Prophecies and Promises by Alana Lorens

 When the ‘good’ man is bad, and the ‘bad’ man is good, how’s a young woman to choose?

      Tamsyn McKiernan thinks her dreams have come true. She’s engaged to a dashing Key West bachelor and finally in her widowed father’s good graces. But in her heart, she knows something’s wrong. She loves the ocean and the quiet pleasures of nature—so what does the aristocratic life she’ll lead truly hold for her? 

Mercenary captain Drake Ashton is neck deep in preparations for the Spanish-American War, running guns and other supplies to Cuban natives who want out from under their Spanish masters. He and his brother Freddie risk their lives daily, focused on saving his friends on the island. Nothing else matters but his mission.

A chance encounter with a spiny sea urchin brings the two together, and neither of their lives will ever be the same again.

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to feature Prophecies and Promises, a recent release out of the historical line for the Wild Rose Press and written by Alana Lorens. With Alana is Captain Drake Ashton who will go first.

Good morning, Captain. Let’s begin with where you are from. I grew up on a small coral rock house on the west shore of the Florida Keys, outside Islamorada.

Tell us a bit about Prophecies and Promises. Well, I haven’t quite finished it yet, but it seems to be a story about me deciding if I can allow love into my life, and whether the woman I love can love me as well.

What did you think the first time you saw Tamsyn McKiernan? We were on the beach and she was perfectly framed by the sunlight; she was absolutely beautiful.

What was your second thought? I was mostly yelling because I'd just been I’d just been stabbed by a sea urchin spine. Unbelievably painful. But Tamsyn dropped everything and rushed to get it out and get me on the road to health once again.

Do you feel it was love at first sight? Yes, especially when I put that together with the obeah woman’s prediction for me.

What do you like most about Tamsyn? She’s brilliant.  She has a wide base of knowledge in natural things, if not so much in all the ways of modern society in 1897. But at the same time, she hasn’t lost a childish curiosity—she wants to learn everything she can. I find that fascinating and compelling.

How would you describe her? She’s young, so she tends to be impulsive, which can be maddening. She loves her father very much, and I know she’s trying to please him as well as the rest of her society, but I can’t imagine that she can make him happy. She’s just as appealing when she’s dressed for a ball as she is with her hair let down, her skirts rolled up to her knees, walking through the tide’s edge, picking up shells.

How would she describe you? She probably thinks I’m a fool, since she’s always having to patch me up after some scrap or other. I probably would have died if she hadn’t saved me after the ambush at Matanzas. She seems happy when she’s around me, so maybe she’d say I bring her joy?

What made you choose being a mercenary captain for a career? I don’t know if I “chose” it as much as it was thrust upon me. When friend that my brother and I had made over the years on the Cuban island decided they wanted to be independent of Spanish rule, Freddie and I just naturally took it upon ourselves to find them weapons and other supplies and supports they’d need to accomplish their goal. Since then it’s grown into a full-time occupation!

What is your biggest fear? I feel like I have to take care of so many other people—I would hate myself if I let them down. They count on me.

How do you relax? I love to sit around an open fire on one beach or another, with my crew, singing and laughing, lubricated with plenty of rum.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Don Quixote. I believe that going after what is important to you, no matter the cost, is the best path one’s life can take.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? A captain who’s a good friend of mine encouraged me to let loose of my responsibilities in Cuba, now that America has entered the war and is looking out for my people. He told me then I’d be free to look out for what I really wanted—and he knew I wanted Tamsyn.

Thank you, Captain. Now we’d like to chat with Alana.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I’ve enjoyed Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books. She has a way of portraying those who are underdogs as somehow important and watching them achieve success is always gratifying. I hope I do the same with my characters.

Is there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? Not so much a single event, but I lived just north of the Florida Keys in Homestead, Florida for a number of years and spent many happy hours in the Keys. Much of my worldbuilding here is taken right from things I’ve observed and enjoyed.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? One of the other writers in my critique group. Kathy Otten, had been multi-published with The Wild Rose Press, so I thought I’d give them a chance. This is now my fifth book with them. My editor, Ally Robertson, and I have put out three books together!

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I’ve slowly been collecting all the new DUNE books written by Frank Herbert’s son. One of these days I’m going to begin at the new beginning (with the prequels) and blazed through the 30 or so volumes,

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’m currently working on another volume in the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series that I expect will be submitted sometime this fall. 

Alana brought an excerpt for us:

        It would be better if Drake was happy for Tamsyn’s good fortune. She’d not want for anything material as the wife of Winslow—no doubt, a beautiful house and gardens, a fine carriage, a husband whose future was financially secure.

His own fortunes lay along a much different path.

If Drake were to be caught by the Spaniards, it wasn’t likely he’d live to be tried for the crime back on the mainland. The Spanish were known for their quick tempers and sharp swords. The mercenary trade paid him well, for now, and if the buzzing rumors he’d heard on the Pickham veranda were true, war would come within the year. Guns were a prime commodity in time of war. He always carried rum when he returned from the islands, of course, and sugar and tropical fruits, to cover his real motives. He had not been interdicted yet. As young men often did, he played the odds and planned to beat them.

For the first time, however, that focus was shaken by thoughts of this woman.

What distinguished Tamsyn MacKiernan from the other women he’d met in a hundred different ports? Drake couldn’t put his finger on it. He just knew she appealed to his heart in a way that possessed him. She held an intriguing blend of strength and vulnerability, stomach ironclad in the face of blood yet timid as a lost waif left alone in the midst of the ball. He wanted to know her better.

But she was to be married. Even if he had been able to marry her, even though he had a proper home with a hired woman to maintain it, it was nothing compared with the empire Winslow would command in a few years. Drake knew he had no business thinking Tamsyn might prefer a lonely pirate to the golden boy.

Damnation!

To learn more about Alana Lorens and the stories she creates, go to:

Website      http://Alana-lorens.com

Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens

Amazon Author Page

https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Lorens/e/B005GE0WBC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

 Bookbub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/alana-lorens

 Twitter:  @AlexanderLyndi

 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander_lyndi/

 Prophecies and Promises__Alana Lorens

 

To purchase Prophecies and Promises, go to:

  https://www.amazon.com/Prophecies-Promises-Alana-Lorens-ebook/dp/B09THTHV6H/ref=sr_1_5?qid=1647885952&refinements=p_27%3AAlana+Lorens&s=digital-text&sr=1-5&text=Alana+Lorens

 

Paperback:- https://www.amazon.com/Prophecies-Promises-Alana-Lorens/dp/1509241442/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647885952&sr=1-5

 

B&N: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophecies-and-promises-alana-lorens/1141068092?ean=9781509241446

 

https://shop.aer.io/TheWildRosePress/p/Prophecies_and_Promises/9781509241446-11180?ni=true

 

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFWs54EUJeU

Life's Too Short for White Walls

        Still reeling from her divorce, Joss Murphy flees to Banjo Bend, Kentucky, where she'd been safe and happy as a child. Weary and discouraged, she talks owner Ezra McIntire into renting her a not-quite-ready cabin in the campground he runs.

      With PTSD keeping him company, Ez thrives on the seclusion of the campground. The redhead in Cabin Three adds suggestions to his improvement plans, urging color and vibrancy where there was none.

      Neither is looking for love, yet the attraction they share is undeniable. Can the comfort of campfires, hayrides, and sweet kisses bring these two lost souls together?

 Wild Women Authors focus is on Life’s Too Short for White Walls by Liz Flaherty, a sweet contemporary romance released by the Wild Rose Press.

 Excerpt: Joss stopped under the canopy of trees that led back to the campground, opening her car window so she could breathe in the scent of early autumn. It was a hard thing for a person as busy as she’d always been to stare the future in the face with no idea what she was going to do with it. She would give herself time to decide, time to take more deep breaths and get over the feeling of dread that seemed to accompany her everywhere. Although she didn’t have enough money to last forever, it would carry her for a while.

She looked up at the trees, noting that the colors of the leaves were already changing and that the air smelled different—it wasn’t just the day’s lack of humidity. It was, she supposed, the scent of things dying, but she wasn’t going to think of it that way. To her, it was going to be all about starting over. Starting new in this beloved place that still felt like home.

 A Note From our Focus Author: I worry a lot about my stories sounding alike, my heroines being paper-doll-cutouts of each other. I’m afraid I’ve written too many heroes with dimples in their left cheeks. Do I have too many people with crooked grins, one raised eyebrow, or a shrug that somehow defines their personalities?

I hope not, but a few of the things that are the same from book to book are starting over, new beginnings, home, friendships, tenderness. And I’m good with that.

They are there in Life’s Too Short for White Walls, when forty-something Joss Murphy and Ezra McIntire find themselves in the same place but searching for different things. They know a few things about themselves by now—Joss is determined she will have color wherever she goes and Ez is committed to always being one step ahead of things that are dangerous or hurtful to anyone around him.

There are no white walls on their journey, but danger and emotional landmines make themselves known. And maybe the things they’re searching for aren’t so different.

 

To purchase Life’s Too Short for White Walls, go to:  

B & N: https://tinyurl.com/yc7xyprw

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y4ecw5vh

Apple Books: https://tinyurl.com/yc75va4n

 

To learn more about Liz Flaherty and the stories she creates go to:

Website: http://lizflaherty.net/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lizkflaherty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizFlaherty1

Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/df7dhP

 

 

 

The Girl Who Knew Death by Norm Harris

            Navy lawyer and former First Daughter Faydra (Fay) Green is no longer quite so haunted by the dark events of her recent past and is hoping for some well-deserved rest. But her world is once again turned upside down when a shocking secret about her adopted daughter, Katrinka (Kat), is revealed. But before Fay can help Kat make any decisions about her future, Kat is captured and thrown into an Egyptian prison. She manages to escape but must flee to safety across Europe, trying to stay one step ahead of several mysterious pursuers.

Soon, Fay and Kat discover they are being chased by more than ordinary forces – Azrael, the Angel of Death, has taken a puzzling interest in their situation and a dangerous demon appears to be stalking Kat’s every move. It will take all of Fay’s strength and ingenuity to meet these, and other, challenges looming ahead of her, while Kat must ask herself what she truly wants out of life.

Wild Women Authors features author Norm Harris and The Girl Who Knew Death, his latest release via the Fast Track option out of The Wild Rose Press. First up is Fay Green.

Welcome, Fay. First, tell us a bit about The Girl Who Knew Death.

While in Moscow on a government assignment, I met my daughter, Kat. It turned out she had a sad yet inspiring story to tell. Let me tell you. It turned out to be that and more. As revealed in The Girl Who Knew Death, our story chronicles one of the most exciting and bizarre adventures you will ever hear about in your life! 

What made you choose to practice with the Navy for a career?

My dad, before he went into politics, was a Navy aviator. I grew up in the Navy. Like my him, I wanted to be a diplomat, but more an embassy type. I learned two languages. Italian and French. While in college, I met a law student. It sounded interesting, so I went in that direction. The Navy had lawyers in the JAG Corps. It was a marriage made in heaven, as they say.

 

Knowing what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick with being a Navy lawyer or do something different?

I would do something else. If someone had told me I would be risking my life almost daily, I would have opted for a nurse. Or something safe.

What is your biggest fear? Right now, my biggest fear is death itself. I try hard every day to not get killed by someone or something. 

Who is your favorite fictional character? I have three. James Bond, Jack Ryan, and Natasha Romanova. 

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? I now live by the mantra my daughter Kat, a former espionage agent, taught me: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”  I travel at eight miles a minute, most of the time high on caffeine. 

Thanks for spending time with us, Fay. Now we’d like to chat with Norm.

Which writer or character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major impact on your writing?  Ian Fleming—James Bond; Nelson DeMille—Kate Mayfield. Both books. In movies, Katniss Everdeen and Eowyn. 

Concerning research, where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths, thereby changing the original concept? I drew from my world travels for scenes and settings. The time I spent in Cairo, Paris, Moscow, and the South China Sea helped describe the settings, and the characters were from three stories before. This one was easy to create. 

Tell us a bit about your publisher. How did you hear about them; what influenced you to submit to them, the submission process, and the turn-around time from date of query to date of release?  A big question. The first three books have been self-published. Last summer, I signed up for a writer’s conference that invites agents and publishers every year. I signed up to pitch to two publishers. Both liked my book Deception Pass. The publisher is Wild Rose Press, Inc. When I told them about the other three books, they asked me if they could see all of them. Several weeks later, they offered me contracts for the series. Because the four books were ready to go, I did not have to go through the normal process. I did work with the art department to create new covers. When I signed the contracts in November, the first of the four books were published and offered for sale worldwide in both e-book and paperback. Arid Sea was published in February, Deception Pass in March, and The Girl Who Knew Death in May. 

What are you reading right now? I am reading my fifth book in the Spider Green series Rain and Wind and Fire. You know the song, They Call the Wind Mariah? The song inspires the book. As Sympathy for the Devil did for Deception Pass and Brandy for Fruit of the Poisonous Tree.

What’s next for you? As I said, I am trying to find the time to put Rain and Wind and Fire together. 

 

To purchase The Girl Who Knew Death, go to:

https://www.amazon.com/Norman-A.-Harris/e/B002BOH4R0?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/norm-harris 

 

Social media contacts:

https://www.facebook.com/norm.harris.3386

 

A Year of Firsts by Liz Flaherty

 Wild Women Authors focus on. . .

A Year of Firsts, Second Chances Book 1, a contemporary romance by Liz Flaherty

        One year after the tragic death of her beloved husband, Sydney Cavanaugh begins her “year of firsts” with a road trip she promised him she would make. On her way to Gettysburg, an unplanned detour lands her in Fallen Soldier, Pennsylvania, where she meets television journalist Clay McAlister.

While neither is interested in a romantic relationship, their serious case of being “in like” seems to push them that way. However, Clay’s heart condition makes no promises for a secure future. Syd’s already lost one man she loved to a devastating illness—she isn’t about to lose another.

 

Excerpt:

If I fall in love again, this will be how it happens.

The thought came from nowhere she could identify, although she knew deep in her soul that it had to do with the tall man in shorts and a polo shirt walking up the incline of her yard to meet her. The man whose heart would likely not last as long as her own, whose every wince made her fear he was having a heart attack. His attitude toward exercise and diet was that of the middle-aged man in perfect health he appeared to be, not one who had a zipper-like scar up the center of his chest.

But just the sight of him, with his light brown hair that needed cutting blowing into his eyes even though his graying beard was as always short and neat, made her heart beat harder and faster. She smiled, remembering his explanation of why he had a beard.

At first, he’d said it was because he had a weak chin, he didn’t want anyone to notice, but then he’d admitted it had been an ongoing struggle between him and a producer of his show. “He was pushy, and I was usually compliant. It was a great gig, and I knew it. But it got to where he wanted to…create the brand he wanted me to be, I guess. I mostly went along because he was a pretty smart guy who knew his stuff, but when I came back from vacation with a beard and he gave the order to have it gone before I went on the air, it became the proverbial last straw.”

To purchase A Year of Firsts, go to:

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60297845-a-year-of-firsts

 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S2GRWZN

About our Focus Author:

Liz Flaherty is rather bewildered by where she’s at in life. She doesn’t feel…er…elderly, but the truth is that she is. The Magnificent Seven grands have grown up on her, her own kids are all now older than she is, and her husband Duane has the same firm hold on her heart he’s always had. And it’s all good.

 

To learn more about Liz Flaherty and the stories she creates, go to:

Website: http://lizflaherty.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlizflaherty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizFlaherty1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizkflaherty

Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-flaherty

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Liz-Flaherty/e/B001J919R4

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3336348.Liz_Flaherty

 

Burning Desire

What happens when a man and woman are attracted to each other, but he's a non-committer and she's a non-dater?

        Edwina Taylor’s life changed drastically just before her senior year when her parents were killed and she learned her father had embezzled from the company he worked for. Determined to repay the stolen money, Eddie spent all her spare time, studying to become a realtor—and hung her shingle the day after graduation.

Now, a decade later, after selling her parents' home, she must consider selling the one thing that matters: her grandmother’s farmhouse in order to solve her continuing income woes. After a fire damages several rooms, Eddie believes she was to blame. 

New to Laurel Ridge, firefighter Rhett Renoux offers her an opportunity she can’t refuse—to become a partner in flipping houses, starting with repairing and fixing up her grandmother's farmhouse. For the first time in her life, she’s falling in love.

       But then, Rhett begins to learn secrets she’s kept hidden from the entire community all this time. Has she made a mistake letting him in?

 Wild Women Authors welcomes back author, Diana Stout, with Burning Desire, Book 2 in the Laurel Ridge series. With Diana is realtor Eddie Taylor who will go first.

Good morning, Eddie. Thanks for taking time away from your busy office to speak with us. Let’s start with where you’re from.  Laurel Ridge, Georgia

What did you think the first time you saw Rhett? He was at the fire station with a bunch of the other firefighters he works with. I knew he was a newcomer, someone who had moved to the community. At the time, the group was just a bunch of guys who looked good—because they work out—all in their navy-blue pants and navy-blue T-shirts. He didn't stand out and he fit in well.

What was your second thought? It was when I saw him in action, rescuing a child in the street from a speeding car that I really noticed him. He'd put himself in danger to save that child. I was mesmerized. That's when I noticed his build, when the rescuers removed his torn shirt and gave him a clean one. I couldn't help but notice that washboard stomach, his height, his good looks. Immediately, I was attracted.

Do you feel it was love at first sight? Never having been in love, is that what love at first sight feels like?

What do you like most about him? Now that I've been working with him and have been getting to know him, I find him even more attractive. He's kind, generous, thinks of others first, always wants to help. He's interesting. What I like most about him, though? His dimples and his eyes.

How would you describe him? Rugged yet tender. There isn't anything he can't do. He's ambitious and industrious. And he's a caring individual. He holds himself accountable and expects the same from others.

How would he describe you? I imagine he would say secretive, maybe shy. He's had to ask a questions to get any information or reveal much and even then I'm not telling him everything.

What made you choose real estate for a career? I became a realtor out of necessity. My parents died in a car accident a week after my dad revealed he'd been stealing money from the company he worked for. I believed they committed suicide, which wasn't part of the accident report, but no one knows about the theft, so to me suicide made sense. The accident occurred just before my senior year. I was a month away from turning 18. I knew at that time that college wasn't going to happen and because there was no money and little insurance money, I knew I needed a career immediately after graduation. I petitioned the court so I could live in the house as an adult, and then started selling my parents' art collection online and anything else of value so I could stay in the house. I turned away from school activities I had once embraced and focused on studying to become a realtor when I wasn't studying for my senior classes. The day after graduation, I obtained my realtor's license. From the time I discovered what my dad had done, I was determined to pay back every penny. For the last decade, that's what I've been doing.

What is your biggest fear? That others will learn how dishonorable my parents were. How ashamed I was of them because of it.

How do you relax? I can't say that I do. Some may say that I relax by building homes for Habitat, but it was a way for me to work out my frustrations early on by driving nails into the walls. Plus, I work at the animal shelter from time to time only because it wouldn't be fair for me to have a pet. I'm away from home too much, plus it's a cost I can't afford.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Pip from Great Expectations. I can relate to him, his having secrets. His not being sure of his place in society.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? I realize now, that the best advice didn't come from my parents but rather from someone I discovered was a best friend of my mother: Connie, a long-time waitress in the downtown diner. In the story, she tells me that it doesn't matter what others think. It only matters what I think.

Thank you for this, Eddie. Now we’d like to chat with Diana.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? So many books, so many movies. I was always fascinated by the characters of both movies and books—movies especially. What drove them? What make them so desirable, so engaging? What was it about them that captured my interest time after time, especially when I'd watch these movies repeatedly? It was those characteristics that I began discovering in my characters who would spring to life in front of me, never leaving me alone until I've finally written their story and gotten it published.

Is there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? I can't say there was any event in my private life that brought these particular characters to life. Rather, Eddie's reluctance to share is the result of many people. Both Eddie and Rhett came to life as I discovered their wounds, their fears, their desires for live.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I'm an indie publisher. I was traditionally published in the mid '90s when it was the only way to be published. Today, with so many more available options, I decided to go indie, where I got to make the decisions.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I'm currently reading Jami Albright's Bride on the Run box set of four stories. They're laugh-out-loud funny. My other secret go-to romances right now are Amish romances. Having researched the Amish for a script I was writing, I feel I could easily live among them, so I enjoy stories in that landscape.

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? This is the year where I finish writing and am publishing the Laurel Ridge novella series. Arrested Pleasures, #3 in the series is schedule for a July 5 release and can be pre-ordered now, too. The others—#4, #5, #6, and #7—will quickly follow.

To learn more about Diana Stout, go to:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerDianaStout

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScreenWryter13

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/drdianastout

Goodreads:  http://goodreads.com/user/show/43124185-diana-stout

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordianastout

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/diana-stout

 To purchase Burning Desire, go to:

amazon.com/gp/product/B09W8ZCHMJ

 

 

    

Ghost Notes by Beth Henderson

           Jace Hastings, rising music star, is presumed dead in a vehicle collision, courtesy of a stalker with deadly designs. Ten years later, P.I. Gaelen Wyndom can’t believe someone wants her to find him.

          Pelham Flannery rejoined the world from ICU, fully aware someone had tried to kill him. To live, he went under the radar, distanced himself from music, and disguised everything that would give away his identity as Jace. After a decade, is it safe to come out of hiding?

          Gaelen, delighted to be trained as a professional investigator by her new husband, continued in her new career after he was killed. Assigned to locate Jace Hastings, she isn’t told who wants to find him, but she puzzles it out. If she’s right, it’s the man who tried to kill him before. Which means she needs to find Jace Hastings and save him.

 Wild Women Authors features author Beth Henderson who is celebrating the release of her latest novel: Ghost Notes. With Beth is musician Pel Flannery who will go first.

 Welcome, Pel. Thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with where you are from. You could say that’s hard to say. I was born in LA. My mother was in the midst of cutting a record (she’s a vocalist) when she went into labor. But as both my parents are on the road separately, I grew up in the D.C. area where I lived with my mother’s parents.

Tell us a bit about Ghost Notes. The title itself is a term in the music world, but it suits well because a decade ago, just as my career was taking off, one where I called myself Jace Hastings, a maniacal stalker tried to kill me to keep me away from the woman I was stuck doing duets and photo ops with. I was trying to shake free of her. And that nearly happened, but not before the stalker rammed a semi into my sportscar. Which she was driving at the time. She was killed, I barely survived, but her death just upped his desire to off me. So, I gave up music. Downsized my life to that of a drifter with all his possessions in a duffle bag and kept on the move. But ten years have gone by. I hadn’t felt the eyes of his pals on me for six months. I still wasn’t going to go back to my life as Jace Hastings, just in case, though. Instead, I funded a jazz club/restaurant in a mostly retired community outside of Phoenix. My mother, C.C. was ready to get off the road but still wanted to be able to sing. We made it her place, I was just the accompanist at the piano and the guy funding and managing it. Then the stalker hired a PI to find me. A beautiful one. I was a goner, whether it was love felling me or the stalker because realized she’d found me. The clock was ticking but toward what, I had no clue.

What did you think the first time you saw Gaelen Wyndom? That just maybe I could be a regular guy again and follow through on the unconscious pull she was broadcasting.

What was your second thought? There was music in her voice, and I should keep my distance for safety’s sake.

Do you feel it was love at first sight? I’d call it down and dirty lust, actually. I’d been celibate for a long time.

What do you like most about Gaelen? That she’s a kind and decent person, that she’s good at her job, and that she wants me as much as I want her. We are both fighting our own demons, so there’s always a chance they’ll best us.

How would you describe her? I’m a guy. Gorgeous, though she doesn’t think so. Sexy as hell even though she dresses to blend into crowds rather than stand out. Except for one particular bright red dress that clings to her like I’d like to.

How would she describe you? I’d sorta hope it was as irresistible. She did, after all, or so she confessed, have a massive crush on me back when she was in college as a music major and I was racking up accolades for the way I arranged old standards for a 21^st century audience. However, she didn’t know I had once been Jace Hastings when we met. I was just a 35 year old music guy disguised as a self-made millionaire who wore expensive custom made suits when he tickled the ivories.

What made you choose music for a career? If you listen to my mother, C.C. Pelham, I was born into it. She’s a frequently nominated but never won a Grammy songstress. Dad, Jay Flannery, is a famous trombone man. And I was nearly born in a recording studio. Being a performer is all I ever wanted to be, though I didn’t want to trade on their success, which is why I came up with a stage name.

What is your biggest fear?  Oddly enough, not that the stalker will kill me, though that’s still a worry. I don’t want Gaelen to walk out of my life.

With all this going on, how do you relax? How else? I sit at a keyboard and play whatever niche of jazz that suits the eats tension away. But honestly, sex with Gaelen works even better.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Hmm… The movie version of Nick Charles, Dash Hammett’s detective, maybe. Odd that it isn’t a fictional musician, isn’t it? But I watched a lot of really, really old movies while convalescing after the first attempt on my life.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Forget the music—go win the girl.

Thanks for taking time away from your work, Pel. Now we’d like to chat with your creator, Beth Henderson.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? My favorite movies tend to be Marvel movies these days, but I love Indiana Jones, and still replay the CDs of Remington Steele—in fact, that TV series probably feeds some of the romantic comedy as well as mystery that I tend to write, though Ghost Notes isn’t a romantic comedy, some of the same byplay is there. As for books, I loved Elizabeth Peter’s Vicki Bliss mystery comedy series. Currently I’m hooked on Sabrina Flynn’s Ravenwood Mysteries set in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake.

Is there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? Oddly enough, yes. When I was 25, a lady ran a red light and t-boned my Mustang. I landed in the hospital for three weeks, but as I went into shock in the ambulance, they couldn’t operate on my broken hip until four days after the accident. Four days that I have absolutely no memory of, nor of the accident itself. In Ghost Notes, the backstory has a 25-year-old Pel Flannery getting rammed when the semi barrels through a red light. As the semi was much bigger than the sedan that creamed me, his injuries (though in the passenger seat, rather than the driver’s seat) still take him nearly a year to recover from. My recovery was shorter, but it still required six months on crutches. Probably the frustration at that age of being reduced to depending on others to take care of so many thing you took for granted probably seeped into the story, or at least Pel’s backstory.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? The Wild Rose Press published Ghost Notes in May. Actually, I fell in with them when looking for a traditional publisher interested in American West historical romance with mystery and adventure. The publisher I’d had in the past had either changed what they were looking for or gone out of business, so it was back to the drawing board for a publisher. In 2021 Wild Rose Press released my western historical romance, Until . . ., but Pel and Gaelen’s story was already on the drawing board, and I finished writing it during the pandemic. Fortunately, my wonderful editor at Wild Rose, Nan Swanson, loved it, too!

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? A variety of things: C.S. Harris’s latest Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery, Ben Aaronovich’s latest Rivers of London urban fantasy police procedural mystery comedy, Jodi Taylor’s latest St. Mary’s time travel adventure comedy, and I also pulled out an old Nora Roberts’ book to reread, Hot Ice.

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m torn between another contemporary romantic suspense with a stage magician hero who fears that he might be the serial killer targeting lone women vacationing in Las Vegas because he dreams about each death, seeing it as though he is the one killing the woman. He isn’t, of course. But I’m also toying with another historical romantic mystery adventure set in 1852 in the California Gold Rush. My schedule though has me “booked” to turn in two more urban fantasy stories for my Raven Tales series that I write as J.B. Dane for a different publisher.

 

To learn more about Beth Henderson and the stories she creates, go to:

Website: www.4TaleTellers.com

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2GvFyog

Twitter:  @Beth__Henderson

Pinterest:  www.pinterest.com/bhendbks

 

To purchase Ghost Notes, go to:

Amazon: getbook.at/GhostNotes

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghost-notes-beth-henderson/1141022856?ean=9781509241798

 

Also available for Kobo, Apple, and GooglePlays

 

Tangled in Taurus by Sadira Stone

 On Day 2 of our Zodiac Encounters visit, Sadira Stone is back with Tangled in Taurus. . .

Headstrong, homebody Taurus plus passionate, freedom-loving Aquarius equals the worst match ever, but their blazing chemistry is unstoppable.

Keeping Jesse Del Toro’s organic farm afloat was hard enough before Gemma Moore returned to Trappers Cove. He knows the bewitching fortuneteller will never settle down in their quirky beach town, but he can’t resist playing with fire.

When a harmless secret backfires, Gemma discovers just how deeply she’s wounded the beautiful bull man, and how desperately she wants to keep him.    

 

Sadira brought an excerpt. . .

   “Hey, Jesse.”

   He turned toward her with a quizzical scowl.

   “You know about the Esoteric Arts Expo in Portland next month?”

   “Yeah. Got the extra herbs Zora ordered under a bank of grow-lights.”

   “You’ll be there, right?”

   His dark brows drew together. “At the expo? No. Why?”

   Gemma grasped his arms, relishing the feel of firm muscle through his thick woolen coat. “You’ve got an organic herb farm! You could offer teas, tinctures, potted plants. Give me a list of what you grow, and I’ll write up their magical properties.”

   Jesse snorted, which only made him more bull-like. “Listen, I grow culinary herbs, stuff for tea and home remedies, not magic potions.”

   Yup, bull-headed to a fault. She forced her lips to unscowl. Being judgmental would get her nowhere with his type. He needed practical proof. “How could you ignore this huge market? The esoteric community is hungry for local products with integrity.”

   “My business is none of yours.” With another sexy snort, he loomed over her. “You ever actually worked the land, princess? It’s not airy-fairy spirituality. It’s heavy lifting and dirt under your nails.”

  He held a broad, dirt-stained palm before her face and wiggled his fingers. Immediately, her imagination zoomed to how those powerful hands would feel on her bare skin, their rough scrape raising goosebumps of pleasure. Would he be a forceful lover? Brutal, even? Or perhaps surprisingly tender?

   Giving her head a little shake, she took his hand and inspected his palm. “Interesting Mount of Venus.” She rubbed the base of his thumb. “Nice and fleshy.”

   She had his attention now. People loved being told about themselves. With narrowed eyes, he peered at the spot she was massaging. “Mount of Venus? What does that mean?”

   “Fullness here shows you’re passionate, sensual. And see this mark? Like a little X?”

   He squinted, rumpling his eyebrows adorably.

   “This means you have a lot of love to give.” She was only quoting the many books on palmistry she’d studied, but a skeptic like him would probably assume she was just spouting pickup lines.

   But now, he simply held her gaze for a long, heated moment. His nostrils flared, but whatever snarky comment he concocted remained behind his tightly pressed lips.

   Focus. Plan. Expo. She forced her shoulders down. “So why not share some of that love with Zora and me? You help us with new products for the Esoteric Expo, and we’ll help you with new customers for your herbs.” See? Practical, logical—just the way you like it, stubborn Taurus.

 

A bit about Sadira Stone:

Award-winning contemporary romance author Sadira Stone spins steamy, smoochy tales set in small businesses—a quirky bookstore, a neighborhood bar, a vintage boutique... Her stories highlight found family, friendship, and the sizzling chemistry that pulls unlikely partners together. When she emerges from her writing cave in Las Vegas, Nevada (which she seldom does), she can be found in belly dance class, or strumming her ukulele, perhaps exploring the West with her charming husband, or cooking up a storm, and always gobbling all the romance books. For a guaranteed HEA (and no cliffhangers!) visit Sadira at sadirastone.com.

 

To learn more about Sadira, go to: 

Author Website   Facebook   Twitter  Goodreads   Bookbub   Amazon Author Page   Pinterest   Instagram   Author Newsletter    

 

To purchase Zodiac Encounters, go to:

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/bMYOr8

Bookbub Link: https://www.bookbub.com/books/zodiac-encounters-by-mia-london-and-sadira-stone

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60679442-zodiac-encounters