Reading Romance

True Love Chooses to Stay by Jennifer Slattery

September 4, 2015 By Preslaysa Leave a Comment

One afternoon, after sharing yet another, “About ten years ago,” story, my daughter asked me, “Why did everything terrible happen when I was young?” (Yes, we’re saving for therapy bills now.) But I considered her question honestly. Sixteen years ago, my husband and I were $24,000 in debt. Eighteen years ago (or so), we lived in constant turmoil, our marriage characterized by pride, selfishness, and constant fighting. Twenty years ago, we said “I do” and promised to love and cherish one another, forsaking all others, till death do we part, and embarked on what we believed to be a fairy tale life of moonlit strolls, giggling children, and stress free living.

Then reality hit, and suddenly we were confronted with issues and circumstances we were ill-equipped to deal with. But God was faithful, and step-by-step, year-by-year, problem by problem, He has removed faulty thinking and negative behaviors that threaten to destroy us, continually showing us His better way. It hasn’t always been easy, especially when we’re chin deep in a mess of our own making and know it’s going to take some heavy, throat-clogging pride-swallowing to get us out. But one thing I’ve learned, no mess is too big, no circumstances too dire that we can’t begin again.

About sixteen years ago, after a rather brutal verbal fight, my husband looked at me with a stone cold face and said, “I don’t love you anymore.”

My world ended that day. I can’t quite describe the feeling. I wanted to hurl, to cry, to beg him to take it back, but my pride was stronger. Things quickly spiraled, and before we knew it, we were sitting in a lawyer’s office talking about alimony and child support.

When we got home, I packed suitcases and stacked them by the door. I held our daughter in my arms. My husband followed me, and I still remember the look in his eyes–it mirrored the cries of my heart. “Stop me! Tell me you don’t want me to leave! Please, don’t let it be over.”

In that moment, as I watched my husband reach out for our daughter, I knew I couldn’t take her daddy from her. Tears choked my voice as I turned to my husband and said those words I should have said on battle night, “I don’t want to go.”

The next few years weren’t easy, and there were numerous other “line in the sand” moments, where we had to choose God’s way over our own and cling to our commitment. We had to unlearn negative habits, rebuild shattered trust, but now, years later, I’m so very thankful I spoke up that day. Today, I love my husband even more than the day we wed, and he often tells me the same.

Marriage is tough, and through the years, there will be countless reasons to walk away, but may our resolve to stay be greater. Because love is worth fighting for, and it’s never too late to turn around and begin anew. It might be hard to make the first step. We’ll have to swallow our pride, and fight our strong yet destructive fight or flight tendencies, but it will be well worth it.

I know, because I’ve been there, and I’m reaping the benefits of a love that remains. That stayed.

About Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

Visit with Jennifer online at www.JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte

About Intertwined:

Abandoned by her husband for another woman, Tammy Kuhn, an organ procurement coordinator often finds herself in tense and bitter moments. After an altercation with a doctor, she is fighting to keep her job and her sanity when one late night she encounters her old flame Nick. She walks right into his moment of facing an unthinkable tragedy. Because they both have learned to find eternal purposes in every event and encounter, it doesn’t take long to discover that their lives are intertwined but the ICU is no place for romance….or is it? Could this be where life begins again?

Intertwined, part of New Hope Publisher’s contemporary fiction line, is a great reminder of how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into beautiful acts of love and grace. Readers will fall in love with the realistic characters and enjoy the combination of depth, heart-felt emotion and humor that makes Jennifer’s novels so appealing. Readers will be inspired to find God in every moment and encounter in their own lives!

You can purchase the book at CBD, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

A guest post by Lillian Duncan

September 2, 2015 By Preslaysa Leave a Comment

What do you get when you mix a retired speech pathologist with a suspense writer? DEADLY COMMUNICATIONS, of course! The series features Maven Morris, a speech pathologist (another word for speech therapist) who has a knack for getting into trouble—deadly trouble. The second in the series, DEADLY INTENT, has just released. YAY!

After almost getting killed in Deadly Communications you would have thought Maven would have learned her lesson! But no—not her! This time trouble comes in the form of a small boy abandoned in a park—who can’t or won’t talk.

When her best friend begs her to help, Maven can’t say no. She ends up as the little boy’s foster mother… and that’s when all the trouble starts. Without giving away the plot, let me say Maven has a few surprises and shocks coming her way in Deadly Intent. I often get asked if my stories are based on real life. And they aren’t but… sometimes real life seeps into the stories anyway. Deadly Intent is a perfect example.

As the story resolves, you’ll find an eerie similarity to a real-life event that happened in Ohio that made headlines around the world. What event you might be wondering?Can’t tell you—it will ruin the story.

But let me tell you, I already had most of the story written before the headlines. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. It’s one of those times when real life is stranger than fiction! To celebrate the release of Deadly Intent, I’m having a giveaway on my blog, Tiaras & Tennis Shoes at www.lillian-duncan.com. Grand prize is a $25 Amazon gift cards but that’s not all! Five more winners will get a $5 Amazon gift card. How’s that for a celebration?

All you have to do is hop over to www.lillian-duncan.com and leave a comment on the Deadly Intent announcement. The contest ends September 26. PS. When you leave a comment, be sure to tell me what blog you read about me on. Then check back to see if you’re a winner!

About Deadly Intent

Everyone belongs somewhere. The key to happiness is recognizing that place when you get there.

Maven Morris can’t seem to find that place. A childless widow, she has no immediate family. Forced into a medical leave, she has no career. At loose ends, she hasn’t a clue what’s next for her.

Her neighbor, Paul Jordan knows what he wants—to move their friendship to a new level. Maven may not know what’s next, but she does know she has no interest in romance with anyone— not even her handsome neighbor.

When a young boy is abandoned in the city park, he touches her heart. In spite of his obvious special needs, she agrees to provide a temporary foster home for him. She has no idea the impact he will have on her life—or the danger he brings to her doorstep.

You can purchase Deadly Intent at CBD and Amazon

About Lillian Duncan

Lillian Duncan: stories of faith mingled with murder & mayhem!

Lillian is a multi-published writer with several Amazon bestsellers, including The Christmas Stalking and Betrayed. She writes the types of books she loves to read—fast-paced suspense with a touch or two of romance that demonstrates God’s love for all of us

Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillianduncan.net. Tiaras & Tennis Shoes is her personal blog at www.lillian-duncan.com.

An interview with novelist, Pamela Meyers

August 19, 2015 By Preslaysa Leave a Comment

I’m so happy to interview Pamela Meyers on the blog today. Today she’s talking about her latest release, Thyme for Love, which is available now. Welcome, Pamela!

What made you want to become a writer?

The need to write things down has been ingrained in me since I was a child. At age eight I asked for a diary for Christmas. That moved on to journaling as a teen and years later, I became editor of my church singles group newsletter. While working toward a bachelor’s degree in an accelerated adult program, one of my profs told me my writing was good enough to be published. Shocked that someone would actually pay to read my words, I soon started publishing magazine articles. But, my real love was fiction and that led to where I am today.

What’s your writing process like?

Before I even begin to write the story, I brainstorm my plot idea with at least one or two people who are good at brainstorming. Then I research as necessary on the setting, the vocation of my characters, etc. If it’s an historical it takes a bit more time, but even with a contemporary like my current release, Thyme for Love, I needed to do some research around when a dead body is found in a private facility. For that I had to research what happens in Wisconsin and in particular the county where I was setting the story.

The setting for Thyme for Love is fictional insofar as the town and lake are concerned, but it’s minutes away from my hometown of Lake Geneva, WI. I called a funeral home there owned by a man who attended high school with me and got what I needed from him.

My next step is characterization. I free-write backstory on my main characters to learn what makes them tick and their likes and dislikes. I don’t understand how it works, but the words flow through my fingers to the computer keys and I learn things that way J.

Then, I nail down the plot points. I am not a seat-of-the-pants writer, but within the outline of the story I give my characters some freedom. Sometimes they tell me something I didn’t know, and I’m always surprised by that.

Sometimes during the writing I’ll send out several chapters for critiques or I wait until the first draft is done then have a friend read it through from start to finish. She is really good at finding things and telling me if something doesn’t make sense or doesn’t agree with what was said earlier.

I give it another read-through and add in the five senses and make the POV deeper where it needs to be, and then send it off to my agent in a proposal if that’s the route I’m going. Now that I’ve started publishing some work independently, that would be a different process. Which leads to the next question.

How is indie publishing different from traditional publishing?

Thyme for Love was first published in 2011, and I was able get my rights back on that book and also its sequel, Love Will Find a Way. That led to republishing them as indies. Thyme for Love just came out and I’ll soon start on edits of Love Will Find a Way.

I first had to edit the manuscript. I’ve grown as a writer and also the technology mentioned in the 2011 version is already obsolete and I had to correct that. I think this version is much stronger and even if you’ve read the first one, you might like to read this one to see the changes.

The process I described above for traditionally published work is similar until you get to the point where my agent sends it off. In indie publishing, the author becomes her own publishing company. You have to pay to have the cover designed and a full edit done on your manuscript–the things a publisher would do for you. But having these services professionally done raises the quality of the work to the same standards you expect to receive with a traditionally published novel. You can learn to format the manuscript yourself for e-book and print, and many do. I chose to hire someone to do it, because I wanted it to be done right. Then after the cover design and manuscript is formatted in different ways for different platforms, you send it off. In my case I am using Amazon and they have an exclusive right to the book for three months. The Kindle version went to the Kindle Direct Publish (KDP) area of Amazon and the print to another area called Create Space. You set the price and date of release, etc. Having control is a great benefit because it’s your decision and not one made by someone else. Then you release the book and start praying for sales. Of course you have to do all the marketing yourself and that can be relentless, especially in the early days of the book’s release. But, in this day and age, traditionally published authors are also doing more and more of their own marketing.

What is the greatest benefit? Higher royalties for starters, and right behind that is control over every part of the publishing process and the sales process. Also with trad published books the wait from contract to release can be as long as 18 months. I started editing the manuscript last January and it was ready for publication in July. It would have been sooner if I wasn’t busy on something else as the same time.

If you could hang out with the characters from this story for a day, what would you do?

With my Thyme for Love characters—April Love, Marc Thorne, and Kitty McPiper, I would love to hang out at Aunt Kitty’s, cooking with April, and later going down to the dock and catching a swim or taking a boat ride around the lake. Kitty, April’s aunt, is a hoot. She always gets idioms mixed up but everyone loves her so much they just consider it part of her charm. That evening Marc would come over and we’d have a cook out and enjoy the warm summer evening outside on the deck until the bugs got too bad. Then we’d retreat to the screened porch. I’d spend the night and have a good soak in Kitty’s spa tub before climbing into the four-poster bed in Kitty’s guest room and drift off to sleep.

Where did you come up with the idea for this story?

I grew up in Lake Geneva, WI and one of the major attractions of the town are the many mansions that have dotted the lake’s shoreline since the early 1870s after the Great Chicago Fire. Many of the antique homes have been torn down and replaced by large modern homes, but lots do remain. I’ve always thought a romantic mystery would be a great setting in one of those old homes and that’s where the nugget of an idea was born. But I didn’t want to place the story in Lake Geneva itself because I make the village police chief kind of a bungler and I didn’t want to do that to the Lake Geneva police chief. Instead, I made up a small town and lake that had similar types of homes on it within a ten minute drive into Lake Geneva so they could go there to eat out and things like that.

About Pamela Meyers

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, and Love Will Find a Way, contemporary romantic mysteries, and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She is a contributing blogger to Novel Rocket at www.novelrocket.com and Heroes, Heroines, and History at www.hhhistory.com. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

You can connect with Pamela via her website, her blog, Facebook or Twitter!

Pam’s website: www.pamelasmeyers.com

Pam’s Blog: www.pammeyerswrites.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.meyers

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamelameyers

About Thyme for Love

New chef, April Love, has landed her dream job, but she never anticipated her former fiancé and a murdered boss would be on the menu.

When April Love applies for a job as an in-house chef at a century-old lakeshore mansion in Canoga Lake, Wisconsin, she never expected to find her old flame, Marc Thorne working there and looking more gorgeous than ever. He’d left her high and dry weeks before their planned wedding, and last she heard, he was living on the West Coast. Soon, the old attraction heats up. But, April senses Marc isn’t spilling all the beans about his past eight years, and no amount of questioning has him talking. Despite being unable to trust Marc for her future, she’s determined to not let him stand in the way of living out her dream.

Their boss is murdered, and Marc is falsely accused of the crime. He’s about to be indicted, and April has no choice but to turn detective and find Ramón Galvez’s real killer. It isn’t long before she realizes she may be the murderer’s next victim if she doesn’t stop her sleuthing. If she stops now, hopes for a future with Marc will end in a cellblock.

You can purchase Thyme for Love here!

“A romantic mystery, full of twists, turns, fancy cooking, a hunky hero, and a heroine who doesn’t take no for an answer.” Cynthia Hickey, multipublished author of several cozy mystery series, including the Summer Meadow mysteries and the River Valley mysteries.

“Great food and a murder are all the rage today for haute cuisine. I’m looking forward to more adventures!” Bonnie Calhoun, Publisher of Christian Fiction On Line Magazine and author of Cooking the Books and Thunder.

A compelling mystery romance with unique characters that will live on in your hearts long after you turn the last page.” Ane Mulligan, president of Novel Rocket and author of Chapel Springs Revival.

A guest post by novelist, Peggy Trotter

July 30, 2015 By Preslaysa Leave a Comment

Perhaps God didn’t infuse a love of writing in my blood at birth, but around age six He surely opened my eyes to the fascinating lure of it. My mother and I stood in front of a downtown’s attorney’s window where my 3^rd place story winner hung, entitled, The Puppy’s Surprize. Yes, with a, ‘z’. My mother graciously pointed out the typo, ahem, or writo in this case.

Well, hello Discouragement. Aren’t you just a bowl of cheesecake and laughter?

By fourteen, totally absorbed with horses and Marguerite Henry, I vowed to write my own equine novel, and lugged the manual typewriter to the card table. Thump. Thump. Hmmm. Stare at the walls. This was harder than I had ever imagined.

Dear Mr. D. You’re not always external. Sigh.

Flash forward to me as a young mother, rattling on a Brother word processor. I finally finish my first manuscript! Elation shot through me as I leaped into the air. When I came down, my young toddler son merely blinked at me.

Oh, I’m onto you Big D. Those daily demands can suck the story right out of you.

Inspiration leapt upon me occasionally and I wrote a few nice Christmas plays for my students, a couple of poems strung here and there. A few rogue chapters grabbed me by the throat as I lay my head to the pillow every night and stole my beauty rest.

So sleep deprivation joined ranked with dreaded, shhhh. D.

So I finally gathered enough courage to send in a manuscript. You know, I got the nicest form letter back. Boiled down nice and tight: Rejected. Right. So, onto the next book.

D is often publishers and editor’s strongest tool. And it’s a sharp one. Youch.

Meanwhile life commenced. Children grew. I came across a few handwritten chapters now and again. I taught at church, school, while stories strangled me at night. Yet hope of publication continued to reside oh, so very softly in my chest. My nest emptied and I groped. Life had taken a definite turn. Time yawned open and that soulful tug in my heart nudged again. This time, I set my teeth and prayed. And this is the verse that began to whisper to me.

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:4,5 (NASB)

Delight. Ahhh. A new “D” word. One that made my soul sing. Perhaps I had been so focused on the D in discouragement and had brushed away the “D” in delighting in the Lord?

Since then, I’ve published, won the Genesis award, and acquired an agent. Does the original D still knock on my door? I’d like to say, no, but he’s sitting on my couch today. So I push towards the other D. Because that’s the reason I write. Or live. Friend. . .

Don’t give up.

About Year of Jubilee

Orphaned and widowed, eighteen year old JUBILEE STALLINGS clings to her southern Indiana farm as her only refuge. The wilds of Gibson County are just being tamed in the year of 1850, and Jubilee ekes a meager existence. But when RAFE TANNER, a cousin of her abusive dead husband, shows up with the deed to her property, Jubilee’s dream of her own home dissolves.

Rafe, stinging from his ex-fiancée’s rejection, offers a business marriage, throwing him and Jubilee together in an effort to make the farm successful. But scars from the past keep her in constant fear of her new husband. The pair masquerades as a love-struck couple at Rafe’s family farm, enduring the romantic notions of his family and the jealousy of his ex-fiancée.

Once home, Rafe realizes his newfound love for Jubilee, and sets out to court her. Meanwhile, Jubilee fights demons from her past as her husband reveals his interest. Can Jubilee let go of her distrust and pain to embrace God’s plan of true love and finally find a place to belong?

Writing Romance From a Man’s Perspective by Patrick Craig

July 24, 2015 By Preslaysa 2 Comments

A male author of romance novels—what?

I read someone else’s review that stated something about a man writing a romance novel. I think many may look at a male romance novelist as an oxymoron. But if they feel that way, they are definitely going to miss out, especially in the case of The Road Home. Patrick Craig not only proves he can write a romance novel, but also that he can do it extremely well.

This is part of a review from Amazon for my book, The Road Home. I’m quite proud of it, actually, because men are not supposed to be able to write romance novels. We all know that women dominate the romance novel genre, but the truth is that if men would only confess, we are actually more romantic than women. Now I don’t mean romantic like the usual light-hearted love itch set in Amish clothing that you find in most Amish novels, or the kind of oozy over-sexed situations you find in most bodice-rippers. I mean romance that deals with upright men and worthy women that face desperate, adventures together and in the midst of the conflict discover that real, honest, pure love between a man and a woman can be the best way to show the reader that God is real and he works through people.

If you want to find a man who is the epitome of the kind of romance I am talking about, you need look no further than Zane Grey. Grey was mostly know for his westerns and most people, if they know anything about Grey, would say that he was a writer of adventure stories. But the truth is that Grey was one of the best romance writers ever to set pen to paper. His books are full of noble men who lives are totally focused on the women they love, to the point that they would kill to protect even their reputations. In Grey’s novels, women who had sex before marriage were “ruined” and the men who did that to them were worthy of being shot, hung, or tarred and feathered. The women in Grey’s books summed up everything that made a nation great, and represented the spirit that imbued America, so the men who loved them did everything in their power to protect them, nurture them, set them on pedestals and give them whatever they needed to be a good wife, mother and home-maker. Unlike the “modern” girls of today who may have several “relationships” before they marry, the women of Grey’s romances held themselves back from any romantic entanglements until they were absolutely sure they had found the one that they would marry, and then they would surrender every part of their being to the care and protection of their man. And that is real romance as I see it— from a man’s point of view.

About The Amish Heiress

Rachel Hershberger’s life in Paradise, Pennsylvania is far from happy. Her papa struggles with a terrible event from the past, and his emotional instability has created an irreparable breach between them. Rachel’s one desire is to leave the Amish way of life and Paradise forever. Then her prayers are answered. Rachel discovers that the strange, key-shaped birthmark above her heart identifies her as the heir to a vast fortune left by her Englischer grandfather, Robert St. Clair. If Rachel will marry a suitable descendent of the St. Clair family, she will inherit an enormous sum of money. But Rachel does not know that behind the scenes is her long-dead grandfather’s sister-in-law, Augusta St. Clair, a vicious woman who will do anything to keep the fortune in her own hands. As the deceptions and intrigues of the St. Clair family bind her in their web, Rachel realizes that she has made a terrible mistake. But has her change of heart come too late?

About Patrick E. Craig

Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches, and at retreats, seminars and conferences all across the western United States. In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. The books are historical Amish fiction and include A Quilt for Jenna, The Road Home, and Jenny’s Choice. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and the first book in the series is The Amish Heiress published by P&J Publishing. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in Idaho and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren.

Where can readers find me online?

www.patrickecraig.com (Webpage)
Where can readers purchase my Apple Creek Dreams books?

http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg (Amazon)

The Amish Heiress is available for pre-release purchase at my book store on CreateSpace.

https://www.createspace.com/5623860

A guest blog by Katy Lee, RITA Finalist

June 26, 2015 By Preslaysa 6 Comments

(Preslaysa here: I am so thrilled to have Katy on the blog today. She’s an awesome person. If you haven’t read her books, I urge you to buy them at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Take it away, Katy…)

My name is Katy Lee, and I hate to shop. There, I said it. I know I am not the norm and most of you are probably wondering how this possibly could be, but, alas, it is. The last dress I bought was on the return rack in the dressing room. I grabbed it after I had already tried on everything I thought would look good on me…and didn’t. It was a dress I would never have picked out to try on, because on the hanger it didn’t look good. Or, at least, that’s what I thought, and there lies my problem. I don’t know what I should be looking for. Sigh

Now, I find myself in need of a gown for the RITA Awards in July. I am nominated this year and really want to look nice, but every dress I pick out looks atrocious on me. It doesn’t help that my teenage daughter sidles up to me in the same dress—a few sizes smaller—and looks stunning in it. (I thought taking her shopping would help. Maybe I need to leave her home.) Anyway, I know there has to be a dress out there that will compliment my figure, I’m just not skilled enough in the gown department to know what I should steer away from and which dress I should be saying, “Yes” to. The last gown I wore was fourteen years ago at my brother’s wedding, and I looked like I was wearing a tent. Of course, it didn’t help that a bird pooped down the whole front of the dress on the way to the ceremony. But that should tell you something. Even he didn’t like it.

So, please, all you expert clothes shoppers, help a girl out. I’m 5’1” and a little round in the middle. What should I be looking for? Any tips would be much appreciated.

Thank you for inviting me to visit, Preslaysa!

About Katy Lee

Rita nominated, Katy Lee is the author of five published novels. She likes to say she writes higher purpose stories at high speed because her suspenseful romances thrill, inspire, and satisfy the reader—from the edge of their seat. A native New Englander, Katy loves to knit warm wooly things. She enjoys traveling the side-roads and exploring the locals’ hideaways. A homeschooling mom of three competitive swimmers, Katy often writes from the stands while cheering them on. Her Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense, Grave Danger, is both a RITA and Daphne Du Maurier finalist. Keep in touch with Katy at her website, www.KatyLeeBooks.com. There you will see links to Facebook and Twitter.

About Permanent Vacancy

When Gretchen Bauer begins renovating an old Victorian house to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, she barely escapes several dangerous “accidents” at her home. Colm McCrae, host of the home improvement TV show helping her renovate, refuses to believe these aren’t on purpose. Could this be a harmful ploy by his boss to boost ratings? Yet with Colm’s smooth-talking Irish brogue, Gretchen wonders whether he could be involved. But with a whole town full of neighbors disgruntled about the inn bringing strangers to their shores, Gretchen has a list of more likely suspects. Now she must trust Colm if she wants to keep her new business venture from turning into a five-star death trap.

You can buy Permanent Vacancy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Romancing the Law, a guest post by Nike Chillemi

June 1, 2015 By Preslaysa Leave a Comment

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/

How Do Blossoms Bloom? a guest post by Ada Brownell

May 8, 2015 By Preslaysa 2 Comments

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?

True Love Chooses to Stay by Jennifer Slattery

A guest post by Lillian Duncan

An interview with novelist, Pamela Meyers

A guest post by novelist, Peggy Trotter

Writing Romance From a Man’s Perspective by Patrick Craig