Jennifer Colgan's Blog, page 4
February 1, 2015
Molten Desire - Chapter One
Serialized here for the next ten weeks...
Molten Desire
Famous super hero, Molten Man, is tired of the steady stream of Super Groupies that compete for his attention. Where can he find a normal girl that will be satisfied dating his everyday persona, landscape architect Brad Compton? Look, up in the sky! Is that a girl hanging from a broken I-beam? As if in answer to Brad’s wish, Paige Weller literally drops into his waiting arms. Before the evening is over, she’s invited him up to her apartment for some red hot loving.
Paige Weller is a lot of things, but one thing the accident prone market analyst is not, is a Super Groupie. Feats of derring-do usually bore her, but when Brad Compton saves her life, she’s eternally grateful. It’s been a while since a man who wasn’t some kind of mutant asked her out and she’s determined not to let Brad get away.
Chapter One
By
Bernadette Gardner
“I get tired of them throwing their panties at me.” Brad Compton’s confession drew a trio of shocked stares from the other men in the locker room.
Will Bennet, aka The Reaper, paused with one foot halfway into his tall, black boot. “You’re puttin’ me on, man.”
“No, really.” Brad folded the bright orange spandex suit he wore while on duty as Molten Man and stashed his own matching boots in his locker. “I’ve rescued seven women this week, and I don’t think any one of them really needed saving. Well, except the one who drove her car off the Jefferson Avenue Bridge, but I think she did it deliberately. The Super Groupies are really getting out of hand.”
Will exchanged a glance with Retro Boy, aka Bernard Maltese, who looked up from polishing his quiver of silver tipped arrows long enough to snicker. “It’s part of the job, Brad. Enjoy it while you can.”
“Yeah, someday we’ll all be too old to glow or melt or stir up a stiff breeze, and the ladies will drop us like hot lead. You’ve got to have fun while your butt still looks good in tights,” Bennet added.
“Did you get any phone numbers?” asked DemiGog as he removed his gargoyle mask to reveal Earnest Wright’s rather nondescript features.
Brad pulled on his favorite pair of worn denims and a white muscle T-shirt before answering his colleague. “One.” He hated to admit it. As one of the Daring Dozen—Dedicated to Fighting Crime in the Northern Hemisphere—finding female companionship had never been a problem for Molten Man. Brad, however, was batting zero. After a six-month dry spell he’d begun to consider a meaningless fling with a panty-throwing groupie even though that wasn’t his usual style. He wanted to go out with a woman who didn’t expect him to wear his mask and boots to bed or try to wrangle him into a threesome with Speed Demon and Invisa-Man.
“One out of seven.” Will tsked while shrugging into his black leather vest and chains. “You’re losing your mojo, Big M.”
“And what happened?” Earnest asked, closing his own locker on the frightening visage of DemiGog.
“She ditched me when I refused to melt her ex-boyfriend’s Porsche.”
The other men shook their heads in sympathy. Finding a woman who wanted to date a landscape architect instead of a famous crime fighter was harder than battling four-armed aliens from another dimension.
Brad donned his denim jacket and closed his locker. “I’ll see you guys next shift. Signal me if anything exciting happens.”
The others said good-bye, and Brad left the locker room. He headed out of the hidden exit of the Daring Dozen’s headquarters and emerged in the flower shop that served as a cover for the clandestine arrivals and departures of the world’s most famous band of superheroes.
Tonight he bypassed the subway, opting instead for a long walk to his apartment. The fresh autumn air would do him good, clear his head, and help him figure out just how he’d gone so wrong in the serious-relationship department.
* * * * *
“Paige Weller does it again!” A lengthy string of expletives followed Paige’s announcement, but the only response to her diatribe was the nervous flutter of pigeon wings. The oily-feathered gray birds peered over the lip of the broken I-beam from which Paige dangled, their red eyes blinking in avian curiosity.
“Shoo! Go away now!” Paige dared not raise a hand to scatter her cooing audience. She barely had a grip on the slippery steel beam to begin with.
Below her—a very long way below—the dirty back alley between her office building and the next was utterly deserted. Above her, the rusty stanchions of a reclaimed train trestle creaked and groaned, reminding her it had been a while since she’d seriously worked out.
What genius thought of using an old train trestle as an architectural element, anyway?
That thought begged the question, what genius tries to walk over one to rescue a stray kitten?
What had she been thinking? Her rescuer’s instinct had gotten her into plenty of trouble over the years, but nothing like this. From her office window, she’d seen the mewling ball of dingy gray fur tiptoeing over the I-beam, probably stalking the pigeons. When it slipped and dangled precariously from one claw, much like Paige was doing at the moment, she’d snapped into action. Halfway across the beam she realized that one, the kitten could climb better than she could, and two, she was completely unprepared for this.
She might have spared her dignity when the little cat rescued itself and leapt effortlessly across the beams to safety, if she’d followed her path along the narrow trestle, step for tenuous step, back to her office window. Instead, she’d gone for a shorter route and took a little jump that left her hanging by her newly polished fingernails a mile in the air.
Okay, not a mile. The distance to the cracked asphalt of the alley was probably more like two stories—maybe twenty-four feet tops—but Paige didn’t dare look down to be sure.
From her position, it might as well have been a mile. Her only option now was to swing her legs up, wrap them around the broken I-beam, and shimmy to safety.
Easy as pie for someone like…oh, the Blue Dynamo.
“It’s just too bad I left my super powers in my other purse,” she mumbled, tensing all her muscles in an effort to lift her left foot toward the pigeon-covered beam. Her shoe caught the edge, disturbing one of the birds into a flurry of indignant wing flapping.
Paige held her breath until the pigeon spore settled. The last thing she needed was to sneeze right now.
“Never again. I promise never again to wish I could fly. Just please, please somebody get me down from here.”
Where were all the blasted superheroes when you needed them? If she yelled for Retro Boy or Talon, would they miraculously appear? Or were they too busy saving the world from robot clones and killer bees?
Right now, she’d have been grateful for a guy with a really long ladder.
“Come on, Paige. One, two…” A little swing, a little kick, and her right hand slipped off the sweaty steel.
She screamed. Paige had never been the type to panic in an emergency. After nearly three decades of near misses and miraculous mishaps, she’d grown accustomed to the fact that she was accident prone. People like Paige lived under lucky stars, so most of the time she didn’t worry about how things would turn out. This time, however, things were looking pretty hopeless.
She clamped her hand back on the beam and cursed at the pigeon who gave her a disparaging look.
“Instead of passing judgment, you winged rat, why don’t you help? There’s got to be fifty of you up here. With all that combined wing power, surely you could—ah!”
The beam shifted, its rusty moorings cracking under the added weight. With a sound that curdled Paige’s blood, it sagged several inches, just enough to rattle loose her grip and send her plummeting to the pavement.
Stay tuned for Chapter Two…
Let me take you back to my place and rip that tight T-shirt off your magnificent body.
Posted here next week!
Can’t wait to read the whole story?
sign up for news, updates and exclusive content at:
Electric Romance
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/electricromance/info
the complete .pdf, .mobi or .epub file can be found in the Files section of the newsgroup.
Published by: Bernadette Gardner
copyright 2015 Bernadette Gardner
Cover art by BGD
Note: This story was previously published under the title:
The Adventures of Molten Man, No. 1. (Amber Quill Press, 2006).
This is a standalone story that has not been significantly altered from its original version.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, brands, media and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Electric Romance Exclusive Edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold in whole or in part.
Electric Romance
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/electricromance/info
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
* * * *
All rights reserved.
Molten Desire
Famous super hero, Molten Man, is tired of the steady stream of Super Groupies that compete for his attention. Where can he find a normal girl that will be satisfied dating his everyday persona, landscape architect Brad Compton? Look, up in the sky! Is that a girl hanging from a broken I-beam? As if in answer to Brad’s wish, Paige Weller literally drops into his waiting arms. Before the evening is over, she’s invited him up to her apartment for some red hot loving.
Paige Weller is a lot of things, but one thing the accident prone market analyst is not, is a Super Groupie. Feats of derring-do usually bore her, but when Brad Compton saves her life, she’s eternally grateful. It’s been a while since a man who wasn’t some kind of mutant asked her out and she’s determined not to let Brad get away.
Chapter One
By
Bernadette Gardner
“I get tired of them throwing their panties at me.” Brad Compton’s confession drew a trio of shocked stares from the other men in the locker room.
Will Bennet, aka The Reaper, paused with one foot halfway into his tall, black boot. “You’re puttin’ me on, man.”
“No, really.” Brad folded the bright orange spandex suit he wore while on duty as Molten Man and stashed his own matching boots in his locker. “I’ve rescued seven women this week, and I don’t think any one of them really needed saving. Well, except the one who drove her car off the Jefferson Avenue Bridge, but I think she did it deliberately. The Super Groupies are really getting out of hand.”
Will exchanged a glance with Retro Boy, aka Bernard Maltese, who looked up from polishing his quiver of silver tipped arrows long enough to snicker. “It’s part of the job, Brad. Enjoy it while you can.”
“Yeah, someday we’ll all be too old to glow or melt or stir up a stiff breeze, and the ladies will drop us like hot lead. You’ve got to have fun while your butt still looks good in tights,” Bennet added.
“Did you get any phone numbers?” asked DemiGog as he removed his gargoyle mask to reveal Earnest Wright’s rather nondescript features.
Brad pulled on his favorite pair of worn denims and a white muscle T-shirt before answering his colleague. “One.” He hated to admit it. As one of the Daring Dozen—Dedicated to Fighting Crime in the Northern Hemisphere—finding female companionship had never been a problem for Molten Man. Brad, however, was batting zero. After a six-month dry spell he’d begun to consider a meaningless fling with a panty-throwing groupie even though that wasn’t his usual style. He wanted to go out with a woman who didn’t expect him to wear his mask and boots to bed or try to wrangle him into a threesome with Speed Demon and Invisa-Man.
“One out of seven.” Will tsked while shrugging into his black leather vest and chains. “You’re losing your mojo, Big M.”
“And what happened?” Earnest asked, closing his own locker on the frightening visage of DemiGog.
“She ditched me when I refused to melt her ex-boyfriend’s Porsche.”
The other men shook their heads in sympathy. Finding a woman who wanted to date a landscape architect instead of a famous crime fighter was harder than battling four-armed aliens from another dimension.
Brad donned his denim jacket and closed his locker. “I’ll see you guys next shift. Signal me if anything exciting happens.”
The others said good-bye, and Brad left the locker room. He headed out of the hidden exit of the Daring Dozen’s headquarters and emerged in the flower shop that served as a cover for the clandestine arrivals and departures of the world’s most famous band of superheroes.
Tonight he bypassed the subway, opting instead for a long walk to his apartment. The fresh autumn air would do him good, clear his head, and help him figure out just how he’d gone so wrong in the serious-relationship department.
* * * * *
“Paige Weller does it again!” A lengthy string of expletives followed Paige’s announcement, but the only response to her diatribe was the nervous flutter of pigeon wings. The oily-feathered gray birds peered over the lip of the broken I-beam from which Paige dangled, their red eyes blinking in avian curiosity.
“Shoo! Go away now!” Paige dared not raise a hand to scatter her cooing audience. She barely had a grip on the slippery steel beam to begin with.
Below her—a very long way below—the dirty back alley between her office building and the next was utterly deserted. Above her, the rusty stanchions of a reclaimed train trestle creaked and groaned, reminding her it had been a while since she’d seriously worked out.
What genius thought of using an old train trestle as an architectural element, anyway?
That thought begged the question, what genius tries to walk over one to rescue a stray kitten?
What had she been thinking? Her rescuer’s instinct had gotten her into plenty of trouble over the years, but nothing like this. From her office window, she’d seen the mewling ball of dingy gray fur tiptoeing over the I-beam, probably stalking the pigeons. When it slipped and dangled precariously from one claw, much like Paige was doing at the moment, she’d snapped into action. Halfway across the beam she realized that one, the kitten could climb better than she could, and two, she was completely unprepared for this.
She might have spared her dignity when the little cat rescued itself and leapt effortlessly across the beams to safety, if she’d followed her path along the narrow trestle, step for tenuous step, back to her office window. Instead, she’d gone for a shorter route and took a little jump that left her hanging by her newly polished fingernails a mile in the air.
Okay, not a mile. The distance to the cracked asphalt of the alley was probably more like two stories—maybe twenty-four feet tops—but Paige didn’t dare look down to be sure.
From her position, it might as well have been a mile. Her only option now was to swing her legs up, wrap them around the broken I-beam, and shimmy to safety.
Easy as pie for someone like…oh, the Blue Dynamo.
“It’s just too bad I left my super powers in my other purse,” she mumbled, tensing all her muscles in an effort to lift her left foot toward the pigeon-covered beam. Her shoe caught the edge, disturbing one of the birds into a flurry of indignant wing flapping.
Paige held her breath until the pigeon spore settled. The last thing she needed was to sneeze right now.
“Never again. I promise never again to wish I could fly. Just please, please somebody get me down from here.”
Where were all the blasted superheroes when you needed them? If she yelled for Retro Boy or Talon, would they miraculously appear? Or were they too busy saving the world from robot clones and killer bees?
Right now, she’d have been grateful for a guy with a really long ladder.
“Come on, Paige. One, two…” A little swing, a little kick, and her right hand slipped off the sweaty steel.
She screamed. Paige had never been the type to panic in an emergency. After nearly three decades of near misses and miraculous mishaps, she’d grown accustomed to the fact that she was accident prone. People like Paige lived under lucky stars, so most of the time she didn’t worry about how things would turn out. This time, however, things were looking pretty hopeless.
She clamped her hand back on the beam and cursed at the pigeon who gave her a disparaging look.
“Instead of passing judgment, you winged rat, why don’t you help? There’s got to be fifty of you up here. With all that combined wing power, surely you could—ah!”
The beam shifted, its rusty moorings cracking under the added weight. With a sound that curdled Paige’s blood, it sagged several inches, just enough to rattle loose her grip and send her plummeting to the pavement.
Stay tuned for Chapter Two…
Let me take you back to my place and rip that tight T-shirt off your magnificent body.
Posted here next week!
Can’t wait to read the whole story?
sign up for news, updates and exclusive content at:
Electric Romance
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/electricromance/info
the complete .pdf, .mobi or .epub file can be found in the Files section of the newsgroup.
Published by: Bernadette Gardner
copyright 2015 Bernadette Gardner
Cover art by BGD
Note: This story was previously published under the title:
The Adventures of Molten Man, No. 1. (Amber Quill Press, 2006).
This is a standalone story that has not been significantly altered from its original version.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, brands, media and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Electric Romance Exclusive Edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold in whole or in part.
Electric Romance
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/electricromance/info
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
* * * *
All rights reserved.
January 23, 2015
I'm cooking up something...
I just posted a new book cover on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bernadette-Gardner-Author/280956782046157 Stay tuned for info on how you can read the story for free...but here's a hint: Sign up for my newsletter group. Electric Romance
January 10, 2015
A taste of something hot!
In case you didn't read it the first time it was published [and you probably didn't] my award-winning short story is back on sale!
(cover by Moi!)
Longing for freedom from her cloistered existence, Renna roams the moonlit hillsides where she meets Benar, an acolyte from the Temple of the Sun God. When her destiny is revealed, she is faced with a terrible choice: Defy the ancient rites and plunge her ordered world into chaos, or give up the man she loves and sacrifice herself to another.
“Star crossed lovers in a romantic setting having erotic hot steamy encounters will get those motors running and off looking for more Bernadette Gardnerbooks.” - Fallen Angel Reviews
Available at Amazon.com!
December 15, 2014
Red hot vampires!
If you need some warming up, how about some hot vampires?
Just re-released - new title, new cover, new price - just $0.99!
Elena Talbot betrayed her sister for a chance at immortality. Now, ensconced in the dark world of Chicago’s undead, she clings to the person who helped her find herself and her sanity after the gut wrenching, soul-stealing transformation from human to vampire.
Vampire investigator Lucas Vitale has gotten used to having Elena in his home and in his bed. She’s always ready for his lusty games, but she’s still afloat in a sea of self doubt and confusion about her new existence. She wants the one thing he can’t give her, a purpose. When her quest for fulfillment brings her too close to his long-hidden secret, he casts her out and only after she’s gone does he realize there’s no point in living ‘the dead life’ without her.
Available at Amazon.com
Just re-released - new title, new cover, new price - just $0.99!
Elena Talbot betrayed her sister for a chance at immortality. Now, ensconced in the dark world of Chicago’s undead, she clings to the person who helped her find herself and her sanity after the gut wrenching, soul-stealing transformation from human to vampire.
Vampire investigator Lucas Vitale has gotten used to having Elena in his home and in his bed. She’s always ready for his lusty games, but she’s still afloat in a sea of self doubt and confusion about her new existence. She wants the one thing he can’t give her, a purpose. When her quest for fulfillment brings her too close to his long-hidden secret, he casts her out and only after she’s gone does he realize there’s no point in living ‘the dead life’ without her.
Available at Amazon.com
October 31, 2014
Win a copy of Wolfsbane!
Today my good friend JB Lynn, author of the bestselling Neurotic Hitwoman series, is giving away a copy of Wolfsbane: Unleash the Wolf on her Facebook.
Check out JB here:
https://www.facebook.com/jb.lynn.14?fref=nf
Check out JB here:
https://www.facebook.com/jb.lynn.14?fref=nf
October 26, 2014
Dressing up for Halloween
Time for a makeover! Since Halloween is coming, I figured now might be a good time to put a new face on some old friends.
I was lucky enough to get some fantastic new covers for HUNTER'S MOON and HUNTER'S MATE thanks to Dara England of LFD Designs for Authors.
Look for these new covers popping up at ebook retailers.
I was lucky enough to get some fantastic new covers for HUNTER'S MOON and HUNTER'S MATE thanks to Dara England of LFD Designs for Authors.
Look for these new covers popping up at ebook retailers.
October 1, 2014
New header!
I went a little crazy and made myself a new blog/website banner. The old one was great, but I just wanted a change. What do you think? Too purple? You can never have too much purple, IMHO.
September 30, 2014
It's been a while!
I'm writing and tinkering and planning - new stuff coming soon so stay tuned!
January 24, 2014
January 3, 2014
New Year - New Prices!
Looking for some New Year's bargains?
NOW just $2.99! [ebook version]
at
Amazon [print version on sale for $7.59!]
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
NOW only $1.49!
at
Amazon
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
NOW only $0.99!
at
Amazon
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
NOW just $2.99! [ebook version]at
Amazon [print version on sale for $7.59!]
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
NOW only $1.49!at
Amazon
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
NOW only $0.99!
at
Amazon
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
price decrease will effect other retailers within the next few weeks
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