Sarah Ballance's Blog, page 59
July 7, 2012
07.08.12 #SixSunday with Last Call
Romantic suspense coming this summer to FOR THE MUSE PUBLISHING!
This snippet from my romantic suspense LAST CALL immediately follows last week’s six. Rhys hoped a jog would take her mind off Nick, who she has just seen for the first time in months. But the attempt failed, and now she’s standing on the deserted road, annoyed with herself for stepping into an ice-cold puddle that soaked her foot.
Another blast of icy air howled through the narrow street. If she hadn’t been standing still, she probably wouldn’t have heard what followed it.
Shouting.
Not all that unusual for the derelict part of town, but something—the urgency, perhaps—raised her guard. She glanced around as the voices drew closer and more intense, every syllable punctuated by rapid footsteps smacking the wet pavement. Then the echo of a gunshot cracked the night.
*warning: this WIP has not yet met the brutal hand of my editor.*
Enjoy your Sunday six sentences at a time! To see other participating authors, click here.
July 6, 2012
07.07.2012 #SweetSat Samples: Run to You
Romantic suspense for the beach! Grab it by clicking the image.
Note: While this book does have some adult content (none of which will be featured here), it’s not explicit and is a very small portion of the overall story.
Congratulations to katieamanda1, this week’s gift card winner! If you’d like to be eligible for my weekly giveaways of a $10 gift card to Noble Romance or $5 to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice), simply subscribe by email using the box to your left. You’ll be automatically entered every week for as long as you remain a subscriber.
Mattie and her guy pal (and one-time fling) Hutch are on the beach in front of their rented house when the local sheriff catches sight of Hutch, who is in the water even though the beach is closed to swimming. Wyatt is about to call out to Hutch when Mattie speaks first.
Wyatt spun around and blinked the woman into focus. Long, blonde hair, straight and full of platinum streaks. A teeny white tank top that left little to the imagination but made him imagine all sorts of things anyway. Faded jeans, torn at the knees and too long for her legs. Only her toes were visible past the hem, and the cotton candy pink polish on her toenails couldn’t be responsible for making his mouth water like this.
He did the only thing dumber than turning his back on the guy in the water. He climbed off the four-wheeler, pushed his wide-brimmed sheriff’s hat down on his brow, and let himself get closer to her.
BUY @ NOBLE ROMANCE | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
For more Sweet Saturday clean excerpts, click here.
RUN TO YOU | contemporary romantic suspense
Mattie James can’t pinpoint exactly when she lost control of her life, but the moment she decided to take it back made the front page of the local paper. Desperate to dodge the fallout— and the tabloids—she jumps at the chance to spend an off-season week in a tiny resort community by the sea. Making the trip with her ex-lover is a complication she can live with; coming face to face with a dead woman is not.
The last thing Sheriff Wyatt Reed expected to find on the storm-ravaged beach was a beautiful blonde with a jealous sidekick, but one look at Mattie left him wanting more. Their first date takes an ominous turn when he gets the call that a woman was found murdered. With a killer on the loose and a troubling lack of suspects or motive, Wyatt has to put his feelings aside to focus on the case. But his vow not to become personally involved is shattered when he discovers Mattie’s life is on the line, and this time the truth leaves her with a deadly choice . . . and nowhere to run.
BUY @ NOBLE ROMANCE | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
July 5, 2012
Spotlight on Suz deMello’s “For My Master”
Ooooh, y’all. It’s getting HOT in here! Check out this super steamy look at Suz deMello’s new release from Ellora’s Cave.
Up for a “quickie”? Check out this new “Taboo” story from Ellora’s Cave! Click image for more information.
FOR MY MASTER | Ellora’s Cave Taboo
Agent Kathie Belmont has long lusted after her boss, Ross Guerrero, but has never plucked up the courage to even flirt with him. Could he be the strong but tender Master she craves?
Ross wants Kathie in his life—on her knees. But the constraints of their jobs with an ultra-secret US security agency have come between them.
Until the sadistic drug-trafficker El Silencio is tempted into a deal with Ross’s undercover persona—a deal that will go down at a BDSM party. With Kathie disguised as his sex slave, Ross sets out to bring down the criminal gang, and perhaps to tempt Kathie into performing her role for him…forever.
For My Master by Suz deMello: Excerpt from Chapter One
Station chief Ross Guerrero tapped a pencil on his blotter and scrutinized Kathie Belmont, seated on a straight-backed chair on the other side of his wide, government-issue desk. A soft-faced young woman, she had the healthy good looks of a college student or a California beach cutie, common here in San Diego. Her mink-brown hair with tasteful gold highlights was blunt cut at her chin, masking a strong jaw line. Wide, long-lashed eyes regarded Ross with openness and candor.
With multiple piercings in each ear and a silver toe ring peeping from her sandal, she looked like any girl attending San Diego State, UCSD or even Chula Vista High. In reality, Belmont was twenty-nine years old, had graduated with honors in criminal justice from Pepperdine, then gone on to a short but successful career as a police officer in Los Angeles. She’d joined the US Security Agency, performing well during training and in her first assignments. Now he’d find out if she was ready for more demanding tasks.
Her appearance was as useful as her black belt and her Glock. Living proof of the maxim “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” Agent Belmont, who’d been orphaned as a teen, had capably cared for her two younger siblings, fighting to keep her family together. She was as competent an operative as any he’d encountered during his thirteen years with the agency.
“Here’s the situation.” Ross set his china espresso cup into its saucer with a click. “There’s a group of baddies selling drugs just over the border. Mostly steroids, but some crystal, crack, horse … you name it, they’ve got it. Because they’re in Mexico, the usual law enforcement agencies can’t go in.”
Her hazel eyes gleamed. “But we can.”
“Yes, we can. But there’s a twist.”
She shrugged tanned shoulders, revealed by her sleeveless pink blouse. “Isn’t there always?”
“They run their drugs and whores out of a party house.” He eyed her, wondering if she was up for the job. “An orgy house.”
Her brows lifted. “They still exist in the age of AIDS?”
“They do. This one is in a chi-chi area called the Zona Rio, on the south side of the Tijuana River.” He paused, tapping the pencil on the blotter. “I can’t go in without a woman.”
She cleared her throat. “Exactly what would this mission entail, sir?” Her voice was crisp and professional.
Even so, Ross noted the signs of nervous excitement. A slight sheen of perspiration between her breasts, where their tops were displayed by the scooped neck of her shirt. She fiddled with her hair and didn’t meet his eyes. She crossed her suntanned knees, exposed by a blue denim mini-skirt, then recrossed them, giving him a brief glimpse of pink panties. His pulse jumped. Had she intended to flash him?
He cleared his throat. “They won’t know you understand Spanish,” he continued. “You’d listen as well as watch my back. This is a group of evil bastards with absolutely no morals. They’re even selling to steroids to minors, school kids with a dream of getting out of the slums as athletes.”
Her lips firmed. “Let’s get ‘em, sir.”
“Your life could depend upon unswerving obedience to protocol. Truthfully, Belmont, I’m not sure you can do it.”
She bristled. “Why not?”
“The second in command is a, uh, rather unusual woman. A Dominant in a country of submissive females. To impress her, I’d accompany you as your submissive. Your…slave.”
Her elegant jaw dropped. “You’re shittin’ me.”
He wagged a finger at her. “Language, young lady.”
“Pardon me, sir.” She shut her mouth with an audible snap, then said, “Is this plan sanctioned by HQ?”
He evaded, saying, “You know that they give me considerable latitude.”
Her eyes narrowed. “In other words, no, but you think you can get away with it.”
He smiled.
“Why me?” Her intelligent gaze shone from a face vivid with curiosity.
“You’re smart and tough. You’re used to giving orders, the way you did to keep your family together.”
Her chuckle was rueful. “Confidentially, sir, you have no idea how much that took out of me.”
He shrugged. “The USSA is demanding. And this mission will take a lot out of both of us. Do you think this would be easy for me?”
“I don’t know.” Her gaze stroked him again, still brimful of curiosity, though now the curiosity was tinctured with something else. Something more.
Sexual curiosity. She wanted to know what he was really like, at a very basic level.
“Would it be easy for you to be…submissive?” she asked. “Is that who you truly are?”
“No, but if I have to, I can fake it. Can you be dominant?”
She bit her lip, her eyes dropping. Her whisper was incoherent.
“Speak up,” he said. “If you’re going to run this, run me, you have to state your orders and commands clearly.”
She raised her chin, and her eyes sparkled. Were those tears?
She drew a shaky breath. “You know I’d do anything for y…the agency.”
Had she been about to say, “I’d do anything for you?” Desire tightened his balls.
“But I don’t know if I can be something I’m not,” she went on. “I can manage situations, yes, and run any mission you choose. But acting like a sexual dominant…” She shook her head. “That’s not me. I’m afraid I’d blow our cover and get us both killed.”
He hesitated. The only other option involved possible abuse of his authority, but the mission was paramount. On the other hand—
“W-what about reversing our roles?” She broke into his thoughts.
Had she read his mind?
But he had to be sure. “You mean, I’d dominate you?”
She swallowed audibly. “Yes.”
A long pause ensued while he wondered if he’d fallen into his favorite fantasy. Finally, he managed to speak.
“That could work.” He walked around the barrier of his desk and knelt next to her chair. His face was now level with hers, his gaze fixed on her eyes, her wide, nervous, expectant eyes. He read fear there, as well as blatant feminine curiosity.
He’d have her exactly the way he wanted, but he’d have to take care. A single wrong move, and she’d bolt.
Ross leaned closer, inhaling her cologne, a fresh, bright scent he didn’t recognize but suited her perfectly. He let his lips brush her neck, and watched the tiny hairs shift in subtle response. “I could do that, but can you? Can you give me unswerving obedience?” he murmured into her ear before nipping the lobe.
She gasped, and he chuckled. “Just let go, Belmont. Just…let go.”
She turned her head to shoot him a steady look from those compelling hazel eyes. This time, their gazes met and clashed. Her eyes were bold, unflinching, utterly unafraid. That surprised him, but Belmont often surprised him. It was hard to remember that her naïve façade hid a smart, savvy agent.
He’d respected her competence and admired her beauty. Now he’d enjoy bending her to his will.
Like what you read?
Here’s where you can buy the book and read the rest.
SUZ DeMELLO | bioBest-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and reached the top ten on a bestseller list.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift).
Summer Reads Blog Hop July 6th-11th (International G!veaway)
Click for more exciting giveaways!
** International Giveaway ** Easy Entry **
The Summer Reads Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and Rex Robot Reviews. Here, you’ll have a chance to win a paperback copy of my sweet paranormal romance HAWTHORNE (a definite reader favorite!) and possibly a $5 gift card to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). For full details, keep reading!
HAWTHORNE | blurb
After a terrifying encounter with the unexplained, it took ten years and the news of her grandmother’s passing for Emma Grace Hawthorne to return to her childhood home. She sought peace in saying a proper goodbye, but what she found was an old love, a sordid family history, and a wrong only she could right.
Living in the shadow of Hawthorne Manor, Noah Garrett never forgot about Emma Grace. In a house full of secrets, his search for missing documents revealed a truth that could cost him everything. What he found gave Emma the freedom to walk away from the mansion, her heart free and clear, but at what price to Noah?
ADD IT ON GOODREADS | READ AN EXCERPT
HOW TO ENTERTo enter, simply leave a comment with your valid email address. If, at the time of the drawing, the winner is an *email* subscriber to my blog, he or she will also receive a $5 e-gift certificate to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). I will check the email address before contacting the winner, so please be sure to confirm your subscription or it will not be valid. Additionally, all *email* subscribers are automatically eligible for my weekly gift card giveaways.
This giveaway is open to international addresses, as long as the USPS will deliver to you. To verify your location, please visit usps.com. If shipping will be more than $15USD, I reserve the right to substitute a gift certificate or winner’s choice of ebooks to equal at least $15USD in value.
FOR MORE SUMMER READS GIVEAWAYS, CLICK HERE.
July 2, 2012
“Check Out Time” for Rosa Sophia (G!veaway)
For more information, click image.
The exceptionally multi-talented, multi-versed Rosa Sophia is here, and I’ve got to tell you all, she blows me away. I wish I had an ounce of her energy! Not only is she here with a brand new interview, but she brought an e-copy of her book to give to a lucky reader. Stay tuned to find out how you can win—for now, let’s get to know her.
Welcome, Rosa! I have to say, your bio blew me away. Can you share with our readers your many passions and how you juggle them all?
Thanks for having me, Sarah! I do have a very busy life. Everything revolves around writing, because everything that I do is something new that I can write about. I work in a library, I am going to school for Automotive Business (I started off as a self-taught mechanic), I have taught a fiction writing workshop for high school kids, I am currently the official Historian for my town, I have been a freelance editor for about six years, and I have worked for various publications since high school. People often ask me how I do it. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell them—I have no idea. By the way, what day is it, and where am I? Just kidding—I think.
I get the same question about homeschooling six kids and I think my answer is the same. I think it’s like typing … your fingers fly until you try to think about which letters you’re hitting, which is to say some things just aren’t mean to be overanalyzed, LOL! Will you introduce us to your latest release, CHECK OUT TIME? What’s something we might not learn from the blurb?
Check Out Time is dedicated in part to my father, who passed away on February 17, 2012. Until 2008, when we reunited, I hadn’t seen Dad since I was six years old. The blurb mentions that my main character, Naomi, is reunited with her father, but I should mention that Naomi’s character is not based on me. Her father, Roy Vogler, is based on my dad. Dad and I became very close, and I miss him very much. I have two little sisters, twelve-year-old twins, and I have decided that I want some of the proceeds of this book to go to them for basic needs. I missed out on so much time with my dad, but I want to do what I can for my sisters.
That’s an amazing, heartfelt story. Your sisters are lucky to have you! Let’s have some fun with CHECK OUT TIME. What’s the first sentence?
“The leaves on the oak trees rustled in a slight breeze.”
Very nice! Love the mood. ;c) What’s your favorite line in the book?
It’s a toss-up, but I really love this one: “You’re not having that dream about Farrah Fawcett again, are you, Frankie?”
LOL! How about an excerpt … three sentences long! Yep, that’s it. Three!
Fortunately for Naomi, she had already figured it out. “You,” she mumbled, almost breathless. And then, as he reached out for her, a devilish grin on his face, Naomi shot down the street, tripped on a fallen branch and tumbled headlong into the woods.
LMAO! I love the humor infused in these excerpts. Which scene would you most like to experience for yourself? From whose POV?
I would like to visit the Coral Reef Tavern for a Jargon show. Jargon is the band featured in Check Out Time, which was inspired by JAB, a local band in Pennsylvania. I would want to experience it from my own point of view. It would be so much fun to be inside my own story, watching it unfold!
Now *that* is a perspective I’ve yet to hear. What a great idea! What inspired the title?
When I first came up with it, the title seemed goofy to me, and I didn’t think it would stick. I ended up liking it so much that I kept it! It refers to “checking out” at the register in a grocery store, and it also refers to “checking out” of life in general—after all, this is a murder Mystery.
I adore the double meaning! And before we take a closer look at your book, can you tell us what you’re currently working on?
I’m working on a few things. One is a paranormal story set in Riviera Beach, Florida, entitled Crossing Roads in the Rain. I’m also working on a few other stories, which may or may not become novels.
CHECK OUT TIME | blurbNaomi Vogler blames herself for her mother’s tragic death, continually reliving the accident in her nightmares. When she reconnects with her estranged father, he invites her to live with him in a little town called Witchfire. A simple job stocking shelves overnight at a local grocery store seems a perfect distraction. But when the manager of the store is found dead in the boiler room, Naomi’s boring job becomes something much more complicated. No matter how she looks at it, one thing is certain: retail is murder.
FIND IT @ Oaklight Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
ROSA SOPHIA | about
Rosa Sophia is the author of Taking 1960 and Check Out Time. Rosa is a professional editor, and she currently resides in south Florida.
Learn more @ Website | Blog | Publisher | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
**GIVEAWAY**
If you’d like to win a copy of CHECK OUT TIME, leave a comment with a valid email address and you’ll be entered in the giveaway. For fun — because the story takes place in a small town called Witchfire — share with us the most unusual, mysterious, or awesome small town you’ve ever visited. I love small towns so I’m looking forward to your stories! Thank you all for being here. Rosa, it has been a pleasure!
July 1, 2012
4th of July Blog Hop July 1st – 4th (International Paperback G!veaway)
Click image for more giveaways!
**SWEET ROMANCE**
** International Paperback Giveaway ** Easy Entry **
The 4th of July Blog Hop is hosted by The Blog Hop Spot. Here, you’ll have a chance to win a paperback copy of my sweet paranormal romance HAWTHORNE (a definite reader favorite!) and possibly a $5 gift card to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). For full details, keep reading!
HAWTHORNE | blurb
After a terrifying encounter with the unexplained, it took ten years and the news of her grandmother’s passing for Emma Grace Hawthorne to return to her childhood home. She sought peace in saying a proper goodbye, but what she found was an old love, a sordid family history, and a wrong only she could right.
Living in the shadow of Hawthorne Manor, Noah Garrett never forgot about Emma Grace. In a house full of secrets, his search for missing documents revealed a truth that could cost him everything. What he found gave Emma the freedom to walk away from the mansion, her heart free and clear, but at what price to Noah?
ADD IT ON GOODREADS | READ AN EXCERPT
HOW TO ENTERTo enter, simply leave a comment with your valid email address. If, at the time of the drawing, the winner is an *email* subscriber to my blog, he or she will also receive a $5 e-gift certificate to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). I will check the email address before contacting the winner, so please be sure to confirm your subscription or it will not be valid. Additionally, all *email* subscribers are automatically eligible for my weekly gift card giveaways.
This giveaway is open to international addresses, as long as the USPS will deliver to you. To verify your location, please visit usps.com. If shipping will be more than $15USD, I reserve the right to substitute a gift certificate or winner’s choice of ebooks to equal at least $15USD in value.
FOR MORE 4TH OF JULY GIVEAWAYS, CLICK HERE.
June 30, 2012
07.01.12 #SixSunday with Last Call
Romantic suspense coming this summer to FOR THE MUSE PUBLISHING!
TIDE OF LIES came to a shocking end last week, so now we’re kicking off a look at LAST CALL, a romantic suspense I’m so close to finishing I can’t figure out why I’m not *done* yet, LOL. As the story begins, ex-detective Rhys has recently sighted her former partner, Nick, who accidentally shot her several months prior, then promptly left town without a word.
Rhys didn’t know which required more nerve on Nick’s part—leaving town or crawling back—but both events had left her bitter and raw. And wet, she grumbled inwardly, not quite able to enjoy the double entendre with the cold seeping bone deep. With the sky spitting rain and the occasional pellet of sleet smacking her in the face, she should have skipped her evening jog. The street on which she ran was little more than a concrete alley of shuttered business, the emptiness amplified by the bleak weather. But tonight, with Nick hot on her mind, the cold was a last ditch effort to return to her senses.
It hadn’t worked.
Enjoy your Sunday six sentences at a time! To see other participating authors, click here.
June 29, 2012
06.30.2012 #SweetSat Samples: Run to You
Romantic suspense for the beach! Grab it by clicking the image.
Note: While this book does have some adult content (none of which will be featured here), it’s not explicit and is a very small portion of the overall story.
Congratulations to tonettemjs, this week’s gift card winner! If you’d like to be eligible for my weekly giveaways of a $10 gift card to Noble Romance or $5 to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice), simply subscribe by email using the box to your left. You’ll be automatically entered every week for as long as you remain a subscriber.
Mattie and her guy pal (and one-time fling) Hutch just arrived at their rented beach house. There’s a storm closing in, and Mattie is not happy with the encroaching water and howling wind.
“So do you want to be on the top or on the bottom?” Hutch asked, throwing himself on a well-appointed king-sized bed with unreasonable exuberance.
“Excuse me?”
He grinned and pointed to the ceiling. “Upstairs or downstairs master?”
“I’ll take the one downstairs.” She opted for privacy. If she took the room on the main floor, Hutch would drive her crazy with his constant pillaging of the kitchen. And wouldn’t the top half of the house blow away before the bottom? She didn’t ask.
“We could share.” Hutch sprawled over the bed, rumpling the deep blue coverlet in a way that suggested sex even more than his words did. Lovemaking without mercy, slow and lazy, like his grin, wild and out of control, like he did just about everything else. But she didn’t need her imagination to ponder the power of his body in bed or the tenderness behind his savagery.
Her memory worked just fine.
BUY @ NOBLE ROMANCE | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
For more Sweet Saturday clean excerpts, click here.
RUN TO YOU | contemporary romantic suspense
Mattie James can’t pinpoint exactly when she lost control of her life, but the moment she decided to take it back made the front page of the local paper. Desperate to dodge the fallout— and the tabloids—she jumps at the chance to spend an off-season week in a tiny resort community by the sea. Making the trip with her ex-lover is a complication she can live with; coming face to face with a dead woman is not.
The last thing Sheriff Wyatt Reed expected to find on the storm-ravaged beach was a beautiful blonde with a jealous sidekick, but one look at Mattie left him wanting more. Their first date takes an ominous turn when he gets the call that a woman was found murdered. With a killer on the loose and a troubling lack of suspects or motive, Wyatt has to put his feelings aside to focus on the case. But his vow not to become personally involved is shattered when he discovers Mattie’s life is on the line, and this time the truth leaves her with a deadly choice . . . and nowhere to run.
BUY @ NOBLE ROMANCE | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
June 28, 2012
Freedom to Read Blog Hop June 29 – July 5 (International Paperback G!veaway)
For more fantastic giveaways, click image.
** International Paperback & eBook Giveaway ** Easy Entry **
It’s blog hop time — YAY! The Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and Mundie Moms. Here, you’ll have a chance to win a paperback copy of my sweet paranormal romance HAWTHORNE, an ebook copy of my romantic thriller FAMILIAR LIGHT, and possibly a $5 gift card to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). For full details, keep reading!
HOW TO ENTER
To enter, simply leave a comment with your valid email address. If, at the time of the drawing, the winner is an *email* subscriber to my blog, he or she will also receive a $5 e-gift certificate to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). I will check the email address before contacting the winner, so please be sure to confirm your subscription or it will not be valid. Additionally, all *email* subscribers are automatically eligible for my weekly gift card giveaways.
This giveaway is open to international addresses, as long as the USPS will deliver to you. To verify your location, please visit usps.com. If shipping will be more than $15USD, I reserve the right to substitute a gift certificate or winner’s choice of ebooks to equal at least $15USD in value.
FAMILIAR LIGHT | blurbSeven years of longing comes down to just one night.
Laney Kent returns to Barrier Shoals hoping to reunite with her first love, Bridger. She anticipates his reception might be chilly, but what she doesn’t expect is to become the victim of a deadly obsession . . . or that this night with Bridger could be her last.
Bridger Jansen tangled a lot of sheets trying to forget about Laney, but his heart knew what the rest of him refused to admit: he could love no one else. He’s determined not to forgive her for leaving him without explanation, but when he fails to protect her from a viscous attack, the person he can’t forgive just might be himself.
HAWTHORNE | blurbAfter a terrifying encounter with the unexplained, it took ten years and the news of her grandmother’s passing for Emma Grace Hawthorne to return to her childhood home. She sought peace in saying a proper goodbye, but what she found was an old love, a sordid family history, and a wrong only she could right.
Living in the shadow of Hawthorne Manor, Noah Garrett never forgot about Emma Grace. In a house full of secrets, his search for missing documents revealed a truth that could cost him everything. What he found gave Emma the freedom to walk away from the mansion, her heart free and clear, but at what price to Noah?
FOR MORE FREEDOM TO READ GIVEAWAYS, CLICK HERE.
June 27, 2012
Cynthia Racette’s “Windswept”
Get swept away! Click image.
Interview with Caroline and David Hartman, Main Characters of Windswept
Interviewer: Caroline, tell us a little bit about yourself.
C: Oh, I hate that question! But I’ll try to answer. I’m thirty-six years old and I love gardening, anything to do with science, and cats. I can’t have a cat though because David is allergic. Boo! I have to duck into pet stores and ogle the cats and play with the kittens.
I: What about you, David?
D: He laughs. I’m afraid I’m an inveterate tinkerer. I love to do projects around the house. We’re just about to cut into the back wall of the house and put in a French door to the deck. Caroline interjects: Yeah, and it’ll take him six months because he has to get everything perfect. David again, obviously taking umbrage: But you’ll love it when it’s done and invite all your friends over to see it.
I: Caroline, I hear you’re a chemical engineer. How did you get into that?
C: Well, like I said, I love anything about science. I’m one of those nuts who lie on their backs on the deck all night to watch the meteor showers every August. She leans forward for emphasis. I just love the whole process of working in a chemical company. Coming up with an idea, testing it with every deviation you can think of, and then watching it roll off the assembly line as a viable product.
I: I know you are both avid sailors. How did you get into it and what is it about sailing you love? David?
D: We were bitten by the bug while we were on our honeymoon. You know… take a moonlight sail in Bermuda. We had no business spending that much money on a sailboat at that point, but we couldn’t resist. I love the might of sailing, the wind filling the sails so powerfully the boat is heeling and pushing through the water with spray coming over the bow. There’s nothing like it.
C: I like the windy days too but I prefer the wind about fifteen to twenty knots so you have more control. It’s still exciting, but not so wild. David spoke up and put his hand to the side of his face as if to block what he was saying from Caroline. Caro doesn’t do gusts. She’s a fair weather sailor. Caroline pushed him sideways with her shoulder. You had your turn. Sometimes I think my favorite kind of sailing is quiet evening sails with the sunset awash on the water. You know, it’s kind of funny. When you’re sailing, you’re topside dealing with the sails and lines and wind and all and the boat seems like a sailing machine. But when you go below to eat dinner or spend the night, it becomes a cozy little cabin with a completely different vibe. It’s warmth and quiet but during the day out sailing you don’t even think about that part.
I: I’m afraid our time is up here today. Maybe we can talk another day. For now, this is WANN, Annapolis.
WINDSWEPT | blurb
Windswept is a romantic novel of redemption and family values and fighting for what is important. Sailing Windswept has always been a family affair and many of Caroline and David Hartford’s fondest memories have taken place on Chesapeake Bay sailing in all kinds of conditions and exploring the bay.
When husband David is unfaithful and commits the ultimate betrayal by bringing his mistress aboard Windswept, Caroline’s world is shattered. He leaves her and she is forced to rely solely on herself for the first time in her life. She has to be a single parent to her daughter, Lily, and to decide if she can forgive David for tearing her family apart.
As David and Caroline work to put their marriage back together, events and other people conspire against them, over and over. Their relationship begins to heal, but the couple is caught in a horrific storm and waterspout on the bay, heading straight for Windswept. They want a chance to love again but Mother Nature might have other ideas.
CYNTHIA RACETTE | bio
Cynthia has been writing all her life, as a newspaper reporter, editor and novelist. She even asked for (and received) a play typewriter for Christmas when she was about ten.
To be near her children and granddaughters, she and her newly retired hubby, moved to the Buffalo, NY area. Through her daughter, who is also a writer, she got hooked up with RWA (Romance Writers of America) and good things started to happen.
She is now writing more novels, taking lots of trips and relaxing by the pool on gorgeous summer days in Western, NY.
Sarah here! Readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this visit with Cynthia and her characters from WINDSWEPT. Please welcome her with your comments — I bet she’d love to know what you think!
