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Yearly Archives: 2022
#SundaySnippet The New York Socialites – BALANCE #romcom #NYCromance
the third book in The New York Socialites Series, BALANCE, is my little gift to you today.
She’s a wealthy socialite who survived an abusive marriage.
He’s a hardworking guy raising his son and caring for his widowed father.
They come from different worlds, but it’s said…opposites attract.
Can they find the balance between their two lifestyles to make their love work?
Or will their differences tear them apart?
Life and love are a balancing act.
ENJOY….
Joe enveloped me in a full-body hug, told me he enjoyed meeting and chatting with me, then made me promise I wouldn’t be “a stranger.” I assured him I wouldn’t.
Once we were outside the building, Derek said, “He liked you.”
Cockily, I replied, “Of course he did. What’s not to like?”
He grinned, said, “Not a damn thing,” then swooped me into his arms and pulled me against him. “I wanted to do this in the kitchen but…David.” He shook his head.
I had a pretty good idea what he meant, but asked anyway, “Do what?” while I leaned into his hard body and wrapped my hands around his waist.
With the half grin that made me lose the will to stand upright, he nuzzled the side of my nose with his own. “This.”
Soft and sweet, a simple swipe of his mouth against mine, the kiss was as chaste as could be.
Why I went numb from my knees downward was inexplicable, then. My grip around his waist tightened as I fell into his body for support to keep upright.
A deep moan welled up from him, a soul-tugging sigh with it, and he deepened the kiss as he dipped me backward over his arm.
I held on for dear life.
Okay, that, and because he felt so damn good. I’d have been a fool not to enjoy all the hard, lean muscle pressing against me now, wouldn’t I?
Mr. and Mrs. Doubletree of the Manhattan Doubletrees didn’t raise a fool.
“I’ve wanted to do this,” he whispered against my cheek, “ever since that day at the women’s center.”
I shifted until his lips were against my temple. “Why?”
“You mean aside from the way my heart rate kicks up whenever I look at you?”
Pleasure rippled through me.
“When you told me about being recently divorced you looked so…lost and fragile.”
A caustic laugh barked from me. “Two words no one has ever used to describe me are lost and fragile.”
He pulled back and cupped my cheeks. Kindness filled his eyes and I got lost in them. “I think you do a good job of hiding it, but you’ve been hurt. Deeply hurt.”
I rolled a shoulder. “No divorce is ever really amicable.”
Especially when your testimony puts your ex behind bars.
“Some hurt is expected,” I added.
He nodded. “All I wanted to do was pull you into my arms and kiss all the bad stuff away.”
For some reason I didn’t want him to know how his words touched me. My experience with my ex-husband had made me hyper-cautious and unwilling to share any weakness for fear it would be exploited. So, I fell back on past behavior and gave him an old, snarky Phil response to mask the emotions running rampant through me.
“I think that’s your medical brain talking. You see someone you think is hurting and you want to heal them, kiss it and make it all better.”
His grin grew slowly from one cheek to the other and I swear on Grannie Charlotte’s forty-inch string pearls I never wanted to look away.
“Well, the kissing part is true,” he said, bussing the tip of my nose. “But the reason behind it has nothing to do with the medical part of my brain. It has nothing to do with any part of my…brain.”
Proof of that was pressing against my abdomen.
Universal Link: BALANCE
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Photo of the day, day 280
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SUNSHINE, SELFIES, & SMUGGLERS a new #cozymystery from Louise Stevens – out today!
I am just thrilled to be able to present to you -once again on her release day! – one of my favorite authors, Louise Stevens, and her newest Port Sunset Mystery, SUNSHINE, SELFIES, & SMUGGLERS!
It’s a tradition around here that Louise and her doppelganger, Donna Simonetta, visit me on their books’ release day and it’s always a supreme pleasure for me.
So, let’s get to it….. here’s Louise and the Port Sunset gang!
Smuggling, social media sensations, and shootings…just another summer in Port Sunset
Solving mysteries with my fun-loving grandmother Lulu, her friends, and Spud the corgi is my side hustle. By day I’m Millie Wentworth the assistant general manager of the swanky Gulf Palms Resort, so you wouldn’t think sleuthing would be in my skill set. But lately it has been, and since summer is our busy season in Port Sunset I’d hoped it would be murder-free. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently so, because when social influencer Merry Marissa’s yacht cruises into town, we’re suddenly up to our necks in smuggling, stalkers, and slaughter. I have more suspects than the Tipsy Turtle has mai tais. And I’m without my sleuthing team, because Lulu’s Crew are busy going viral to raise money for animal charities.
Can I unravel the mystery and find the killer before Lulu’s Crew and I become the next victims?
“I’m no expert, but I don’t think that’s how you do downward dog. What the
ever-loving fudge is she doing?” I watched a woman in a bikini roughly the size of four microchips strung together with dental floss as she posed on all fours on the beach.
“In all fairness it is a doggy position. Just not the yoga one,” Lulu said.
I swatted my grandmother’s arm. “Not helping, Lulu.”
“She’s been doing this the whole time, and whatever it is, it is not yoga.” My BFF Nell was attempting to lead a yoga practice for guests of the Gulf Palms Resort and Spa on the gorgeous Gulf Coast of Florida. “I’m not even sure she’s a hotel guest. She’s being very disruptive. I had to stop the class because people were getting so upset. Can you get her to stop sometime before my morning yoga practice is over?”
Nell was right, as the Assistant General Manager of the hotel, it was on me to put an end to this woman’s shenanigans. I pasted on my best professional smile and walked across the powdery white sand. “Excuse me––”
The woman looked directly at the smartphone she had positioned on a tripod with a professional-looking light ring to film whatever the heck it was she was doing. She beamed at the camera and said, “Sorry Merry Maniacs, but my public is interrupting. I’ll be right back to you, my lovelies.” She flashed a peace sign at the camera with a roguish wink and then crawled over to turn off the video recording. She stood up, flicked her long, expertly waved brown hair over her shoulder, put her hands on her hips, and glared at me. “Just who the f–––”
“Hello,” I interrupted before she could utter a very un-yoga-friendly word. Internally my professional smile might’ve wavered, but I kept it on my face as I stepped toward her with my hand extended. She scowled at my hand as if I were offering her rotten fish. I lowered my hand but responded pleasantly. “I’m Millie Wentworth, the Assistant General Manager of the Gulf Palms Resort and Spa. And you are?”
Her big brown eyes widened and I noticed even on the beach she had full make-up on and false eyelashes luxuriant enough that a breeze might’ve wafted by my face as she blinked at me. “Don’t you know who I am? I’m Merry Marissa.”
The name Merry Marissa meant nothing to me, in spite of her pronouncement of it as if she were telling me she was the Queen of England. “Ms. Marissa––”
“Not Ms. Marissa,” she snapped. “My name is Marrisa Merriweather. Merry Marissa is my social media handle. My brand. M-E-R-R-Y. Because I’m so fun-loving.”
At the moment, she didn’t seem fun-loving so much as cheesed off, but I let it slide.
Lulu cocked her head and looked at the woman. “I’ve seen Merry Marissa online before. I didn’t recognize you.” She turned to me and added, “She’s a big-time social influencer.
Merry Marissa nodded. “The old lady is right. I am big time.” She looked my grandmother up and down and her jaw dropped when she got to Lulu’s white bobbed hair, currently streaked with a lovely shade of aqua. “You are obviously one well-informed person. And I love the hair! Don’t tell me you got it done in this podunk town.”
“I did.” Lulu jerked her thumb over her should at the historic pink resort where I worked. “At the Tranquility Spa and Salon in the hotel.”
“I’ll have to check it out. Keeping up my appearance is very important to my brand.”
Nell cleared her throat, and I jolted as I realized how off track our conversation had gotten. “I’m sorry, Ms. Merriweather, but Nell is leading a yoga practice for guests of the hotel, so I’m going to have to ask you to film elsewhere.”
She shook her head and snapped. “No way.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.
“I’m trying to film myself attending the yoga class for my followers. Show them how ‘spiritual’ I can be.” Marissa made air quotes around the word spiritual and then snorted while she rolled her eyes.
“Yes, but these people are paying guests at our resort and actually participating in the practice, not just posing for pictures. And you are recording our guests for public display without their permission. I’m afraid I must insist you delete the video and move on, Ms. Merriweather.”
Get your copy here:
Amazon: Barnes & Noble: Apple: Kobo: Scribd: Vivlio
And if you prefer print copies, click this link: PRINT
Louise Stevens is the author of the Port Sunset Mysteries series. A lover of mysteries since her discovery of Nancy Drew many years ago, she is thrilled to be writing cozy mysteries now. She lives in Maryland with her husband, who also loves a good mystery, in a house packed with books.
Louise Stevens is the pen name of contemporary romance author Donna Simonetta
Connect with Louise here:
Facebook: Amazon Author Page Twitter Goodreads Bookbub
And check out the first two books in the series:
When the obnoxious guest in the penthouse is poisoned beside his private pool, my daily planner is turned upside down. I’m Millie Wentworth, Assistant General Manager of the swanky Gulf Palms Resort and Spa and solving the murder shouldn’t be my job, but the only food found near the body is a charcuterie board sent to the victim by yours truly.
The Port Sunset Police are looking my way until a shocking revelation shifts their attention to a friend. Suddenly, cracking the case moves to the top of my to-do list and it’s up to me to find the real killer and clear my friend’s name.
Uncovering the truth should be a breeze with me, my pink-haired grandmother, her rescue corgi, and her crew of fun-loving septuagenarian beach bunnies on the case. What could possibly go wrong?
****COZY MYSTERY OF THE YEAR FINALIST, N.N. Light’s Annual Book Awards****
“Get ready to curl up with your next favorite book!” USA Today Best-selling Author Claire Marti
“…one of the best cozy mysteries I’ve ever read.” N.N. Light’s Book Heaven
“…you won’t want this rollicking romp to end.” 5-Star Amazon Review
I’m Millie Wentworth and I never thought I’d be involved in another murder, but here I am smack dab in the middle of a crime wave at the swanky resort where I’m Assistant General Manager. It started with a major diamond heist and ended with a dead body on the beach.
When one of my grandmother Lulu’s group of fun-loving septuagenarian friends is a prime suspect it’s time for Lulu’s Crew, Spud the corgi, and me, to get sleuthing and uncover the real criminals.
And because dodging mobsters, international jewel thieves, and solving crimes isn’t stressful enough, my hypercritical parents are in town too. My mother doesn’t approve of Lulu and me in the best of times, and these are decidedly not the best of times. Plus she’s already planning my imaginary wedding to my kinda-sorta boyfriend Scott.
All I need to do is catch a murderer plus a jewel thief and survive my parents’ visit. No problem, right?
See the entire series here: PORT SUNSET MYSTERIES
Peggy Jaeger, Author 