Tag Archives: mystery

~~ Excerpt ~~

The sense of smell is the most evocative of the senses. An odor coaxes hidden memories into the open more efficiently than sight, sound, or feel. The scent of cinnamon and cloves takes me back to Yule celebrations when Mother was alive. Sage, fennel, and oregano put me in her herb garden at the summer solstice. Now the peaty, iodine-laced whisky spun me backward in time to the stairwell at the pub in Laggan the night before. I smelled Davy MacKintosh’s warm Laphroaig-laced breath on my neck and felt his solid weight against me.

What was it about the smell of peat, the taste of whisky, even the damp chill in the air that pulled unbidden images to the edge of remembrance? I closed my eyes, inviting visions in from the dark. They danced tantalizingly on the border of awareness, feral cats just out of reach. A voice called for me, familiar, compelling, promising pain. My eyes sprang open. My hand rose to touch my throat. Eternal, enduring, infinite agony seared me. I stepped back from water deeper than my craft.

The answer was here. Somewhere amongst the hills and lochs of the Highlands. But it would not be coaxed into the open just yet.

Amazon reviewer, Laura Hartland 5⭐: This is not your average romance, or your average paranormal romance, for that matter. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much—I tend to favor the offbeat and the unusual. From the first words of the first scene, when Anna and Davy meet in a downpour on a Scottish hillside, I was hooked. No ordinary hero, Davy MacKintosh begins by insulting the woman who will not only become his love in this lifetime, but has been his love through many lifetimes. The story, written in three distinct parts that move through various periods in Scottish history, shows us that Anna and Davy, in other guises, have failed over and over again to find togetherness. Now he’s an apparent hard-drinking, fist-fighting Highland ne’er-do-well and she’s fed up with men, but there’s magic at work here…magic that spans the centuries. There’s also a villain who travels with them through time and treasure and a spooky Pictish broch and …
I won’t spoil it by telling too much here. I’ll just say I enjoyed every word, lapped up the love scenes and sighed over Anna and Davy’s need for each other. True romance and some of the best writing I’ve read in the while. It deserves six stars.

Amazon reviewer, Sumner Wilson 5⭐: A wonderful paranormal tale seen through the eyes of Anna Farquharson, a North American woman on vacation in Scotland.

Mariel’s story begins in Scotland in 1604.

Barney’s begins in Scotland in 1939.

All three are linked, and in case of Mariel and Anna, are more than linked. Keep your eyes on these two. This tale has great adventure. There are murders and murderers in the book. We have love and much lust. Anna and her boyfriend. Davy McIntosh drink enough scotch whiskey to float a you-know-what, But no more than what’s needed. They go through some really tough times. Whiskey is needed, and they find it by the barrel. Plus they never miss a chance to shed their clothes, inside, outside, and by the side of the pond.

Scorchia Dubois can really write. Just Like Gravity moves fast, has great humor, and even greater suspense.

I loved the book. I’m fixin’ to give it 5-stars.

Amazon reviewer, JClark 5⭐: Spellbinding from beginning to end and a lovely jaunt through Scotland to boot. Makes you look at your enemies in present time in a whole new light.

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Award-winning author Sorchia Dubois lives in the piney forest of the Missouri Ozarks with seven cats, two fish, one dog, and one husband.

A proud member of the Scottish Ross clan, Sorchia incorporates all things Celtic (especially Scottish) into her works. She can often be found at Scottish festivals watching kilted men toss large objects for no apparent reason.

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Left on Marriottsville: Our Secret Nook Anthology by Tracy A. Ball (Book Showcase)

Authors join together to support anti-bullying efforts with their words. Each has chosen one of three prompts and created a short story for your enjoyment.

1. You’re alone in your home and you keep hearing someone call out your name. What do you do?

2. Walking through an art gallery you come across a painting of yourself as a child, but it was painted more than 100 years ago.
How is this possible?

3. Driving on a dark, deserted road, your car breaks down, there is no cell service. A guy stops and offers you a ride. Do you take it?

Annalise is as brave as they come. That is until she gets stranded on a back road in an area that is ripe with culture-clash. Dennis is there to offer assistance if she can get a grip on her assumptions. Robbie’s arrival makes the challenge harder. Opposite of Dennis in every way, he calls to mind, a different set of judgments.

Accepting help from either man is a risk that will undoubtably offend the other— the only possible witness if things go wrong.

~~ Excerpt ~~

Headlights. A car came towards her. Help…or…uhh…not help… The vehicle rounded the curve, slowed as it passed her and kept going.

“Wow.” She added ‘rude’ to her previous list of snobbish things to think about people who lived on Marriottsville Road.

Now, she really had to pee. “Oh god. This is terrible.” She rocked back and forth. Remembering her bladder put it into overdrive. Her options: none.

She opened the door an inch and listened. Nothing scurried, nothing charged. She opened it all the way and waited, just to be sure. Then, still clutching her phone she sprinted to the passenger side. When nothing jumped out at her, she held the phone in her teeth, yanked down her jeans and panties and tried to make the pee happen as fast as possible.

Relieving herself helped. She was outside the car and nothing happened. Now, she could put her overactive imagination to bed and think. She checked her cell. Still dead.

The rustle of leaves and the snap of a twig made her hop on the hood, then the roof, petrified. A fox, a possum, a rabbit…something she wanted no part of crossed the road.

That’s where she was when the second set of headlights landed on her. The car came from behind, slowing to a crawl when her hazards came into view. She hovered on her hood like a wide-eyed animal as the driver stopped alongside her, studied her a moment and drifted ahead. It was a man. Of course, it was. Smart people a.k.a. women, don’t drive on Marriottsville Road after dark. He pulled his car off the road and parked.

Novelist, Reviewer, Content Editor, Blogger, T-shirt Wearer, and Professional Snacker; Tracy A. Ball is a native Baltimorean and a veteran West Virginian whose family is blended from three cultures. She has opened her home to foster children, drug addicts, AIDS victims and anyone who needed an assist. She knows people who have committed murder and people who have dined with the Pope.

Which is why she writes sweet stories about tough love…and takes naps.

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The ‘Lazarus Rising’ Series by Cynthia Eden (Author Showcase)

OUT TODAY, BOOK 6

He isn’t just a man.

Lazarus super soldier Jett is the perfect predator. He’s faster, stronger, and far deadlier than a normal man—because he isn’t normal. Brought back from the dead, Jett is supposed to be little more than a machine. His heart should be ice cold, but it’s not. His heart beats fast and hard for the one woman he should never be able to possess, Savannah Jacobs.

He’s the hero she didn’t expect.

When Savannah is kidnapped, she doesn’t think she’ll escape her captors. Then mysterious Jett breaks in and takes out all of the men in the room—the masked men who’d yanked her right off a busy public street—and Jett barely breaks a sweat in the fight. Jett is tall, dark, and as sexy as every sin that Savannah can imagine. When he takes her to safety, desire explodes between them. Savannah falls fast and hard for Jett…then he walks away.

But he broke her heart.

Jett knows he can’t have Savannah. A woman as perfect and sweet as Savannah can’t possibly stay in the nightmare that is his world. He gives her up—the hardest thing he’s ever had to do—and disappears from her life. But then Jett learns that he’s been set-up. Savannah was kidnapped as part of a dark plan to throw her and Jett together, and, now, Savannah is in more danger than ever before. She’s pregnant with his child—the first woman to conceive the child of a Lazarus test subject—and Jett’s enemies will stop at nothing to get her and the baby she carries.

And she can’t ever forgive him.

Jett has to protect Savannah—and the baby. His problem? Savannah hates him, and she knows nothing about the secrets he carries. He has to earn back her trust, he has to fight for the woman who owns his heart…and he also has to reveal the painful truth about himself to her. Jett is a dead man walking. A soldier without a soul.

HOLD ON TIGHT…the Lazarus soldiers are back, and they are ready to raise some hell.

Other Books in Lazarus Rising

Book One

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Book Three

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Book Four

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Book Five

~~ BUY ALL SIX TODAY ~~

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The ’30 Seconds’ Series by Chrys Fey (Author Showcase)

Prequel to 30 Seconds: 60 pages

Blake Herro is a cop in the Cleveland Police Force. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to do right by the city he loved by cleaning up the streets and protecting its citizens. Red, a notorious mobster, has other plans.

On a bitter December night, ten police officers are drawn into a trap and killed by Red’s followers. Blake wants to bring down the Mob to avenge his fallen brothers and to prevent other cops from being murdered. Except the only way he can do that is by infiltrating the Mob.

Every minute he’s with these mobsters he’s in danger. Around every corner lies the threat of coming face to face with a gun. Will he make it out of the Mob alive, or will he be their next victim?

Blake’s gaze continued to scan the area. Too many officers needed help. Blake strained his eyes to see if the nearest officer was still breathing, but the darkness and flashing lights obscured his vision.

Dread was ripe in his veins, twining his intestines into knots. The assailants who attacked the officers could be lurking nearby, watching and putting him in their sights. Being out in the open with nothing but his Kevlar vest as protection was not where he wanted to be, but the officer he was helping would bleed out if he moved.

Blake studied the officer. His lips were an unnatural shade of blue. He was shivering from the frigid December night as well as blood loss.

“Did you see them?” Blake asked. “Do you know who did this?”

The officer’s lips moved.

Blake leaned forward, bringing his ear to the officer’s mouth. “What was that?”

The officer took a shuddering breath. “Red.”

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Print length: 105 pages

When Officer Blake Herro agreed to go undercover in the Mob, he thought he understood the risks. But he’s made mistakes and now an innocent woman has become their target. He’s determined to protect her at all costs.

The Mob’s death threat turns Dr. Dani Hart’s life upside down, but there is one danger she doesn’t anticipate. As she’s dodging bullets, she’s falling in love with Blake. With danger all around them, will she and Blake survive and have a happy ending, or will the Mob make good on their threat?

She panted with fear. What if they see the chest? What if we get caught? What if my breath stinks and I’m breathing right into Officer Hottie’s face? She shut her mouth and let oxygen flow through her nose.

Her eyesight slowly adjusted to the darkness and she could see Officer Herro’s silhouette. His head was turned and he was listening to the thuds of heavy boots getting louder; the intruders were coming their way.

Then the thunder of footsteps sounded right next to them. “There’s no one here, Red,” someone announced.

“Look for documents,” a man ordered, who Dani could only assume was Red. “I want the name of the person I’m going to kill.”

A moment later, there was a reply. “All the mail is addressed to a Dr. Hart.”

Hearing her name said aloud by one of the men who had ransacked her place made her want to gasp. Her mouth fell open and her breath was reversing into her lungs, but before she could make a sound, Officer Herro lowered his lips to hers, silencing her. Stunned, she could only lie beneath him with her eyes wide and her body tense. She couldn’t believe he was kissing her. She wanted to push him back, but knew if she did he might hit the inside of the chest, giving away their hiding place. That was when she realized he was kissing her so she wouldn’t gasp.

She let her body relax. After her initial shock faded, she was able to feel his lips. They were comforting and caused a reaction deep inside her. She couldn’t stop her lips from reacting to his. It was an innocent connection, a soft touch of lips. Until his hand slid from her shoulder to her neck and the kiss deepened into something else.

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Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. She’s an administrator for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, running their newsletter and book club. She’s also an editor for Dancing Lemur Press.

Fey realized she wanted to write by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen.

Fey lives in Florida and is always on the lookout for hurricanes. She has four cats and three nephews, both keep her entertained with their antics.

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Tagged as mystery, novella, organized crime, romance, showcase, suspense, thriller

August 5, 2018 · 5:00 am

Maximum Reboot: The Paladin Group, Book 3 by CJ Matthew (Book Showcase)

~~ NEWEST RELEASE ~~

Wes Parker craves danger and physical challenge…

A former Air Force Pararescueman, wounded in Afghanistan, Wes lives for his Paladin reboots and cringes when he’s confronted with jury duty. An attempt at jury tampering spirals out of control, Wes’s new reboot turns deadly, threatening him and those he’s sworn to keep safe.

Izzy Monroe knows how to keep a secret…

Con artist/art consultant working for the FBI, Izzy is in the courtroom to ID the cartel drug lord she witnessed buying stolen art. When her criminal past catches up to her, Izzy needs help dodging multiple dangers, but Wes can’t protect her if she won’t share her deepest secrets.

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Isabetta Monroe tugged the knit watch cap low over her eyebrows and slipped out of the twenty-third-floor hotel room. Face averted to avoid the security camera, she quickly covered the distance to the end of the hall and backed into the concrete stairwell. She untied the navy hoodie from her waist, slipped it on, zipped it closed, and stuffed her hat in the front pouch. With the hood covering her head and a good portion of her face, she turned, filled her lungs, and began the long trip down the steps.

By the twenty-first landing, she’d established a good speed and steady rhythm. A mischievous grin appeared. For the next twenty floors, Isabetta softly whistled a medley of Cole Porter tunes.

She hesitated just outside the hotel’s service entrance. The instant the cool night air of October in Atlanta touched her face, the hair on the back of her neck went up. Trained from childhood to respect her intuition, Isabetta spent several moments studying each shadowy corner. No one lurked.

She pulled her hat back on and moved past the loading dock. Still alert, she slowed at the corner of the building, stripped off the hoodie, and rolled it into a ball. She spotted the homeless woman sitting in the same spot as yesterday. Picking up speed and without breaking stride, Isabetta dropped the hoodie onto the woman’s lap.

On the sidewalk, Isabetta stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets and fingered the metal mailbox key that had been waiting for her at the hotel desk earlier tonight. No note, no explanation. Just the small key engraved with UPS and the number 347.

She kept her head down for several blocks, then glanced up and slowed as she approached the UPS Store. Isabetta shivered. Che cavolo. What the hell? She skidded to a stop, pivoted to face a clothing-store display window next door to UPS, and pretended to admire the slinky holiday dress on the mannequin while focusing on her reflection.

Isabetta used the ambient light to check behind her. Street traffic, parked cars, and a solitary pedestrian. For as far down both sides of the street as she could see, everything appeared normal. What was out of place here? What was she reacting to? A variety of minor things could send her antenna up, but it usually took an authentic threat to set off her internal alarm.

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Still risking their lives…The Paladin Group.

Ginger Odom has sworn to become self-reliant…Until she is arrested in a small town and framed for the murder of a police officer. Seems everyone in the community wants her behind bars, regardless of the truth, so her aunt enlists the help of the Paladin Group. A team of wounded former military men and women, now civilian lawyers and investigators, they rescue people in serious trouble.

Hale Peters is determined to ignore his knee injury…The former Air Force Pararescueman, wounded during a rocket attack on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, accepts his first reboot for Paladin. His mission—keep Ginger safe until he can prove her innocence—becomes a bigger challenge than expected when he and Ginger clash over who’s in charge.

The Devil Dogs just want to help…The group of older veterans steps up to assist, but when Ginger’s life is threatened by the real killer, Hale and Ginger need to work together if they hope to stay alive.

Survival is still her #1 mission

Sara Gallagher escaped the memories of a painfully shy childhood and her hopeless crush on the boy next door by joining the USAF where Senior Airman Gallagher excelled as a SERE- Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape instructor. But when a training accident leaves Sara scarred and deaf in one ear, she returns home to join the Paladin Group.

Chris Braxton was Peachwood’s golden boy, a rookie major league pitcher, until a drunk driver shattered his shoulder and his dreams. Now entrepreneur Chris’ upscale sporting goods company is negotiating a nationwide expansion. Enroute to a crucial meeting, he overhears the details of a planned felony. When Chris and his family are threatened, he turns to the Paladin Group.