One Month, TWO Books!

I have two books coming out this month!

First up is a sexy menage thriller full of drugs and international spies. Just the Messenger comes out for No Boundaries Press on March 5th, and the cover is just gorgeous.

Check it out!

Then at the end of the month, my dystopian, sci-fi romance Direct Contact comes out for Resplendence Publishing!

This one is full of revolution and government take-down from the inside, and, of course, love!

Find the cover and blurb here!





 

Finding Home Release!

Just in case you didn't know...I'm also an author, and my newest book came out today!

I'm so proud to announce the release of my next book, Finding Home, today!

It's a holiday romance with some suspense thrown in, the story of two people desperately searching for home in their own different ways. It's got farm living, a bar fight, coveted family heirlooms, dark family secrets, city life, Christmas and of course, sexy tension etc.

The cover is beautiful. At this point, you've seen it, but let's show it again, shall we?

Here's the blurb, and below the links, I'll give a new excerpt!

Jessica Deitermeier is on the run from her family and from herself. The rings her mother bequeathed to her upon her untimely death are worth money, and her uncle will apparently stop at nothing to get them.

She makes her way from Boston to Minnesota and finds work on a small farm. Everything goes smoothly for four months...until the farmer's “prodigal son” comes home. The dark, moody Ben Elkers shakes Jessica on a level she doesn't understand.

Ben Elkers is a failed businessman. When he loses all his money in bad investments, he makes his way home to Sauk Centre. After leaving his parents without so much as a phone call for the holidays, he's surprised when they welcome him with open arms, but even more surprised at the fiery red-headed girl sleeping in his old bed.

Together, they discover the importance of family and decide to do whatever it takes to find home.

Buy it HERE at Resplendence Publishing today to get your holiday romance read on!

If you'd like a little taste, here's an excerpt from the first few chapters.

****

Ben inhaled the steam as he stepped into the recently used bathroom. What a vision his parents had procured. And as a farmhand? That girl should be royalty. Her crimson hair curling around her face where the tie couldn’t hold it back, her delicate features and little snub nose, the way she held herself—they all spoke to good breeding and wealth. And her eyes, a vibrant emerald that nearly held him hypnotized.

He saw from her hands she wasn’t accustomed to life on the farm and from her sweater and posture she had style and grace. His mother had said from the girl was from Boston but she never talked about home. Ellie had been warning him not to broach the subjects during his father’s arrival and their homecoming dinner, but Ben didn’t know if he could hold back. He wanted to know everything he could about the beautiful creature helping his mother cook downstairs.

He’d had a lot of girls in the city, especially in the beginning when he was so confident he’d spent loosely, out to impress. Fancy dinners, investor meetings, penthouse suites…Ben had done the whole thing. On his own dime. A dime he didn’t even have yet and now probably never would.

But none of the wealthy blondes or brunettes had called to him the way this girl was after only a brief meeting. She had an innocence about her, tied to a protective barrier he couldn’t quite make heads or tails of. He got the impression she wasn’t in Minnesota because she liked the weather. Her accent was fully Massachusetts. He wondered what had brought her all the way out here.

He folded a towel around his powerful hips and went out into the small hallway. From habit, he headed for his old room. And he ran straight into Jessica. The girl had just been coming upstairs, and Ben reached out his arms, grasping her to stop her from falling backward. The feel of her soft sweater on his naked skin sent goose bumps down his spine, and he felt an unwelcome arousal creeping up beneath the towel.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice a bit breathless. “I almost killed you.”

She looked up at him, those soulful eyes capturing his own and not letting go. As they stood there, a crazy impulse swamped Ben and before he could stop himself, he drew the girl against his chest. She gave no resistance, just a soft whimper of surprise. Her head rested on his damp shoulder. She smelled of cookie dough, the old farmhouse and everything he loved. His heart rate quickened, and he dropped his arms, allowing her to step back.

She glanced at him again, under her long fiery lashes, before moving past him, holding up the bundle in her hands. “I was just going to replace the linens.”

She closed the bathroom door behind her before he could respond.

****

When Jessica returned downstairs, Ben was waiting for her, his hand on the banister. He was dressed in a black button-up and tight European-style jeans. He’d combed back his black hair, and it stayed that way because it was still wet. He looked sleek and sure of himself, a lazy smile on his bow-shaped lips.

“My lady, the parents of the house request our presence at the dinner table.” He swooped out his arm with a flourish, twirling his hand and taking a mock bow.

She giggled and slipped her fingers into his palm, her nerves tingling at the touch. He led her to the dining room, rubbing the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb. Every muscle in her body tightened at his movements.

“A true family dinner?”

Ben stopped and turned her toward him. “Is there any other way?” he asked.

Jessica thought about it. She was an only child, and before her parents had died, they’d treated the Christmas holiday like any other time. Sure, on the day itself, there had been presents, maybe a few carols, but certainly no special dinners. No visiting with relatives, either. That had been completely out of the question. Her father didn’t have any family, and while her mother had a brother who lived a half hour away, just outside Boston, they didn’t speak. Even the mention of Uncle Travis’ name had put her mother in a huff. Jessica had learned early on that she would never meet her family, that she shouldn’t want to. She only knew she had some young cousins from the note Travis had written her after the funeral. Whatever had happened in those years before Jessica had been born, it was unforgivable.

A throat cleared from the other room, and Jessica found Ben's father, Harold, staring at them from his spot at the head of the table. She felt sure he would reprimand them for stalling until the stern lines of his face softened into a smile.

“It’s time to eat,” he said gently, “but before you head over here, look up.”

Hanging above their head was a sprig of white berries and dark green leaves, tied to a hook on a string.

“The mistletoe?” she asked.

Harold nodded. Strong arms drew her close. Of all the ways she could have spent the Christmas season, she’d never imagined she’d be in the arms of a dark, handsome stranger, sharing a kiss.

 

Finding Home, Cover Reveal

Today, I've got exciting news from my writing world. I got the final version of the cover for the upcoming release Finding Home (a holiday romance, with suspense and family overtures). It's probably my favorite work so far, which is great, since this is my favorite cover by far.

Check it out!

Finding Home Cover




 

Body Combat Cover Reveal!

My next book, Body Combat, will be coming out on September 12th, 2012. And I've just gotten the cover!



Click to see it and read the blurb!







 

Hit and Stay RELEASED!

Today I became a published author. YAY!

My debut romantic suspense has been released! Hit and Stay, by Ninette Swann.

How very exciting! Go find it here at Resplendence Publishing.


If you'd like a taste of it, here's the first bit.

“Okay, everybody, stand back. I said stand back! Nothing to see here. Move along.” Jake Harrison elbowed his way through the gathering crowd. He had to squeeze his large frame between two hysterical women, and he grimaced as he struggled through the front row of bystanders who jostled each other mercilessly, trying to get a better look at the beautiful cyclist sprawled out on the pavement. Her bike lay crumpled on the other side of the road.

It appeared to be a typical hit and run.

“Stand back. I’m police.” Even without his uniform, Jake knew he sounded authoritative enough to keep the crowd at bay.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw her. Andrea Wadsworth wasn’t just any beauty. The flaxen-haired socialite was an icon in this part of Illinois. Though quiet and seemingly shy, her betrothal to the mayor’s son nearly six months ago had put her in the headlines all the way out to Chicago.

Her fiancé, John Waters, had kept her there with his glad-handing and ambition. He was thought to be making a play for the Senate and, at least once a week, Jake saw pictures of the couple splashed all over the society pages of the local paper. They cut ribbons, attended galas and lent their gravitas to charity organizations. At every public event, Andrea was glued to her fiancé’s side, silent, smiling and demurely dressed.

So where was he now? Jake looked up, scanning the crowd methodically. He found no trace of the slicked-back politician-to-be.

That’s odd, Jake thought. Surely, with all Waters’ connections, someone had contacted him right away. Jake had been on the scene for at least fifteen minutes. Where was Waters?

The girl on the ground moaned softly and shifted her left leg.

“Don’t move,” Jake whispered, leaning in to her. “I’m calling for help.”

He dialed the police station’s main line from his cell phone. Though he had been on administrative leave for about a half a year now, he still knew the number by heart. Before he’d even gotten through, he heard the sirens in the distance. Someone in the crowd must have called.

Jake shook his head. Something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. He turned his attention to the girl who was slowly coming around. He shushed her as she tried to raise her head.

“Quiet now,” he said. “You’ve had a rough time of it. We’ve got people on the way. Lie still.”

Her blue eyes appeared dazed then froze with worry. “Who are you?” she said in a croaky voice. She tried to boost herself up on her elbows.

“Hey,” Jake whispered. “Don’t move. You’ve had quite a jolt. Rest. Help is coming.”

“Where am I?” she asked, her voice quivering and soft.

Jake wanted to reach out and smooth her tangled blonde hair from her brow, but he resisted. As frightened as she was, the contact would do neither of them any good. He’d learned the hard way not to react emotionally to victims, no matter how beautiful they were or how vulnerable they appeared. If he wanted back on the force, he’d have to be very careful.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Officers and medics are on their way.”

She acknowledged his words with a half-smile and visibly relaxed.

While he waited for backup, Jake’s professional eye raked over her body, trying to assess the extent of her injuries. Andrea Wadsworth was about five-foot-nine, tanned and in top shape. The papers said she was about twenty-five years old. Dressed in a fitted T-shirt and jeans, she wasn’t properly attired for cycling. She wasn’t even wearing a helmet. A red, racing bike sat crumpled on the other side of the road. It was a hit and run.

A shout from the crowd broke through, and Jake turned his head.

“Jake, hey Jake!” The whiny voice was irritatingly loud against the murmur of the other onlookers. Jake wiped his hair from his forehead. The stale, late-summer air kept the hardtop steaming even as the sun set low in the sky. Within seconds, a wiry man wearing squared hipster glasses had him by the elbow. “What’s the story here, Jake?”

“You should know, Burt,” Jake said with a sigh. “You’re the news, not me.”

“Aw, come on, Jake. Throw me a bone. This crash is going to take me hours to shoot, and my wife’s about to kill me for working so much overtime. Couldn’t this broad have gotten herself run over during business hours?”

Jake blanched. Shop humor, but still, so tasteless. The only people more hardboiled than police officers were news reporters.

“If you want a story, go track down Waters. Don’t you have eyes? This is his fiancée.”

Burt shook him jocularly as if they were old friends. Jake stepped away. Burt Bellows was no friend of his. Not anymore.

“That ain’t my angle,” Burt said. “I’m just here to take pictures of the scene and write five-hundred words about it before deadline. And I’m lucky I got here so quick. One of my guys called in with a tip.”

“Good to know we’ve got bulldogs like you to sniff out the story.” Jake rolled his eyes.

The ambulance had arrived, and officers were making their way to the scene. Jake watched silently as four men fitted the blonde for a neck brace and gingerly placed her onto a stretcher.

“Jake, you there, bro?” Burt tapped him on the shoulder, the motion filling Jake with annoyance. “Just give me the basic details, and I’ll be out of your hair, my hand to God.”

“I only know what you know.”

“Bullshit.” The reporter snorted, his greasy curls bouncy around his shoulders. “First of all, you know what I need. What time did this happen, what happened, how long is the investigation going to take and where’s she going?”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t mess with me. I’m hungry. And since I can tell you’re so invested in this girl, I’ll tell you a secret as soon as you’re done.”

“I’m not invested in her.”

“Then why protect her privacy? You know the chief’s just going to make a statement anyway. Save him the trouble. I won’t use your name.”

Jake rubbed his eyes as the ambulance doors slammed shut and the siren started to wail.

“Her name is Andrea Wadsworth. It looks like she was cycling down Main when a car must have hit her. That must be her bike over there. No helmet. Looks like a hit and run. The investigation will go on for as long as it takes, and she’s probably headed to St. Mary’s. That’s all I know.”

“Okay, great. Thanks, pal.”

Jake waited, his eyebrows raised.

Burt laughed at him and said, “See, I knew you were invested. Word back at the paper is that this was a suicide attempt. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

 ...So, what do you think?