Recommend Monday

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day with lots of family, food and fun. Did you brave the Black Friday shopping frenzy? If so, did you get any fabulous deals?

I'm in the midst of Deadline Dementia, a common occurrence when I'm only a few days from deadline and all those things I know I need to fix whirl around in my mind like a manic ferris wheel. In my dreams, the crazed operator controlling the ride looks eerily like my high school algebra teacher. What's that about?

Anyway, with deadline upon me, this will be another short and sweet Recommend Monday but with a twist. In addition to your regular recommends, name one book you wished you hadn't read yet so you could read it for the first time and enjoy all the delicious surprises again. Do you have any like that? I think for me, mine would be It Had To Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Linda Howard's MacKenzie's Mountain. Loved those two books!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. And don't forget, a recommend from you puts your name into a drawing for some fabulous prizes: (1) Kindle Fire HD; (2)Signed copies of entire LCR series; (3) $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. Winner announced 12/31.

Easy Peasy!

Now tell us what we should be reading!

Recommend Monday and a CHANCES ARE Excerpt!

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and have some wonderful recommendations for us today. I'm zooming toward the deadline for MIDNIGHT LIES, so I'm making this short and sweet: Tell us what fabulous books we should be reading!

As you know, Thanksgiving is this week and though I'm grateful everyday for all the gifts in my life, I always get a little sentimental this time of year when I think about how truly blessed I am. And I include you in those blessings. Thank you for buying my books, for telling others about them, for your emails, messages, and kind comments. Thank you for coming to this blog once a week and sharing your love of books with others. Without you, I would just be a pajama clad woman sitting in her chair, stuffing her face with chocolate, and talking to imaginary characters. Not a pretty picture!

So, as a thank you, I'm sharing an excerpt from CHANCES ARE. Totally unedited, this excerpt might change a bit before it's finished, but it should give you an idea of Jake and Angela and will hopefully get you even more excited about their story.

Have a fabulous week and a safe and delightful Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy the sneak peek at CHANCES ARE!

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“Come on, sweetheart, you know you want it. Take it. I won’t hurt you.”

It had been said that Jake Mallory’s soft, gentle whisper could charm the birds from a tree, the snarl off a grizzly, and the panties from the most virtuous woman. He’d never seen it happen himself, but the rumors had always made him laugh. Today he was trying to do nothing more than charm a mouse from behind his fridge. Didn’t seem fair to kill the poor thing but dammed if he wanted to share an apartment with it. The cheese, an excellent gyurere, had been a small sacrifice to make. Now if only the creature would cooperate.

He needed to move to a nicer place. The flat had been temporary diggs to hang his clothes when he’d come to Paris. Working for Last Chance Rescue had seemed like a perfect job but he counted on nothing anymore. Everything in his life was on probation, especially the things that seemed perfect.

Being an LCR operative had worked out so far. He’d been an operative for about four months now, had been on a half dozen rescues, saved lives and helped put bad people away. Nice to know that some things actually were what they seemed.

The LCR people he’d met were what they seemed, too. Odd, since much of their work dealt with lying. Half a year ago he hadn’t trusted a soul. Now, he trusted an entire organization. Working for LCR had restored his faith in people. Not all of them. Hell, he’d seen too much evil shit for that to happen. Even now, he stayed wary, just in case. Jake didn’t trust easy. Never again.

His attention moved to the present as a tiny, whiskered face peeked from behind his fridge. Jake stood statue still. A fishnet might seem like an odd device to trap a mouse but it was his best bet for a live capture and release.

The creature scurried to the cheese chunk lying in the floor. Jake waited till the twitching nose touched the cheese. Quick as a cat, he threw the net over the small heap, scooped up the now squiggling mouse and dropped it into a waiting shoebox.

 Grabbing his keys and jacket, Jake picked up the box and headed out the door. The abandoned building two blocks down seemed the perfect relocation. Should be plenty of company for his little friend.

The cellphone in his pocket played a familiar tune, telling him that his boss, Noah McCall was calling. The shoebox under his arm, he pulled out the phone and held it to his ear. “Mallory.”

“Can you come in?”

“Yeah. Half an hour okay?”

“Yes.”

The line went dead before Jake could answer. Phone etiquette wasn’t high on McCall’s ‘must do’ list. Most of the phone conversations they’d had consisted of one or two words but the tone in his boss’s voice sounded ominous and grim, more so than usual.

His head low to battle the icy, brutal wind, Jake strode to his car. Opening the door, he deposited the box on the front passenger seat and cranked the engine. As he pulled out onto rue de Morgan, he reflected on his boss. Before coming to Paris, Jake had thought Noah McCall was an urban legend. As a cop, he’d heard stories about LCR’s successes but had dismissed most of them as someone’s wishful thinking. It wasn’t until he’d gotten caught up in the middle of an LCR rescue that he realized everything he’d heard was true.

Jake had been a typical tourist the day he’d met McCall. He’d been in Paris for two weeks, staying at hostels, roaming the streets, soaking up the atmosphere. He’d stopped in for a cold drink and a cheap meal at a not so high-class establishment. What he had gotten was a busted mouth, a black eye and a job offer from McCall.

LCR had been running a sting. He hadn’t known that. All he knew was two drunks were attempting to pull a young woman out of the bar and no one was stopping them. He’d intervened and ruined the op. Thankfully another sting had been set up a few days later that had brought down a human trafficking operation.

Even though Jake had blown the op, McCall had been impressed with his intervention. Days later, the LCR leader had called and offered him a job. After listening intently, Jake’s world had shifted once more. For two years, he’d been mired in grief, with no purpose. McCall’s offer had shown him a new path. Now he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Making a quick stop at the abandoned warehouse, he unboxed his uninvited houseguest and watched it scamper away. Not his usual kind of rescue but what the hell. Killing something just because he could wasn’t his way.

He parked two blocks from the LCR office. It was a cold one today but the frigid air kept his mind from wandering where he couldn’t let it go. The moment he walked into the office, he’d be greeted with what he told himself he shouldn’t want and couldn’t have. Maybe this new assignment would get him out of the country for a while. Lately that had been the only way to keep his hands off of Angela Delvecchio.

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The instant he opened the door and saw her beautiful face, he called himself a fool once again. Her attraction to him had been obvious from the beginning. What had also been obvious was her innocence. Beneath that tough girl persona, the multiple tattoos and piercings, he’d seen the gentle, caring heart of Angela Delvecchio. A heart that could be crushed by some cruel bastard’s uncaring selfishness. Dammed if he would be that man.

Recommend Monday

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a good weekend and have some marvelous reads to recommend today. Don't forget, a recommend enters your name into the contest for some fabulous prizes. Drawing is 12/31/12

No recommends from me. Deadline is looming and until Quinn and Samantha find their HEA, I'll be working to help them get there. I'm looking forward to devouring some great books when I'm finished.

Just a few announcements.

First, a big YAY! The eBook for MIDNIGHT SECRETS can now be pre-ordered!

MIDNIGHT SECRETS eBook at Amazon 
MIDNIGHT SECRETS eBook at Barnes and Noble

Also, I was so pleased last week to get proofs of the MIDNIGHT SECRETS cover. Wow, oh wow, wow, wow. Absolutely gorgeous! Read on for a chance to win one.

Once MIDNIGHT LIES is zooming to my editor, hopefully by November 30, I'll be finishing up Jake and Angela's novella, CHANCES ARE. I'm halfway done and can't wait to get back to these two wonderful characters. And soon, I'll share with you that super sexy cover I mentioned.

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all who have served our country, both past and present. Though Veterans Day is but one day a year, I am grateful each and every day for your service, courage and sacrifice.

Since all the heroes in the Wildefire series are former or current military, let's do this. In addition to your recommends, name your favorite military romance. I'll randomly choose a commenter's name and announce it on Friday. Winner gets a signed cover proof of MIDNIGHT SECRETS! Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you.

It's rainy and cool here in Birmingham so I'm headed back to Midnight where the sun is shining, birds are singing, steam is rising and a murderer is lurking!

Happy Monday!

Recommend Monday

Good Monday All!

How was your week? Were you impacted by Sandy? My heart aches for all those hurting. Seeing those horrendous photos of devastation is just so very sad. If you were touched by the storm, I pray your recovery is swift and painless.

Last week I concentrated most of my efforts on MIDNIGHT LIES. Deadline looms and the entire town of Midnight is on pins and needles as we head toward to a screeching, volatile ending. Wish us luck that it works out well for everyone.

On Saturday, I attended the Southern Magic Readers Luncheon, which is my home chapter's readers' appreciation event held here in Birmingham. Sherrilyn Kenyon was the keynote speaker and Dianna Love the welcome speaker. We had a record attendance and such fun. Two regular commenters here, Jackie P and Kara attended and I was thrilled we got to hang out together. Such a good time!

Next year, the luncheon will be held on Saturday, November 2. So excited that NYT Bestselling Author Jeaniene Frost will be the welcome speaker. And I was thrilled and honored to be invited to be the welcome speaker. Would love to see you there if you can make it.

This week, I'm focusing solely on MIDNIGHT LIES. I'm loving Quinn and Samantha so very much and I hope you will too. Can't wait to give this couple the HEA they deserve.

Okay, that's it for me. I'm headed back to my writing cave that I hope will transport me to Midnight, Alabama where it's about to get really steamy! (:

Have a great week everyone. And if you're in the US, don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Now, tell us what great books you read last week!