June 19, 2013

Settling Down

When I first started writing, I just wrote. I didn't care about getting published, if anyone ever read my book or what genre my book landed in. Turns out, when you do want to get published, you need to know who will read your book.


Throughout the years, and several books later (both suspense and romance), I found three similarities in every single one of my books.

One, there is a hero and a heroine.
Two, opposites attract.
Three, larger than life conflict.

Initially, I thought I could write just suspense and I tried with LET ME OUT and DIE FOR ME. But in the end, and with some words from my publisher, the books are actually romantic suspense.

With SOUR CHERRY, I actually set out to write straight romantic suspense and succeeded. I didn't struggle in the least to keep the balance between suspense and romance and finished the manuscript in record time.

The thriller I'm writing? The struggle is back and rearing its ugly head at every turn. I wanted this book to be a straight thriller for a better chance of landing my dream agent. However, the drive and the intuition aren't there.

And I know why.

I write romantic suspense. I love romantic suspense and I'm comfortable there. While my tastes will most likely change in the future or stories will make me grow out of that comfort zone, I'm trying to make my WIP into something it's not.

And now I'm going to go fix it.

Do you write in different genres? Are you comfortable doing it?

June 13, 2013

Back into the Game

My baby is a month old and it's time for me to get back into the game of running. To do that, I've set myself a new goal.

Last year I'd made the announcement I was running Ragnar. And I fully intended to do it. I trained all summer...in Vegas...during the day. Seeing as I run better in 100+ degree temps better than Spring temps, it wasn't bad. I'd averaged about 5 miles a day.

Then I got pregnant. I even continued running, still determined to run the race. But it seemed Fate had other choices. Not that I was sick. In fact, I probably had the easiest pregnancy in the world. No, turns out my entire team decided not to run the event and I didn't want to run with strangers. 

Now, though. I've set a new goal: a half marathon.

This one to be exact: Big Cottonwood Marathon and Half



I've started my training and I have until September to get back my endurance back. I'm determined to finish this goal. Luckily my training program is perfect for me; run twice a week, long runs on the weekends. While this isn't a normal schedule and I do have a bit more weight to lose and muscle to get back, I'm also taking on the P90X challenge for an overhall.

Is anyone else taking on this challenge right now? Any tips? What goals have you set for yourself this year?

May 25, 2013

The Newfound Life of a Full-time Writer

I did it!

My day job is in the past as I take a chance on my freelance editing business full-time, which also gives me the ability to write as much as I want!



I've been looking forward to this day, month, year, for over seven years and I honestly can't tell you how scared and excited I am. I have several projects in the works for this year, some romance, some thriller and some suspense and I just hope I'll be able to do them justice.

Here's a sneak peek into what's to come from one of my romantic suspense novellas, Kinda Outta Luck.


Having a drink thrown in her face wasn’t the worst thing that’d occurred today.
Pippa McCoy inhaled another smoke-filled breath as the woman in front of her flailed on the Magnolia Bay’s plush carpeting. Limbs shot through the air, wails echoed over the slot machines and a small glimpse of hot pink panties made an appearance.
            “Ms. Carlisle, you’re making a scene!” She plucked a lime from suit’s collar and tossed it to the floor. The bitter taste of tequila and lime juice seeped between her lips. She’d never been a fan of the fruity drinks.
            The wails grew louder and Pippa took a step back, surveying the casino’s crowd to count exactly how many sets of awestruck gazes they’d attracted. This was exactly why her clients hired her. Avoiding public breakdowns and embarrassment of monumental proportion came at a pretty price they didn’t mind paying when it came to breakups.
            Kneeling in front of her client’s now ex-fiancé, Pippa hiked her purse higher on her shoulder and reached out to contain Ms. Carlisle’s thrashing wrists. “Amy,”—she tightened her grip—“you’re making a fool of yourself. I understand you’re upset, but you need to get a hold of yourself.”
            Not exactly therapeutic, but effective all the same.
            Ms. Carlisle relaxed, sniffling in short burst as she wrenched her hands away.
            Pippa let her, slightly wobbling on the thick carpeting in her four-inch heels as she straightened. With a full view of the sobbing woman at her feet, her heart dropped. She’d built a career on delivering bad news on a daily basis, but the sting never went away. “How about we get a drink? That will make you feel better, don’t you think?”
            Brown hate-filled eyes glared up at her. Seconds later, Amy Carlisle stood, trying to push strands of hair back into place. “Who the hell are you anyway? His mistress? Are you the reason he dumped me?”

Kinda Outta Luck will be finished this summer! Look for it soon, but if you're looking for some sexy romantic suspense in the meantime, Sour Cherry is officially releasing on May 29th! You can buy it on Amazon now and all other devices on Wednesday!

April 26, 2013

Die For Me! 5 Copies Available Here!

Today is release day for Die For Me!
 
I will give away 5  here to people who will read the book and post an honest review at Goodreads and Amazon and/or tell other people about my book.




I would give some away directly at Facebook, but they have pretty strict rules about that sort of thing, so FB people, leave a comment here and you’re in.

If you follow me on Twitter, well, follow along!

RULES

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older to enter. No purchase necessary. Post a comment to this post by Midnight Pacific on Friday May 3, 2013. International okay.

Note: By “honest” review, I mean exactly that. Your review should say what you think about the story.

April 16, 2013

Official Cover For Die For Me!

While I had the option to use the previous cover for Die For Me (below), my editor and I decided this  new one fit the book better! What do you think?!?!?

First Cover Designed by Yevinn Graphics

 
Official Cover Designed by Wicked Smart Designs

April 9, 2013

Chapter 1 of Die For Me!

As promised, here's a first look at Die For Me, releasing the beginning of May 2013!

Her escape from Bedford Hills had already made headlines.
Torrhent Lynd eyed the convenience store cashier as she shuffled toward the bathroom, keeping her face averted in case his eyes moved from her mug shot on the television. She darted into the dark room with her supplies. With only one stall, a sink and a garbage can, the bathroom offered what she needed but took any remaining dignity she had left.
The voice of a female agent filtered through the thin door from the television.
Dangerous . . . armed . . . FBI.
Murderer.
The door buckled under the weight of being pushed in. “Hey!” A series of thuds assaulted her ears. “We’re closing!”
There hadn’t been anyone but the cashier in the store when she’d come in.
Torrhent leveraged her boot against the bottom of the door, ignoring him. She couldn’t be recognized. She couldn’t go back to Bedford. Not after she’d come this far.
“Hey!” Another round of banging.
“I’ll be out in a minute!”
A scoff leaked through from the other side. “I’m closing in five minutes. You have two.”
The grease stains on her shirt had smeared into a black mess, leaving smudged spots on her arms and hands. She unbuttoned the flannel as delicately as she could, her fingers trembling with the thought of what the truck driver could have done to her if she hadn’t carried a knife. Then again, he’d taken everything that mattered.
Torrhent bent over the sink to wash her face. Her gray eyes were rimmed with countless nights of unease, her hair matted with sweat, heat and dirt. Two days of hitchhiking, sleeping under overpasses, and bathing in convenience store bathrooms had led her to Vegas, but not without cost. Her mind flashed back to what had happened in the truck.
“Someone was definitely watching over you back there.” She confronted her reflection. “Now what are you going to do?”
She took her time washing off the rest of the driver’s touch. The asshole had torn her favorite shirt and taken all her money as payment for giving her a ride. She had nothing but the clothes on her back, the blade in her boot and an empty backpack. She set the backpack on the floor and pulled the knife from her boot. Grabbing a fistful of hair, Torrhent swiped the blade through her frizzed red locks. Then she ran the faucet over her hair and applied the dye she’d stolen off the store’s shelf. When she’d finished, bits of her blistered skin peeked through her now shoulder-length dark hair.
Another round of knocks made her jump. “Hello in there! I don’t have all night.”
She opened the door, finding a teen covered in acne from forehead to chin staring back at her. The cashier.
Without a word, she put on the sunglasses she’d stolen from the corner of the store and pushed past him. Fat drops of water tinted with black hair dye slid down her neck and arms. She brushed it away without another thought. Torrhent swept her pack over her shoulders, cringing from the pain of her sunburned skin. The past two days had been hell.
She caught a customer eyeing her from across the store, his baseball cap hiding most of his features. She kept her head down. Déjà vu pounded against her mind as she studied him. It couldn’t be the same man she’d noticed back in Phoenix. His clothes were different and she could have sworn his mole had been on the opposite side of his face. But something familiar called out to her.
In the background, the pretty agent on the black-and-white television regaled reporters with details of Torrhent’s escape.
She clenched her teeth at the FBI agent’s slanderous statements. Grabbing a couple bags of chips, some water and sunscreen, she forced the supplies into her pack. With no money, if she wanted to eat she had to steal. It was simple. It was easy. She kept her eyes on the floor as she made her way toward the exit. Another two hundred miles stretched ahead of her and she had to get moving.
Behind her, the television showed a smiling picture of her stepfather. She’d gotten life without parole because the bastard had framed her for a murder he committed, and he’d pay dearly for it. The taste of sweet revenge coated her tongue as she stepped out into the hot Nevada desert.

* * *

“I’m sorry, sir. Nobody here has been admitted under that name or fits the description you’ve given.”
Another let-down.
“Thank you.” Taigen Banvard ended the long-distance call, releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Every day brought the same disappointment, but he wouldn’t give up. The blood in his ledger soaked through every page of his life and it seemed nothing could clear the sins from his past except saving the lives his sister destroyed. Hospitals, morgues, shelters. Every lead turned into a dead end. Adelaide Banvard had disappeared, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, and the skills he’d survived with for so long failed him at every turn.
Taking a deep breath, he plunged back into the club.
The room was dim, lit only by the strobe and spotlights hanging above him. Taigen’s eyes had adjusted hours ago, just as they did every night he wasted away in the hole-in-the-wall.
As he sat back down at his corner booth, a waitress brought him another beer without being asked. The staff had gotten to know him over the past two years and usually brought him anything he wanted, including the woman sashaying toward him slowly. One of his favorites.
Her short black hair spiked in every direction, her white elfish features were pronounced. From Taigen’s guess, she was in her mid-twenties, stood at five-feet-nothing, weighed a buck ten tops. Pretty, but her body had seen better days. Scars decorated her arms and legs, some of them mounds of scar tissue from burns or piercings.
Staring at them now, especially after his recent call to New York, the pale lines reminded him of Adelaide. Aside from the black hair, the two could have been sisters.
She swayed her barely clothed hips. The spotlights danced over her skin. The thigh-high boots she wore fought to stay around her legs, too baggy for her anorexic thighs. She stopped in front of his booth, eyeing him thoughtfully.
Taigen had made his decision the moment he spotted her from across the room. Nodding, he gave her the permission she sought. A wad of cash made its way into his hand and she started to move to the music blasting over the speakers. He watched her, studying her imperfections more than the rhythm of her body, something he found himself doing more and more lately.
Something in the back of his mind pulled his attention elsewhere as she danced for him. The permanent marks mutilating her light skin threatened to bring back memories he didn’t want to deal with. Having spent half his life looking for a serial killer brought back all kinds of stuff like that.
“Hello there?” a voice said.
Taigen looked up, surprised to see the dancer had already finished her routine.
“I ain’t dancing for free.” She held her hand out in anticipation.
He shook his head, clearing thoughts of the past, and thumbed through the stack of ones in his hand. He counted out twenty, flinging them toward her without care as he stood.
She fumbled for the bills, grabbing any she could get her hands on, and glared back at him. The dancer’s green eyes threatened to summon the guilt he thought he’d buried, and traces of it seeped into his chest as he forced himself away from her.
Those eyes brought back too many memories.
Taigen rubbed at the pain in his chest and tried to convince himself it was only the fragmented bullet lodged there that had him short of breath. Moving toward the door as fast as he could, he registered that most of the dancers watched him go. It’s your money they want, he told himself. Nothing more.
“You’re not leaving already, are you, John?”
John Harrington, only one of the aliases he’d used in the past two years.
Taigen stopped halfway to the exit and smiled. He knew that voice and it sure as hell wouldn’t bring back any memories he wanted to forget. Turning, he gave another of his favorites his full attention. “Yeah, got an early day.” He gave her a small smile, too exhausted to make more of an effort. It was the funeral bringing him down, or so he told himself.
She stepped closer to him, her delicious mocha skin glittering with beads of sweat from her performance. The scarlet outfit she wore tonight left very little to the imagination and matched her fingernail polish and lipstick.
He shivered in pleasure, letting his mind get away from him as his pants grew too tight. “But I could use some company until then.” Taigen let her step closer, driving his body against hers.
“I have an idea.” She pushed her cornrows back behind her shoulders as she looked up at him with the deepest brown eyes he’d ever seen. Her fingers walked themselves up his chest, tickling the skin beneath his button-down shirt.
“Yeah?” A thin English accent tinted his words, something he’d inherited from the bastard who’d started this all.
“Why don’t I take the rest of the night off?” she asked, stepping in closer to whisper next to his ear. “That way, you’ll have me the rest of the night, and I’ll be sure to wake you for your early morning.” She showed off the tight muscles in her stomach and legs by taking a step back. There really wasn’t any need. She’d already closed the sale.
“Deal.” He turned without another word and walked toward the exit. She could find her own way. Taigen pushed through a crowd of sweaty bodies to get outside.
The warm night air caressed his skin and he breathed it in deep. The bullet in his chest stung, but the memories of his former life were buried deep. It would take more than pain to make him crack.
“Ready?” the girl asked from behind.
“Yeah.” He exhaled in relief. The world in front of him wasn’t the one he’d left behind, but one he hated just the same. Taigen let her walk in front of him for the three blocks back to his apartment. His eyes followed her backside up the first few steps before his body did, but all too soon they were at his front door and then inside.
Taigen threw his keys onto the table and stripped out of his leather jacket. “Make yourself at home.” He shuffled toward the fridge after flipping the lights on.
The apartment was small, just a one-bedroom and one-bathroom place, but it served its purpose. They’d walked directly into the living room, where his secondhand furniture took residence: a couch, recliner and small coffee table on one side and the kitchen with a bar on the other. There were no decorations, no personal photos of family or friends in sight.
Taigen fished out two beers from the fridge and turned to face his guest.
The outfit his woman of the night had been sporting at the club was gone, replaced by a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her chin tilted upward as he walked across the old wood flooring, and she took the beer from him. “You rearranged the furniture.”
“Needed a change.” He took a seat in the recliner, keeping an eye on her as she set her bottle down on the coffee table.
She smiled at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Then again, none of his preferred company really wanted to be with him. They needed money and would do exactly what he wanted to get it. She slowly came to stand in front of the recliner and leaned down to place her hands on each arm of his chair. “Forget the beer.”
Taigen let her lean closer to set her lips against his. The beer in his hand slipped to the floor. The thud against the old hardwood rang loud in his ears, but it didn’t matter. She was just a distraction and, at the moment, she did a damn fine job of it. Shoving his body out of the chair, he led them toward the bedroom, anticipating all the ways in which she would keep his mind off his sister and the funeral he’d been looking forward to.

* * *

Out of breath and trembling, Torrhent bolted upright.
Her heart beat like a hammer, the rhythm running faster than any train. She was sure if anyone had been near, they’d hear it pulsing through her body. The short reprieve into sleep wouldn’t keep her on her feet for long, but she didn’t have any other choice. Deadlines had to be met and she’d already been waiting over a year for her freedom.
She ran her hands over her face and neck, satisfied she was awake and breathing. She stared at the bottom of an overpass, the one she’d become accustomed to for the past two nights. Flat on her back, she tried to regain her composure. “Just a dream,” she whispered, but knew better than that.
It had been her reality for the past year.
Torrhent rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The sound of passing cars overhead cleared her head and she searched the streets to make sure she was, in fact, as alone as she felt.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The same cars lined the streets from the night before and the feeling of outside surveillance had slithered away. Safe for the time being.
Droplets, like rain, patted against her shoulders, but the skies were clear. She looked up to find the source. Spots of grease and water from the overpass above stained her clothing. The liquid seeped through the cracks slowly and onto her shirt. Another set of clothes ruined.
Time to move. She had two hours until the meeting with her contact and he wouldn’t wait for her. Document forgers never did.
The summer heat made her miserable, beating against her skin as she emerged from under the overpass. With no wind to cool her, she stripped down to her tank top to avoid heat stroke. The sunburn only made it worse. Taking the elastic band from around her wrist, Torrhent pushed loose strands of uneven hair off her face. Sweat already dripped down her collarbone as she walked down the street, which was growing more crowded by the moment.
She needed those papers so she could get off the grid and make a clean escape. Everything she’d been working for since her incarceration rested on getting five thousand dollars, and the damn truck driver had taken it all away. Pushing deeper into the heart of Los Angeles, Torrhent caught sight of her next target and felt slivers of her anxiety calm.
The man stared down at the newspaper in front of him, waiting for the bus on a sidewalk bench. He wore wire-rimmed glasses, giving him a professional look with his classy suit. He didn’t wear a ring on his left hand. Perfect.
Torrhent pulled a map from her back pocket and unfolded it, looking above her and down the street in both directions. She wasn’t a professional, but with her training and assets she’d take him for everything he was worth. “Excuse me?”
The target looked up in surprise. She’d changed her hair and covered her face with oversized glasses, but the fact that her picture was on the front page of his newspaper made her cringe.
Torrhent forced a smile. “I think I’m lost. Would you mind?” She raised her map slightly, pushing all the pleading she could muster into her smile.
And he took the bait. “What are you looking for?”
She feigned embarrassment with a small laugh. “Well, I don’t really know where I am.”
The businessman stood, towering over Torrhent by more than a foot. His wristwatch said Armani, but she guessed it was a fake. A man who wore Armani wouldn’t wait for a bus in the middle of summer. He pushed his glasses back on his nose as he looked down at the map and pointed. “Where are you trying to go?”
She kept her eyes on him and smiled when his eyes went to the opening in her shirt. Bingo. She leaned into him further, pressing her chest against his arm. “The park if you can believe it. I haven’t quite learned my way around since I got into town.”
He swallowed loudly. The target looked back to the map, shaking his head, and indicated a specific spot with his finger. “Okay. We’re here now.” His voice droned on.
She hadn’t been raised to steal, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Torrhent slowly moved her right hand from the map and to his side. Her heartbeat sped up, just as it always did when she stole. She was getting better though. Slipping her index and middle finger in between the two layers of fabric that made his pants pocket, she felt for the hard ridge of the wallet she needed. She kept her gaze on the map, occasionally looking up to meet the target’s eyes as he spoke. She’d practiced this same technique on dozens of men and an occasional woman. The men were easier, more distracted by the line of her neck than the hand in their pocket. She gave her current target reassuring smiles as he explained how to get to the park and her fingers did their work. Pulling the square leather wallet from his pocket quickly, so he wouldn’t notice, she palmed the item and hid it from view underneath the map. Right under his nose.
“So there you go,” he finished, smiling down at her.
Torrhent hadn’t heard a single word with the pounding of her heart in her ears. “Thank you so much.” She turned to leave, counting her steps as she made her retreat.
She didn’t make it more than ten feet before he called out to her.
Her heart stopped.
She turned back to face him, her chest threatening to explode. She hadn’t been caught yet, but luck never lasted forever.
Half jogging over to her, the target motioned to the map in her hand. “If you’re free later, I’d be more than happy to show you around.”
Torrhent’s heart slowly restarted. She released a breath of relief and felt the smile of victory spreading across her features. Reaching for his arm, she placed a gentle touch on his wrist. The feel of the warm metal of his cufflink warmed her heart. “Sure. I mean, if that’s okay. I don’t want to take up any of your time. You’re obviously a very important man.” She turned up the charade, increasing the pressure on his wrist as she worked to unfasten the cufflink. The metal alone would make her an extra twenty bucks.
It dropped into her hand.
“Not a problem.” He glanced down the street. “That’s my bus.” He pulled a card from his jacket pocket and offered it to her. “I’m Sam. Give me a call.” He gave her a wink and turned when the bus stopped against the curb.
Torrhent watched him board then tore the business card into tiny pieces, dropping it into a wastebasket along the street once the bus took off. She didn’t care if he’d seen. She stared at the cufflink, realizing it wouldn’t be worth more than a dollar at a pawnshop, and threw it on top of the torn business card. She’d always had poor skills when it came to figuring people out. His wallet better have a bigger payoff.
It felt heavy in her pocket, but there were too many witnesses to check it out in the street. There was only one reason a woman would have a man’s wallet and she wasn’t about to attract police attention on purpose. Not yet.
“Hey!”
Too late.
“Stop her!”
It was Sam. She was sure of it.
With a quick look over her shoulder, Torrhent confirmed her assumption. She ran. She didn’t know where she’d go, only knew she needed to get out of sight before the police showed up.
“Hey!”
Her feet slammed into the pavement. She pushed herself harder. Faster. Pedestrians moved out of her way, but near collisions slowed her down. Torrhent’s breath caught in her lungs the longer she ran, but she couldn’t stop. Not yet. She chanced a glance behind her. Sam wasn’t there, but her relief was short-lived. She slammed into something. Hard.
Torrhent hit the pavement, the breath knocked out of her. Searing pain swelled in her chest. She struggled to inhale and her backpack only made it worse, constricting her chest. Trees lining the street swayed above her head and the pain distracted her too much to focus on much else.
“You should watch where you’re going.” A blurry shape bent over her.
Her vision cleared and she realized she hadn’t slammed into something, but someone. Torrhent couldn’t make out any features with the sun shining directly into her eyes, but she didn’t really care. Sam could have already called the cops. They already had her description. They only needed to pinpoint her location. She had to get off the street. She couldn’t be taken into custody.
She pushed herself to her feet, finding a hand waiting to help her. Her breath hitched in her throat when she looked up.
A man, well muscled with tribal tattoos running down his arm, dropped his hand as she brushed herself off. “Harrington.”
“What?”
“The name’s Harrington. Figured you’d want to know.”
With barely a glance in the guy’s direction, Torrhent made sure Sam hadn’t caught up. She tried to bury the anxiety in her chest, but couldn’t keep the bite out of her bark. “Why the hell do I care?” Her feet and her instincts urged her to run. She had a job to do. She didn’t have time for pointless conversations. But her head wouldn’t stop spinning.
“Well, your hand got up close and personal with my crotch.”
Heat crawled up her face. Two of LA’s finest made their way toward her and Sam wasn’t far behind. “I’m sure you’ll dream about it later.” Torrhent turned her back on him. It was only a bad break that had prevented her from lifting his wallet too.
Rough hands pulled her back.
Harrington flipped her around, their noses inches away from each other as he held on to her arms. “Didn’t get your name.”
Tall and lean, the man wore sunglasses to hide the most important feature of any stranger. Eyes told a lot about a person and this guy wanted to keep his hidden. A passing memory brought on a full sense of déjà vu. Man. Sunglasses. His jawline reminded her of the man back in the convenience store in Vegas. And the one in Phoenix. His grip tightened on her upper arms, but Torrhent had been around dangerous men before. She could handle herself.
“Either get your hands off me”—she nodded toward the approaching police officers—“or I scream.”
He cocked his head slightly to the right, a smile on his face. He looked her up and down, pushing her heartbeat faster. “Bad dye job, dirty clothes and B.O. tell me you won’t take the chance of giving yourself away.” He shoved her away. “Get out of here before I turn you in for attempted pickpocketing.”
She took off.
Ten minutes later, she found safety. At least for the time being.
Small and dark, the mostly empty café provided a perfect place to count the cash she’d lifted from Sam. Only one other patron sat in the far corner, hiding behind a baseball cap as he looked down at his phone. Again, familiarity clawed its way into the front of her mind. I’m losing my mind.
It seemed every man she came into contact with made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She wasn’t trained for this covert crap. In the span of ten minutes she’d convinced herself two different men had followed her. She eyed the newest one carefully. Maybe they’re working together. Torrhent dislodged the thought. He wouldn’t know where I’d run to . . . would he?
The men her stepfather employed had ways of predicting where targets would run, and he was the type of person to use any means necessary to find her.
Torrhent took a seat next to the window and searched the café for onlookers. She quickly flipped through the wallet. A few credit cards were lined up neatly in their slots, but she wouldn’t touch those. She’d learned her lesson. Removing the cash, she discarded Sam’s wallet onto the floor.
“What can I get you?” a voice said.
Torrhent’s head shot up in surprise. She slid the money beneath her leg and out of sight. “Ah,” she said then picked the first thing she saw on the menu, “I’ll have an egg-white omelet.”
“Anything else? Anything to drink?”
“Just water.” She gave the waitress a close-lipped smirk, waiting for her to take the menu. She slid the cash back out once the woman wandered off, but kept her senses open for anything out of the ordinary. It was only a couple hundred dollars, nothing compared to what the truck driver had robbed her of. She shivered at the thought of that bastard ripping at her clothing and she became all too aware of the knife in her boot. It’d saved her life. Without any real knife training, she’d only been able to swipe at him as she fell out of the semi, but she’d lived. Her life had been more important than the money at the time. Now she wondered if she’d made the right choice as she shoved the bills into her back pocket.
As if she were being watched, Torrhent let her gaze roam over the café again.
The man on the far side of the restaurant, the one in the baseball cap, stared directly at her. She still couldn’t pin him as the guy in Phoenix or Vegas, but something in her gut made her memorize each and every feature of his hidden face for future reference. His clothes. His skin color. He kept the angle of his face down, suddenly entranced with the phone in his hands. Or was it a camera? She’d never considered journalists recognizing her. She should have, considering they were the ones broadcasting her photo across the country.
Her thoughts returned to the man she’d run into in the street. She pictured his tattoos again, the design made up of swirls and points, and shivered. He’d worn sunglasses, but it didn’t prevent her from picturing his eyes as a perfect hue of blue. Torrhent catalogued the details in the back of her mind. Muscular, tall, dangerous, he matched almost everything she looked for.
Harrington. That’s the name he’d given her. She hadn’t pegged him for a Harrington.
She forced her gaze back to the table, unsure if the mystery man’s gaze actually lingered on her or if her paranoia had reached a new alarming level.
The waitress placed her omelet and a large water down on the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you today?” she asked, waiting expectantly.
Torrhent’s mind was frazzled. She barely had enough sense to respond. “N-no, thank you.”
The waitress retreated to the kitchen and Torrhent struggled to control her breathing. As if ants crawled beneath her skin, the feeling of being watched tickled her senses. She took another chance and looked across the café.
He’d disappeared.
She’d convinced herself her paranoia was necessary. It’s what kept her alive so far. Unzipping her pack, she emptied the large glass of water into her bottle, gulped down the omelet and flew out of the little café as fast as she could. The freeway was less than two blocks away. She half ran toward the on-ramp. The secretive glances, the familiarity of his clothes and the way he carried himself, all of it solidified her fear.
Despite having a prison-made hard exterior, some things still set her on edge. The possibility of death, for one. But even worse, having the chance to avenge herself and her mother ripped away.

Hope you enjoyed the first look of Die For Me! Check back for updated news on its release!

April 6, 2013

Sour Cherry for only $2.99!

Did you miss your chance to get SOUR CHERRY for free? It's on sale for only $2.99 now!
Find it on Amazon now and everywhere else May 29th! 





 Cherish "Cherry" Williams has been betrayed by her own motorcycle club. After a late night package delivery goes bad, the club president wants her head. With every member of the club out looking for her, she seeks help from the last place they'd suspect--behind enemy lines.

Cooper Nolan was supposed to be a one-night stand. Now he's her only hope of survival. But the Vice President of Satan's Army has secrets of his own, and war between their clubs is inevitable if he doesn't turn Cherry over to her president.

As connection after connection unravels, Cooper and Cherry's days--and lust-fueled nights--become a race against time. Will she and her hot, sexy bartender choose love and trust over duty and image--or will murder, corruption, and lies turn Cherry and the best night of her life into nothing more than a memory?

March 15, 2013

White Trash Beautiful is 50% off on Sunday!


WHITE TRASH BEAUTIFUL is going to be 50% off from Evernight Publishing! Get your copy if you haven’t already and find out how far Trey and Luke will go to run from the mob.

Buy from Evernight Publishing


Trey Aston is hiding from the mob.

Desperate to save her own life, she sells her body in order to make the monthly payments her father owes The Family. But when Trey discovers her father hasn’t been making the payments, she’s forced to turn to the one man she hoped never to see again.

As a deputy of the Parkvista Police Department, Luke Johnson refuses to acknowledge his high school sweetheart is a prostitute and is determined to make Trey see it for herself. That is, until she starts treating him as a client. His faith in his ability to know right from wrong is challenged and he isn’t the only one who’s noticed. His brothers on the force don’t have his back where Trey is concerned, leaving him to fight against them for a criminal.

The Family is out to make her pay, her father’s drunken rages are getting worse, and the town is cracking down on prostitution, but what really has Trey on edge is the fact she’s falling for the deputy who wants her behind bars
.

March 10, 2013

A Look Into My New Series

I'm in the middle of revisions on my newest WIP, Mortal Eclipse.

I started this book three years ago and meant it to be the second installment in the five-book series. Turns out, it sat better as a great introduction.

Right now, Vdarra Jansen's just been hit over the head with a tire iron while trying to repo a woman's car. What happens next is only the beginning...

The word “hypnotizing” came to mind when she heard the voice, a deep tone that made her want more, like an Australian accent. Unclear as to where the words came from, Vdarra suspected she wouldn’t be able to forget the sound if she happened to suffer another round of amnesia. The words had been familiar in a way, almost as if she’d heard the voice before. A tugging sensation took residence in the center of her chest and her attention drew to the black blur on her left side.

Look out for Mortal Eclipse and the rest of the Afterlife Series coming soon!


Vdarra Jansen doesn’t have memory of anything until eight years ago, but her kidnappers don’t care.

Held captive by a trio claiming to be immortals, Vdarra is ripped from her normal life as a repo expert in NYC and thrown into the world of the Afterlife.



Jacob, former archangel and warrior of Heaven, is desperate to find the key to raising the secret army of hell before the demon and nearly loses his mind when the similarities between his lost love and their captive overlap. Caught between his desperate need to find his banished mate and the moral obligation to save billions of lives, Jacob realizes he can’t have one without losing the other.



Jacob and Vdarra fight against the past and the Deceiver himself to prevent the Heiress’s resurrection, but without the key to the army or Vdarra’s memories to guide them, the fate of mankind is doomed to end and so is their rekindling love.

February 26, 2013

Anniversary of Let Me Out!

It's been an amazing year since I first self-published Let Me Out. I can't even believe it's been a year. And a rough one at that!

Let Me Out took three full years to finish. With drafting then revisions, I've ripped apart this story numerous times, just never seeming to get it right. Then I joined a writers group.

Granted, RWA wasn't exactly the perfect place to develop my little psychopath, but I learned so much from the writers there and even received an invitation for a critique group. That's where Let Me Out started to shine.

At first I went all out; I formatted the book for CreateSpace (print and ebook), PubIt, and Smashwords, but Amazon is really where this title took off when I went to the KDP Select Program. I couldn't believe what people were saying about the book and how far Amazon went to promote Let Me Out.

People actually LOVED it.

Add a Reviewer's Pick from Night Owl Books and a 5 Star review from Midwest Book Review, you'dve through I'd died and gone to heaven.



Now, with the sequel, Die For Me, coming soon, Beyond the Page Publishing has graciously contracted Let Me Out for re-release when the new book comes out. Edits are underway and I can't help but express my neverending gratitude to the following people in my life:

Siobhan Muir, you've always been there for me and called me on my bullshit. You're one of the best critique partners an author could ask for. I can't wait to see how my future stories turn out because of you and I hope we'll always have our dinner dates.

I want to thank the ladies of LVRWA who welcomed me with open arms, helped develop my skills and put my career on track.

Anne Gallagher, you may not know it, but I was inspired by your determination to get your books on the market and you gave me the courage to self-publish. I love reading your blog and even though I didn't believe in self-publising, you've taught me it's not something to be afraid of.

Yevinn Graphics made me an amazing cover, which I gawk at everytime I see it. They also designed my website.

Morgan Kearns is the formatting queen and I can never thank her enough for her patience.


Jessica Faust and Bill Harris of Beyond the Page Publishing deserve a huge shout out for taking on this book for re-release. I can't wait for our partnership to grow.

I have to thank my husband for putting up with long nights, early mornings and endless questions after he read the book. Love you.

And a last thank you to those readers who picked up Let Me Out. You gave me and my characters a chance. I can't thank you enough. But I'll try with more stories and a giveaway!

In celebration of Let Me Out's one year anniversary, I'm giving away 10 copies of the paperback! Leave a comment telling me who inspires you in life and why with your Twitter handle or email address so I can contact you.

THANK YOU!

January 25, 2013

Die For Me Cover Reveal!



I'm in love all over again. I can't wait to share this book with you!
What do you think?

January 23, 2013

Die For Me is Coming Soon!

I'm happy to annouce Beyond the Page Publishing has agreed to publish DIE FOR ME! Expected release is April or May, but the details are still fuzzy.

For those of you who've read LET ME OUT, this is Taigen's story and I can't wait to share it with you!

If you remember, I had a lot of trouble with this story. I'd actually written it about four years ago, but ended  up rewriting the entire book last year under the direction of my critique partner. So, after all the revisions it's gone through, the email debacle of last week and me running around with my head chopped off, I bring you: DIE FOR ME.

Ex-hitman Taigen Banvard’s skills have failed him when it comes to tracking a serial killer.

When a former ally in the ATF office informs him someone is hunting his murderous, sociopathic sister, Adelaide, Taigen fears the possibilities. He takes it upon himself to bring her to justice, but the only lead he has to finding his sadistic twin is Torrhent Lynd, escaped convict and step-daughter of Isaac Rutler, the man set on using Adelaide as a personal assassin. Taigen settles back into the life he gave up in order to save thousands of potential victims, but allying himself with Torrhent begins to resurrect other parts of his life best left in the past.

After her escape from Bedford Hills Prison, Torrhent is determined to make Rutler pay for the murder she was wrongly convicted for; her mother’s. She travels across the country to enlist the kind of help only a hitman can provide, only what she gets, isn’t what she bargained for. Her step-father’s associates want the bounty on her head and Torrhent realizes Taigen Banvard is just like them, a monster, and just as dangerous.

The more they are forced to bleed for each other, the more Taigen and Torrhent trust one another; a mistake they can’t afford if they plan to walk away alive. But with the FBI on their trail, Adelaide on the loose and Rutler’s hired guns looking for blood, hitman and convict must find a way to work together to save countless lives at stake

January 19, 2013

Oh, the Horror!

This last week I discovered my author email account hasn't been forwarding 100% of my emails to the account I use most often. The first hint I got was when my editor from The Wild Rose Press swore she emailed Sour Cherry's cover to me last month.

I hadn't seen it. So she resent it to me. No big deal. I posted it, everything was going great.

The second clue I received was I still hadn't heard about a release date for Sour Cherry.

I know what you're thinking: it could just be The Wild Rose Press emails. I thought of that too, but I couldn't even find them in my spam folder. So began my investigation.

The hosting service I use for my website allows me to add any number of email accounts. The only problem: they require a different password for each, which includes letters, symbols and numbers. I have the shortest short term memory I know of, add on a pregnancy and I can't remember my name most of the time. How was I supposed to remember what my password was to my author account?

Luckily, I married a smart man. This man manages all of my websites through the host. He was able to reset my passwords and now I can reach my author account directly instead of having everything forwarded. We also put it on my iPhone so I can check there.

And now for the horror.

I had 250+ unread emails that had never been forwarded. One of those was a contract offer on Die For Me. FROM NOVEMBER.

I was horrified. I literally got up from my desk and had to walk back and forth across the property to cool down. And even then, my anger hadn't subsided by the time I got home. So what is an author to do?

I emailed the publisher. Explaining what happened, I patiently waited for a reply as to whether they were still interested in the title.

Two days later, I received a yes. I was ecstatic. Someone is actually interested in this book. Yay me!

And then I remembered: I have a full request sitting with a publisher I'd rather go to from December. So, using all my years of research and querying, I decided to email said publisher. I explained I had an offer and would like an answer on my full request.

Come to find out, they never received the full I sent.

BLASTED EMAIL, you're at it again.

In the end, I resent the MS and I'm waiting for an answer from the publisher, but seriously?

DON'T TRUST EMAIL!