Serenity Snow's Blog, page 36
July 21, 2020
July 19, 2020
Criminally Hot
Falling in love can be an exhilarating and exciting thing but it also comes with uncertainty. Normally, it’s something as simple as fear of losing oneself but in the case of these ladies love is a little more complicated and dangerous. It burns hot and runs deep. Is it strong enough to overcome the possibility of a loss of life?
For the rest of the post click the link: https://spiceofliferomance.weebly.com/criminally-hot.html
July 15, 2020
July 8, 2020
WIP Wednesday
This week I’ve finished second edits for Coming Home to Love and I’m working on edits for Cozy Bend 7 before sending it off for submission. I hit a snag in the process. I’m going to be working on this longer than expected since I have to rewrite sections of the main plot. That means rewriting other minor sections, but I have clear picture of where I’m going so it shouldn’t take more than a few more days to finish that.
Then, I’ll read it next week to make sure it all makes sense before sending it off to the publisher.
Also, I’m working on Assassins Core 5. I’m glad 4 hasn’t been published yet. I haven’t even done edits for it yet. So, I can change the ending to mesh with my new ideas for the next book. I wasn’t sure where the book was going then I was hit by an idea. Now, I’m jumping in with both feet.
Yeah. I do that alot. I don’t need to flesh anything out. I take an idea and run with it and flesh things out as I write. It’s an organic process as I’ve mentioned before. I do write down small bits so I won’t forget, but its early stages here so I don’t have anything to write down.
I started the book today and it’ll pick up right where book 4 leaves off. As with book 3, the epilogue from the last book will be the prologue with some minor additions.
A reader is actually to thank for this idea. She reviewed The Nefarious Madam and mentioned Grace. That got me thinking about what to do with the next book. I’m not completely sure how I’ll deal with Grace here yet, but she will figure in this book a great deal and Alexi will have to handle a few problems that come calling.
Well, I don’t have an excerpt, but I might next week. Depends how far I am in Assassins Core 5. I have an event this weekend, work. So, I won’t be wallowing in writing.
I won’t be coming into contact with many people thankfully. This part-time job was a bit of a side hustle, and it’s all I have for the time being. Woman’s gotta eat and pay the bills.
Enjoy the rest of the week and happy reading.
July 6, 2020
The Nefarious Madam Excerpt
Two
hours later, Tatiana took a sip of her wine as Alexi joined her in the sitting
room of the apartment above the club. She’d had her bath and wore a pair of
short pajama pants with a matching camisole while her curls were mercifully
free in a wild tangle.
Alexi
looked a little tense as she sat down next to her, her short black hair cut
shorter, the strands all one length. There was a glass of tea in hand. The
fruit made the drink look more inviting, but her wine had hit the spot.
“You’re
tense,” Tatiana commented as Alexi picked up a sandwich from the plate loaded
with fries.
“I’m
pensive.” She took a bite of sandwich. “I want to give you a safe life, Tia.”
“It’s
too late to send me home,” she said. “I mean, my parents will take me in, but
my father is a little pissed that his mother is going to trial over my
kidnapping and Andrea’s murder.”
Her
grandfather, his brother, and apparently her grandmother had plotted to kill
Tatiana. Instead, the shooter had missed her and killed Tatiana’s boss, Andrea.
They’d even plotted to set Tatiana up for the murder once they failed to kill
her.
Alexi
had been instrumental in getting the investigation going.
“I
don’t want to send you home,” Alexi told her evenly as she leveled a blue stare
at her. “I just want you to understand I have a few residual problems to clean
up.”
“That
guy whose friend you killed before the mess with my family?”
“No,
this is your grandfather’s boss, and I’m not sure what he wants which is part
of the problem,” Alexi explained.
“The
attack on me was a warning,” Tatiana said quietly.
“If
that was Cooley, then, yes. I expect him to crank up his attacks in some
manner, but I don’t know exactly what he’ll do.”
She
nodded, the anger in Alexi’s gaze washing over her, tightening her throat. The
animal’s green stare was almost disconcerting.
“Who
is Cooley?” Tatiana frowned.
“He
was one of your father’s minions,” Alexi told her. “He probably wants to make a
name for himself now that Charles and Banks aren’t around.”
“What
about their boss?” She was more curious than she wanted to be. On the other
hand, Tatiana knew the more she knew about those who might attack her the
better prepared she could be.
“He
messaged me for a meet tomorrow. I’ll know more after that.”
“What
did you do that’s got him worked up?” Tatiana asked. “What kind of losses?”
“Tia—”
“Talk
to me,” she said firmly. “I’m not the same woman I was when we met. Too much
has happened to keep me in the dark.”
Alexi
pushed out a rough breath. “I trashed his drugs, killed some of his people, got
others arrested. His business interests here are ruined. He’s got to start from
scratch.”
Tatiana
took a sip of wine, nodding. Three weeks ago, she might have asked if Alexi had
actually killed someone or if she’d ordered their deaths. She might even have
asked if it had been necessary for Alexi to do any of what she’d done.
Now,
it didn’t matter if she had. All that did matter was the consequences of her
actions.
“I’ll
be careful,” Tatiana told her. “I know you’ll keep me as safe as you can. The
rest is up to me and the divine.” She believed that even more now than she had
the night her grandfather had kidnapped her.
He
had been so angry and vengeful. He’d been bent on killing Tatiana to get back
at Alexi, to make Alexi pay for being the trigger that had in his mind taken
Trevor, Tatiana’s brother, from the family.
Not
that it had been a great loss. Besides, her mother had worked magic, too—which
had been more powerful? Her mother’s magic or the fact Trevor had pissed Alexi
off?
She
wasn’t going to ask, but Tatiana had a feeling Alexi knew who’d killed Trevor.
Alexi
gave her a faint smile. “You mean everything to me, Tia.”
“I
love you, too, Alexi,” she said and leaned toward her, giving Alexi a kiss on
the cheek.
“How
are things going at work? Are the new employees working out?”
“You
want to bring in someone?” Tatiana had expected that.
“I
do,” Alexi said. “You’re the boss. There’s no reason you can’t make that
happen.”
“I’ll
hire my new bodyguard,” she said with a laugh.
“I
had someone else in mind.”
Tatiana
gave her a skeptical look. “A real employee?”
Alexi
winked. “You trust me, remember.”
“That’s
a two-way street, lover,” she replied. “I need some facts.”
“A
friend is looking for a job. Just something to help him get back on his feet.”
“A
guy?” she exclaimed. “Sure. Why not. What’s he do? I could use a sales
associate or an accountant. I could even use a security guard.”
“I
think security will be more up his alley than sales associate. Though, he’s not
bad with numbers.”
“You’re
keeping secrets,” Tatiana said and set her glass on the table. “But I’ll hire
your friend as long as he’s not a horn dog.”
Alexi
laughed. “He’ll be all business, and he is just a guy looking for a job.”
Yeah,
right, and her grandfather wasn’t really dead.
“Okay.
Have him come in around nine tomorrow ready to work.” Tatiana watched Alexi
start on the fries. God, where was she putting it all?
“Thanks.”
Alexi ran her hand along Tatiana’s leg and squeezed her thigh, and Tatiana’s
body heated, her nipples hardening.
Tatiana’s
phone rang as she put her hand on Alexi’s, and she groaned. “Someone has bad
timing,” Tatiana muttered and grabbed it from the end table and glanced at the
display.
“Hello,
Mother. How are you?”
“Tatiana,”
Melissa said softly. “I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, so I thought I’d call
to check up on you.”
“I’ve
been busy with the store.”
“Are
you sure you aren’t avoiding me, considering what’s going on?” Melissa asked.
“I
don’t know what you mean.” She frowned.
“Alexi
hasn’t told you?”
“Told
me what?” Tatiana asked, her stomach knotting as she threw Alexi a look.
“Your
father asked me to stand by your grandmother with him,” she said. “I agreed.”
Tatiana
was glad she was sitting down, or she’d have fallen. “Are you kidding? You know
she was partially responsible for what happened to me.”
“This
is family business,” Melissa said. “It’s bad enough Charles’s name is being
dragged through the mud. It will hurt some of the work your grandmother and I
are involved in and if she gets convicted that will hurt the foundation.”
Her
mother and grandmother worked with a foundation involved in helping women and
girls in rising above poverty as well as becoming successful and empowered
members of the community.
Tatiana
looked at her phone as if it had spoken the words not her mother. “Mother, are
you saying money is more important than me? What about April?”
“She
understands the situation,” Melissa said. “And I want you to—”
“No,”
Tatiana snapped. “Do what the hell ever you want. They kidnapped me and it
wasn’t for my own good.”
“Tatiana,
there is no reason to drag the family name through the mud now. Our lives are
going to be torn apart over this investigation, and accounts could be frozen,
assets seized as it is.”
She
laughed. “Oh, my Isis,” she muttered. “You’re insane Mother, and so is Grandmother.
She can go straight to hades for all I care.”
“Fine,
just don’t make this difficult,” Melissa said patiently. “I’m going to be
working with Anthony to keep the cleaners from going under. Don’t ruin that.”
“What
did Dad do to you?” Tatiana demanded. This wasn’t like her mother.
The
night she’d been kidnapped, Tatiana had been told that her father was in charge
of killing her mother. Her mother was fine, so that had been a lie, or
something had happened that staved it off.
“I
don’t know what you’re talking about,” Melissa said, quietly.
“Dad
was supposed to poison you,” Tatiana replied, her stomach tight. “The man who
was going to kill me for Grandfather told me that.”
The
long silence confirmed that something had happened.
“Mom?
What did he do? Threaten me? April?”
“Why
would you believe Alexi’s lie? Was she there that night?”
“Goodbye,
Mother.” She ended the call and set her phone down, but that something odd in
her mother’s voice gave her pause. “I can’t believe her. She wants me to
pretend this all never happened.”
“They’re
to put the kidnapping on me,” Alexi told her.
“Why
didn’t you tell me?” Tatiana burst out. “I can’t—what did he do to her? I know
you know.”
“Your
mother was fine that night, and I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.”
“My
grandmother did something to scare her,” Tatiana insisted. “I know she did,
even if it was nothing more than threaten to turn her into a pauper. She
doesn’t want to be poor.”
“It’s
hard, but it’s not a crime,” Alexi commented. “It’s a condition that can be
risen above.”
“Help
her,” Tatiana commanded.
“I
don’t know that she needs help.”
“I’m
going to talk to her and find out if money is what they’re using to make her
lie.”
“And
then what? You want me to give her a few million?” Alexi demanded. “That’s not
the answer to this.”
“Then,
what is? You’re going to kill them all, too?” Tatiana screamed, fear and anger
mingling in her with the force of a tornado.
“I
don’t have any plans to at this point, but I’ll eliminate them if it becomes
necessary.”
“Like
you did Trevor?” Tatiana clamped her hand over her mouth and widened her eyes
in horror that she’d said that. The strange thing was Alexi wasn’t denying it.
“I
can see you’re angry, and I’m tired,” Alexi said. “I need to rest.” She rose
and picked up the half-empty plate and glass of tea. She drained the liquid in
a single gulp.
Tatiana
went cold all over, her body feeling like jelly. “Did you have him killed?”
July 4, 2020
July 1, 2020
WIP Wednesday
This week I’m doing edits on Cozy Bend 7 before I send it in. Amazingly I still don’t have a title and haven’t even started working on one. It topped out around 66,00o but I’ve already added another thousand to it. I imagine I might add another few thousand as I go on. I’ve found a few plot holes to clear up obviously since I changed parts of the story in mid-stream. It’s been fun making he changes though.
Also, I finished the first on Coming Home to Love, Cozy Bend Romance 4 and I’m excited about the cover.
I’ll probably go right into the 8th book of the Cozy Bend series but I’m not sure. I’m going to take a few days off after I finish the edit of book 7 to go over some of the bits and pieces of other books I’ve started–Coyote Bound and Law and Love. Law and Love probably won’t get the call.
I have a compelling plot for that book, but I’m afraid if I start on it now, I’ll fall into the series rather than finishing up the Cozy Bend series or starting the next Assassin’s Core book. I want to do a few novellas in that series but I don’t know how that is going to work out. These days everything seems to go a bit longer than planned.
I do have one last excerpt from Cozy Bend 7. I’m near the half way point in my edits, so I’ll select a piece from there. Mirabella and Rae haven’t gotten together yet, but they have had plenty of interaction which this scene indicates.
Enjoy this excerpt.
The bell jingled, and Rae turned to see Mira coming in. She was gorgeous in a smart dress with her hair up in a bun. Rae wiped a hand over her nape wishing Mira hadn’t been one of the few who’d turned her down.
She was so fucking hot, but she couldn’t help smiling as Mira walked toward her.
“Hi,” Mira said after stopping next to her.
Mira’s blue eyes held a light of welcome that made her wish they were alone, so she could steal a kiss.
“Hey, I was just stopping to grab us breakfast,” Rae told her. “I wasn’t sure if you’d have eaten.”
“Thanks,” she said tiredly, and Rae noticed the dark circles under her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Rae murmured and started to touch her but stopped herself. “You sound tired.”
“I—yeah.” She leaned closer to Rae, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You ordered?”
Her touch had Rae’s nipples hardening, and she started to warn Mira she couldn’t just touch her like that but guessed that Mira might have caught sight of her dad or one of his friends at the counter.
“Umm-hmm.” She put a hand on Mira’s waist, savoring the contact and wishing for something more intimate. “You want to get a table while we wait?”
“Yes.” Mira took her hand and led Rae to a table near a window. The bamboo shades were closed keeping out the early morning sun. “Did you see my dad? His close friend wasn’t too far behind you.”
“He’s here.”
“Shit,” Mira muttered.
Rae sat next to her leaning toward her and draping her arm along the back of Mira’s chair. There was a hint of a chill to Mira’s skin today that gave her pause, and the witch in her knew there was something unnatural about Mira.
But at this moment, that didn’t matter. She’d ponder the mystery later when she was alone, aching to touch her.
“What’s wrong? You look tired,” Rae said. And she hated it, wished she could do something to erase the cause of whatever had Mira stressed.
She shook her head. “Nothing, really.” She brushed bangs from her face. “I should get a haircut.”
“Why? The long hair suits you,” Rae drawled, and Mira’s cheeks colored slightly.
“I normally wear it short, but I haven’t had time to get cut.”
“Why do you wear short when bet you look unbelievable with it falling around you when you’re naked.”
Mira drew in a sharp breath and her cheeks flushed a little more.
“Damn you’re gorgeous,” Rae said and cleared her throat. “What’s going on? Is that doctor harassing you?”
“No,” she shook her head slowly but there was a flicker of excitement in her eyes.
“I’ll kick his ass and make him see the wisdom of staying away from you,” Rae said, fury building in her at the very thought of Leo.
“No, it’s not him,” Mira said and looked at her, a small smile on her lips. “Can you turn back time?”
“Even if, I could one of us would have to remember that the moment I walked into that bar was the moment you would regret not going elsewhere.”
June 24, 2020
WIP Wednesday
This week I’m diligently working on finishing Cozy Bend 7. I had only meant for this one to be about 45,000, but it’s going to top out around 67,000 from the looks of it. I’m a day or two away from finishing.
Also, I got first edits this week for Coming Home to Love, Cozy Bend Romance 4. I’m enjoying the read through, and I’ve already found a few minor problems. One thing I’ll be changing due to what I’ve written in the current book, 7 in the series. I find that in order to make things work, I have to make those minor changes. I’m glad I have the chance to to or I’d have had to write the story in a different manner. It’s nothing major just a spatial orientation of a building.
As I finish up 7 I’m trying to decide whether to do a spin-off, but I’m thinking not. A few elements in this story I like and I’ll probably take those and use them in another series. I am trying to close out the supernatural elements with this book instead of carrying them over. I think I’ll be able to. I’ll probably go right into the 8th book and that will likely be the last book unless I decided to bring a few other characters forth for a few short books.
I don’t have a cover or pub date for Coming Home to Love yet, but I can’t wait to see it. I don’t we sharing an excerpt this week, but I’ll try to get one out next week.
June 23, 2020
Release Day!
Alexi is back and this time she’s meaner than ever. She’s ready to take down Breakers and she’ll do the old-fashioned way. Hard. Grab The Nefarious Madam today.
https://www.evernightpublishing.com/the-nefarious-madam-by-serenity-snow/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BN8MCTY/
