vampire was likely to go.

If she could beat him there, she still might be able to take him out before he reached the safety of the nightclub.
Hustling at breakneck speed, she arrived at the mouth of the small cobblestoned street that led to the Blood Bank.

At the club’s door was the ever-present vampire bouncer and crowd of humans waiting to mingle with both wannabe and real vampires. Not to mention the occasional shape-shifter brave enough to cross into bloodsucker territory.

Michaela had never understood the human fascination with the undead, the near veneration for the amoral creatures who had taken so much from her and others.

Vampires weren’t meant to be idolized, she thought.

They were meant to be exterminated.

As she felt the presence at her back, she realized she had guessed right about the vampire elder.

She had barely half turned to face him when he lashed out at her, nails as sharp as eagle’s talons raking across her jacket. The leather did its job, keeping his nails from tearing into her flesh.

Bending backward, she avoided the deeper thrust of another vicious swipe toward her midsection and then dropped down to sweep the vampire’s feet out from under him.

He landed with a thick thud, while she was immediately back on her feet after a quick jerk and launch of her body, a nice sharp wooden stake in her hand.

“Not what you thought, fang boy?” she taunted as she stood, arms akimbo, above the prone body of the stunned elder.

With a swift move of his own, the vampire surged to his feet, fully transformed. His eyes glowed with a piercing teal-blue light. Long deadly fangs erupted from his mouth and ended at a point below his chin. Such a prodigious length of tooth testified to his longevity. The strength of his elder power jabbed at her senses, threatening just by its very existence.

This vamp would not go quickly, she thought as the elder issued a warning growl and lunged at her again, beginning a dance that could end in only one way….

With one of them dead.

#TeaserTuesday – BLOOD ROGUE from Linda Parisi

I am so excited to have my dear friend Linda Parisi here with me today to talk about her new release BLOOD ROGUE! Linda is a long-time friend and this is a great book. Please welcome Linda and check out her book at https://books2read.com/u/47X6Rj. And now, here’s Linda!

All About Linda

I’d like to take a moment to thank my wonderful friend and author, Caridad Pineiro, for asking me to join her for a few moments. You see, not only do Caridad and I go back a way, we also share a love—writing about vampires. And guess what? HONOR CALLS, the second book in her vampire series, just re-released. That means my newest book, BLOOD ROGUE, has some damned good company on the bookshelves.

Why do I write about vampires? Simple question, not so simple answer. I guess the first answer is that I fell in love with these sexy, dark, angsty characters. There is pathos in the way vampires are portrayed, they’re evil, they drink blood, they kill people. And yet, they yearn to be loved, they yearn to be human again. And, of course, there’s always redemption. For an author, redemption is so much fun to write. No matter how bad they are, I can make my vampires better, even lovable. And so, so HOT!

For the BLOOD ROGUE series, I wanted to combine my day and night jobs. During the day, I’m a clinical research scientist. Fun fact, my first job was in a blood bank. Not kidding! Right out of college. Fun fact! The New York cell is a mansion and estate on the banks of the Hudson River and houses a blood donation center with banks of refrigerators housed right in the bedrock of the Palisades. Run by humans but overseen by vampires!

At night, I write. My books are character-driven first, then I build my world around them. In my vampire world, humans aren’t supposed to know vampires exist. Each time a vampire feeds, he/she enthralls the human with Lethe so they won’t remember what happened. So I asked, what if I create a human that doesn’t become enthralled, and whose very existence threatens vampire anonymity? What if I created a drug that made vampires sick and that sickness meant they could drain human after human, yet not be sated? Could my heroine, Stacy Morgan, a forensic chemist and blood banker, find out what it was before the High Council decided she was no longer of use? Could my hero, vampire Charles Tower, find out who was using it to create these rogue vampires? Could I create a vampire world, complete with vampire politics, that’s being threatened by human and rogue alike?

If you’d like to find out more, please stop by my website at www.lindajparisi.com or you can purchase BLOOD ROGUE on Amazon at https://books2read.com/u/47X6Rj.

Thank you for spending time with me. If you enjoy reading about BLOOD ROGUE, the second book in the ROGUE series, HONORABLE ROGUE, will be available from City Owl Press in July 2021.

Teaser

There is the blood and can only ever be the blood.

Vampire Charles Tower never knew anything sweeter than the taste of Stacy Morgan’s lips. He never imagined anything crueler than her being marked for death by the only father he’s ever known. Mikhail reared him. Taught him how to survive. Now he’s gone rogue and it’s up to Charles to put the man down.

But can Chaz convince himself and Stacy that love between them is impossible?
That’s hard to do with a woman like Stacy Morgan, especially when she offers herself up as bait. Now they must fight against the centuries-old customs that bar them from being together and the rogue vampire who wants every last drop of Stacy’s blood before they can discover why Mikhail isn’t the only BLOOD ROGUE they’ll have to face.

Excerpt

Something was wrong. Stacy couldn’t right herself. The world kept spinning out of control.
“I’m sorry, Stacy.”

Her body still pulsed with the aftershocks of an amazing orgasm, but she couldn’t get the room to balance, she felt drunk, higher than a kite. Damn him, he’d used the thrall.

“I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for something you should never have been involved in.”

“You won’t what?” Stacy tried to lift her head. The room tilted when she did. “You bastard,” she cried, realizing what he’d done. “You…you didn’t…”

Such sadness. After such pleasure. “Not exactly.”

Stacy tried to gather her thoughts. As she did, he covered her with a sheet and rose. She’d never seen such steely determination in his face before. “You’re going after him by yourself.”

“To keep you safe.”

“That’s not your choice.”

“It is now. I drank enough of your blood so you won’t get out of this bed and try to be a hero.”

“Did you really think that was my only motivation? That I was doing this to be a hero?”

He stared down at her, his gaze unchanged. “You’ll be all right after you sleep it off. Go to sleep.”

“No, I won’t.”

She struggled to sit up and fell back onto the bed, too weak to get up. She tried again, only to have the room spin out of control.

“Why?” she asked, her thoughts a mass of contradictions.

“Because I love you.”

She watched Chaz turn on his heel and leave the room. She had to close her eyes again to get the room to stop spinning. She could hear him throwing his clothes on in the other room. Then she heard him stop in the doorway.

“I’ll never forgive you,” she said, her tone flat and her stare hard as she opened them. He was leaning against the doorjamb. He looked anything but nonchalant.

“I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. So we’re even.”

#TeaserTuesday #TuesdayTreat Free Read from NEVER A BRIDE

OMG, happy first day of fall! Or at least it is fall at 9:30 am today. Hard to believe the summer is gone. I just love summers along the Jersey Shore and wish I could keep that summer feeling all year long. I think that’s the main reason that I wrote the At the Shore series. I wanted to keep that feeling alive and I wanted to share it with you. Today’s Teaser Tuesday is a short teaser and free read from NEVER A BRIDE the third book in the series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the first two since all of the books standalone! Both NEVER A BRIDE and ONE SUMMER NIGHT are now specially priced at 99 cents! You can find them here: https://amzn.to/3kCLCeF.

Teaser

Emma never dreamed that the happily-ever-after would change her life. . .

But as her two best friends find love, Emma worries about what her future will bring. She has seen all too often what happens once husbands and children arrive. She puts on a brave face because she wants her buddies to be happy, but as a wedding planner, she has seen one too many marriages go south. Not to mention her parents’ bitter divorce which has soured her on the idea of marriage for herself. She can’t imagine ever finding a man who can bring her a forever kind of romance.

He’s been in love with her forever and can’t understand why she can’t see it. . .

Carlo da Costa knows why Emma avoids relationships and yet he can’t help but wonder how someone who puts such love and care into others’ dreams can’t allow herself to believe in the fairy tale. He sees the yearning on her face when she spends time with him and his big boisterous family and knows that deep inside, she wants the same thing. Carlo hopes that one day he can provide her with that because he’s sure Emma holds the key to his heart in her hands.

Excerpt

Prologue

The bouquet shot toward her head like a spaceship launched at the moon.

Emma Grant had no time to deflect the missile. She tangled her fingers into the luscious petals of the peonies, roses, and hydrangea, rousing fragrant floral scents as the bouquet grazed her face. When she was in wedding planner mode, she would have taken the time to appreciate the freshness of the blooms, but tonight she was also a bridesmaid and best friend and totally unhappy about her current predicament.

Flowers fisted in her hand, Emma whirled to face her other best friend and maid of honor, Connie Reyes, who with a subtle hip check, had knocked Emma straight into the path of the flying tussie mussie. “I thought you were my friend!”

“Totally,” Connie said with a broad smile and waltzed off to the side of the dance floor to where Carlo Gonzalez, her caterer extraordinaire and longtime man crush, stood with some of his wait staff.

Her friends thought Carlo was the man to give Emma her happily-ever-after, except it wasn’t possible that someone like Carlo could love someone like her. She was broken inside and had been for some time while Carlo was everything good in this world. A loving son and a supportive brother. A go-to-guy for her and so many others. But a lover? Even though her insides ignited at the thought of making love with the incredibly handsome Carlo, Emma knew it could only lead to misery on way too many levels.

He was her business partner of sorts and she valued how well they worked together. They had even talked about forming an event planning business more than once so Emma could have her own company and Carlo could expand his. Not to mention that he was her best friend and she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life, but she was certain that was what would happen if they tried to go from friends to lovers and it didn’t work out.

But Emma’s fears weren’t keeping Connie from trying to drag Carlo into the center of the dance floor for the next part of the wedding ritual. He protested at first and as all eyes settled on him as he balked, embarrassment engulfed her. His hesitation confirmed to Emma that changing the nature of their relationship was not necessarily something he wanted to do either.

Others soon joined in to offer Connie assistance and Carlo finally relented, although clearly reluctant. The handsome caterer stood with the other single men, and as the groom prepared his garter toss, Emma closed her eyes and mumbled a prayer beneath her breath.

“Dear Lord, please be good to me,” she said and half-opened her eyes to watch.

Apparently God wasn’t listening since the garter flew across the air, and like a horseshoe tossed at a ring, the circle of baby blue satin ribbon and beige lace landed on Carlo’s index finger, earning hoots and shouts from all gathered at the perfect catch.

Emma groaned and popped her eyes wide open as Carlo stood there, dangling the garter for all to see. A stain of color marred his cheeks as he peeked at her with a chagrined smile.

The heat of a blush erupted all across her face and up to her ears. She half glanced at Connie who had returned to stand by her and Emma said, “I will kill you for this. When you least suspect it, it will happen.”

Connie couldn’t stifle her chuckle, and when the groom’s brother and best man Jonathan Pierce strolled to her friend’s side, Connie high-fived Jonathan for his assistance with the plot. Connie murmured something to him that Emma couldn’t quite hear as the band launched into a sexy riff to continue the wedding tradition. Carlo sauntered over, garter dangling from his finger as someone placed a chair for her to sit on in the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

“The quicker you get it over with, the easier it will be,” Emma thought, hurried out, and unceremoniously plopped onto the chair. It was like taking off a bandage with a quick rip. It cut the pain much like she wanted to lessen the humiliation of Carlo being forced into this wedding tradition.

The sexy music continued as Carlo kneeled before her and mouthed “Don’t worry.” In deference to the fancy event being held at the Sinclair beachfront mansion, he was dressed in a tuxedo. The black of the tux emphasized the deep brown of his thick wavy hair. The electric white shirt was the perfect foil against olive skin that still bore the remnants of a summer tan. He smiled at her, his teeth toothpaste bright and perfect. The smile was brilliant and transformed the chiseled features of his face. Made his chocolate brown eyes gleam with a mix of amusement and awkwardness.

It was way too easy to picture him as the groom. Her groom, but that was an impossible wish. As his gaze locked with hers, she detected something different for a moment. Something dangerous that she tried to convince herself wasn’t there. There was no way that was there, she told herself.

She silently pleaded with him not to make the situation worse. Ever the gentleman, he heeded her plea and kept it clean as she looked up toward the inky night sky to avoid watching him. His touch was deferential while he slipped the lacy fabric past her shoe and ankle, but even the faintest whisper of his rough palm against her skin had her trembling inside and heat racing across her body. He moved the garter up a little higher to her calf and paused, forcing Emma to look at him to find out the reason for his delay.

Carlo grinned sexily and the fire at her core ignited into a five-alarm blaze. He was just so damn handsome and it was impossible not to imagine doing more with him. He inched the garter past her knee, his palm teasing her smooth skin, but stopped there despite the entreaties of the single men to go ever higher. He wagged his head, shook his finger in a no-way gesture, and tenderly draped Emma’s gown back over her legs.

Emma met his gaze once more, thankful, but this time it was impossible to miss that his look was filled with yearning. With that emotion, she had maybe hoped for and dreaded at the same time. And then Carlo did something totally unexpected and decidedly risky. He wrapped an arm around her waist, urged her to her feet, and slowly drew her close.

Her knees trembled and her heart pounded so loudly, she barely heard the music and cheers from those who’d maybe had a little too much to drink during the festivities. Carlo steadied her, keeping his arm around her waist as he cradled her jaw. Slowly he leaned toward her and tilted her face up with the gentlest pressure.

She could have backed away. Could have stopped him, but truthfully she didn’t want him to stop. She inched up on her tiptoes to meet his lips.

Order

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2MLZRyK
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/38Mje4b
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1482927575
B&N: bit.ly/BN_Bride
Kobo: bit.ly/kobo_Bride
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/437777098
Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/b/b6kYWx

#TeaserTuesday – Cold Case Reopened March 2021

Good morning! I am so excited to be writing for Harlequin Intrigue. My first release for them is COLD CASE REOPENED in March 2021. The story is set in Colorado and features sexy detective

Teaser

It was hard to believe that such beauty possibly held unspeakable evil.

Rhea Reilly stood on the shore of the mountain lake where six months earlier her twin sister, Selene, had disappeared on a cold fall night.

Her artist’s eye took in the scene before her. The waters of the lake sparkled like diamonds beneath a sunny cerulean sky. At the farthest end of the lake, the waters tumbled over a spillway for the dam that held back a rush of water during a spring thaw or heavy rain. In the distance, ragged mountains leaped into the sky, still frosted with the remnants of winter snow at the highest elevations.

Normally she would have savored painting such a lovely sight, but not today, when it might be her sister’s watery tomb.

Rhea hugged her arms tight around herself, closed her eyes and listened to the soft lap of the water against the rocky shores of the lake. Imagined Selene standing there that fateful night, tapping out the message she’d sent to Rhea.

I can’t take it anymore. I can’t. I’m finally going to do something about it.

The police had taken that text to mean that Selene had decided to end her life that night, right there on the shores of those stunningly beautiful mountain waters. But Rhea wasn’t convinced.

Order

You can order COLD CASE REOPENED at the following retailers:

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3iGCbKr
Paperback: Coming Soon!
Amazon Kindle Box Set: https://amzn.to/2PSVRyn
Apple Books: https://bit.ly/coldcasereopened
Apple Box Set: https://bit.ly/applecoldcaseboxset
B&N: https://bit.ly/BNColdCase
B&N Box Set: https://bit.ly/BNColdCaseBoxset
Harlequin: https://bit.ly/HarlequinColdCase
Harlequin Box Set: https://bit.ly/HarlequinColdCaseBoxset
Kobo: https://bit.ly/KoboColdCase
Kobo Box Set: https://bit.ly/KoboColdCaseBoxSet

Cold Case Reopened

#TeaserTuesday – A Free Read from NEVER A BRIDE

Good morning! The summer just feels like it’s flying by so fast! I love summers along the Jersey Shore and wish I could keep that summer feeling all year long. I think that’s the main reason that I wrote the At the Shore series. I wanted to keep that feeling alive and I wanted to share it with you. Today’s Teaser Tuesday is a short teaser and free read from NEVER A BRIDE the third book in the series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the first two since all of the books standalone!

Teaser

Emma never dreamed that the happily-ever-after would change her life. . .

But as her two best friends find love, Emma worries about what her future will bring. She has seen all too often what happens once husbands and children arrive. She puts on a brave face because she wants her buddies to be happy, but as a wedding planner, she has seen one too many marriages go south. Not to mention her parents’ bitter divorce which has soured her on the idea of marriage for herself. She can’t imagine ever finding a man who can bring her a forever kind of romance.

He’s been in love with her forever and can’t understand why she can’t see it. . .

Carlo da Costa knows why Emma avoids relationships and yet he can’t help but wonder how someone who puts such love and care into others’ dreams can’t allow herself to believe in the fairy tale. He sees the yearning on her face when she spends time with him and his big boisterous family and knows that deep inside, she wants the same thing. Carlo hopes that one day he can provide her with that because he’s sure Emma holds the key to his heart in her hands.

Excerpt

Prologue

The bouquet shot toward her head like a spaceship launched at the moon.

Emma Grant had no time to deflect the missile. She tangled her fingers into the luscious petals of the peonies, roses, and hydrangea, rousing fragrant floral scents as the bouquet grazed her face. When she was in wedding planner mode, she would have taken the time to appreciate the freshness of the blooms, but tonight she was also a bridesmaid and best friend and totally unhappy about her current predicament.

Flowers fisted in her hand, Emma whirled to face her other best friend and maid of honor, Connie Reyes, who with a subtle hip check, had knocked Emma straight into the path of the flying tussie mussie. “I thought you were my friend!”

“Totally,” Connie said with a broad smile and waltzed off to the side of the dance floor to where Carlo Gonzalez, her caterer extraordinaire and longtime man crush, stood with some of his wait staff.

Her friends thought Carlo was the man to give Emma her happily-ever-after, except it wasn’t possible that someone like Carlo could love someone like her. She was broken inside and had been for some time while Carlo was everything good in this world. A loving son and a supportive brother. A go-to-guy for her and so many others. But a lover? Even though her insides ignited at the thought of making love with the incredibly handsome Carlo, Emma knew it could only lead to misery on way too many levels.

He was her business partner of sorts and she valued how well they worked together. They had even talked about forming an event planning business more than once so Emma could have her own company and Carlo could expand his. Not to mention that he was her best friend and she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life, but she was certain that was what would happen if they tried to go from friends to lovers and it didn’t work out.

But Emma’s fears weren’t keeping Connie from trying to drag Carlo into the center of the dance floor for the next part of the wedding ritual. He protested at first and as all eyes settled on him as he balked, embarrassment engulfed her. His hesitation confirmed to Emma that changing the nature of their relationship was not necessarily something he wanted to do either.

Others soon joined in to offer Connie assistance and Carlo finally relented, although clearly reluctant. The handsome caterer stood with the other single men, and as the groom prepared his garter toss, Emma closed her eyes and mumbled a prayer beneath her breath.

“Dear Lord, please be good to me,” she said and half-opened her eyes to watch.

Apparently God wasn’t listening since the garter flew across the air, and like a horseshoe tossed at a ring, the circle of baby blue satin ribbon and beige lace landed on Carlo’s index finger, earning hoots and shouts from all gathered at the perfect catch.

Emma groaned and popped her eyes wide open as Carlo stood there, dangling the garter for all to see. A stain of color marred his cheeks as he peeked at her with a chagrined smile.

The heat of a blush erupted all across her face and up to her ears. She half glanced at Connie who had returned to stand by her and Emma said, “I will kill you for this. When you least suspect it, it will happen.”

Connie couldn’t stifle her chuckle, and when the groom’s brother and best man Jonathan Pierce strolled to her friend’s side, Connie high-fived Jonathan for his assistance with the plot. Connie murmured something to him that Emma couldn’t quite hear as the band launched into a sexy riff to continue the wedding tradition. Carlo sauntered over, garter dangling from his finger as someone placed a chair for her to sit on in the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

“The quicker you get it over with, the easier it will be,” Emma thought, hurried out, and unceremoniously plopped onto the chair. It was like taking off a bandage with a quick rip. It cut the pain much like she wanted to lessen the humiliation of Carlo being forced into this wedding tradition.

The sexy music continued as Carlo kneeled before her and mouthed “Don’t worry.” In deference to the fancy event being held at the Sinclair beachfront mansion, he was dressed in a tuxedo. The black of the tux emphasized the deep brown of his thick wavy hair. The electric white shirt was the perfect foil against olive skin that still bore the remnants of a summer tan. He smiled at her, his teeth toothpaste bright and perfect. The smile was brilliant and transformed the chiseled features of his face. Made his chocolate brown eyes gleam with a mix of amusement and awkwardness.

It was way too easy to picture him as the groom. Her groom, but that was an impossible wish. As his gaze locked with hers, she detected something different for a moment. Something dangerous that she tried to convince herself wasn’t there. There was no way that was there, she told herself.

She silently pleaded with him not to make the situation worse. Ever the gentleman, he heeded her plea and kept it clean as she looked up toward the inky night sky to avoid watching him. His touch was deferential while he slipped the lacy fabric past her shoe and ankle, but even the faintest whisper of his rough palm against her skin had her trembling inside and heat racing across her body. He moved the garter up a little higher to her calf and paused, forcing Emma to look at him to find out the reason for his delay.

Carlo grinned sexily and the fire at her core ignited into a five-alarm blaze. He was just so damn handsome and it was impossible not to imagine doing more with him. He inched the garter past her knee, his palm teasing her smooth skin, but stopped there despite the entreaties of the single men to go ever higher. He wagged his head, shook his finger in a no-way gesture, and tenderly draped Emma’s gown back over her legs.

Emma met his gaze once more, thankful, but this time it was impossible to miss that his look was filled with yearning. With that emotion, she had maybe hoped for and dreaded at the same time. And then Carlo did something totally unexpected and decidedly risky. He wrapped an arm around her waist, urged her to her feet, and slowly drew her close.

Her knees trembled and her heart pounded so loudly, she barely heard the music and cheers from those who’d maybe had a little too much to drink during the festivities. Carlo steadied her, keeping his arm around her waist as he cradled her jaw. Slowly he leaned toward her and tilted her face up with the gentlest pressure.

She could have backed away. Could have stopped him, but truthfully she didn’t want him to stop. She inched up on her tiptoes to meet his lips.

Order

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2MLZRyK
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/38Mje4b
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1482927575
B&N: bit.ly/BN_Bride
Kobo: bit.ly/kobo_Bride
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/437777098
Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/b/b6kYWx