Tag Archives: #TeaserTuesday

September 12, 2023 · 12:00 am

#tuesdayteaser 9.12.2023

A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: DYLAN releases next Monday, Sept. 18,2023. Today’s little teaser is from Harper Vale’s POV as she reads up on the new hire, Dylan Keane.

Harper peeled her sweaty clothes from her body, tossed them in the hamper, and then jumped into the shower for a quick hose down of the day. That done, she then took a moment to evaluate her arms and legs.

Old scars in various colors and lengths traversed her limbs. Some were so old the skin had turned white where they’d healed. Others were various shades of pink. The most recent – the grad school ones – were smaller, but redder in color.

Harper shook her head as she fingered several of the older ones on her forearms and then her thighs. Her scars were the reason she never wore short-sleeved shirts or shorts in public. The need to explain to anyone who noticed the scarified flesh why they hopscotched across her limbs was a conversation she wasn’t going to have with anyone – ever – if she could help it.

With meticulous care, she pumped a bottle of body lotion a few times, then slathered her arms and legs with the white, coconut-scented cream. Done, she pulled on a pair of ancient gym sweats, an old college t-shirt. Since she was staying home and no one was going to see her, she figured she might as well be comfortable and cool. Next, she saw to dinner.

But first, she had to feed her fish.

“Hey, Tony,” she said as she sprinkled some of the fish food her mother had given her as a gift for Christmas into the bowl sitting atop her kitchen counter. The single goldfish swam to the surface to suck in the flakes. “Do anything fun today?”

Tony ignored her as he darted around the bowl to catch every single flake of food before it drifted to the bottom.

“Yeah. Me, neither.”

She pulled open her refrigerator door. Her fridge wasn’t what anyone would call stocked. Several cartons of generic yogurt, a bowl of leftover spaghetti from last night’s dinner, a half-loaf of bread, and a carton of eggs were the only things on the shelves, reminding her she needed to go grocery shopping soon. The salad she’d treated herself to at lunch today was supposed to be a nod to try and eat better. She’d forgotten the prices of the salads at work were based on weight, though. Her first one had consisted mostly of lettuce and some sliced egg bits and still cost her almost four dollars. Luckily, when the new guy bumped into her and offered to replace her ruined meal, she’d opted to add more on it since she wasn’t paying. The soda and cookies she’d tossed in were an indulgent treat. And since he didn’t protest, she figured, why not?

As she reheated the spaghetti in the microwave she thought about the new guy.

Dylan.

After she’d gone back to her office she’d retrieved the email introducing him to the company and discovered his last name was Keane.

Dylan Keane.

A pretty ordinary name for a guy anything but.

She read through his biography again paying special attention to the personal stuff and not the professional achievements.

Vital statistics: Thirty-six, single.

No mention if the single status was because of divorce, never married, or something else.

Personal interests: biking, karate, running.

Now she understood why he’d been impressed with her bike. If he was an avid rider himself, he’d surely have recognized the classic Schwinn 10-speed. This version hadn’t been produced in over twenty-five years and collectors paid a fortune for originals.

Wonder what he would have said if he knew it was her first bike, gifted to her on her tenth birthday by her parents and which she’d lovingly cared for all these years?

The microwave dinged and she stood in her small kitchen, bowl in hand, and ate.

So he was a runner. The memory of his six-foot-plus, trim, long-legged body proved it. He had that classic male model physique – the inverted coat hanger. Broad, square shoulders tapering down to a trim waist and lean hips and ending in legs that went on for days.

For a tech geek he liked sporty stuff. Most of the techies she knew from work and while she’d been at school eschewed physical sports of any kind, preferring to sit in front of their screens most of the day. Gamers were the inveterate couch potato. She couldn’t picture Dylan Keane sitting in a chair with a joystick or control panel in his hands for hours on end.

Future aspirations: to be independently wealthy and one day run a non-profit devoted to helping underprivileged kids enter STEM careers.

Well, well. It seemed Mr. Gorgeous had lofty future goals. Or he just mentioned those because he knew it would look good to others.

Harper didn’t know him well enough to decide which characterization was the more truthful.

Intrigued?

You can preorder the book here if you are: POB

Add it to your GOODREADS WANT TO READ LIST here: POB

Watch the trailer here: POB

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August 29, 2023 · 12:19 am

#teaserTuesday 8.29.2023 INFLUENCE

So, I’m still hyping my newest NYC Romance INFLUENCE, and decided for today’s Teaser tuesday, to give you another little look between the pages!

Somewhere between waiting for her to arrive and when I spotted her walking into the restaurant, I realized how excited I was to see her again and not simply because I had a story to write. I hadn’t felt this level of anticipation about a woman in a long, long time.

Kissing her like that, without asking permission, or even wondering if she felt the same way I did should have felt like a mistake.

Should have…but didn’t.

And also wasn’t a mystery.

Mackenzie Craymore was, without a doubt, the most intriguing woman I’d ever met. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d been wanting to kiss her since we’d danced.

“I love walking in the park,” she said as we ambled along. We’d joined midday runners, joggers, moms and nannies with baby carriages, rollerbladers, as we walked, hand in hand.

“When we first moved here,” I said, skirting around an elderly woman walking her Schnauzer,  “I spent most of my free time here. Biking, or with my skate board tucked in my backpack. I hung out here every afternoon after school.”

“Alone or with friends?”

“Mostly alone. Later on, when we’d been back awhile I started making friends. It was hard, at first, because by the time I arrived on scene the social cliques had already formed. Life long friends who all go to the same schools, same camps, same music lessons, tend to congregate. When you’re an outsider,” I said, “It’s hard to worm your way in.”

She sighed. “Kids can be mean.”

I shook my head. “Not so much mean as insulating. And I didn’t mind being on my own.”

Anything was preferable to the silence that met me at home every day and night.

“Is that when you began writing? During those alone times?”

Surprised, I turned to find her staring up at me with the question on her beautiful face.

“That’s an astute question.”

With a careless shrug she said, “Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. A lonely kid, living in new place. No friends. There aren’t many scenarios that fit. I don’t picture you as the kid who sat at home and played video games all day long.”

I laughed. “Nope. Not even close.”

She nodded. “So, that leaves potential mayhem and rabblerousing, or something worthwhile to occupy your time. And again, I can’t see you being the kid who stole from the local bodega or did a little pharmacology dealing on the side.”

I speared her with a speaking glance. “I’ll have you know I can cause mayhem and mischief with the best of them.”

Her laugh was so free and easy I couldn’t help the feeling of contentment it bolstered in me. I really wanted to kiss her again, but from the dark recesses of my brain I remembered I had a job to do and no matter who alluring I found this beautiful woman, I needed to do it.

“Enough about me. I want to ask you something, something about your new career.”

Her sigh floated on the gentle breeze around us. “Go ahead.”

“Why do you do it? I mean, no offense, but I don’t think you have to work, do you? Your family wealth is solid.”

It was subtle, and if I hadn’t been looking down at her when I asked, I might have missed it, but the corners of her mouth tightened a bit, her smile loosing some of its luster.

“What’s that old saying?” she asked. “You can never be too thin or too rich?”

I wasn’t buying it. Not for a second. But I knew I had to tread lightly. Otherwise, she’d shut down even more.

“Is that why you do it, then? For the money? Because I don’t see you as the type of person who courts fame and loves the attention.”

She stopped walking and looked up at me through her sunglasses. I wished I could see her eyes, try to discern what was going on behind them.

“Let’s sit.” She tugged me toward an empty bench. The earthy scent of fresh grass invaded my senses and somewhere behind us I heard a power mower working.

Mackenzie dropped my hand, placed hers in her lap as she faced me. Shaded from the tree canopy above us, she finally removed her sunglasses by shoving them up on her head.

She looked about sixteen years old as she pulled a corner of her mouth between her teeth.

“You’re right about my family’s wealth. My great-grandfather set the next five generations up for life, and my father and grandfather have only added to the family coffers.”

I nodded.

She sighed again. “If you Googled me then you probably spotted an article or two about me from…before. From when I was younger.”

Another nod. “Lots of them, in fact.” My lips lifted.  “The gossip pages were filled with mentions of your escapades.”

She rolled her eyes. “I did a lot of stupid things when I was a teenager, and then in my twenties, to garner attention. Some I’m not proud of, some I couldn’t care less about. Once something is on the Internet, though, it’s never lost. Or forgotten.”

“Truth.”

“When you’re young you don’t care what people think about you, what they write about you. You feel invincible and that it’s no one’s business but yours what you do, or say. How you conduct your life. It’s when you get more mature that you begin to realize your actions and the opinions of others do make a difference.”

“Again, that’s true. Reputations are lost and gained on one simple act.”

She nodded. “You must know I was engaged.”

“Lucky Blumenthal. Hotel heir and ridiculously wealthy in his own right.”

“His parents built that empire. When he lost them, he personally made it his mission to keep the business growing.”

“He was a bit of a reckless wild child, though.”

“He was, but his brain for business was unparalleled.” She bit down on her cheek again.  “You know what…happened?”

I unwound her hands and pulled one into my lap, cocooning it with both of mine.  For once I didn’t think words were necessary.

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April 11, 2023 · 12:50 am

#tuesdaytease 4.11.2023 SABLE ( ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID) #medicalromance #sweetromance

Today’s tease comes from my May 17th release, SABLE (Always a Bridesmaid- book 12)

Sable groaned as she spotted her oldest aunt, Teresa, moving like a heat seeking missile across the ballroom aimed straight for her.

She took a massive chug of Cranberry Cosmo from her glass, swallowed, then put what she hoped looked like a sincere smile on her face.

“There you are. I’ve been searching everywhere for you, young lady.”

“Auntie, I’ve been right here all night,” Sable said, bussing the older woman’s cheek. “What’s up?”

“Well,” her aunt slid her hand into the crook of Sable’s arm and glided her toward a quieter spot in the back corner. “I wanted to have a little chat.”

And I bet I know what about.

“Now that your brother is finally married, you’re the only single one in your generation.”

Here it comes.

 “I worry about you.  All alone, a single woman living in the city. It’s a dangerous place for a girl on her own.”

Goodness, you’d think I lived in an abandoned drug den instead of an Upper West Side brownstone.

“I’m fine, auntie. My apartment has a doorman and Chance had me install security locks on my door. No worries about my safety necessary.”

“Yes, well your brother is a cautious man, thankfully, but it’s time for you to settle down like he finally has. Are you involved with anyone special? You didn’t bring anyone today, but then you never do to any family functions. I would think if you’re serious about someone they would attend your brother’s wedding with you.”

Sable clamped down on the snarky reply she wanted to make. “I’m not involved with anyone, Aunt Teresa. Not right now. Work is the priority. It has to be.”

Teresa pressed her lips together in a thin line, the corners of her mouth pinching. “Your dedication to your medical practice is to be merited, Sable, but there comes a time when you need to do more than simply work. Now, I recently met this charming man I think would be perfect for you—”

Sable squeezed a hand over her aunt’s and forced a smile again. Best to get out in front of this. Her aunt was famous for her matchmaking efforts and Sable wanted no part in a family-mediated hookup.

“While I’m sure he’s as charming as you say, I’m doing fine in the dating world, Auntie. I’m simply taking my time and enjoying the process. You know the old saying? You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.”

Sable shuddered internally as she made the declaration. So far, the amphibians in her life outnumbered the royals a thousand to one.

“Be that as it may, it’s time you start considering marriage. You’re thirty years old, Sable. Not old, but not in the first bloom of youth, either. You don’t want to have to use artificial means to have a baby because your eggs are drying up, do you?”

Was there anything more ego-deflating than a conversation about the status of her eggs with a woman who’d ended her baby-making career decades ago?

Intrigued? LOL. I’ve also got a preorder contest going on over on my facebook page. The rules are in the following graphic. If you comment down below in this post it counts!!! Good luck!

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April 4, 2023 · 12:27 am

#teaserTuesday #tuesdaytease SABLE ( ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID) #comingsoon #preorder #medicalromance

Today’s little tease comes from my upcoming addition to the ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID collection, SABLE.

Sable’s a pediatrician and is sick and tired of being a bridesmaid in all her friends and family’s weddings. She’s determined that the next big wedding function she attends will be her own. Figuring out how to do that is a problem….

In this snippet, she’s trying to fend off the good intentions of her cousin’s matchmaking desires.

You can’t pick your family. ~ Sable Miller

Lord, please grant me the patience of Job.

Sable took another steadying breath – the sixth in as many minutes – and graced her oldest cousin with what she hoped was a normal smile and not an annoyed one.

“So I just knew he’d be perfect for you,” Moira said as she cut her pancakes into tiny bites, as if she were preparing it for a child.

“Moira—”

“The fact he’s never been married is a plus, don’t you think? No bad habits from the first wife to contend with. No kids to worry about sharing weekends with. Of course, I know your first question is going to be why isn’t he married if he’s so great. But thirty-six isn’t old by anyone’s standards anymore. He’s been building his business, devoting all his time to that. And it’s a success. Really. And now he’s ready for the next chapter in his life, and when he asked me if I knew any women looking to settle down, your name jumped right into my head.”

Of course it did.

“So I invited him to dinner this Saturday. You’ll be done with night rotation by then, right?”

Sable sighed and shoved her plate of barely-eaten eggs away from her. She hadn’t been hungry to begin with, but Moira had beat her to the diner and ordered for them both.

She wanted –desperately wanted – to lie and tell Moira she was still going to be working on Saturday night. But it was an easily verified fact and she knew Moira had it in her to call the hospital and find out if she was scheduled or not. She wondered if she already had and her question was merely an affirmation. Besides, Sable knew she was a terrible liar.

“I’ll be done, but Moira I –”

“Great. I told him seven, but you can always come early. In fact, why don’t you? I’ll do your hair and makeup so, you know? You’ll be more appealing. Not that you don’t do a decent job when you take the time, but you never wear makeup when you’re working, and I’d think you’d want to look, you know? Alluring.”

Alluring? This was too much.

“I’m not working Saturday night, Moira, but I already have plans. Plans I can’t, and don’t want to, break.”

Moira’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of plans?”

And this is why she didn’t lie. Thinking quickly, she said, “I’m having dinner with an…old friend.”

“Who?”

“A guy I knew in high school.” Stick with the truth as much as possible, she thought, because Moira was known for her grilling tactics. “I tutored him, in fact, in chemistry. You wouldn’t know him since you were years and years ahead of me.”

Okay, that was a little petty, but it felt good to see Moira’s back go up a tad. She never liked being reminded of her age.

“He’s recently begun working at the hospital and we decided to have dinner so I can clue him in to the workplace politics and such.”

Moira’s mouth stood open, a half-chewed slab of pancake sitting front and center, as she gaped across the table at her cousin.

“Is he good-looking?” she asked after finally swallowing.

“Very.”

“Give me his stats. Name. Age. Ever married? Kids? The aunts will want to know.”

Sable shook her head. “I’m not going to do that, Moira. It’s just a simple dinner. I don’t need you all Googling him and—”

“So he’s Googlable? That’s interesting. Is he a celebrity or something?”

Patience, Lord, pretty please?

If you’re interested in reading it before it’s officially released, and you’re a Booksprout subscriber, here’s the link to read and review: BOOKSPROUT

Or, you can preorder here: AMAZON

And check out all the BRIDES in the entire collection: ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID COLLECTION

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March 21, 2023 · 2:12 am

#Tuesdaytease #giveaway #preorder SABLE (ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID – Book 12)

I’m having a special TUESDAY TEASE today because it’s also a chance to win 1 of 5 Amazon Gift Cards once SABLE releases.

Here are the rules:

And here’s today’s teaser:

“Listen,” he said, “I’m starving and I imagine you are, too, since neither of us got a dinner break last night. Want to go grab something quick before heading home? The diner across the street makes the best waffles this side of the Mississippi.”

When a corner of her mouth lifted a bit, he felt ten feet tall. In the next instant it flattened again.

“I’m actually heading there for a breakfast meeting right now, so, sorry. I can’t.”

“Business meeting?”

When she rolled her eyes, he thought she looked all of sixteen years old again. Since he’d known her when she was that age, a familiar feeling of warmth moved within him.

Sable expelled a tortured groan. There was no other way to describe the sound that rumbled up from the back of her throat and blew past her lips.

“I wish it were a business meeting, but no.” When he cocked his head, she added, “I’m meeting with my cousin, Moira. She has something to”—she lifted her fingers in air quotes—“discuss with me, but I already know what it is and I really wish I had an excuse not to go.”

“Okay, now I’m seriously interested. What’s so horrible she wants to talk about?”

“Me.” Another eye roll.

“You?”

She nodded.

“What about you?”

“Not me specifically, I guess, but my unmarried, childless state.”

If he wasn’t mistaken there was a hint of bitterness in her tone, topped by a whole lot of embarrassment, solidified when her cheeks turned three different shades of crimson within a millisecond.

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I can’t believe I said that out loud. And to you, of all people,” she mumbled.

He’d think about the last part of her sentence later. For now, he said, “Let me take a guess here.”

She opened her eyes and – halleluiah – looked him in the eye.

“She wants to fix you up.”

Eyes closed again, she nodded.

“And you…what? Don’t want to be?”

Another nod.

“Because? You don’t like to be set up? Or you’re already seeing someone?”

He said a silent prayer it wasn’t the latter.

“The whole thing is ridiculously embarrassing, for starters,” she said. “I’m thirty years old and can get my own dates, thank you very much. But you’d think I was either twelve and knew nothing about the world the way my family acts, or pushing fifty and looking at a lonely later life with nothing for companionship but cats and Netflix movies.”

He wanted to laugh but kept the merriment inside him, understanding she was dead serious. She hadn’t said she was seeing someone, though, so that was telling.

And promising.

Preorder your copy here: SABLE and then follow the rules if you’d like a chance to win one of those 5 Amazon GCs!

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December 6, 2022 · 2:08 am

#TeaserTuesday It’s Witch O’clock Somewhere #PNR #witches #reunitedlovers

So just approved the galley edits for my upcoming Magnolia Blossom book It’s Witch O’Clock somewhere. I lovedlovedloved writing this first lovers/reunited story about a witch and former teenage bad boy-turned-good guy. I’ve just seen the cover and it’s beautiful! I’ll share when I’m allowed to, heehee.

Twenty years ago, Barstone bad-boy Declan Wolffe, rode out of town on his motorcycle leaving the town that looked down on his family, and the only girl he’d ever loved, in his rearview mirror.

But now he’s back. Rich, successful, and determined, he’s got plans for the town. And for the girl he left behind.

Gigi Gordon has made a successful life for herself in Barstone as a real estate agent. No one but those closest to her knows she’s a 10th-generation witch and she wants to keep it that way. Her life is disrupted, though, when the boy who stole her heart rides back into town with a plan to shake things up.

Declan may have plans, but Gigi has a few of her own. The biggest one? Protecting her heart.

And now…a little teaser:

“I’m so mad I could spit.” Gigi slammed her briefcase down on her desk. “Or worse. Hit something. Anything.”

“I’m taking it the meeting didn’t go well?” her secretary, Kathy said, wincing at the force with which Gigi’s bag hit the ancient desk.

“It was actually going great until the so-called developer showed up.”

Eyes wide, Kathy stood and moved to the coffee bar. “You look like you need a cup of tea. And Weber was actually there?”

“Not his name. It’s the company’s.” Gigi plopped down into her chair and closed her eyes as she dug deep down for some semblance of calm and peace. The light incident was worrisome since she hadn’t had an outburst manifesting itself physically in years. Not since…

Don’t go there. You’ll only get all riled up again.

“So who is he?” Kathy asked as she poured hot water over the jasmine leaves Gigi kept in the office. When it was done, she handed it to her.

Gigi sighed before taking her first sip. As the warmth of the calming tea steeped within her, she looked over the top rim of the cup and said, “Declan Wolffe.”

“Holy shit. D.C. Wolffe’s back in town?”

Since her reaction upon seeing him had been the same, she understood her secretary’s outburst.

“Unfortunately. And he’s the one proposing to modernize the downtown.”

“Weber was his mom’s maiden name, wasn’t it?” she asked, squinting off into the distance. “The business name makes sense, then.” She speared her boss with a quizzical eyelift. “He still drop-dead gorgeous?”

“Also, unfortunately.”

Goddess. How she wished he’d turned old and fat and bald.

“Why is that?” Kathy asked. “It’s so unfair men get better looking and we…don’t.” She glanced down at herself, shook her head.

“Stop. You’re just as gorgeous as you were in high school. More.”

Kathy rolled her eyes. “Says the girl with the lavender eyes and the body of a Hollywood bombshell.”

I was Gigi’s turn to roll her eyes.

Kathy shook her head again and sat back down at her desk with a sigh. “D.C. Wolffe, Barstone’s very own bad boy, back in town. Talk about a prodigal. I thought for sure we were in his rearview mirror for life. Who’d’a thunk we’d ever live to see this day?”

Not Gigi, that was for sure. Although she knew, intimately knew, the bad boy persona and rep was wrong and foisted on him once upon a time by a town that didn’t take kindly to people who were different. Again, another fact she had intimate and firsthand knowledge of.

On that summer day long ago when she’d watched the back end of his motorcycle shoot away from her as she stood in her front yard with tears streaming down her face, she thought she’d never see him again.

More to come when I’ve got a cover and a release date to share!

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October 11, 2022 · 1:50 am

#teasertuesday Return to Dickens for Christmas; SASHA’S SECRET SANTA 11.7.2022; #preorder

Today’s #TeaserTuesday is from my upcoming Dickens Holiday Romance SASHA’S SECRET SANTA ( Dorrit’s Diner).

The character of Amy Dorrit (Charles) is fascinating for so many reasons, but the main one for me is how she loves her 3 adoptive kids and how strongly she protects them. She also doesn’t suffer fools and calls it like she sees it, evident in this scene. She’s found a distraught Sasha crying in her apartment and after listening to the reason why, she…well, she acts like a mom who lays it on the line.

Enjoy.

After several minutes of Amy rocking and cooing to her, Sasha shifted, her tears finally starting to abate.

“I won’t ask if you feel better,” Amy said as she cupped her daughter’s chin and rubbed her thumbs across her cheeks. “A cry like that one serves the purpose of emotionally cleansing and physically exhausting a body.”

“I think I’m more exhausted than cleansed,” Sasha said, swiping her sleeve under her nose. “And now I’ve got a headache to add to it, to boot.”

With a shake of her head, Amy leaned forward and kissed Sasha’s forehead.

“Why are you home so early? I thought you were going to take the entire day to shop.”

“Took most of it.” Amy lifted a shoulder and added, “When we were done, we were done.”

“Most of the day? What time is it?” Sasha asked.

“Half-past three.”

“Oh, God. I told everyone I was only taking a few minutes and it’s been three hours. I need to get downstairs.” She tried to stand but Amy held her back.

“The diner’s fine, baby girl. The girls and Chet have been taking care of things just fine. You sit back down and tell me what got you to blubbering.”

“I need a glass of water, first.” Once Amy let her stand, Sasha filled a glass and downed it in one long draught. After that she ran cold water over her face, knowing she must look like a swollen, red-splotched mess.

Done, she plopped down next to her mother, dragged in several deep, weary breaths, and told her all about her relationship with Steve Caldwell, ending with the conversation she’d had with Kane.

“I should have trusted my instincts,” she said once she was done, the tears spent, and her voice tired. “They told me from the get-go he was only interested in me because he wanted me for the hospital.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Amy said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you every time he comes into the diner. The man is smitten.”

Sasha rubbed her nose, then shook her head. “If he’s smitten it’s with my skills as a nurse, not as,” she blushed, “a woman or anything else.”

“I don’t like repeating myself, but I’m really not sure that’s true, baby girl.”

On the end of a sigh sewn together with exhaustion and a strangled ache, Sasha said, “It’s true enough, mom. He didn’t deny it when I confronted him.”

“Did you give him a chance to? Or did you steamroll right over him like you always do when you want to make a point?

Surprised, Sasha said, “I don’t do that.”

Amy’s brows took a steady climb toward her hairline. When they arrived and settled, her eyes opened wide and she regarded her daughter with an expression Sasha had seen dozens of times during her childhood. A don’t even think about bullshitting me glower that made the person – or child – being glared at confess any and all infractions they’d committed

That the look could still make her crumble at the age of thirty-four like an unbalanced house of cards was worrisome.

And annoying.

“I don’t.”

“Really? I can give you chapter, book, and verse on any number of times you’ve done it in your life. You’ve always been like that, baby girl. Always need to have the last word in an argument; always need to get your point across before anyone else can make theirs.”

Amy’s words stung. So much so, tears started to swell in Sasha’s eyes again. Angrily, she batted them away with her lashes.

Her mother’s expression softened. “Look, sweetie. I’m not saying it to make you upset, just to point out that you have a…tendency we’ll say, not to listen to the other person during an argument when you think you’re in the right.”

“I am in the right about this, mom. Steve was just buttering me up before asking me to work for the hospital. Kane all but proved it.”

Amy’s thin-lipped glare told her daughter exactly what she thought about Kane Barclay and his declaration.

“I know you’ve never liked him,” Sasha said. Before she could continue, though,  her mother cut her off.

“I don’t dislike him,” she said. “But he has a habit of embellishing any story he’s telling to garner more attention for himself. He was always that way as a kid and hasn’t changed much as an adult.”

Sasha waved a hand in the air with a careless flitter. “History aside, this time he didn’t embellish, just told me straight out what he’d overheard.”

“You should know better than to believe any info given to you second-hand like that, Sasha Charles.”

A sudden stab of unease speared through her. Was her mother right? Should she have regarded Kane’s declaration warily?

Intrigued? I hope so, LOL

You can preorder the book here and have it delivered to your Kindle on 11.7.2022 on release day. Or, the paperback version is available right now!

Happy pre-holidays, folks! Peg

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June 28, 2022 · 2:10 am

#TeaserTuesday CHANCE (Last Man Standing) #preorder #cleanromance #Commitmentphobe

from the upcoming book, CHANCE releasing 9.12.2022

Chance opened his eyes and before he could look down and assess the damage done to his clothing found a pair of the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen gazing at him with worry creasing a perfect brow. A halo of copper-colored hair sat secured in a high ponytail, a pencil sticking out of the center of the knot. Skin the color of pale cream glowed with heath. A tiny depression in the center of the chin was so unexpected Chance found himself staring at it for a few beats before he lifted his gaze back to her eyes.

“I can’t believe she threw her coffee at you,” the woman said, shaking her head. She slammed a fist on her hip. “What a waste of six bucks. Thank goodness it was a cold brew. Here,” she shoved a stack of napkins at him. “I don’t have a proper towel to give you.  I still need to get supplies in. These will help, though, sop some of it up.”

The notion he should take the napkins drifted across his mind but he couldn’t manage to get his hands working. He was simply unable to do anything but stare at her. Covered in baggy blue overalls with a stark white t-shirt under then and white sneakers on her feet, she was the furthest thing from the type of woman he was usually drawn to. Six-foot models who were looking for a night on the town and free champagne cocktails were more his speed. But there was something so indescribably alluring about this woman dressed in clothes that did nothing for her, he simply couldn’t take his eyes off her.

A tiny head tilt as she stared at him and the subsequent slide of her ponytail to the side propelled Chance out of his stunned stupor. Blinking like he had ten eyelashes stuck under his lid he shook his head a few times then took the proffered napkins with a simple, “Thanks.”

While he began patting at his assuredly ruined suit, she asked, “Friend of yours?”

He barked out a laugh. “Hardly.”

Available for READ AND REVIEW in Booksprouts, now: CHANCE

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November 30, 2021 · 4:19 am

#TeaserTuesday

In addition to EVERYTHING else I’m currently doing with my writing career, I’ve begun the process of converting my first KindleVella story into book form. I hope to have the completed work ( it’s 32 chapters Yikes) ready to publish in KU on January 1. That’s a bit of a daunting date, but I seem to thrive well under pressure these days.

The episodic story did so well in KindleVella and continues to do so, I felt I wanted to offer it to a wider reading audience, so, the process begins.

Here’s a little tease from the book for today’s Tuesday Teaser:

Since first learning of their assignment, a question had been burning inside her. Anna finally gave it a voice. “Can she really be as good as we’ve been lead to believe? I mean, she’s been stuck out here in the sticks for ten years. Can she still have that edge?”

None of the current members of the SPCD, aside from Tucker, had been FBI agents when Kella was a major member of the unit.

“From everything I’ve read in her bio, she’s one smart chick,” Diego said. “Three doctorates before the age of twenty-three; tenth-degree black belt. She was the choice of the Director to head the unit after her old man was killed. She passed, so it went to Petrie.”

“And he’s never looked back,” Jemson said, a flash of humor crossing his face. In the next instant, he grew serious again. “Petrie told me a story once a few years ago when we worked on the Bordello Butcher. Remember that one?”

“I heard about it,” Diego said. “One sick dude.”

“Yeah. Petrie figured out who the perp really was because of something he remembered Kella said when she was just a kid. Seems she was always at the Bureau or Quantico with her old man after her mother died. They were working a case where the guy strangled his little boy vics and then tied a big red bow around their necks as a calling card.”

“I remember that one,” Anna said. “Required reading during training because of the age-specific profile.”

“Yeah. Well, it seems Carson O’Brien was the one who wrote the profile, but it was little Miss O’Brien who nailed the guy. She was twelve.”

“How?” Diego asked, keeping his eyes on the car in front of him as it turned off the main street.

“The team liked a coupla guys for the do-er, but couldn’t finger any of them with the limited evidence. The kid comes into the conference room one day, sees the pictures of the crime scenes all over the bulletin board, spots the bows, and tells her old man the guy’s left-handed.”

“How did she figure that?” Anna asked.

“Well, they’d all been staring at the pictures for days, and Petrie and O’Brien felt something wasn’t right about the way the victims were laid out. They thought the positioning was wrong or something. Anyway, she comes in, looks at the pictures, tells her old man the perp’s left-handed and then demonstrates it by tying her shoes first right-handed and then left. Seems she’s ambidextrous as well as brilliant.”

“I am, too,” Anna said. “Ambidextrous, I mean,” she added, her face turning color.

“You shoot both hands?” Diego asked, eyeing her in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah. My Dad taught me how to use both.”

“Well, then you should know there really is a difference in how the bow falls if you tie it left-handed,” Peter said. “Only one of their suspects was, so the team zeroed in on him and actually caught him, under surveillance, pick up his last victim.”

“Pretty smart kid,” Diego said.

“To hear Petrie talk her up, she’s the best thing that ever happened to profiling. The Director offered her anything she wanted to stay on as head of the unit. She’d had enough, though, when her old man bought it. The killer almost did her in as well. The way I heard it, she was an ounce of blood away from dying when she killed the guy.”

“I heard that story at the Academy,” Diego said. “When we took Weapons and Firearms. The instructor drilled into us how important it is to practice shooting from every imaginable angle, no matter what physical condition we’re in. That kind of training saved Kella O’Brien’s butt.”

Intrigued? I’ll keep you posted and if you subscribe to KU you’ll be able to read it.

Enjoy your day, peeps ~ Peg

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November 24, 2020 · 12:00 am

#Teasertuesday 11.24.2020 BAKED WITH LOVE ( A Match Made in Heaven, bk 3)

Since BAKED WITH LOVE is due out in less then 3 week ( I’m not freaking out.I’m not!) I figured a teaser from the book would be good for today. This scene is Maureen’s first indication Lucas may feel something for her more than friendship…

“What were the three of you talking about?” I asked Lucas once the others left the kitchen.

Before answering me, he closed the dishwasher and wiped his hands on a dishtowel.

He leaned back across the sink ledge and crossed his arms over his chest. The material on his dress shirt pulled against the bulk of his biceps, and my mouth went dry as unprocessed baking flour.

“Mac’s bachelor party. Cathy said she’s busy next weekend finalizing some wedding stuff with Colleen, so they’re both free. We’re gonna do something Saturday night.”

“What? Heaven’s not exactly the place where three guys can run amuck as a last hurrah to bachelorhood. Not that you’d ever run amuck, but still.”

His right eyebrow rose on his forehead. “Run amuck?”

I shrugged. “You know what I mean.”

When he dropped his chin to his chest, I got the distinct impression he was laughing at me and didn’t want me to see. When he shook his head, I was certain of it.

“I should pay you to help Robert with his SAT prep. Amuck. Good word.”

“And accurate. So, what are your plans? Getting out of town for the night? Driving into Concord or Manchester? Hitting a few bars and drinking your weight in beer?”

He angled his head to one side as he regarded me through half-closed eyes. His entire stance as he leaned against the sink, arms folded, ankles crossed and pushed out in front of him, radiated a calm, cool, and disinterested façade. I knew he was anything but. Lucas Alexander was never so focused, so intense, or so stealthy as when he appeared exactly the opposite.

His ability to remain calm and unreadable was another facet of his personality I loved.

“Why do you want to know?” he asked me. “What are you worried about?”

“I’m not worried.”

“You say one thing, but your body language says another.”

I rolled my eyes. “My body language says nothing. There’s no reason for me to be worried about anything since Slade and Mac are going to be with you, Lucas. Whatever you wind up doing, I know they’ll be safe. I’m asking because, like my sisters are fond of saying, I inherited Nanny’s nosy gene.”

His brows pulled together between his eyes and that head tilt shifted.

“What do you mean you’re not worried because they’ll be with me? And what did that crack about me never running amuck mean? Jesus.” He unfurled his arms and swiped his hands through his hair at the temples. “I’ve said amuck more times than I’ve ever said it in my life.”

“That’s a dumb question, since you’re the chief of police.” I held my hands up at my sides. “You’re the most responsible and trustworthy human being I know. You don’t do anything that crosses a line either morally, ethically, or legally. I’ve seen you drunk once in your life after Danny’s funeral, and you deserved to be since you’d just lost your best friend. You’re dependable, Lucas. Completely.”

It was a wonder he didn’t get a headache from the way the skin over his forehead puckered inward.

“Dependable and trustworthy? You make me sound like a cub scout, or an unemotional robot with a stick up his ass. Dull and boring. Like I don’t know how to have a good time and never do.”

“I’m sure you do, but I’m also sure since you became chief, you’re more aware than ever of the small minds and big mouths living in this town. You can’t be seen doing anything”—I shook my head again— “questionable or unseemly, like getting drunk in public at a bachelor party. You need to be on the safe side of gossip at all times. And you are. It’s what makes you such a good leader.”

“Unseemly? Lord, Maureen. Now you’re making me sound like a modern version of Josiah Heaven. You gonna accuse me of having a God complex next?”

How the heck had this conversation veered into him thinking I was comparing him to our town founder?

“What?” I fisted my hands on my hips, well and truly confused and getting irritated by the second. “Weren’t you the one who told my sister in that very breezeway”—I pointed behind me—“not more than two hours ago you weren’t going to condone anything illegal because, quote, you’re the chief of police, unquote? I don’t think I imagined it, Lucas.”

It was as if he hadn’t heard me.

“I’m not old and tired and worn out yet, you know.” He started pacing back and forth, his hands slung in his trouser pockets.

“I never said you were. I—”

“I’ve got responsibilities to this town and its citizens, Maureen. I’m on call twenty-four hours a day for the city. Never a day to myself, never a night to call my own. Christ. I had to promise Pete Bergeron three weekends in a row off in order to be free Saturday night.”

“Lucas, what—”

“I haven’t had a vacation in six years. In addition, I take care of a man who wants nothing more than to die and finds it amusing to take pot shots at my son.”

For the first time in my memory, Lucas’s voice rose. He was always the proverbial calm during a crisis, the one everyone gravitated to for guidance, the man people regarded as a natural leader.

It dawned on me he wasn’t simply tired, but exhausted. And not only physically. The weight of all the responsibilities he carried on those strong, broad shoulders was taking its toll, and he had no one in his life to help shoulder them.

Placing myself straight in front of him, I barred his pacing. I reached out, wrapped a hand around his forearm, and pressed, forcing him to pay attention to me.

He blinked hard a few times, as if coming awake after a deep sleep. The confusion in his eyes worried me.

“Lucas. Stop.”

He focused in on me, then to where I held his arm. When he lifted his gaze back to me, his forehead was furrowed. “Maureen?”

I squeezed his arm again. “Are you okay?”
 He tilted his head to one side while he continued to stare at me for a few beats.
“I’m worried about you,” I told him.

“Worried?”

“Yes. You’re being”—I shrugged then shook my head—“weird. And you’re scaring me.”

He blinked a few times. “You’re worried about me?”

“Yes, dammit.” I stamped my foot, frustrated and getting mad, now. “I care about you, and I’m worried because you’re acting so out of character. What about that is so hard to comprehend?”

I removed my hand from his arm, only to have him grab it back with his own.

“Let go of m—” I stopped dead. One look at the expression on his face and any and all words were forgotten. The confusion reeling in his eyes shifted, cleared, then flew completely to be replaced by a piercing, all consuming…hunger.

Intrigued? I hope so. You can preorder your ecopy here, now: BWL

And if you’d like a PRINT version before the book is released, I’m selling them on my website store for a drastically reduced price, here: STORE

And not to brag ( even though I am) Long and Short Reviews gave BAKED WITH LOVE a BEST BOOK RATING.

Love that!!!

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