Preslaysa

Some might think law enforcement and romance are a contradiction in terms. I hope to dispel that notion. For as one reviewer of my most recently released detective story, HARMFUL INTENT, put it…Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes gives new meaning to the term southern comfort.

HARMFUL INTENT is the first detective novel in my new couples series and is action filled and sassy all at the same time with liberal use of humor. The idea of a “couples series” in detective fiction is kind of new and by its very nature, lends itself to romance. Still, these are first and foremost detective stories where the murder mystery and the chase to catch the killer is the main element.

The first three novels in this series will feature Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels, lady PI and Dawson Hughes, a former Army Ranger now a county deputy in west Texas. Ronnie is impulsive, a competent private investigator, and endearing. Dawson Hughes is the perennial stalwart detective, a true blue guy. There will be three more sets of law enforcement couples…twelve novels in all. Many of these novels will be high stakes, featuring crimes with national security implications.

Ronnie and Dawson take it very slow in the romance department and in fact sometimes spar with each other. However, senior-citizen characters Hoot Dagney and Bertha, who are one of the main comic interests in what has been called a zany , seat-of-the-pants detective story, move faster in the romance department. Bertha is a widow and though Hoot’s backstory is not delved into, at the opening of the story he is a bachelor. I strove to write two characters who would tickle the readers’ funny bones and warm their hearts. Yet the reader would have the utmost respect for the two characters’ strong Christian beliefs. I can’t tell you the number of readers who have said they were charmed and delighted by Bertha and Hoot’s love story.

DEADLY DESIGNS, the second novel in this series, will come out this summer. Ronnie and Dawson team up to find a geeky radio broadcaster’s missing runway model wife and young daughter. They fear the woman and child were taken by Islamic terrorists as revenge against the husband’s pro-Israel, conspiracy theory broadcasts.

About HARMFUL INTENT:

Sweet, askance romance, warm intimacy, sophisticated themes presented tastefully.

Betrayal runs in private investigator Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels’ family. So, why is she surprised when her husband of one year cheats on her? The real shock is his murder, with the local lawman pegging her as the prime suspect.

Ronnie Ingels is a Brooklyn bred private investigator who travels to west Texas, where her cheating husband is murdered. As she hunts the killer to clear her name, she becomes the hunted.

Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes, a former Army Ranger, is a man folks want on their side. Only he’s not so sure at first, he’s on the meddling New York PI’s side. As the evidence points away from her, he realizes the more she butts in, the more danger she attracts to herself.

About Nikki:

Like so many writers, Nike Chillemi started writing at a very young age. She still has the Crayola, fully illustrated book she penned (colored might be more accurate) as a little girl about her then off-the-chart love of horses. Today, you might call her a crime fictionista. Her passion is crime fiction. She likes her bad guys really bad and her good guys smarter and better.

Nike is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and is its Chairman, a reader’s choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction.  She has been a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories; and an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series, set in the mid-1940s has won awards and garnered critical acclaim. Her new contemporary whodunit, HARMFUL INTENT released under the auspices of her own publishing company, Crime Fictionista Press finaled in the Grace Awards 2014. She has written book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Christian Indie Novelists, and John 3:16 Marketing Network.  http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/

Weird how character almost take over a story and write it themselves.

I’m working on the sequel to The Lady Fugitive, and when I wrote that book I felt as if I were the reader instead of the writer. Things kept happening and I hated to stop working because I wanted to see what happened next.

I’m having a similar experience with the sequel, still unnamed. Several of these characters appeared in the first book, too. Jennifer Louise Parks’ brother, John Lincoln Parks is the main character. He’s trying to rebuild his parents’ peach and horse ranch in Peachville, Colo., after a wicked uncle nearly ruined it.

But John’s also looking for a wife, and the elegant and beautiful Valerie MacDougal who served as Jenny’s maid of honor nearly a year ago, appears to fill the bill. But since her first husband’s death, she’s spending her mourning with her parents and little son in Boston.

Yet, Valerie visits Peachville, and when she leaves, she promises to write. John gives her a goodbye kiss at the train station she’s sure to remember.

But trouble and distractions appear out of nowhere.

A gorgeous redhead, Roberta Bellea Peabody, appeared in John’s  barn loft in the process of birthing a baby. Then the mother of the wealthy young man who raped the young woman shows up and wants the foundling—her grandson. The baby’s father also tries to get the newborn because he fears his mother might cut off his gambling money.

When the pasture fence is broken down and John’s new stallion escapes along with about a dozen other horses, the babe’s father, Wellington Davenport, is the first suspect on John’s list.

Further complicating John’s life is Edwina Jorgenson. Jenny believes Edwina has been in love with John since they were in grade school together. But Ed is running her father’s ranch since a rough ride on a wild bronco put him in a wheelchair. Edwina, even in 1909, not only wears pants most of the time, she seldom styles her hair except for the one long braid, and wears a gun on her hip. Add her temper and a nosey personality. Not a picture of what John envisions as wife potential. He knows her well, enjoys her company, but surprises her once in awhile doing things for her, such as washing dishes when she’s had a bad day.

That’s what helped John decide Edwina’s house would be the perfect place for Roberta Bellea Peabody. Bellea could earn some money, help take care of Edwina’s pa, and do the cooking and cleaning while caring for the little tot in the cradle.

Also in the book is Stu, the 12-year-old son of Jenny and William. He’s spending the summer while his adoptive parents go to Iowa with intentions of taking over a farm there. Shortly after he arrived on John’s ranch, the orphan Jenny and William found on the streets of Yucca Blossom caused a runaway with the team harnessed to a wagon. John attempted to show Stu how to drive a team of horses, but then had to take over the reins.

Here’s an excerpt:

The horses already galloped too fast for Stu to control them. A dust cloud made it a little difficult to see the road. A bump hit one of the wheels.

“Wow! You got that jack rabbit!” Giggles filled the air.

“Whoa! Whoa!” John pulled the reins to his chest.

“It felt like the wagon took that curve with two wheels!” More giggles.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

“I don’t think they hear you!” The giggles turned into deeper laughter, but Stu clung to John like a sand burr.

“I forgot about that mare having a colt in the barn,” John mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Whoa there Nellie!”

A man and a woman in a buggy approached ahead. John did get the team over to the right long enough for the couple to pass on the left, fear enlarging their eyes.

“Oooohhhh! That was close!” Stu had sobered some.

Stu was going to get another lesson on how to drive a team—soon.

***

In The Lady Fugitive, you’ll see lots more of Stuart’s antics, animals that bring smiles, interesting and fascinating characters, suspense galore, and a romance that has a difficult time blooming. But when it does—wow!

About The Lady Fugitive

How does a respected elocutionist become a face on a wanted poster?

Jenny Louise Parks escapes from the coal bin, and her abusive uncle offers a handsome reward for her return. Because he is a judge, he will find her or he won’t inherit her parents’ ranch.

Determination to remain free grips Jenny, especially after she meets William and there’s a hint of romance. But while peddling household goods and showing a Passion of the Christ moving picture, he discovers his father’s brutal murder.

Will Jenny avoid the bounty hunters? Can she forgive the person who turns her in?