Exciting Update
Jenny's Legacy is now available in paperback!
The ISBN is 978-1-59431-747-7.
It is available from the publisher, Write Words, Inc
and wherever books are sold, including Amazon.
My latest book is titled A Perfect Body.
It was released as an e-book on May 29, 2009.
The ISBN is 1-59431-758-5 or 978-1-59431-758-3.
A Perfect Body is a contemporary sweet romance.
It's available direct from the publisher, Write Words, Inc,
and wherever e-books are sold,
including Barnes and Noble, Mobi, and Fictionwise.
You may also purchase A Perfect Body as a Kindle download.
Description:
A bundle of contradictions, Madeleine Andrews doesn't play well with others, yet is a devoted volunteer. Luke McFarland is a successful people-pleaser, burying his own desires beneath an ever-present smile. Theirs could be the love affair of the century, but first they have to learn to like each other. She thinks he's insincere and a phony. He thinks she's arrogant and difficult. And that’s just the start of their problems.
Luke sat quietly in his car for a few minutes, thinking. He wanted to go home, sort out his feelings for Madeleine. No, he already knew she was the love of his life. That left only the question of what to do next.
He started the car, but drove instead in the direction of his office. He’d been working on the Baxter account when Madeleine’s distress call had come in. He had to finish that, get it off his desk, and out of his life.
The more he talked with Madeleine about things like truth and honesty, the bigger hypocrite he became. He’d sold out, betrayed his own values, threw away his professional integrity. Some example he’d set for his niece. And Madeleine would never trust that his heart was true.
. . .With luck, she’d have all her personal things removed before anyone returned, and could avoid explanations. If she didn’t have to talk to anyone, she could keep her composure.
But first she had to call Luke and tell him she wouldn’t meet him today. Or anytime soon. Should she warn him of the coming scandal? Ethically she shouldn’t. And if she did, her warning could be taken as evidence they had colluded. She’d gone down in flames, but she didn’t need to take him down with her. She’d protect him now from any potential repercussions by remaining silent. And by staying completely away from him. Like her job, he was no longer part of her life.
“What makes you so sure we let it? Perhaps what’s between us is something stronger, better, than we imagined.” Luke grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him.
She slid from his grasp. “We have careers, demanding careers. That’s what comes first. For both of us.”
“There’s more than that, and you know it.”
“All right.” Madeleine yielded to anger, knowing it was the only emotion strong enough to overpower the desire in her heart. “I will not give up my independence for you, for any man. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am.”
“I’d never stop you from doing what you want. I admire your tenacity and the way you’ve made a place for yourself. I accept you as you are.”
“How can I trust you?”
“How can you not trust me? I’ve done nothing, said nothing, that can be construed as wanting to change you.”
“My work comes first. There’s no room in my life for romance. Now is not the right time for us.” Justifications for spurning Luke spilled from Madeleine, although sudden insight told her none were the truth. Fear. Fear kept her from love. Fear of making a wrong choice, fear of rejection. She steeled herself against revealing her vulnerability. “I have a career to build and that’s what’s most important.”
“My work comes first. There’s no room in my life for romance. Now is not the right time for us.” Justifications for spurning Luke spilled from Madeleine, although sudden insight told her none were the truth. Fear. Fear kept her from love. Fear of making a wrong choice, fear of rejection. She steeled herself against revealing her vulnerability. “I have a career to build and that’s what’s most important.”
“Are you absolutely sure, Ms. Madeleine Andrews? Absolutely sure you want nothing in your life but work? No love, no enjoyment other than career accomplishments, nothing other than to get up each morning and trundle off to your job? Sounds like a bleak life to me. Is drudgery all you want from your time here on Earth? A few hours ago we both said we wanted to be together, that we had something good between us. What happened to destroy that?”
“I’ve had time to think about things since then. I don’t need love complicating my life now. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” Luke strode around the table, grabbed his briefcase, and left.
Madeleine heard him speaking briefly with Carmen, then silence surrounded her. She picked up her bag and stumbled to the ladies restroom. Once there, she locked the door behind her and stared at her ravaged face in the mirror. People were wrong—a broken heart was visible from the outside.
Acts of Love is a cozy mystery/ romance, featuring Amanda Reed, an aromatherapist with two cats and a secret past. Her love interest is homicide detective Santiago Yazzi (Yazz), a man with Apache, Chinese, Italian, and Navajo ancestors. The story is set in fictional Dos Rios, at the southwestern tip of Arizona, a land that Yazz's forebears tamed. Amanda and Yazz are supported by a mixed cast of characters, including Naomi, a saucy retired nurse; Quincy, an organic farmer; and Lily, a feisty octogenarian.
Excerpts from Acts of Love:
“We have to talk.” Amanda drew back her shoulders and faced him squarely. “Give me a minute to close the shop.”
“Don’t want all your customers to know the truth about you? Don’t want all your boyfriends to know you have a son, Mother?” His voice dripped sarcasm.
“We need privacy.” Amanda felt her strength returning. Edward had betrayed her. Michael had to understand that. She went through the motions of closing the shop. “Come upstairs with me. I’d like a chance to tell you the truth.”
“Nothing you can say will change your signature on the back of the check. You sold me.”
Amanda inserted the key in the door lock and turned it, then stopped when she heard quick footsteps behind her.
Lord, where was the security patrol? She pulled the key out. Somewhere she’d read that making a fist and holding a key between your fingers made a good weapon. She managed to get the key placed, with the other keys on the chain dangling beneath her fist.
The footsteps stopped and every nerve in her body tensed for the danger behind her. As ready as she’d ever be to meet her assailant, Amanda spun around, fist raised in front of her. . . .
. . . She raised her hands to her face and touched the moisture there. What was all over her? She looked at her hands and saw red dripping from them. Blood! Her blood! She felt herself slipping away.
Suddenly an arm was around her shoulders, supporting her. “Everything’s okay. The ambulance is on its way.” Gentle fingers touched her scalp. “You’ve just been grazed. The paramedics will have you as good as new in minutes.”
Although she fought to stay conscious, Amanda drifted in and out of a black haze. An image of Yazz floated in front of her. Oh why hadn’t she ever told him how much she loved him? She tried to keep her thoughts focused on her grandson, and left Yazz hovering at the edges of her mind. Later she’d tell him all her secrets, including the simple truth that her heart belonged to him and always would.
****
Yazz recoiled, unable to stop his gut reaction. The fact that Amanda had deserted her own child shocked him deeper than he cared to admit. This was a new facet to her, one he wished had never been revealed to him. “Why did you leave? How could you leave your child?” All the pain of his own mother’s rejection flooded through him. Nothing could be worse than abandoning a child to fend for itself. How could the woman he thought he’d known, cared deeply for, do that? A sliver of cold wrapped itself around the warm place Amanda had always occupied in his heart.
December 1, 2008. The ISBN is 978-1-59431-639-5.
It's available from the publisher, Write Words, Inc
and wherever e-books are sold, including
Barnes and Noble, Mobi, and Fictionwise.
Acts of Love is also available as a Kindle download.
Suddenly the morning light shimmered, then turned gauzy. Rather than a crowd, the handsome stranger from the hospital stood in front of her, his face distorted by … by what? Anger? Fear? No, grief.
Gaelynn forced herself to breathe slowly. Again, she was aware of a darkness hovering near him. With sudden clarity, she knew that Kyle’s anger came from that, not from his heart. How could she overcome something that powerful? Should she even try? An overwhelming sense of danger filled her. "No, we’re trying to help people understand those individuals who have special abilities. Our goal is to draw families closer together."
Jenny's Legacy is a contemporary sweet romance featuring a psychic heroine.
Her psychic abilities haven’t been of much help to Gaelynn Graham lately. If it hasn’t been one thing, it’s been another. The last thing she needs in her life is a sexy contractor, especially one whose presence places her family and her career in jeopardy. Kyle Cordell is haunted by the death of his kid sister and has what he thinks is good reason to fight his attraction to the beautiful psychic. Then his clairvoyant son runs away and only Gaelynn has the key to his whereabouts. Kyle and Gaelynn struggle to overcome a legacy of fear and hate, risking all that they hold dear, with their love for each other in the balance.
Excerpts from Jenny's Legacy:
This was suffering like none she’d ever before witnessed. Compassion and love welled up in her heart, and she reached out to stroke his face, to comfort, to draw him close.
The image faded, leaving her standing there, hand outstretched. She shook her head and let her arm fall back to her side. Why did this man keep appearing to her? A sudden chill in the air made her shiver, and again a premonition of catastrophic change flitted at the edge of her consciousness.
"People like you destroyed my family." Pain filled his voice and twisted it into ugliness.
Gaelynn watched as the darkness around Kyle intensified and seemed to pulse with a life of its own. When it stretched malevolent tendrils toward her, she involuntarily stepped back. Regaining her composure, she glared at Kyle. "I’ve destroyed nothing. I’ve pledged to do no harm." The dark cloud remained in place. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do." She fled the room.
wherever books are sold, including Amazon.
In 2008, Jenny's Legacy was re-released as an e-book.
The ISBN is 978-1-59431-622-7.
It's available from the publisher, Write Words, Inc.
and wherever e-books are sold, including
Barnes and Noble, Mobi, and Fictionwise.
You can also purchase Jenny's Legacy as a Kindle download.
Exciting Update
Jenny's Legacy is now available in paperback!
The ISBN is 978-1-59431-747-7.
It is available from the publisher, Write Words, Inc
and wherever books are sold, including Amazon.
Would you like a free copy of Jenny's Legacy?
Purchase Jenny's Legacy, Acts of Love, or Perfect Body
as e-books or Kindle downloads,
write a review, and
post your review in at least two places on the Internet,
e-mail me with the URLs, and
I'll send you a hardcover copy of Jenny's Legacy
as a thank you!
The Birthday Gift is another contemporary sweet romance. I anticipate having it ready for publication before the end of 2010.
The story so far: Rose is behind in her mortgage payments. Her unwed daughter is pregnant with an unwanted baby, which she plans to "give" to Rose to raise. Bank manager Hoyt threatens foreclosure, but falls in love with Rose. His vindictive ex-wife can prevent the foreclosure, but only if he gives up Rose.
