Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Runaway Love by Sadira Stone

Wild Women Authors focus on: 
Runaway Love Story by Sadira Stone, Book Two in the Book Nirvana Series.

Fierce passion or long-cherished dreams...she can't hang onto both.

Blurb:
She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams.

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

Excerpt:
“I’m sorry she called you the S word.”
“Huh?”
“Sensible.”
She laughed. “Yeah. That’s a curse word, as far as I’m concerned.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“I’ll strike it from my vocabulary. Your S word is sparkle.” He traced her jawline with a feather-light touch. “Look at you, Laurel. You’re blinding.” His twilight-blue gaze made her heart dance—a steamy tango with swirls and dangerous dips. He kissed her, and, for a moment, she forgot all about caution, about cutting things off before they became too serious, about San Francisco. Her focus narrowed to his lips on hers, his nearness heating her whole body, opening her like a blossom, soft and willing. Ripe for the plucking.
“God, I’ve missed you.” He scooped her legs across his lap. One hand cradling her nape, the other gripping her thigh, he kissed her senseless. His velvet tongue teased her lips apart. He tasted of sugary coffee. The world around them faded—just two bodies, calling and answering, breathing in sync, their pulses beating the same rhythm.

Pre-order Links:

Author Bio:
Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com.

Inspiration for the Book Nirvana Series:
Until recently, I was one of those readers--literary snobs who look down their noses at romance for the usual stupid reasons: too corny, too predictable, too fluffy. Then I read a few online articles about how fun and lucrative writing erotica can be. I thought, what the heck? Let's try.

I have never had so much fun with a writing project! My first steamy romance, Through the Red Door, nearly wrote itself, though it damned sure didn't edit itself. I've totally immersed myself in the world of romance, gobbling books like popcorn, filling my ears with romance podcasts, and joining the Romance Writers of America. From skeptic to romance mega-fan in two short years, I’m totally addicted to passionate, heartfelt stories with happy endings.

Why set the series in a bookshop? Ever since I was a wee lass, I dreamed of owning one. Add to that my fascination with historical erotic art and literature, and you’ve got the Book Nirvana series, set in an indie bookshop with an extensive erotica collection behind a locked red door.

I love stories in which a couple’s powerful physical attraction leads them to consider a partner outside their usual M.O.—one who just might turn out to be their perfect match. That’s how it happened for my husband and me, and my romance fiction contains that element.

I sort of pulled the setting out of a hat. I wanted to set my series in a college town. I’d heard that Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, has a lively arts scene and a rich counterculture legacy from the hippie era. After much online research, correspondence, and hours on Google Earth, I finally made the trip. Eugene is even lovelier than I’d imagined. Kate Rock, a resident author, kindly shared her knowledge of the city’s history and the flavor of the different neighborhoods. I look forward to many return trips.

I want to hear from you!

Praise for Through the Red Door (Book One in the Book Nirvana Series):
          "…a beautiful love story filled with wonderful characters and if you like your romance hot, hot, hot look no further. It is a story about being able to begin anew and still love the one you lost." 
-- Linda Tonis, RWA Paranormal Romance Review Team

          "The erotic scenes in this book were off the charts - even the ones that were only Clara's "dreams." Ms. Stone's debut novel is a rich mix of love, sex, and thoughtful introspection as she tries to move on with her life." – Peggy Jaeger, author of Christmas and Cannolis

          “This book is in a class by itself...from the graphic descriptions of the erotica collection that's locked in a room of widow Claire's bookstore to the hot-hot-hot interactions she has with a certain hot-hot-hot widowed professor with an intellectual interest in that collection...
          What elevates this book is the excellent writing, the memorable characters, and the captivating story. PLUS...parts of it are verrrry funny. I mean laugh-out-loud funny. There are also some very touching parts, too. Parts that'll bring tears to your eyes.”
                              Susan Flett Swiderski, author of Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade



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Friday, July 5, 2019

The Angel and the SEAL

          Navy SEAL Sean MacKay's teammate is murdered after stealing a deadly nerve-gas formula from Syrian terrorists. Naval Intelligence believes MacKay's teammate was a traitor and shipped the stolen formula to his sister in the states for safekeeping. MacKay is given orders to find the sister before the terrorists do and to retrieve the stolen formula at all costs.
          Foreclosure looms for Cory Rigatero as she fights to keep her rustic resort near Mt. St. Helens afloat after her brother deserted her to join the SEAL Teams. Cory's whole world dives into a tailspin when Sean MacKay shows up at her resort with the news of her brother's death and the wild suspicion her brother may have sent her traitorous classified documents. No way will Cory trust MacKay -- the man who once seduced her and then vanished into the night without a trace.
Excerpt:
Wham!
Something walloped Cory’s truck from behind and slammed her forward, the seat belt cruelly yanking back hard before she could hit the steering wheel. Grabbing the wheel in both hands, Cory tried to suck a breath against the ache in her chest. A glance in the rear view mirror showed a dark truck speeding up fast behind her again. She braced for the impact.
Wham!
Even expecting the hit, the force belted her forward hard.
“Stop it!” she screamed out her open window.
She could see the outline of two occupants in the assault vehicle. Both wearing dark clothes, not much else visible.
Dear God! The Syrians.
The dark truck rammed her bumper a third time, and Cory swore her neck vertebrae loosened from the pounding. She stomped the accelerator to avoid a fourth impact. The black truck kept speed with her, and both vehicles blew into the winding hairpin curves near the north end of Lewis Lake. Tires whistled and screeched on the murderous switchbacks, but she managed to keep the big Chevy locked in her lane.
The black truck sped up and rocked into the left lane. To come alongside? No way. She swerved her pickup over the center line and forced them back. White spots appeared in her vision, and she gulped a huge lungful of air, then another.
No holding your breath now!

To purchase The Angel and the SEAL, go to:

We asked author Petie McCarty, What was the what if moment for this book?
Thank you, Wild Women Authors, for allowing me this third and final visit this week with your wonderful readers!
          Kat asked for my What if? moment for Book 3 in my Mystery Angel Romances series, The Angel and the SEAL. First, I have to explain that when I write, I see movies in my head. Or rather, I see movies in my head, and then I write. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but the movies show up in technicolor with full background, a hero, a heroine, and most of the secondary characters.    Sometimes, there’s just a scene or two—something to peak my curiosity—but if there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end to the show, then that’s the next book I write, which accounts for my three completely different series.
          So, I was happily writing along on my story of a Navy SEAL going to visit his teammate’s sister—a girl he had fallen in love with and abandoned six years earlier, for reasons he thought valid at the time, and she did not. The SEAL’s teammate supposedly had sent a secret nerve gas formula to this same sister—or so the Navy thought—before the teammate was murdered by the terrorists from whom he’d stolen the aforementioned formula.
          Our SEAL hero returns to the home of his former sweetheart to see if she indeed received this classified document from her brother and to protect her in case the terrorists also come to retrieve their formula. But what happens in the meantime, while the reader waits for the terrorists to show up at the sister’s rundown resort?
          I know!
          I can have someone sabotage stuff at the sister’s resort, and the SEAL will have to help the heroine figure out who is behind the vandalism. And there came the big Why? Or rather, the What if?
          Just so happened at that point in my writing this story, I was watching TV one night and get stuck on the movie, Mobsters, where Christian Slater stars as Lucky Luciano. Riveting movie. This led to internet research about Luciano’s capture, imprisonment, and eventual deportation to Italy.
           At which point, I wondered . . . what if Lucky Luciano was headed to Bel Tesoro to hide his stash when he got nabbed in Hot Springs, Arkansas and subsequently sent up the river. Now someone has a reason to sabotage the resort . . . to get hold of the treasure. So Lucky’s story was then threaded through The Angel and the SEAL. Leaving the reader to wonder who is after the formula and who wants the Luciano treasure?

To learn more about Petie McCarty and the stories she creates, go to:



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Wednesday, July 3, 2019

No Angels For Christmas

          Child psychologist Rachel Kelly isn't quite sure how to handle the situation with her newest client -- a six-year-old boy who says he can talk to angels and one is coming to help Rachel. She already has her hands full of trouble this Christmas season, and things quickly take a turn for the worse when a stalker crashes Rachel's Christmas party and takes her young clients hostage.
          Police negotiator, Lt. Jake Dillon, walked away from his fiancĂ©e Rachel when she suddenly balked at having kids. His kids. Yet when the hostage crisis erupts, Rachel calls Jake first. Now he has a choice to make -- stand back and wait for the cavalry to save Rachel or step in and try to save her himself. Time is running out, and Jake may be their only chance for rescue.
          Unless Rachel's little angel-spying client is telling the truth…
Excerpt:
     Late in the afternoon, Rachel stepped up to Jake’s apartment door and took a deep breath. Jerry Munson had been a good friend of Jake’s, and she knew Jake would be devastated over Jerry losing his hostages in Buckhead yesterday. Jake had a new partner too and may not want to confide in the guy.
     Jake would need to talk to someone about the Buckhead crisis, and she intended to offer her shoulder to lean on. He may not want to see her, but she had to try. For one day, they could set aside their troubles, and she could just be the friend he needed.
     She had gone by the station to check on him, when she finished her last session, and had been shocked when Alice told her he’d called in sick, almost as shocked as Alice had been to see Rachel show up in Jake’s office.
     Now she second-guessed all her good intentions. What if Jake really was sick? Should she leave? Should she still offer her help?
     She raised a finger to press his doorbell, and the front door jerked open. Startled, she jumped back.
     “Are you gonna ring the damn bell or just stare at it all afternoon?” a grizzle-faced Jake asked.
     His hair stuck out all over, and he had a two-day growth of beard that gave him a dangerous look, compounded by the black tee shirt and sweats he wore.
He bent down until they were nose to nose. “Well?”
     “Oh. Um, y-yes, I was going to press the bell, but now the door’s open.”
     He straightened, his expression grim. “First Wally and now you.”
     “What?”
     “Wally came by earlier to save me from my depression.” He stepped back and held the door wide. “I assume that’s why you’re here. You coming in?”
     “Oh. Yes.”
     Her heart thumped so hard she feared he could see the pulse in her neck vibrate with each beat. He looked so sexy all rumpled up like that, and her fingertips tingled again—needing to touch him anywhere to complete the connection.
     She stepped past him and reminded herself she was only here today as a friend and a counselor.
     “You’d only come to my apartment if you thought I was sick or needed help, right?” Jake asked, reading her thoughts.
     “Yes. I mean, no.” She turned quickly to face him and caught the flash of pain in his eyes. “I mean, I—”
     Pain from the Buckhead crisis or pain from her?
     “Which is it?” he asked flatly.
     She should have known he wouldn’t make this easy.
     “I went by the station first.”
     That apparently surprised him. He recovered quickly. “I’m still waiting for the why.”
     “You called in sick. I wanted to see if you needed—”
     “Needed what, Rachel? You?”
     He closed the door, and the room suddenly shrunk. And grew dark. All the blinds had been pulled, and the only light came from the nearby television.
     “I thought maybe you’d need to talk about—”
     She stopped. He had taken two steps closer, and she couldn’t think. She took a deep and very audible breath.
     “You’ve never been at a loss for words before, Rachel.”
     “We’ve never been broken up before,” she blurted.
     His eyes widened noticeably, then darkened. At least she thought they did. Tough to tell by TV illumination.
     “You’re right,” he said hoarsely. “How do you like it?”
     “I don’t.”
     “Me neither,” he growled.
     Stay on track. Remember why you’re here.
     “Jake, I came by to see you because of the Buckhead crisis.”
     “I figured as much.”
     She could’ve sworn he looked disappointed for a fleeting moment. That gave her the courage to go on. “To offer my shoulder—”
     “To cry on?” he sneered.
     “No! To lean on. Please don’t be ugly.”
     “I can’t help it. You broke us up.”
     Incredulous, she gaped at him. “Me! Must I keep reminding you? You left me.”
     He closed the distance between them, so close she could feel his body heat.
     “You let me leave,” he said gruffly.
     “I didn’t—”
     “You let me leave,” he repeated, his face but inches away.
     

A word with Petie McCarty:
First, let me thank Wild Women Authors for allowing me a return visit with their readers today!
You are most welcome, this is a terrific story. Was there any event in your private life that inspired this story?
          Years ago, my young, happy, vibrant nephew was diagnosed at the age of eight with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), just like NAFC heroine Rachel Kelly’s nephew was in the story.
          See, DMD can slip through who knows how many generations—it did mine—before the family becomes aware the gene for DMD is there. Females inherit two dystrophin genes, one carried on each of her X chromosomes, and the dystrophin gene’s job is to protect the muscles from degenerating. A flawed dystrophin can cause muscular dystrophy. If a female inherits a flawed gene from her mother, she will show no symptoms for DMD, as she still has a healthy dystrophin gene on her other X chromosome.
          When my nephew was diagnosed, my aunts and female cousins were all tested. Turned out my aunt and my paternal grandmother were both carriers. That meant my own dad had a 50-50 chance of inheriting a flawed gene from my grandmother and getting muscular dystrophy. In which case, I would never have been born, as males with DMD rarely see the high side of 20.
           In the last five years, broad population carrier screening tests have been developed which will help locate DMD carriers before the disease shows up in a family—like an early warning system. This is the reason why I chose this back story for my book. I wanted women to know about the possibility of DMD hiding within family genetics and that there are tests available to determine one’s probabilities, so I wrote my heroine in NAFC with the quandary. What choices do you make if this knowledge becomes available?

A bit more about Petie McCarty
          Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
          Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas. 

To learn more about our feature author, go to:

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Monday, July 1, 2019

The Mystery Angel Romances Series, Book 1

Kellen Brand's inheritance turns out to be a whopper -- one dilapidated farm in West Virginia and one guardian angel!

Wild Women Authors is delighted to have author Petie McCarty spend the week of Independence Day with us, chatting about The Mystery Angel Romances series she created for Soul Mate Publishing. Today we'll feature No Cowboys, No Angels.

Blurb:
          Since Kellen is convinced no sane woman would choose to live in Riverside, she vows to sell her farm and quick. Her handsome neighbor Luke Thornton must block the farm sale or risk exposure of his family's secrets. While Kellen has located one potential buyer, she faces a town full of objectors. Someone is trying to frighten her off, and Luke is forced to step in and rescue her more than once.
          Unfortunately, Kellen can't seem to stay out of trouble. She stumbles onto a clandestine hazardous-waste-dumping operation next to her farm, and she prays Luke has one more rescue up his sleeve. It's her only hope of staying alive.
          Unless her mother really did leave her a guardian angel…

Excerpt:
          The frigid water closed in over Kellen, and she lashed out with both arms to force her head above the surface for a desperate breath. Her hiking boots would sign her death warrant. They already felt like concrete blocks. She had only minutes, maybe seconds, to keep herself afloat. She thrashed again, and this time her face barely cleared the water’s surface. She was ready and screamed with all her might.
          Icy water filled her eyes, and her arms stroked hard to keep her mouth above the water long enough to grab a precious lungful of air. She scissored her legs to help her dwindling buoyancy, but the physical act was so difficult with the boots on, her muscles screamed with the effort.
          How many more times can I get a breath? Two, maybe three?
          Her arm muscles strained in revolt as she scissored her legs again. She plummeted farther after each thrust, and her best effort barely pushed her mouth and nose above the surface. She didn’t scream again. There was no one around to hear, and she couldn’t spare the strength. Less than a minute had passed since she’d hit the freezing water.
          Downward she stroked her arms hard, but the heavy flannel shirt dragged against the motion. She opened her eyes to see the surface, and at the peak of her thrust, her lips were still underwater.             She tried to scissor her legs, but she had nothing left. She feared she would sink and flailed both arms upward. Death hovered at her shoulder, near as the blackest of shadows beneath the dock, tangible enough that she could reach out and touch the darkness.                Another stroke downward, and she jerked her head back, ready to grab a breath. She could see a blurred shadow moving overhead.     Hope buoyed her efforts to escape from the frigid arms of the river drawing her down, and she forced her way to the surface.
          A huge hand plunged into the icy water and grabbed her right arm. Kellen felt her body straining toward the surface. The second her mouth was exposed to the air, she gasped for a breath. A cough wracked her frame and threatened the tenuous hold of the mighty hand on her arm. She sunk back down, her eyes filled with water, and her vision blurred. She knew she weighed a ton—with the soaked clothing and boots—and panicked thinking the hand couldn’t hold on. Yet she was dragged higher until another hand grabbed the back of her shirt, and her body careened up and sideways onto the deck. 
          The mighty hands released her, and she clutched at the wooden planks to be sure she was far enough from the precipice to the icy water. She heaved two successive gasps, and a hard sob wracked her frame.
          Two strong arms tugged her upright. She blinked rapidly to clear her blurred vision and saw Luke’s face, his dark eyes wide. Nothing had ever looked so good to her in all her life. With another hard sob, she threw herself into his arms and broke into tears. The brush with death shattered all her resolve and kindled emotions buried in the deepest recesses of her heart.
          He yanked her roughly to him and clutched her tight to his chest, mumbling soothing words into her ear. His warmth seeped into her, and she clung to him like her lifeline, digging her fingers into his back, unwilling to let go and unable to stop crying.
          “I almost d-drowned,” she stuttered, her face buried against his warm and now soaked chest.
          “Good Lord, I know,” he rumbled and crushed her even tighter against him.
          “If you had been a minute later,” she wheezed and tried to look up at him.
          “Don’t even think that!”
          She flinched and leaned back. His gaze looked hard and unyielding.
          “Just be glad I got here in time,” he whispered harshly, and his eyes went black as onyx. He cupped her cheeks, lowered his mouth, and gently brushed his lips against hers.
          The sizzle of heat shot straight to her heart and warmed her from the inside out. All she could manage was a nod. His kiss twisted all her wild emotions into a spinning vortex, allowing her only to react without thought, and she leaned in to kiss him again.

To purchase No Cowboys, No Angels, go to:

https://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Angels-Mystery-Angel-Romances-ebook/dp/B07JQ7NVRC


Since we'd read and reviewed No Cowboys No Angels earlier in the year, we wanted to know more about Petie's process and the series and asked, how does it tie into the other two books in the series?

First, let me take a moment to thank Wild Women Authors for allowing me to spend time with their readers today!

          No Cowboys No Angels is Book 1 in my Mystery Angel Romances series. The cast of characters are different for each stand-alone love story, but the novels are similar in that an angel has been hidden within each plot. The angel's identity is not officially revealed until the finale—unless the reader figures out who.
          Two things led me along to my very first series. One: I used to love watching the TV show, Touched by an Angel. Two: In church one particular Sunday, the New Testament reading was Hebrews 13:2—Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
I heard that and my jaw dropped. There really were angels down here walking among us? 
          And then my mind drifted to the possibility of angels down here actually directing our individual path through life and better still, our individual path to true love. From that the leap to a love story with an angel hidden in the plot was but a short hop. Sort of Touched-by-an-Angel stories except you don’t know who the angel is . . . 
           And yes, I may not have been paying complete attention in church that Sunday morning. Too many other things racing through my mind.
          No Cowboys No Angels has its own angel tucked into the plot as do Books 2 and 3 in the series. Can you figure out who? If you do, drop me an email and let me know if you did and when.

What's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves?
          I am working on Earl Away, Book 2 in my Lords in Time series, a time-travel regency romance and sequel to Duke du Jour. Each book in the series is a stand alone but has returning characters. 
          In Book 2, Dex—the 8th Earl of Dexter—takes an accidental tumble into the eerie fountain on the Duke of Reston’s country estate and travels to the future where he is mistaken for his great-great-great-etc. grandson and namesake, the 14th Earl of Dexter, gone missing and presently searched for by Isabella “Izzy” Vanson, a present-day private investigator.
          At the same time, I am formulating my writing outline and scene bullets for Cinderella on the Rocks, Book 4 in my Cinderella Romances series. Ian MacVicar returns from Par for Cinderella for his own story in which his wicked stepmother and stepsister try to sabotage the Clan’s scotch distillery and liquor-distribution business. Ian’s quirky clan of Highlanders comes up with plenty of hijinks to thwart their saboteurs.
          As you can see, I have my work cut out for me for my foreseeable future. Thank you again, Kat, for allowing me to spend time with your readers today.

A bit about Petie McCarty: 
          Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. 
          She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
          Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas. 

To learn more about Petie and the stories she creates, go to:
http://www.petiemccarty.com
https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty
https://twitter.com/authorpetie
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/petie-mccarty

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