Teaser Tuesday: Desperate Hours



Heroes of Providence Book 4
DESPERATE HOURS
  

Bounty hunter, Gil Waite is after Sonny's brother. All he cares about is "finding the fugitive" and collecting his money. But Sonny Montgomery is after so much more.  Her precious baby niece, Ellie, who was kidnapped by a Colombian drug lord.  She won't betray her family by falling in love with the one man who has the power to destroy her family. But she needs to escape Colombia and has no choice but to trust Gil, a man whose rugged exterior hides the heart of a hero she can't resist.


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Excerpt 

Sonny Montgomery had an itch she couldn’t scratch. It sat dead center between her shoulder blades, just out of arm’s reach. Like a persistent mosquito buzzing around her ear, it nagged at her. But she couldn’t stop to deal with it. Even a small move like that could attract unwanted attention on these South American streets.

She needed to remain invisible. To be in and out of Colombia without anyone being able to recognize or remember her. Any connection to her family, either by name or face, would spell certain death for her and the baby.

And Cash. That is, if her brother was still alive. If the Colombian kingpin who had kidnapped Cash’s baby girl from her cradle in Eastmeadow, Massachusetts, just four months ago had shown him enough mercy not to kill him, then Dylan would find him. She was sure of it. But Sonny couldn’t think about that now. She was a long way from safety on her journey. She had to trust that those who had a job would do them so they could all reunite in Miami when this was over.

She held tight to the basket of fruit—it was heavy and her arm ached. She focused her mind on the ache instead of all she couldn’t control. Slipping her free hand beneath her striped poncho, she checked to make sure that her traveling papers were still in her money belt, which was strapped to her waist. They were.

Thanks to the duplicate passport the U.S. Embassy had issued for the baby, they’d both be able to fly out of Colombia without incident. Hopefully. The Colombian government might challenge it. But she was ready to battle that if it happened.

Sonny was long past struggling with what she was doing. Never in her life had she entertained the idea of doing anything illegal. And here she was in Colombia, ready to steal a baby and flee to the United States.

But it was the only way. Even her brother, Dylan, a former Marine and a Providence police officer, had assured her of that. Off the record, of course. Ellie had been stolen from them. The Colombian authorities wouldn’t recognize that crime. This was the only way. The only way.

It had rained during the night and the pungent smell of mud, earth and rotting garbage permeated the quiet, early-morning streets. A thick mist drifted up from the already hot ground. In an hour, the fruit market in the center of the city would be open. Some of the street vendors were already setting up their carts full of goods, ready for the tourists who would soon crowd the road, eager to barter for a bargain.

It was a long walk from her little room near the foothills to the center of town. Every noise she heard made her insides jump. It was a dangerous walk so early in the morning, alone. Torres had warned her to be on guard. But escaping the city would be much easier if she met him in town rather than having him meet her in the foothills and then go to the airport. The sooner the better. They didn’t want to contend with the morning traffic, which could end up making her late.


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Teaser Tuesday: Reckless Hours



Heroes of Providence Book 3
RECKLESS HOURS
  
"One of those 'darker' books - almost like an Alfred Hitchcock movie..."

"Suspense! The secrets in this book are not easily uncovered....the sign of a good suspense novel."

"A story worth reading, especially if you like complex mysteries."

"I loved this book! It's full of drama, suspense, and new found love. I can't wait for books 4 and 5 to come out so I can see this family take back what's theirs!"

Her whole life had been a lie…

It was only supposed to be a random DNA test performed with her class. But it turned Professor Tammie Gardner’s world upside down and proved to her that the tragic death of her parents was no accident. After rummaging through old files, she discovers one clue where it all started and decides to travel across the country to find answers. But is her curiosity more reckless than wise? What she finds is love in the arms of Providence police officer Dylan Montgomery who is searching for his missing brother. They both want to know the truth. But is the truth worth the danger they've put themselves in by uncovering secrets no one wants revealed?


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Excerpt 

“Take one step closer and I’ll shoot!” Tammie Gardner shouted threateningly, putting her hands up like a shield.

Bill stood in her classroom doorway and frowned. “Tammie, we need to talk.”

“Later, Professor Lewis,” she said, lifting her head only long enough to catch his expression after the formal use of his name, which he hated but she loved to tease him with. “I’ve just spent the last two hours sorting through all these papers. It’s a mess, but it’s an organized mess. I don’t need you sitting on my desk and tossing things around like you always do.”

This being only her second semester at Winchester College, she wasn’t used to how hectic the end of the school year was, and time had gotten away from her. With her full class schedule, she was fighting time to get all her grades completed by the end of the semester.

As a moment of silence dragged on, she glanced up. Bill was still frowning. “I’m serious. I need to talk to you, Tammie. This is really important.”

She chuckled, even as nerves made her stomach coil just a bit. She’d never seen Bill like this. Still, she waved him off. “Of course it is. It always is. But can it wait until I get these grades into the book?”

To keep the papers from flying around the room, Tammie had turned off the fan that normally bathed her face with a somewhat comfortable breeze in the oppressive June heat. This hundred-year-old university building seemed determined to remain hot, and her second-floor classroom felt like a sauna. Without the fan, sweat bubbled on her forehead and upper lip. She wiped it away as she glanced quickly at the door again.

“Actually…no.”

“What are you doing back on campus so early, anyway? I thought you had some urgent, urgent errand to run.” Not looking at him, she searched her desk for paper-clips. When she found half a box, she started clipping and stacking papers until she could see her desk again.

“Tam, we need to talk,” Bill said again. This time, his words came out in a rush. It wasn’t like him to be this insistent and it caught her off guard. She recalled the conversation they’d had this morning when he’d mentioned his errand. He never said what it was and she didn’t ask. Bill was too predictable to be someplace other than where he said he’d be. Ever since she’d met him in junior high, she’d been able to anticipate his every move before he made it.

He was the most levelheaded, even-keeled person she’d ever met—not one to get rattled about anything. But he was still standing at the door, his narrow shoulders slumped slightly, his expression drawn. Her blood ran cold.


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Teaser Tuesday: Safe Haven



Heroes of Providence Book 2
SAFE HAVEN
  
"Heart-pounding and it kept me glued to each page.
A very enjoyable book with realistic characters."

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to any mystery-romance fan."

When someone you once loved wants you dead, is there any SAFE HAVEN?

Finding out her ex-husband hired a hitman to kill her didn't leave Daria Carlisle all warm and fuzzy. But Detective Kevin Gordon's suggestion she flee the only home that had ever truly been hers was downright crazy. Forget that the sexy police officer made her heart pound and her blood stir. She'd worked too hard to get what little she had. She wasn't leaving.

Kevin Gordon didn't make mistakes, but he'd made a big one in letting Daria's ex slip through his fingers. Although he tried to make it very clear to Daria that the fixer upper home she considered a palace was no safe haven, she just dug in deeper and insisted on staying, leaving him no choice but to be her protector. Left on her own, she surely faced murder at an assassin's hand. But can Kevin spend every waking hour sleeping on her doorstep just to keep this stubborn woman alive without risking his heart to love?


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Excerpt 

"Your husband hired me to kill you."

The last words Daria Carlisle expected to hear in her kitchen on a bright and sunny Sunday morning were those.  She stared at the man who'd just uttered the frightening words.  Words spoken with such ease and comfort it made her blood run cold.

She stood statue still, almost glued to the aged linoleum floor that was too frail to be salvaged.  Her gaze swept from his face to the decrepit floor as she dragged in a breath of air.  Earlier that day she'd been obsessing over how she was going to afford replacing the linoleum.  Hearing these words from a man she'd just invited into her home willingly put a slightly different spin on her priorities.

Your husband hired me to kill you.  The words just hung there in the air between them like some bright red cartoon balloon, mocking her.

She’d woken happy that morning, intent on starting the day by rummaging through the Sunday paper for a used miter saw to finish off the woodwork in the one hundred and fifty year old house she’d purchased because she’d fallen in love with the back yard.  Like the house, it too, needed much tender loving care and Daria was up to the challenge.  Oh, how had the day taken such a drastic turn so quickly?


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Teaser Tuesday: Material Witness



Heroes of Providence Book 1
MATERIAL WITNESS

Named one of KIRKUS REVIEWS Best Indie Books of 2012!

Who does she trust when the horror of one of her crime novels turns into a deadly reality?

Bestselling crime novelist, Cassie Alvarez, aka Cassie Lang, had murder on her mind when she walked into Rory's Bar under dressed and under cover to research her latest crime novel. Researching the cool, blue-eyed and dashingly handsome man at the end of the bar stirred her senses more than she wanted to admit. But was this man of leather armor all he appeared to be?

Playing White Knight to an innocent wasn't how Detective Jake Santos planned to spend his time under cover. But there was no way "CJ" was what she claimed to be and that nagging tightness in Jake's chest told him he'd better take her home to safety and leave it at that. Then the barroom exploded with gunfire, leaving a trail of dead that includes a notorious Providence organized crime boss and an undercover FBI agent. When Cassie’s name is leaked to the media as the only witness to the grisly murders, Cassie insists she only trusts Jake to protect her.

The FBI wants their star witness happy and will do anything to make sure Cassie testifies. But someone wants vigilante justice and it is clear to Jake that the shooter isn’t the only person who wants Cassie dead. Not knowing who to trust, he vows to protect Cassie at all cost despite the fact that guarding the beautiful novelist is a serious distraction.


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Excerpt:

She was going to kill Maureen. There was no doubt about it now.

Cassie Alvarez yanked down the hem of her too-short red spandex mini-dress, trying to conceal what every man with a pulse at Rory's seemed to be ogling over. She was tired, cold and exposed, but it was no use. No matter how much she covered her bare flesh, she was all out there like the woman of the night she was pretending to be.

Damn Maureen…and damn her for listening.

It had taken Cassie all of ten seconds after seating herself at the bar to realize just how big a mistake she’d made in coming to a bar owned by one of Providence’s most notorious crime bosses. When you walk through fire, you get burned. With all the stares she’d gotten just walking across the floor, she felt like burnt toast.

Definitely murder. It was her forte. The only question left was how? She’d plotted many murders in the past. She was good at it. And nothing was too harsh for what Maureen was putting her through tonight. The least Maureen could have done was come here with her since it was her idea.

Maureen’s idea. But despite all the convincing, Cassie couldn’t figure out exactly why she’d actually agreed. Her editor had always been good at pulling her strings. And that nauseated Cassie even more than having her thighs stuck to the barstool.

Note to self: Learn to assert yourself with your editor even if she is your best friend.

Cassie vowed to do just that right after she was finished wringing Maureen's bony little neck.

Turning her attention to her diet soda, Cassie used her red-striped straw to play with the maraschino cherry that had sunk to the bottom of the glass. The bartender wiped the polished surface of the bar as he made his way closer to Cassie. She made eye contact with him when came close enough. With her hand still holding the sweating glass, he snatched her drink and dumped the contents into a bucket behind the counter.

“Hey, I was still drinking that.”

“You’ve been stirring it for an hour. It’s nothing but melted ice and you’re making a mess of my bar. Doesn’t look good. Here’s another one.”

Before she could protest further, he had a clean glass full of ice under the soda fountain and was filling it.

“Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to tip me twice.”

While her mouth was still dropped open, he made his way down to the other end of the bar, wiping as he went. She'd give anything to be home right now wearing her favorite Boston Bruins tee-shirt and the Brown University sweat pants that, even though they’d seen better days, Cassie refused to give up. Instead of three-and-a-half-inch stilettos, her feet would be warm in her fuzzy slippers. Instead, she was stuck in a bar watching people who’d be the inspiration for her next crime novel.

“Life mimicking art,” she mumbled. “How’s that for stupidity, Cass?”

She blinked her sore eyes as the haze of the neon lights on the window assaulted them. The quickest way to get out of here was to take notes and get into the head of her character. How could she write about a woman who was so devastated by circumstance, who felt trapped in a life beyond her control, if she hadn’t lived it? She needed to step outside herself to break this block.

The room was thinning out now, but there were still enough people to talk to. The couple in their fifties, arguing at a table, looked too self-absorbed to do her any good. The “suit” with the combed-over shiny head, sitting alone at a table by the bathroom, looked like he was about to fall asleep in his Martini.

Cassie snapped her glance away from him as he lifted his head in her direction. Better to leave this man with his troubles and not make them one of hers.

The argument from the couple grew louder. Apparently they’d both had a little too much to drink and were loud enough for Cassie to hear every intimate detail. Someone was walking home tonight.

And then there was the black-armored thug seated at the end of the bar, staring at her. Yeah she’d noticed. His interest in her was unmistakable. Their gazes locked for a lingering moment. The heat in his eyes was piercing.

Cassie glanced down at her cleavage and to her bare legs. It couldn’t be the dress. There was nothing but a few scraps of fabric covering her.

Slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder, just to see if she was wrong and he was actually looking at someone else. The table behind her was empty. When she turned back, it was as if he’d caught her in a radar lock.

Terrific. “A little too eager beaver, but…” she muttered.

The guy was hunched over with his long arms draped stiffly on top of the bar with his black leather jacket encasing him like body armor. His strong jaw had a don't-fuck-with-me tightness she was sure was bred of years of hanging out in a dive like this.

Cassie wanted to feel bad for him. All of them really. What made a person come to a place like this thinking it could resolve their sorrows? She had to find out. Only then would she understand her character.

As she always did with people she encountered, Cassie began to formulate a character sketch. She couldn't quite come up with one for this guy though. He was…


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