I don’t have a lot of yard at my new place, mostly containers with an assortment of flower and vegetable plants. Because of that, I have just one rule for what I have in my garden, namely, that if the plant doesn’t give me either flowers or food it’s a goner. This year I got a headstart on my garden by planting seeds in March and putting them in a cold frame in mid-April. I was also able to buy some more mature plants from a great place near where my daughter lives. That means I have lots of flowers and even some vegetables already! I can’t wait to pick them! How about you? Do you garden? Share your photos!

I didn’t have to think for long about who to feature on this Monday’s Man Candy edition: Tom Cruise! I’ve thought he was a cutie since I saw him in All the Right Moves. I’ve watched his movies off an on, even enjoying Far and Away with Nicole Kidman. When hubby and I saw that Top Gun: Maverick was out, we knew we had to go see it and we were not disappointed. Tom is terrific and looks amazing for his age. The movie is classic Bruckheimer with lots of action and rah-rah America vibes! Just what the doctor ordered. If there were more movies like this from Hollywood I might go to the movies more.

The romance in DECOY TRAINING builds slowly but leads to a big eruption of the need between Shane and 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 and makes him realize that he wants something different for his future: he wants Piper.

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.

Order

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ZohoXx
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BN E-book: http://bit.ly/BNDecoy
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Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/DecoyTraining

You can read Deadly Chase for free at Harlequin.com. In Deadly Chase, a K-9 officer and a DEA agent join forces to combat a deadly enemy and confront their own complicated past. You’ll get to meet Alex and Miriam, the two law enforcement heroes in this story, but also a number of the other heroes in the K-9s on Patrol Series which begins with my book — Decoy Training — in April 2022.

The last two days of our cruise were actually on land in Vienna. We were supposed to take a side trip to Salzburg but because of US Covid testing requirements, we were unable to do that since it was quite difficult to get a test on a Sunday. Almost all shops, including pharmacies, are closed on Sundays in Vienna so it was a mad dash to find a place to get tested for our return trip. Despite that, we had an amazing time in Vienna. Our hotel was not far from the central historic district where there was a lot to be seen.

On the first day, we had a lovely tour guide who took us on a subway and a tram from the dock to the central district. We enjoyed a lovely authentic Viennese breakfast with her in Cafe Mozart. It was delightful to sit with her and learn more about life in Vienna. After, we went to a museum where we got to see so many amazing art objects. Here are some of the sights from the museum!

After the museum, we walked through the central district to reach our hotel which was near StadtPark. We had a little time to rest before heading out to Schonbrunn Palace. We did a tour of some of the balance rooms and the lovely gardens.

That night we went to the Plachutta restaurant which specializes in a very traditional Viennese dish: tafezlspitz. It’s very similar to a French Pot-au-feu in that it’s boiled beef in a consomme with vegetables and a soup bone with tasty bone marrow. It’s served with bread, applesauce with horseradish, and a chive sauce. Very tasty! As you can tell from the photo, hubby got the wiener schnitzel!

Back to the hotel for a rest and hitting the central district the next day. Since we weren’t able to go to Salzburg, we purchased tickets to see the Royal Lippazaner show. It was very interesting and the horses are absolutely beautiful. Interesting fact: their coats don’t start off white. They are actually anywhere from black to grey and slowly turn white as the horses age! We attended the show and walked around for our last day in Vienna before going home.

That night we had a lovely dinner at Figlmüller and I had some pork schnitzel. Delicious. To cap off our trip, I tried traditional Viennese pancakes called Kaiserschmarrn. These pancakes are denser than American pancakes and served with a fruit compote normally. Very tasty!

I am so excited to be part of the K-9s patrol series from Harlequin Intrigue! In addition to Deadly Chase, a free read at Harlequin.com, check out Decoy Training, the first book in the six-book series! These are action-packed stories with uplifting endings and each story is standalone! You can find out more about the series at https://amzn.to/39g1xiM.

A big congratulations to the winner of my puzzle giveaway! The winner is Sheryl Larsen! Please PM your email address so I can get your gift card to you!