#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

November 9, 2020

#ManCandyMonday – Chef Tony from SOUTH BEACH LOVE

It was so much fun to write SOUTH BEACH LOVE for Hallmark! First of all, I love stories with chefs, especially ones that get accidentally drawn into a contest to be featured in a magazine article that could make all the difference to their careers. Especially when those same chefs are going from old friends to more! This is how I pictured Chef Tony, the hero in SOUTH BEACH LOVE. The cutie is Michael Trevino who some of you might recognize from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. To find out more about SOUTH BEACH LOVE, please visit https://www.caridad.com/books/charity-pineiro/south-beach-love/.

Thanks to Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org via Wikimedia Commons for the photo. Original image has been cropped.

November 6, 2020

#FunFriday – A Hike in the Woods

Writing is not only a solitary task, it’s a sedentary one. That’s why it’s important to get moving when I can. Yesterday it was a hike through the Hidden Creek Trail at Shark River Park with my sister. The creek was pretty well hidden as in we weren’t sure we saw it! LOL! But we did see some beautiful fall foliage, banks of moss, and some interesting fungus(?). Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

November 5, 2020

#ThrowbackThursday – Great Grandfather Pineiro

Today’s throwback is to my father’s father. Handsome, right? We’d always heard he was quite good-looking, but really didn’t get to know him. He had divorced my dad’s mom and remarried someone who was a Castro supporter. He stayed behind in Havana when the rest of the family escaped to the United States. He died in Cuba when I was a teenager. Just another family separated by socialism/communism.

November 4, 2020

#WisdomWednesday – The Power of Books

Authors put a lot of themselves in books with the hope that you’ll lose yourself in that book. But that book may also tell you a bit about the author and more importantly, about yourself. So lose yourself in a book today and maybe find yourself as well!

November 3, 2020November 3, 2020

#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.

November 2, 2020

#ManCandyMonday – Josh Holloway as Jax Whitaker

I am addicted to shows like FORENSIC FILES and COLD CASE FILES which was made it so much fun to get to take part in the UNSOLVED MYSTERY collection for Harlequin Intrigue. My contribution to the collection is COLD CASE REOPENED, a story about a woman, Rhea Reilly, who is determined to find out what really happened to her missing twin sister. But to do so she has to convince Detective Jackson (Jax) Whitaker that he has to reopen the case that his department closed. I loved the tension between them that arises both due to the investigation and attraction. I also enjoyed using everything I’ve learned from my show addiction to create a story that will have fans of cold case filed trying to figure out what really happened to Rhea’s sister. As for Jax, if I had to pick someone to play Jax in a movie, there’s no doubt it would be sexy Josh Holloway!

Original image: Thibault, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons