Winner Winner and a Tempting Read

So excited that so many people shared their hometowns during the giveaway! It was so nice to learn about where you all live and see some of the lovely photos. Thank you! The winner of the giveaway is Capri Gay! Congrats!

And now I’m sharing a teaser and excerpt from Trapping a Terrorist, my 25th release for Harlequin. It’s a story with adventure, suspense, romance and tortured heroes. I hope you’ll enjoy this little look at it!

Teaser

An FBI agent puts everything on the line…

To keep a deadly threat at bay.

When FBI agent Miguel Peters and his father land squarely in the crosshairs of a bomber terrorizing Seattle, the last thing Miguel wants is to also entangle a lovely stranger in a terrorist’s web. Yet while Maisy Oliver might look innocent, her father’s one of the most notorious men in Washington State. Miguel knows Maisy will do anything to help him and his team catch a killer. But does that include confronting a past she’s worked far too long to forget?

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

Discover more action-packed stories in the Behavioral Analysis Unit series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order:

Book 1: Profiling a Killer by Nichole Severn
Book 2: Decoding a Criminal by Barb Han
Book 3: Tracing a Kidnapper by Juno Rushdan
Book 4: Trapping a Terrorist by Caridad Piñeiro

Excerpt

As soon as they were through the door, he released her hand and they stepped apart, gazing at each other, obviously uncomfortable. He broke the tension with a flip of his hand in the direction of the Murphy bed.

“I’m going to be working and you’re probably sore. Maybe you should take the bed tonight so you’re more comfortable.”

She opened her mouth, as if to object, but then just nodded. Clasping her hands before her, she said, “Thanks. But there’s room for you as well.”

And there was the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room again, and he might as well address it. Walking up to her, he cradled her cheek and stroked his thumb across her creamy skin. So smooth. So soft. His gut tightened at the thought of all that skin against his and she was more than he could resist.

Bending closer, he brought his lips to hers until only the space of a breath was between them. “This,” he said, whispered his lips across hers and shifted back barely an inch. “This is why that’s not a good idea.”

In answer, Maisy reached up and cupped the back of his head, keeping him close. “This,” she said, repeating his earlier action, her lips a butterfly kiss against his. “This is why we have to share that bed. Whatever happens, I don’t want to say that I ran from this. From us.”

A low groan escaped him, and he couldn’t fight it anymore. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close, her softness crushed to his hardness. Every inch of her fitting to him as if they were two pieces of a puzzle.

Over and over they kissed, until their breaths became one and almost ceased to exist as they strained toward each other.

But then something registered. Sound. Vibration.

“Damn,” he said and fumbled with the phone in his jacket pocket, dropping it with a thud.

That sound killed the desire as effectively as a cold bucket of water.

“SSA Peters,” he said, and mouthed an apology to her.

“We’ve broken through one of the shell companies and like you thought, it’s part of Rothwell Industries,” Dashiell advised.

“That’s great, Dash. We’re one step closer to Rothwell. I’m sure he’s the mastermind behind this,” Miguel said.

“I agree, Miguel. We’ll keep on working to break past the other shell. Hopefully it’ll lead to Rothwell also.”

“I don’t doubt that it will and if we can get Adams into custody, maybe he will flip on Rothwell. As for the licensed blaster, I think there’s one on our list that’s at Rothwell’s current construction site. If you can get an address for him, I’ll go with Madeline to interview him.”

“We’ll try to get it ASAP,” Dashiell said and ended the call.

Miguel tossed the phone onto a nearby tabletop and it clattered noisily, making Maisy jump and take a step away from him.

“You need to get to work,” she said and smoothed her hand across his chest.

“I do. Why don’t you—”

The phone rang and vibrated noisily on the tabletop.

“Again?” Miguel muttered in frustration, swept up the phone and answered, “SSA Peters.”

“We’ve got the address for the blaster from his license application and his photo from his driver’s license,” Madeline said.

“Great. Meet me in the lobby. We’ll speak to him and see what he has to say,” Miguel directed.

Facing Maisy, he said, “I have to go.”

“I understand. I’ll be waiting up for you.”

The last bit of emptiness inside him disappeared at the thought of Maisy waiting for him at home. A home and not just a place to lay his head between investigations.

“That’ll be nice. I’ll make sure an agent is at the door while I’m gone,” he stated and rushed to the door, Maisy following.

At the door he faced her, bent and kissed her, a long, slow kiss filled with promise.

Order Trapping a Terrorist

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3stMJSx
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3dmWs6L
Amazon Box Set: https://amzn.to/3lWYdvf
Apple: https://apple.co/3fp4NcL
BN E-book: http://bit.ly/BNTrap
BN Box Set: http://bit.ly/BNBoxSetTTrap
Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboTrap
Kobo Box Set: http://bit.ly/KobpBoxSetTrap
Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/TrappingATerrorist

Video

October 25, 2021

Happily Casting Trapping a Terrorist FBI Agent

It’s been a while since I did a Man Candy Monday so today we’re going to play a little game with some hotties! FBI Agent Miguel Peters from Trapping a Terrorist is a Cuban-American so today we’re going to pick who we might cast in the role if someone decided to make a movie from that book! So let’s choose from two sexy Cubanitos! Will it be William Levy who just starred in South Beach Love or Eddie Cibrian who just starred in Netflix’s Country Comfort? A tough choice! Share who you would pick for the role of sexy FBI Agent Miguel Peters.

January 12, 2021

#TeaserTuesday – Cold Case Reopened Harlequin Intrigue

I am so so excited about COLD CASE REOPENED, my March release from Harlequin Intrigue. I’ve got a teaser for you today from this story about a twin sister out to discover what really happened to her twin when she disappeared six months earlier. If you love cold case files, this one is definitely 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

Chapter One

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.

Although her sister had been troubled the last few months, Rhea was certain that Selene would never take her life.

If anything, it was more likely that Selene’s husband had killed her sister, but the police in Selene’s hometown had been unable to find enough evidence to charge him. No-body homicides were apparently very difficult to prosecute.

The police here in Regina, Colorado, where Selene’s car had been found by the lake, were convinced that her sister had committed suicide, even though they also hadn’t been able to find Selene’s body.

But Rhea was sure her sister wasn’t dead. There was something inside her, that special twin connection they had always shared, that had been saying from the very beginning that Selene was alive and hurting.

That was why she’d undertaken her own investigation once her sister’s case had become inactive because the police had run out of leads.

Rhea dashed away the tears that had leaked from beneath eyes screwed shut.

Her sister was alive and, if she wasn’t, her husband was responsible. She intended for the police to do something about it based on the information she had collected over the last six months. But for the truth to come out, she needed more corroborating evidence and only the police could provide the resources to accomplish that.

She whirled, stumbled a bit on the rough rocks beneath her feet. Righting herself, she marched to her car which she had parked on the street near where Selene’s sedan had been found. The street would have been deserted when Selene had texted her that night.

Rhea stopped to look around, examining the scene. Along the edges of the lake, a marina spread out across the shore. Dozens of boats were parked at the docks behind a large building that held a restaurant, a marina office and a shop that sold supplies for boaters, as well as tourists, partaking of the lake’s many summer activities.

Across the way were a few homes and in one of those homes was a witness who had seen Selene park and walk toward the lake. The older woman hadn’t thought much of it because people often stopped, even at night, to take in the splendor of the lake.

Rhea intended to speak to her, but hopefully with the police to back her up and add their own expertise to the interrogation.

The police.

It all kept circling around to needing their assistance, so it was time she got going and spoke to them about Selene’s case.

She got in her car and headed to Main Street and the Regina Police Station. As she cruised down Main Street, she was once again struck by the loveliness of the town. It was postcard-perfect with its charming downtown filled with an eclectic mix of shops that catered to locals as well as the tourists who would visit for skiing and water sports.

Rhea found a spot just a block shy of the police station, parked and grabbed the thick folder bulging with the information she had gathered over the many months. With it tucked under her arm, cradled as securely as a newborn baby, she walked to the police station and paused at the base of the steps.

Like everything else about this town, the police station looked like something off a movie set. The building blended harmoniously with the other structures along Main Street. On either side of the wide steps leading to the door, spring flowers in a riot of colors cascaded over the edges of the terraced garden. Bright pink, purple and blue blossoms waved at her in welcome as a slight breeze swept across the street, still a bit cold despite it being early spring.

The chill settled in her bones as if warning her that she might not be happy with what she found inside.

She dragged in air through her nostrils and then expelled it with a harsh breath.

Time to get going.

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

February 8, 2019

#FreebieFriday – Free Download of DESIRE CALLS

When you’re writing a series, especially one that you hope to have run for a long time, you have to build a world and also create characters to inhabit that place. For The Calling is Reborn vampire novels, the world was New York City because I wanted to share with you the city that I love and where I spend so much time. As for the characters, Diana and Ryder were alive for me from the moment they started screaming in my head. As I wrote their story, DARKNESS CALLS, I knew they’d be with me for some time. But then I had to give birth to other characters for future books and also, secondary characters to just populate the world. Sometimes those secondary characters became so intriguing that I knew they would get stories as well. That’s what happened with Blake and Stacia. They were just too much fun and too much of everything. I knew they needed their own stories. For fun, Harlequin and I did a little novella with them that really showed the best and worst of their personalities. Today I’m offering that novella, DESIRE CALLS, as a free download. I hope you like Blake and Stacia as much as I do. Blake gets his eternal love in FURY CALLS, an RT Book Club Top Pick. Stacia earns her happily-ever-after in KISSED BY A VAMPIRE which is the only Calling book not set in New York. Instead, Stacia flies off the South Beach to escape the human wanna-bes in New York who are making her crave the love Stacia doesn’t think she can ever have.

You can download DESIRE CALLS with this link: https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/dVMOvTrM

January 16, 2019

Indie-Publishing 101 #WriteWed

As I mentioned the other day, I’m so excited to have gotten back rights to over a dozen books that I had written from Harlequin. Many of them are paranormals including quite a number of books in THE CALLING vampire suspense series. Since this is a series of my heart it’s a big woo hoo. My goal is to re-release them over the course of the next several months, but that will take planning and some thought on how to position them since THE CALLING has always been a unique series. A little bit vampire, a little bit suspense. A little historical with the vampire backgrounds and a little multicultural with Chupacabras, Chiang shis and a Latino FBI Agent and her Scooby Gang.

That kind of planning and the self-publishing avenues available to authors is what I will be chatting about at this year’s Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference. I’m so looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned over the last several years of releasing my own books and hopefully offering aspiring authors useful information about how to move their careers forward. For more info on the conference, which also has a wonderful readers’ track, please visit www.lsfwriters.com.

The one word that keeps on coming back to me as being imperative is “planning.” We just had an awesome planning workshop at our monthly meeting this month and I know many of the attendees came away with good ideas on not only planning, but using technology to help them be more effective writers.

Right now I’m in the planning phases since I have to write a new book for a traditional contract and somehow work in new projects for the future as well as the indie publishing for the books which have reverted to me.

2019 is promising to be an interesting year and I’m looking forward to sharing all that happens with you!

September 27, 2016

#TravelTuesday More than a Mission & Secret Agent Reunion

Several years back I was lucky enough to be part of a romantic suspense series from Harlequin that included MORE THAN A MISSION and SECRET AGENT REUNION. I loved writing these stories set on a fictional island as well as London and Rome. Especially MORE THAN A MISSION which is one of my personal favorites and was also turned into a comic in both Japanese and Chinese!

These were emotional stories about sisterly love and devotion and of course, romances with strong alpha heroes and action-packed suspense. Plus, they gave me an opportunity to do some first hand research in London and Rome. While I was in London, I also did research for another romantic suspense book that I had planned to revolve around the Knights Templar. That book is still in my ideas journal and I hope to get back to it one day when I have more time to write.

For today, on this Travel Tuesday, I’m sharing some photos from the places I visited and which inspired MORE THAN A MISSION and SECRET AGENT REUNION and will eventually make it into another book! For now, I want to leave you with these images. Just click on a thumbnail to see the full photo!

September 21, 2016February 17, 2021

#WriteWed The Calling is Reborn Vampire Series & TAMING THE VAMPIRE Boxset

Taming the Vampire When I wrote the first book in THE CALLING IS REBORN vampire series, DARKNESS CALLS, I knew I had to write more stories around the core characters, FBI Agent Diana Reyes and Southern Vampire Ryder Latimer, even though I only had a one book contract with Harlequin. Luckily, Harlequin agreed and there are now more than a dozen books in the series.

I knew that I had to surround Diana and Ryder with other unique characters and build a world that others would like to visit. The backdrop for that world was New York City, but it was the humans and vampires that brought the city to life.

Some of my favorites are Blake, a sexy punk British vampire, Foley, the vampire owner of the Blood Bank, Peter Daly, an NYPD homocide detective, and a trio of FBI agents – ADIC Jesus Hernandez, Agent David Harris and Medical Examiner Maggie Gonzalez.

As the world of THE CALLING IS REBORN grew, those characters would come back in recurring roles and get their own stories, except for Foley. Don’t worry, his story is coming one day because he truly fascinates me.

But I knew that to keep the world growing, it wasn’t enough to just have humans and vampires battling each other and evil, I needed other types of characters.

In TO LOVE AND SERVE, the world expanded, bringing into the mythology the Vampire Slayers and dhampir Michaela Ramirez. In BORN TO LOVE, various shifters added to the growing world and the battle between humans, vampires, and slayers.

The hero in DARE TO LOVE, my contribution to TAMING THE VAMPIRE, first appeared in TO LOVE AND SERVE and from the moment that vampire slayer Benjamin came onto the page, I knew he was going to have a story. An emotional, sad, and anguished story, but with a happily-ever-after at the end.

DARE TO LOVE is the start of that story and I will have Benjamin and his love, Rhiannon, in future stories so you can see where their love will take them.

Teaser

Rhiannon had been attracted to Ben when he had been her instructor in the ways of the Slayers. His death had caused her grief, but his return was proving to be even more difficult as she battled her growing feelings for the Slayer-turned-vampire who was shaking up her beliefs in all that she had been taught.

Can Ben and Rhiannon dare to defy the rules of the Slayers and find love or will Fate make them enemies sworn to kill one another?

Purchase

DARE TO LOVE is part of the TAMING THE VAMPIRE box set which is now available for pre-order. It’s specially priced at 99 cents, so don’t miss this awesome deal for 25 ALL NEW releases that are not available anywhere else.

You can purchase TAMING THE VAMPIRE at these online retailers:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bfy9Js
Kobo http://bit.ly/2by9MsM
iBooks: http://apple.co/2byaNAP
B&N: http://bit.ly/2byaGoW