HelenKay Dimon's Blog, page 25

Snippet Saturday

Today’s topic about loss and separation. Technically, it’s “ain’t no sunshine” but think loss and separation. I thought this was a good time to talk about the other couple in my August release, COPY THAT. I’ve talked about Jeremy but his twin, Garrett, has a secondary romance here. And he’s been a bad fiancee and Sara is not in the mood to forgive even when he rescues her from a fire. Take a look:

No one said anything as they jogged down the steps and ran out into the night. The fresh air smacked into Jeremy, pushing out the smoke-filled crud in his lungs. His coughing fit started a second later. He wasn’t alone. Meredith and Sara drew in large breaths, then doubled over as their bodies shook.

Jeremy glanced at his brother through watery, smoke-filled eyes. “Where have you been?”



“I’ll explain later. We need to get out of here before the authorities arrive.”

Sara stood up, looking far taller than her not-quite five-foot-three frame. With a flushed face and her hands balled into fists on her hips, she stood right in front of Garrett with soot streaking her face and her singed T-shirt.

“Did you say you were worried about the authorities?” She jabbed him in the chest with a finger. “That’s your big concern?”

The group fell silent. Except for the last crackle of the fire and creaky groans as the building shifted on its burning supports, nothing moved and no one breathed.

“I just want—”

“Forget the authorities. You should be afraid of me,” Sara nearly shouted.

Shock buzzed through Jeremy. He saw it mirrored in Garrett’s eyes. The wedding dress saleswoman who always had an encouraging word and sweet smile for everyone looked ready to explode. And Garrett was the intended target.

His eyebrows came together in a frown. “What’s the matter with you?”

“You dumped me.”

The final pieces fell into place for Jeremy. He shook his head. “Garrett, man. What were you thinking?”

Garrett scowled at all of them but saved his darkest look for Sara. “This isn’t the time to talk about this.”

Not that she even noticed. “Next time you leave a woman with some big speech about it being the right thing, don’t drag her back into your life and almost get her killed.”

“I tried to warn you.”

“Save it.” Then calm, never-cause-a-scene Sara pulled back her hand and slapped Garrett across the face.

___________

Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

Leah Braemel

Eliza Gayle

Mandy M Roth

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Lauren Dane

TJ Michaels

Cover Reveal!

I got the cover for my November Intrigue, SWITCHED, last night. Honestly, I think it’s my best Intrigue cover ever.

Love. It.

Take A Look

I have back cover copy for SWITCHED, my November Intrigue (which will be out October 30th but is available for pre-order now…hint, hint). Here it is:

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY…

For Aaron McBain, it was just another routine job, protecting his client at an office Christmas party. Until commandos stormed the place and took a hostage. But they had the wrong woman…the very woman Aaron had started dating-under a different cover.

…TURNED LETHAL

Risa Peters couldn’t convince the gunmen she was the wrong hostage, nor could she believe her so-called “tax attorney” boyfriend wrested her away. But as the threats against her escalated, Risa and Aaron found themselves trapped in the building in the midst of a deadly conspiracy. And only her sexy new protector-a man she hardly knew but already wanted-stood between her and a bullet.

Editor Photos

I’m back from the RWA conference and trying to catch up on sleeping and my writing. I have a book due very soon, but the urge to nap all day is very strong. While I engage in the work/sleep battle, here are a few more conference photos:

My lovely Berkley editor, Leis Pederson:

My good friend and a fab literary agent, Laura Bradford (left), with my amazing Carina Press editor, Angela James:

My Intrigue editor wasn’t there, but trust me when I tell you she’s very cool.

Conference Photos!

I am currently at the RWA national conference. Thought you might enjoy some photos. Most have me in them, which I don’t like, so focus on the other people.

Me at the HUGE literacy booksigning with friend and romance book fangirl Michelle (she’s on the right – isn’t she adorable?):

Me with Lauren Dane (on left) and Shannon Stacey (in middle) at the Harlequin party:

Awesome author friend Vivian Arend looking all gorgeous at the Harlequin party:

I am rooming with Jill Shalvis. We had yet to take a photo together that either of us will allow to be shown in public. If we manage to snap one, I’ll post it. Also need to take one with Alison Kent. Will track her down for that.

Snippet Saturday

Today’s topic about family. My books tend to deal with the families you make, which includes both the one you were born into and the people you surround yourself with and bring into your tight circle as you go through life. My August release, COPY THAT, deals with both but at the center is the bond between twins, Garrett and Jeremy Hill.

“This is it?” She froze when the broken bulb of the safety light crunched under her foot.

Jeremy leaned one shoulder against the wall. “The point of a safe house is to blend.”

She glanced down the abandoned street and rows of falling down garages. “Define ‘blend.’”



He chuckled. “The neighborhood is in transition.”

“The place looks abandoned.”

“Then we set it up right. It’s the perfect cover.”

When he threw an arm around her shoulder and pressed her tight against his side, her heart sped up to a hyper rat-a-tat beat. With his hair damp from his quick wash-up after the medical attention, he brushed his cheek against hers.“

“There are two cameras at the top of the building and across the street.” His voice dipped low. “We monitor the entire place all the time.”

“I’m wondering why you’re whispering?”

“Just in case.”

When she tried to look up, he gave her a small squeeze she assumed meant not to move. “That seems to be your justification for a lot of things.”

He pointed at the chained door. “The rust is fake and the fence could stop a truck. There are motion sensors and all the images go to monitors at Garrett’s office and directly to our phones.”

“Very stealthy.” And a bit scary.

The over-the-top security both stopped the nerves jumping around in her throat and set her back teeth chattering. Being here went against every minute of training she’d invested in. She never left public places when meeting with a man she didn’t know. For Jeremy, she made an exception. The question was, why? And she really couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer.

Even injured, with a slight limp from protecting his wounded side, he struck her as being twice as tough as any guy she’d ever met, including Garrett. The dark scowl gave him a sexy in-control look, but his smile… Oh, yeah. The way the corner of his mouth kicked up lit up his whole face, even as it sucked the air right out of her lungs.

Over the past few hours she’d glanced over only to find him staring back. He didn’t turn away or pretend he hadn’t seen her gaze. He met her eyes with a heated look of his own. Garrett had walked in and out of her life and filled the role of helpful neighbor during those times when he wasn’t absent. Even though the siblings shared the same features, she saw differences. Jeremy’s impact on her senses surpassed routine and sped straight toward explosive. There was nothing sisterly about the little dance in her stomach every time she looked at his face.

“I knew Garrett had many secrets, but a twin brother and all this covert equipment is a surprise.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Jeremy took the keycard out of his pocket.

“Where did you get that?”

“I always carry it. Slipped it out of my wallet back at the motel. Here take this.” He turned her hand over and laid his cell in her palm. “And now for the impressive part.”

She’d spent almost every minute with him being impressed. It only took a short time for her to figure out the truth. He stayed calm. He remained focused. He hunted the bad guys and wanted to save Sara because that’s who he was. He never questioned what should be done. He just did it.

He slipped his fingers underneath a brick and pulled out the row of grout. “Embedded reader.”

“Caterpillar. See? I can say random words, too.”

“You’re hysterical.” Before she could blink, he slid the card through the crack. “There.”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting access to the entry log.”

He could have said anything, even used his shoe to call for a flying car and had it land in front of him, and she wouldn’t have been more surprised. Instead, he hit a button on the phone and lines of black print filled the small screen.

She squinted, hoping the gibberish would make sense if the words blurred together then broke apart again. “I have no idea what that says.”

“It’s code. The important piece of information is that someone has been here. Is still here. Someone with access swiped a card which is a good sign.”

“How exactly?”

“No one tried to break in. The log shows one entry.”

“Unless two people went in together.”

He froze. “What?”

“Just stating the obvious.”

For the shortest of blips, his guard wavered. From the slight slump of his shoulders to the hitch in his voice, she knew his mind wandered to that awful place of uncertainty where he didn’t know if his brother lived or not.

___________

Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

Leah Braemel

Jody Wallace

Eliza Gayle

Mandy M Roth

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Shiloh Walker

Delilah Devlin

Lauren Dane

TJ Michaels

Cover Copy

I now have the official (and final) cover copy for LEAN ON ME, book #2 in the Holloway series. It comes out October 22nd and I don’t have a cover yet, but I am really hoping to have one soon.

Cassidy Clarke once climbed the world’s highest mountains, but after an unexpected illness ends her career she’s back in her hometown, broke and hoping for a little luck. But the townsfolk aren’t exactly putting out a welcome mat for the woman who once snubbed them in the media, despite her apologies now.

Mitch Anders knows someone has set up camp on the grounds of his plant nursery, and he’s surprised to find his sexy high school crush ducking questions about where she’s staying. Though he’s sworn to stop cleaning up other people’s messes, Mitch offers Cassidy a job and a place to stay—his place. Bed-sharing optional, but definitely welcome.

Out of options and too attracted to Mitch to keep things platonic, Cassidy says yes to his offer. She wants to get back on her feet financially and start a new career. She never expects to suffer a different kind of fall, one that has her believing Mitch just might bring her something bigger and better than luck.

39,000 words

Comic-Con

I went to Comic-Con last week and loved it. Today I’m at Genreality talking about my biggest insight from the event.

Snippet Saturday

I’m late posting today. Still recovering from being at Comic-Con all day yesterday. I put up some thoughts on my Facebook fanpage about what I saw. Check it out here. On a different note, today’s snippet topic is midnight riders, which I’m taking to mean bad boys heroes. I figured this was a good time to introduce you to Rob Coleman, the hero of my new short, DOWN TO BUSINESS.

When he turned the corner, he saw Ella waiting at the elevator, head down as she shifted her weight between her destroy-a-man’s defenses spiky high heels.

The black skirt hugged every curve and stopped right above her knee, treating him to a long expanse of creamy bare leg. The bright blue sweater matched her eyes and skimmed her body like a second skin. She looked about one inch away from being too hot for the workplace.

“You’re early,” he said, careful to keep his voice even. He didn’t want to unleash his need too fast and spook her because she already looked ready to bolt.

Her head shot up and her already wide eyes grew huge. As her gaze traveled over his chest, he took the opportunity to watch her. That hair, all shiny brown with hints of red, barely hit her shoulders. He was sure women had some fancy name for the cut. He just liked the way it bounced around her heart-shaped face. Wondered how it would look as it trailed over his chest. How damp her skin would be, how messy those strands would look, after a bout of wild sex.

“I am?” she asked.

“By one minute.”

She smiled as if the doubt washed away in a burst of light with his three simple words. “Are you always this punctual?”

“Always.” He leaned over and pressed the button. As promised by the building’s owners, the elevator arrived a few seconds later. The tenants paid for promptness and got it, which was good since he lacked his usual patience today.

She stepped inside before he could touch her. “We picked a good afternoon to take a few extra minutes. My boss has been at a meeting outside the office all day. I almost fell asleep in my chair a few minutes ago.”

He knew that last part was a lie. He’d watched her on and off all day between his meetings and calls, and witnessed something other than exhaustion happening across the atrium. She swiveled in her chair, tapped her foot, got up and down for no apparent reason. He wanted to believe the promise of seeing him touched off a roaring need inside her that made it impossible to sit still.

“I’m really not thirsty,” he said. What he wanted from her had nothing to do with the coffee cart.

“You’re not?”

Hoping they were on the same wavelength, he let the doors close them in with a thud. He’d know with her next answer. His hand hovered over the floor panel. “Your choice, lobby or sixteen.”

Her smile slipped. “What?”

He’d planned this all night, spent precious minutes today going over the right words to make the suggestion. When the time had come, he’d barked out a choice that made little sense. He winced over his sudden and uncharacteristic lack of finesse but pushed on because the revving inside him didn’t give him a choice. “We can get coffee or go upstairs.”

Those sparkling eyes narrowed but she didn’t say no.

“Thoughts?” he asked.

“What’s upstairs?” She asked the question by drawing out each word an extra beat.

“Nothing.”

She stared at him. Her gaze darted to the floor panel then to the light over their heads. “I don’t get it.”

“The office space above mine is empty. We’re waiting for final permits but should break through next week on construction to make the suite a duplex.” When her gaze went to the black bubble on the ceiling a second time, he finally understood why she kept biting on her lip. “You don’t need to worry. There aren’t any security cameras up there.”

The silence continued for a few more beats.

The elevator doors opened to the fifteenth floor again. The car held in place as if joining him in waiting for a sign from her.

“Up.” Her clothing rustled as she reached across him and pressed the number sixteen.

He didn’t know he’d been holding his breath until it rushed out on a relieved exhale. Rather than jump on her in the elevator, wrap her legs around his waist and see what she hid under her clothes as he’d been dying to do for more than a week and as everything inside him screamed to do now, he leaned against the back wall and concentrated on counting to ten.

___________

Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

Leah Braemel

Jody Wallace

Eliza Gayle

Mandy M Roth

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Shiloh Walker

Delilah Devlin

Lauren Dane

Shelli Stevens

TJ Michaels

Some Inspiration

Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of DOWN TO BUSINESS!! The book is now up at most book-buying venues. You can buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Smashwords. It will be at ibooks and kobo and a few other places soon.

Since it’s release time, I thought I’d go ahead and share my inspiration for what the characters look like. First we have businessman Rob Coleman (real life Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the owner and founder of Coleman Engineering. He made an appearance in RIQSUE BUSINESS and is the star here. In my head he kind of looks like this – imagine the same naughty smile but in a business suit:

Then we have Ella Lachlan (real life Cobie Smulders). She’s the woman in the office across the glassed-in atrium from Rob. She’s sexy and interested and together they create a lot of trouble…especially since Rob is hiding a pretty big secret:

I hope you all enjoy it!