My new paranormal romance release, Phoenix Inheritance has three things I’d never thought I’d write in a romance:

A cat, dogs, and a kid.

I suspect I’ve gone sentimental in my old age though, I promise, there is a moment when stuff blows up.  What it also has, and not for the first time, is a  main character who happens to be a person of color.

Daz Montoya, who is of mixed Filipino and African-American heritage, is the third non-white hero in my novels, joining African-American Aloysius James of Luminous and Ghosts of Christmas Past, and Gregor Sherringford, the Indian-British consulting detective in The Curse of the Brimstone Contract. One could argue Philip Drake of Phoenix Legacy is also a person of color, as he’s a quarter Native American, but if someone can pass for white, they don’t experience our society’s prejudice in the same way as one who’s recognizably the other.  Therefore, I don’t count Philip.

Daz has been around since I included him in the supporting cast for the first Phoenix Institute book, Phoenix Rising. By the time I started writing Phoenix Inheritance, I never thought “hey, I’m writing a POC as a hero.” I thought “I’m finally able to give Daz his own story. Awesome.”

However, Daz was originally part of a deliberate choice to include people of color to my Phoenix Institute universe after I’d talked to several friends who felt they weren’t being properly represented in romance. One friend, Rita-nominated author Karen Harbaugh, herself Japanese-American, is the reason the heroine of Phoenix Rising, Beth Nakamora, is Japanese-American. Why? Because Karen and the others were right: why was the fictional world so white if the real world is so diverse?

I grew up reading comics books and science fiction and fantasy novels and I know what it’s like to be missing from your favorite genre. Finding three-dimensional female characters at the heart of SF/F and superhero stories was like finding a diamond amidst mounds of coal dust.  I held close to my hear those few female characters who, even if they weren’t main characters, at least had powerful moments, like Eowyn in Lord of the Rings.  I nearly cried at 13 when I realized that Lessa in The DragonRiders of Pern was a main character. And I bought every single issue of Batman Family Comics that featured Batgirl.

So how could I write stories excluding whole swaths of people? Answer: I can’t.

But you shouldn’t buy Phoenix Inheritance because it’s a blow for diversity. You should buy the book because Daz is an awesome hero that anyone can love.

That he breaks the mold is just a bonus. Below, I hope you’ll see why I adore Daz. And you can enter to win a copy of Phoenix Inheritance by commenting here or liking my Facebook page.

EXCERPT: CHAPTER ONE, Phoenix Inheritance.

Daz Montoya’s lungs burned with the need for air. The fifty pounds of dead weight in his backpack pushed down on his shoulders and his belly scraped the bottom of the pool. He kicked several times, short, sharp strokes designed to close the distance to his goal: the far wall. Read the rest of this entry »

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This never happens. Me, here at the end of the month. But it does give me a great opportunity to recap. 🙂

What’s my February been like? Snow, snow and more snow. Oh, and ice. And babysitting kids who should have been in school. Good news there is that menopausal women who babysit little ones have less chance of developing dementia. The problem is, if I spend any more time with them, I’ll want dementia!

But February’s been productive. Lots of stories spinning in my mind. Not any new stories actually started, but I did revise/expand/polish some things I’ve had lying around doin’ nuttin. If you missed them, here’s what released in February!

Short Stories!

One a week, as promised. Free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and just $.099 for everyone else! And more are coming in March! So if you like a quick romantic/erotic fix—a story that gets straight to the point (er,his point), then these are for you!

The Obedient Wife: Find out what really happened between The Beauty and The Beast. Hint: It’s not your children’s fairytale!

Drive Me Crazy: She’s out for one night of passion in a trucker’s big rig…

Dr. Mullaley: She’d been warned the doctor was eccentric, but this nurse discovers his cures are of a mechanical nature…

Dreaming by the Sea: A mysterious man rising from the sea awakens a woman to her past…

Longer Stories!

Rules of Engagement (Lone Star Lovers)

This SEAL’s back in Texas and asking her to marry him one last time…

Callie Murphy’s never been one to moon over a man. Fairytale romances don’t exist outside of books and she’s seen first-hand how transitory love can be after watching her mother fall in and out of marriage.

Derek Tilden hammered home that truth when he joined the Navy to become a SEAL—he was the boy who couldn’t wait to see the world and she was the girl ready to plant deep roots. Now he’s back and asking her to marry him one last time…

Buy at Amazon — More venues coming!

Sweeter Than Honey

Something’s on the rise in Two-Mule, Texas. And it ain’t just the temperature.

1880, West Texas

Honey Cafferty lives a happy, if precarious, existence as a traveling saleswoman. She sells her elixirs and potions while searching for the one thing she hasn’t been able to brew from the back of her colorful wagon—a sense of belonging. She arrives in Two Mule, Texas, with her Elixir of Love, a potion that improves a man’s libido but might just get her run out of town.

Sheriff Joe Tanner is protective of his little town. Downright hostile toward anyone who might take advantage of the fine folk under his protection. Any snake-oil salesman who rolls into town better just keep right on rolling.

Honey isn’t what Joe expected, from her vibrant red hair and cat-green eyes to her curvy mouth and hips. And when the men of the town begin to plead exhaustion—and place the blame squarely on her sweet-smelling shoulders—Joe has no choice but to launch an investigation. A very, very deep investigation…

Buy at: Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Contest

Because I’m lazy like this, my contest is going to be super simple!

Answer me this (I love this ungrammatical phrase!) for a chance to win a free download from among all my currently available short stories listed here:

Have you been dreaming of summer—hot days with sweat trickling down a cold glass of tea, you in a swimsuit beside a pool/the lake/the beach?

The current batch of operatives had returned from hundreds of assignments unscathed…until one mission went horribly wrong. Several men lost their lives and the group disbanded. The remaining leathernecks were scattered in the wind with new identities. They were told to blend in. Be normal. Or face being forever silenced just like their fallen brothers.

Now, two years later, each living member of the group is kidnapped and given a chance to make things right. But this time they’re no longer under the thumb of Uncle Sam. A mysterious private backer who knows about their past has brought them back together. No longer are they forced to turn a blind eye to the lost and forsaken.

A new life. A new future…Elite Metal.

Anna Alexander, Jennifer Kacey, Heather Long, Sabrina York Rebecca Royce, Saranna DeWylde and Roxie Rivera

About Sabrina’s Story

Sterling’s Seduction

When Sterling spots a reporter masquerading as a waitress in a dingy bar in Deep Ellum, he suspects she’s investigating the team. And that’s something he just cannot allow to happen. Too many lives are at stake. He will do everything in his power to learn the truth—even seduce her. And to stop her story from coming out? He might even tie her to the bed.

Nothing is off the table when it comes to keeping his brothers safe. Nothing. It’s a damn shame she’s everything he’s ever wanted. It’s a damn shame her touch warms his cold, dead heart.

Sterling’s Seduction EXCERPT

As she rounded the corner, her steps stalled.

Because there he was, leaning against his bike. Waiting for her.

Well, she hoped he was waiting for her. When he saw her, he unfolded his long legs and stood.

“Did you change your mind?” she asked, trying for a flippant tone.

His beautiful eyebrow arched. “About what?”

“Taking me home?” Might as well be brash.

He gestured to his bike. “My alternator is shot. I’m waiting for a ride.”

“Ah.” Why disappointment flooded her was a mystery. Or not.

“Was there…an offer on the table?” His voice was a low melody that danced on the skeins of air. It was annoying. And not.

“Hey. I’m not the one who walked away.” She tried not to let her petulance show. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, dearest readers!

I was going to post something pithy today, but friends of mine have a brand new book, and they asked me if I could help get the word out. They have this awesome contest accompanying the release. They are giving away an iPad Mini and it will be loaded with books. So if you want a chance to win—look at the picture below! And get the book—The Other Brother! ~DD

The Other Brother: Forbidden, part 1

From two New York Times bestselling authors comes a stunning tale of betrayal and blood…

Simple. The consummate good girl, this is the word I used to describe my life… until my stepbrother Seth came to live with us. Until that point, I’d been a very good girl… but my older, emotionally blocked stepbrother made me want to do very bad things.

With him.

In the course of one night everything changed, and my simple world was torn to shreds. I wanted to hate him. I did hate him. Mostly.

But now he’s back. And nothing will ever be simple again.

The Other Brother is a novel told in three parts. This is part one of three.

Buy links:
Amazon – https://amzn.to/17sRfWU
B&N – https://bit.ly/1FmvlzF
Kobo – https://bit.ly/1LxVj5z

UPDATE: The winner of the free download is Vi!

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This is a quick fly-by! I’ll be working at my dd’s shop for half the day, and then heading out to hit a flea market a couple of towns away. I love flea markets! So many hidden “treasures!” Be sure to check out the contest details at the bottom of this page!

Friday’s New Shorty

I promised a new short story every Friday until April. Here’s this week’s new release, Dr. Mullaley’s Cure.

For now, these 5000-word stories can be found only on Kindle. They are free to Kindle Unlimited readers and just $.99 to everyone else!

She’d been warned the doctor was eccentric, but this nurse discovers his cures are of a mechanical nature…

Be warned! It’s medical erotica (do you want to play doctor?)—not romance! Get it at the Kindle store!

I have a brand new page on my website devoted to the shorties. If you’d like to see what’s already out, as well as what’s coming, check it out! The Short Story Page

An excerpt:

I’d been warned the doctor was a bit eccentric. That he dabbled in machinery and had been ostracized by others in his profession for the lengths he went to please his patients.

“You’ll never find another employer,” I was told. “Not once they see your only reference is Doctor Mullaley.” The mad Irishman. The charlatan who promised cures to bored housewives and whose waiting room hadn’t been empty since I’d arrived for my first day’s work. If I hadn’t already been turned away at every other respectable physician’s practice, I might have heeded the advice. However, those warnings only served to stir my interest.

I was intensely curious about the nature of the doctor’s cures. Even more so about the conditions he treated, but they were only spoken of in whispers and never in the presence of an unmarried woman. Which made me wonder why he’d hired me. Not that I was going to complain. One glance at his tall rangy frame, frosty blue eyes and dark, slicked-back hair, and my misgivings evaporated.

However, my curiosity about the man and his practice wasn’t to be satisfied at that moment, because the doctor waved me toward the reception desk where I worked at fitting in patients who arrived without an appointment. A task I found akin to cinching in the waist of a corset. There was only so much ribbon one could pull before something gave.

That something was the inimitable Mrs. Davies. She arrived in a dudgeon. Cheeks flushed, eyes a little wild. The afternoon was very balmy, and the painstaking curls at the sides of her cheeks had wilted and stretched toward her jaw like earthworms. I couldn’t help staring while she tapped the counter with a sturdy finger, insisting her needs were of the highest import. If she didn’t receive a treatment that afternoon, somebody would hear about it. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The winner of the goody bag is…David!

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Do you – as either readers or writers – have a theme or era or setting that will not let you go? I was recently re-reading Susan Hill’s excellent “Strange Meeting”, which is set in WWI; in the introduction she said how she felt compelled to write WWI out of her system and did so with that book. On the one hand I was frustrated by that, as I’d have loved to read more of her work set in that era, but on the other, I was envious of her because she’d been able to produce that one book and walk away. You see, WWI keeps whispering in my ear saying, “Write about me, write about me…”

I guess it’s partly my own fault because I have always read a lot of books from the late 19^th and early 20^th century (Conan Doyle has a lot to answer for) and enjoy ploughing through biographies of WWI poets, or true accounts from soldiers, sailors and airman of the time. Time and again I come across something that makes me think, “Ooh, that would be a great idea for a story”. Then I have to tell the writer side of my brain to behave itself as I’ve “done” WWI four times and really, do I have to go there again?

I’m sure this is as much a reading obsession as a writing one. There was a period when I almost had to sneak WWI themed books out of the bookshop and into my house in a plain brown wrapper, so my family wouldn’t know I’d bought yet another tome about sportsmen who’d lost their lives in the Great War or some such theme. But once you get bitten by the bug, it has you in its grip as strongly as Lyme Disease does, and I’ve had that too so I know what I’m talking about!

It’s the same when you come across a new author. Maybe I should rephrase that – it’s the same when I come across a new author, because I just want to work through anything of theirs I can get my mitts on. And it’s not just “new” authors. I’ve read and re-read The Lord of the Rings many times, and then I’ve pored over all those books about the writing of the trilogy. Similarly I’ve read the Sherlock Holmes stories, then felt compelled to get books about Sherlock’s’ London, the world he lived in, the men who inspired the character, and all things Holmes and Watson.

So, tell me. What’s your reading or writing obsession? Best answer wins a goodie bag.

Latest release:
https://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/lessons-for-survivors

A more than professional interest . . . a more than personal intrigue.

Orlando Coppersmith should be happy. WWI is almost a year in the past, he’s back at St. Bride’s College in Cambridge, his lover and best friend Jonty Stewart is at his side again, and—to top it all—he’s about to be made Forsterian Professor of Applied Mathematics. And although he and Jonty have precious little time for an investigative commission, they can’t resist a suspected murder case which must be solved in a month so a clergyman can claim his rightful inheritance.

But the courses of scholarship, true love, and amateur detecting never did run smooth. Orlando’s inaugural lecture proves almost impossible to write. A plagiarism case he’s adjudicating on turns nasty with a threat of blackmail against him and Jonty. And the murder investigation turns up too many leads and too little hard evidence.

Orlando and Jonty may be facing their first failure as amateur detectives, and the ruin of their professional and private reputations. Brains, brawn, the pleasures of the double bed—they’ll need them all to lay their problems to rest.

Links:

Charlie’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, and International Thriller Writers Inc., with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes Books, MLR, and Riptide.

To sign up for her newsletter, email her at cochrane.charlie2@googlemail.com, or catch her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlie.cochrane.18
Twitter: https://twitter.com/charliecochrane
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2727135.Charlie_Cochrane
Blog: https://charliecochrane.livejournal.com
Website: https://www.charliecochrane.co.uk 

Tara Manderino has a unique take on vampires. They have progeny! What vampires have you see on TV or the movies, or in books, that you would love to see with children?

Comment for a chance to win Bound by Blood!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Most vampires don’t have to worry about their children. Alex does. Worse yet, now he’s worrying about the nanny.

In his two-hundred and fifty years as a vampire, Alex never had to intervene with any of his progeny no matter the circumstances. But now he has no choice. Alex is a detective sworn to protect when a little girl of his lineage is kidnapped.  When he meets Lisa, the child’s nanny, his protective instincts kick into gear, yet he finds he must expose her to ever increasing danger as they search for the missing child.

With Lisa’s help, Alex tracks the kidnapper. Learning why she was abducted rocks him on his heels and sets off a transcontinental search that leads to ancient myths of the Cardinal’s Ruby, the stone in Alex’s ring. Alex and Lisa have one shot to save the child, but will they be able to stop the impending destruction raining down?

Excerpt:

He turned to meet the nanny and  blinked twice. Nannies simply did not look like Miss Lisa Mitchell. At least none of the nannies he had known. Even if they had been younger than fifty they wore starched looking clothing, the kind that could stand up on its own. And they invariably had their hair pulled back and skewed into a so-tight braid it made an instant face-lift.

This nanny was the complete opposite in every way. Her hair, a burnished copper, curled about her face and it looked as if no amount of combing would tame it. Her mouth was a shade too wide, the kind that was perfect for smiling, and was quite mobile. At the moment, he couldn’t see her eyes because the lids were closed, but her lashes were thick and fanned against her pale skin. Her nicely shaped nose was tipped in red, evidence of her crying. He could hear her slow even breathing and was loathe to wake her. But the child needed to be found.

Standing next to her, he watched her exhausted sleep for a moment. If he wanted answers, he would have to rouse her. Slightly leaning over her, he gently nudged her shoulder with his hand.

Her eyes flew open in a second, then widened. He straightened, giving her some breathing room. She looked about, puzzled for a moment, then he saw the terror in the depths of her eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked, pushing herself against the cushions in an effort to sit up straighter.

Alex perched on the edge of the arm of the nearby chair…“Lisa — May I call you that?” At her nod, he continued. “We need to talk about what happened. I‘m sure you’ve already told the police what you remember, but maybe it would be better if we went to the scene. Perhaps something there will prompt your memory.

Alex extended his hand to the young woman. When she placed her hand in his for the second time, he automatically closed his fingers over hers. He tugged, pulling her to her feet. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. If you want to send uniforms, that would be agreeable, but not necessary. You have my badge number.”

Escorting Lisa outside, Alex knew he should drop her hand. There was no reason to hold on to it — and every reason in the world. It felt right and he didn’t want to let go. She didn’t resist.

Bio:

Tara Manderino writes in a variety of genres, from paranormal to historical. She’s She first began writing in third grade when she realized she couldn’t afford her reading habit.

She writes and is published in a variety of genres and finds that each one is her favorite at the time. Her books are available at a variety of online retailers.

Tara resides in her native town in southwestern Pennsylvania. When she’s not chasing Lydia, the Boxer, she’s writing her own stories, reading or watching old movies,

Buy link:  Amazon: https://amzn.com/B00761OURU

Social Media Links:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/taramanderino
Author Page FB– https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tara-Manderino-Author/125470584194435
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TManderino
Linked In   https://www.linkedin.com/in/taramanderino