Chris Redding's Blog, page 24

Always and Forever Love

by Lynn Crandall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLURB:

The presence of a ghost in her life doesn't alarm Lacey Aegar, in fact it makes her happy. Two and a half years ago when her dead husband Nicholas reappeared in her life as a full-bodied spirit, she questioned her sanity. But with Nicholas' explanation that there are things about life that are not as she's always believed, she settled into a pleasant routine of working with her sister at their private investigation business and enjoying home life with her now 10-year-old son – with Nicholas never very far away.

Lacey's complacency and sense of stability is sent topsy-turvy when she runs into Jackson Carter, the son of powerful and influential business tycoon, William Carter. Typical of the Carter reputation, Jackson's slick new private investigating business is siphoning off clients from the Aegar sisters' business, creating financial difficulty. It's a recurring nightmare for Lacey, who has already seen damage done by the Carter family, and when she encounters Jackson, she wants nothing to do with him.

But things are not what they seem when it comes to Jackson Carter, either. Unbeknownst to Lacey and her sister, Jackson is fighting a battle to preserve his business, too, and his integrity. For him, it's a fight for his soul, and he enlists Lacey's help because of her unique investigative skills and open heart. When she uncovers a mole in his business, she also discovers that one of his clients' drug trials has been given the green light to go to the next phase based on falsified data. As they work together to save both their businesses, Jackson and Lacey not only face death, they come to grips with their feelings about love and life. With Nicholas's help, Lacey comes to understand that love is always and forever, but in choosing Jackson, she chooses a full life, a life worth living.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lacey Aegar's husband was killed, but he had stayed around as a ghost to comfort her. She and her sister run a private investigating agency when a new bigger agency comes into town. This agency is run by the son of a man who has left a scorched earth in his wake so Lacy already doesn't like the son.

This romance was sweet and short and I really enjoyed it. I call it a palate cleanser. When you are eating a multi-course dinner, sometimes you are served something like champagne sorbet to get your taste buds ready for the next course. It clears your palate of the taste of the last course. As in the champagne sorbet, it is useful and flavorful at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT

Noting that the receptionist’s desk was empty, Lacey glanced at the wall clock and casually wondered why Michelle wasn’t at her desk by 10:30 a.m. But the thought was quickly forgotten when sounds of anguish spilled out from behind the door of the private office she shared with Sterling.

“I can’t believe it!” Sterling fumed.

“Can’t believe what?” Lacey walked to her desk and tossed her purse in a nearby chair, slightly alarmed by her sister’s dismay.

“Oh, when it rains it pours, I guess.” Sterling’s sleek, chestnut hair fell over her face as she leaned her head on her hands.

“If it weren’t for bad luck we’d have no luck at all?”

“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” Sterling came back with from under her hair.

“Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” It was a common game for the sisters, something to test their edge and sometimes to relieve stress. But Lacey knew this time something was serious. “Wanna tell me what’s up?”

Sterling lifted her head but didn’t meet Lacey’s eyes. “I just got off the phone with my husband. Ben said the word from the higher-ups is keep the overtime down.”

“I see. Well, that will give you more time together. He’s been working an awful lot of hours lately. Homicide work can be very taxing. It’ll be good for him to have more time with you and the family.”

Sterling sighed, shifting back into her seat, before turning a sad face to her. “Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you, sis. Well, there’s more. The city is negotiating with the police union, but so far it looks like the cost of health insurance is going to go way up.”

“Oh, more out-of-pocket expenses.” Lacey knew that Sterling and Ben wouldn’t scrimp on health care for one-year-old Joshua—the namesake of Sterling and Lacey’s father—but with the agency’s dwindling income, the couple had alrea

dy tightened their belt. “A few more macaroni-and-cheese dinners?” she offered halfheartedly.

Then Sterling delivered the final blow. “Lacey, this building’s being sold and the new owners are announcing a raise in the rent.” She grabbed the rental agreement papers from her desk and shook them in the air. “It’s the curse, all over again.”

Lacey knew exactly what her sister was talking about. It was something they jokingly attributed life’s challenges to—the Aegar Curse. It had been haunting them since their father’s death when they were young girls. In moments of lightheartedness or when no other explanations made sense of things, they joked that the curse was handed down from their mother’s side. A great-great-great-grandfather spit on somebody’s grave and— voila! The Aegar curse was born and now signified the sisters’ only inheritance from their maternal side.

She knew that neither one seriously believed in a family curse. Their father had been a cop and it was a criminal who took his life. When their mother had become clinically depressed, it was the loss of her husband that was to blame, not a curse. And when Lacey’s husband was killed by the same crime family that stole their father’s life, it was a perverted mind that pulled the trigger. Still, in the deepest parts of her heart, sad questions remained, stabbing her like hot steel and wondering, why?

“I don’t know what to do, sis.” Sterling shook her head and slumped into the couch that stood against the far wall of the office. “I love what we do. I love this office. I love this couch, the file cabinet. But we’ve lost too many clients to Carter, Inc. He’s like a vacuum sweeper, sucking up all the work. He’s the shiny new thing in town so he’s attractive, but it’s not fair. We’ve worked hard for what we’ve built and we are good at what we do.”

“Hello?” Lacey’s heart leapt into her throat as speak-of-the-devil Jackson Carter poked his head through their office door.

“Can I help you?” Sterling stood and walked toward the man.

“I didn’t see anyone at the front desk and I heard someone was looking for a vacuum sweeper.” Jackson’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

Lacey blinked hard. Words stuck in her mouth. This ubiquitous devil was starting to make a habit of taking her off guard. Deliberately, she turned to her sister. “Sterling, this is Jackson Carter. Mr. Carter, this is my sister and partner, Sterling.”

“Aka, vacuum sweeper.” Jackson stepped forward, his eyes a little too merry, and offered his hand.

As Sterling, looking more than a little awkward, stuck out her hand to the wise guy and acknowledged the introduction, Lacey heard the outer door open and close. Why didn’t I hear that a minute ago? A little warning would have been nice? Where are those keen PI skills when I need them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bio: Lynn Crandall lives in the Midwest and writes in the company of her two cats. She has been a reader and a writer all her life. Her background is in journalism, but whether writing a magazine or newspaper story or creating a romance, she loves the power stories hold to transport, inspire, and uplift. In her romances, she focuses on vulnerable, embraceable characters who don't back down. She hopes that readers discover, over and over, stories of ordinary people who face ordinary life challenges and are transformed by extraordinary love.

Links:
https://www.amazon.com/author/lynncrandall
www.lynn-crandall.com
@lcrandall246

Ch-Ch-Changes

After listening to some great marketing advice today, I've decided to make some changes to this blog.

I started out 2014 knowing that this would be a year of changes. I've decided to be proactive and make some on my own.

http://youtu.be/pl3vxEudif8

Fewer guest blogs, more of my posts.

What will I talk about? Probably a little bit about writing. Some about other passions such as cars, animals and being an EMT which I have a chance to be again this year. Though I probably won't be doing it in a clinical setting.

I'm excited and nervous for these changes, but I hope you all as my readers look forward to them.

I have a few more guest posts until the end of January and I plan on putting mine up also.

We'll see how it goes.

cmr

Fatal Trust

by Diana Miller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLURB:

Stepping her perfect Jimmy Choos into place beside Ben Gallagher’s wounded Nikes, straitlaced Philadelphia lawyer Catherine Barrington is surprisingly unable to resist the disarming small-town mechanic’s charm. He’s one of the heirs to the vast fortune left by his eccentric grandfather Max, a bestselling horror writer, and she’s there to carry out Max’s last wishes. Routine enough…except that inheriting comes with a catch: none of Max’s heirs will get a penny until they’ve lived together for two weeks in the shadow-filled rooms of his mansion in the wooded hills near Lake Superior.

From beyond the grave, a letter from Max insists that his death was no accident, sending Catherine undercover—and way out of her comfort zone—to catch the killer. Posing as Lexie, Ben's cocktail waitress girlfriend, Catherine soon finds herself trapped with the feuding clan at the sinister Nevermore manor. To save her own life, she’ll have to confront the murderer, as well as her growing attraction to Ben—a top suspect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPT

Catherine woke abruptly, opening her eyes in the total blackness, her heart hammering. It must have been a nightmare, one she couldn’t remember even though it must have scared her to death. She glanced at the clock: 11:47. She closed her eyes again.

“I’m counting on you to find out who killed me.”

Her blood turned to ice. “Who is it?” she asked, unnecessarily, since she knew that distinctive voice.

“You know who I am, Catherine. Just remember the money is the key. Because I really was murdered.”

She was finally alert enough to think to switch on the bedside lamp. For an instant she swore she saw Max Windsor standing across the room by the dresser, studying her.

But it couldn’t be. She blinked twice.

When she focused on the spot by the dresser again, it was empty.

# # #

She’d been dreaming. That had to be it. Analyzing everything possibly relevant to identifying Max’s murderer—including the ghost appearances—had triggered a nightmare.

Except she was wide-awake now, and she was positive she’d been equally wide-awake when she’d seen Max and he’d spoken to her. But that was impossible. Max was dead, and despite what she’d suggested to Ben, she really didn’t believe in ghosts. So what had just happened?

Of course. She hopped out of bed, stormed to Ben’s room, and pounded on the door.

“What?” he asked from behind her. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans, and Nikes. She caught a whiff of motor oil.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR Bio and Links:

When she was eight, Diana Miller decided she wanted to be Nancy Drew. But no matter how many garbage cans she dug through, conversations she “accidentally” overheard, and attics she searched, she never found a single cryptic letter, hidden staircase, or anything else even remotely mysterious. She worked as a lawyer, a soda jerk, a stay-at-home mom, a hospital admitting clerk, and a conference host before deciding that the best way to inject suspense into her otherwise satisfying life was by writing about it.

Diana is a five-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award, including for Fatal Trust, and won a Golden Heart for her debut novel Dangerous Affairs. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family.

LINKS: My website link is dianamillerwriter.com.
My Amazon page is: http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Trust-Kin...
My Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/dianamillerw...

SNAP: Love for Blood

In SNAP: Love for Blood, the Kandesky vampire family is holding a trial for Matthais, the head of their rival family, the Huszars, for murder.

EXCERPT

“How’d you like to go to Gstaad?”

“Switzerland?”

“Do you know of another one?” Jean-Louis’ right eyebrow disappeared into his hairline.

“No. No. But this is just the beginning of the season. I’d think free-lancers could do whatever we needed.” We usually ran a winter wrap-up of the world’s chi-chi ski places and Gstaad, along with St. Moritz, was always big with the see-and-be-seen crowd. I was way too far up the SNAP masthead to cover any of that, though.

Now the left eyebrow joined its brother. “You’re kidding! You think I’m suggesting you cover something?”

Here we go again, talking at cross-purposes. “Why else would I want to go to Gstaad? Or were you thinking of a little winter holiday?” Hmmm, I could do that. Me and Jean-Louis under an eider-down duvet, watching the moon rise over the snowy mountains sounded like a wonderful after-Christmas present. Even with the trial coming up and the family gathered, mid-winter was a time the Kandeskys loved. It was dark for upwards of fourteen hours a day and they had more time to party—or work or plan for war.

“No duvets for me.” Rats, I didn’t shield that idea very well. He gave me such a big smile that his fangs showed. “Just you.”

“What the hell would I want to go to Gstaad for, by myself?”

“That’s for cover. I’d really like you to go to one of the spas at Montreux for a few days.”

That one hit me while I wasn’t looking. “A spa? My God, I have room service, hot and cold running demons, some of the best food this side of Austria! And you, let’s not forget that!”

He had the grace to glimmer at that. “All that’s true, but we need to have some disinformation. Next week, we’re going to have several of the Huszars, the younger, disaffected ones, here for depositions and briefings and it wouldn’t hurt if you weren’t here.”

I watched him, watched the ideas taking shape and read the paths he was testing. Being privy to his thoughts if they weren’t directed at me, was like an abstract painting, all swirly and angled with a few points of clarity sticking up. I couldn’t follow him and he knew it. This idea, though still unformed, had possibilities.

He nodded at me. “I’m glad you agree.”

SNAP: Love for Blood
The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles Book Five

After finding herself trapped in the Huszar vampire’s compound, Maxie uses the mind control techniques Jean-Louis taught her—with disastrous consequences. Set against the backdrop of the murder trial of the Huszar family leader, Matthais, Maxie and Jean-Louis fight for her sanity and their love.

Will she manage to face and conquer her fears or will Jean-Louis lose her as he lost his great first love and wife, Magda?

Merry Christmas

The blog is on hiatus for this week as I have a houseful.
I'll be back to posting in January.
Enjoy what ever holiday you celebrate.

Imajin Books Celebrates the Season with a Massive eBook Sale

Here's the perfect opportunity to load up your ereaders (Kindle, Kobo, Nook etc.) over the holidays with fantastic fiction from a wide assortment of authors and genres.

From December 20th to January 3rd, check out the eBook Sale from Imajin Books, part of their 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways event. Most titles will be priced at $0.99 or $1.99, so stock up and/or gift great ebooks to your friends and family this Christmas season.

And don't forget, Imajin Books is giving away prizes, including a Kindle Fire HD or Kobo Vox 7 HD, and two $50 Amazon gift cards. This contest ends December 25, 2013. To enter, visit http://www.imajinbooks.com/contests-events. You can enter multiple times a day.

To check out the ebooks on sale, visit http://www.imajinbooks.com/sale

First Position

by Prescott Lane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:

Emory faces life’s challenges at the one place that’s never failed her, the ballet barre. But even the barre can’t steady her when fate brings her face-to-face with her old college flame, Mason, who’s hoping to return to the NFL after a career-threatening injury. Before they can surrender to their sexual desires and find salvation in each other’s arms, they need to come to terms with their past. Mason must confront the demons that have set him on a path of self-destruction, while Emory must decide whether to keep her painful secrets locked away, or expose them and risk losing the love of her life. But nothing can prepare Mason for what Emory has kept hidden, or the possibility that he himself may be to blame for the very secrets she keeps – and why they continue to haunt her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPT:

Emory sat between Olivia and Wesley, as three nail technicians worked on their feet. “This is the best idea you’ve had in a while, girl,” Wesley said, wiggling his toes in the water. “Thanks for inviting me.” Emory pointed to Olivia giving her credit.

“She told me about Tomás, and honey, there’s nothing better for a broken heart than hitting the spa.”

“Thank you, Olivia, I’m feeling better already.” Wesley leaned his head back, easing his mind. “We’re not just doing feet, huh?”

“We’re doing it all!” Emory said, giggling. “Manis, pedis, facials, massages, and Olivia, you’re getting your hair and makeup done for our shoot.”

“We deserve it all,” Olivia said, “for all the shit we put up with from our men.” Wesley and Emory nodded in agreement, but then Olivia turned serious. “But what I really need is a wax. Must be a damn forest down there by now!” Wesley and Emory, along with the technicians, erupted in laughter. “Was that inappropriate?”

“No way,” he said. “I come here once a month to take care of that area. They have this hard wax they use. Hurts less.”

Olivia appreciated the tip. “I might try that.”

“Too much information, Wesley,” Emory said.

“Whatever, it’s not like I said she should vajazzle herself.”

Emory hid her face, mortified, regretting she’d allowed Wesley to come, but Olivia was intrigued. “Is that popular in Charlotte? It seems all the Texas housewives are doing it.”

Wesley quickly asked, “Emory?”

“I wouldn’t know,” she said, then apologized to the technicians for her friends.

“Oh, come on,” he said, “we ballerinas are all bare down there. You can’t have more than a landing strip.”

“I prefer Brazilian,” Olivia volunteered.

Emory turned bright red. “Someone help me!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Prescott Lane is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduated from Centenary College in 1997 with a degree in sociology. She went on to Tulane University to receive her MSW in 1998, after which she worked with developmentally delayed and disabled children. She currently resides in New Orleans with her husband and two children.

Social Media
https://www.amazon.com/author/prescottlane
facebook.com/PrescottLane1
www.twitter.com/prescottlane1

Prescott will be awarding an eBook copy of "First Position" to 5 randomly drawn commenters during the tour.

The Protectors Series

by Margaret Daley
Excerpt

Samantha entered the lobby of the Grand Hotel and instantly understood why Mark had said the hotel didn’t live up to its name. The furniture with its faded material and scratched wood had seen better days. The tiles were worn and several ceiling fans were the only means of cooling the room. The humidity of the jungle city at the “wedding” of two mighty rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro, was stifling.

But at the moment Samantha didn’t care about those things. She only wanted to locate her brother, and this was the last place he had been heard from. Mark hadn’t returned to Rio as she had hoped; no one there had seen him in weeks.

She squared her shoulders and walked up to the reception desk, setting her suitcase on the floor beside her, then rummaging through her purse until she found the pamphlet she had been looking for. Spanish for the Traveler was the only thing she had had in her store, and though she had known Spanish wasn’t the official language of Brazil, she had grabbed it as she had left her store.

She flipped through the pamphlet until she came to the phrase she wanted, praying her high school Spanish would be enough in a country that spoke Portuguese. Why hadn’t she stocked up on some phrase books in Portuguese?

“Do you speak English?” Samantha winced at her awful imitation of Spanish. She had barely made passing grades in the subject in high school.

The young man behind the desk frowned and looked at her questioningly.

“Uhh…” Samantha scanned her phrase book. Weren’t the Portuguese and Spanish languages alike, at least enough for her to be understood? She tried again in her stilted Spanish, “Do you speak Spanish?”

The clerk began to speak rapidly, but not in Spanish or English. Samantha didn’t understand a word he said. Why did Brazil have to be the only country in South America that didn’t speak Spanish? Then she would at least have a fighting chance—well, maybe a fighting chance to be understood.

Samantha held up her hand to stop his flow of words, but it seemed he didn’t even understand sign language. She glanced about frantically, and her gaze collided with a man’s across the lobby. Amusement brightened his gray eyes. He rose to his feet and strode toward her in one fluid motion.

Blurb:

Reading about danger never prepared Samantha Prince for the desperate phone call from her brother in Brazil that sent her from the safety of her New Orleans bookstore into the rugged, inhospitable Amazon in search of him and a hidden treasure. And reading about romance never prepared Samantha to resist the mysterious appeal of Brock Slader, a guide she hired to help her in her quest.

Alone with Brock in an alien world of orchids and anacondas, primitive headhunters and very up-to-date gunmen, she struggles to keep their relationship strictly business. Will Samantha survive the dangers in the jungle only to have her heart broken by a man who lives on the edge—no strings attached?

Bio:

Margaret Daley, an award-winning author of eighty-five books, has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household.

To find out more about Margaret visit her website at

http://www.margaretdaley.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaretdaleybooks
Twitter: @margaretdaley
Buy Dangerous Pursuit at Amazon
Buy Dangerous Pursuit at Barnes and Noble

Join the Imajin Books Twitter Party

Ever wonder what life must be like for a writer? Ever want to ask an author how they come up with their plots? Want to ask a publisher what they're looking for? Now you can!

On December 14 & 15, from 5-10 PM ET, join the Imajin Books Twitter Party, part of their annual 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways event. You will have the opportunity to chat with various Imajin Books authors and the publisher herself, international bestselling author Cheryl Kaye Tardif. Cheryl will be giving away random prizes to participants during the Twitter Party, so get your questions ready.

To join the Party, simple use #ImajinAuthors in all your tweets and follow the #ImajinAuthors thread on Twitter.

And don't forget, Imajin Books is holding a massive eBook Sale and giving away lots of prizes, including a Kindle Fire HD or Kobo Vox 7 HD, and two $50 Amazon gift cards.

To learn more about all these events, please visit http://www.imajinbooks.com/contests-events.

My paranormal romantic suspense, Corpse Whisperer, is on ...

My paranormal romantic suspense, Corpse Whisperer, is on sale today and the next two days. $1.99.