Hi! My name is Bernadette Jones and I’m one of seven authors in the Aspen Gold Series.

I thought you might like to know what it’s like writing in a multi-author continuity series. It’s a blast! It’s also hard work.

Some series are set up on a thread, such as stolen artifacts. The first author starts the storyline then hands it off to the next author who pulls the idea a little farther and hands it off again. Another popular premise is a baby series where every book has a baby, finds a baby or adopts a baby. Or maybe the binding factor is they all have a ranch or were in the secret service together. You get the idea.

We chose to build our series around a family and a town. The nucleus of the Aspen Gold Series is the founding family of Spencer, Colorado. Jakob Spencer is the patriarch of the Spencer family and owner of Aspen Gold Lodge, an exclusive retreat. Each of the first six books was based on Jakob Spencer, one of his children or a grandchild. Each author was (and still is) tasked with having a tie back to the main family or the town where cousins and friends still live. Many of the characters are coming home to their roots.

My first book started with Hunter Jakob Lawe, one of the grandsons. He made friends that now surround his minor nucleus. Cheryl St John started with the Cavanaugh cousins. Each of the authors is gradually forming their own entourage of characters, but we all meet up in the town of Spencer at the bank, grocery store or coffee shop.

An extension of the premise for a series of books is the voice or type of books that will be written. For instance, in some series all the stories are sweet romance or romantic suspense, perhaps paranormal. Going back to our town concept, we decided that towns are a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll. Our authors and town are sweet, homey, dangerous, sexy, diverse, and even a touch paranormal. Basically, real life.

Fun! Yes, but this is also where the work comes in because it’s not just about family or our own individual books. Now we have hairdressers, doctors, policemen, firemen, lawyers, bartenders, waitresses, school kids, dance instructors. Did I mention we have two grocery stores, a cupcake shop, a candy store, an ice cream shop, two diners, a donut shop, a sub shop, fine Italian dining, two banks, three art studios…

We have a town populated with over 320 named characters. Think of it as if we were working together to build a village with interconnecting plastic blocks. Each of us needs to know what the other is doing. How do we manage that?

Next time, I’ll tell you about the Town/Character Playbook. Until then, come visit Spencer, in the Aspen Gold Series. Books thirteen and fourteen will be out later this year, and we already have a full schedule for next year.

Lonely Eyes

There is an art to pursuit.

Keira is running out of time. The handsome stranger with a dragon tattoo says he can keep her safe, but he doesn’t know the demons on her trail… Will her mysterious past lead her to escape, or drag her back to living hell?

Owen Strong has suffered tragedy, but he’s made a new family in Spencer, Colorado—one he will protect at all costs. When he finds determined Keira Hoa, she rouses more than just trouble. Looking into her lonely eyes, he sees that everyone’s in danger.

But she’s come to the right place. He’s the monster hunter.

Get your copy here!

About Bernadette Jones

Romantic Suspense Writer, Never Give Up-er,
First Wives Club-er, Lifelong Dream Achiever & Mom

Bernadette Jones has been making up stories since she learned to read on her daddy’s lap. She has imagined casts of characters everywhere she’s called home: Texas, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, Massachusetts, and now New York.

Books and music filled her life as she, her dad and two brothers traveled the country. She would sit in the back seat of the car—her older brother always got to ride shotgun—listening to the current music on the radio, looking out the window and spinning a story based on a phrase she’d heard in the lyrics. As you can imagine, traveling the country, the music changed from state to state, as did the stories. To this day, she enjoys a wide variety of music and book genres.

After a career in corporate writing, she’s decided to settle down and put pen to paper doing what she loves. Living the dream in her NYC apartment with her canine companion, she’s bringing her stories and characters to life.

You can find Bernadette at:
https://www.bernadettejones.com/
https://www.bernadettejones.com/newsletters
https://www.facebook.com/BernadetteJonesAuthor/

It was the summer of 1993, and I was fifteen years old when Sleepless in Seattle came out in theaters. I honestly don’t even remember trailers on TV for it, so I don’t remember ever anticipating seeing it, but my parents liked going to the movies as a family and this was the one they chose that weekend. I remember a lot of the movies we saw when I was in high school because back then, there was no internet, no Netflix, no streaming shows of any kind. If it wasn’t on cable or out at the Blockbuster, you didn’t see it. Some of the movies I sat through just because it was something to do, were not my favorites. The Bodyguard (first date I ever went on!). Death Becomes Her. The Nightmare Before Christmas (second date I ever went on and he didn’t even want to see it…). Hocus Pocus (this was magical in the theater!). The list goes on and on. But in the summer after my Freshman year of high school we saw one movie that stuck with me for ever and started me on a spiral of nineties romcom watching that has stuck with me to this day.

I had never heard of Nora Ephron before that day at the theater. But her words mesmerized me from the moment the first line was spoken. Every piece of the film fell together in a way that sunk so deeply into my soul I knew I would never be the same. I fell in love with the characters, the music, the story, the setting, and the romance. I laughed. I cried. I swooned. It filled my heart with joy and made me a believer in love from a young age even more so than Disney ever did for me as a child. I’m not even gonna lie, I wanted to marry me a Tom Hanks. Who freaking didn’t?

As a child I was never that kid dreaming about what I was going to do when I grow up. I honestly cannot remember a single moment in my childhood where I even really sat down and thought about what I wanted to do as a career. I became a mom incredibly young, at the age of nineteen, and stayed home with my children throughout their younger years. When I was sick of watching A Bugs Life or Veggie Tales for the five thousandth time, I would watch romantic comedies. I would buy a DVD every time we went grocery shopping. Father of the Bride 1 & 2. You’ve Got Mail. While You Were Sleeping. It Could Happen to You. I could list a hundred that I seriously know all the words to. But Sleepless and Seattle will forever hold a special place in my heart.

One day after watching the movie, my kids went down for a nap. I think I was about twenty-seven at this point. For some reason, I sat down at my computer and started writing. That ‘story’, if you could call it that, was such a mess. But it was full of the magic that Sleepless in Seattle brought me and even though it would never be published and was lost some years ago when that computer died, the feelings I had when I wrote that book were the same I had way back in 1993 when romcom came into my life. I knew right then and there I was a romantic comedy writer.

Twenty-seven years ago, I had no idea that all these years later Nora Ephron would somehow become my inner voice, pushing me to write my very own romcoms and allowing other people to publish them and read them. It is amazing to think that a woman I have never met, never spoken to, and will literally never know, inspired my entire career. And to her, I am forever thankful.

Love Me Like You Do

A runaway bride. A handsome stranger. Two pasts to put behind them.

Parker is ready to marry the man of her dreams. But he isn’t ready to marry her. When she’s dumped moments before walking down the aisle, she didn’t expect to run into the arms of a handsome stranger. The southern drawl, the dreamy eyes, she can’t fall for another man after being left at the altar – can she?

When Liam agreed to go on yet another blind date, he didn’t expect his escape would lead him to the emergency room with a runaway bride. She might have just been left at the altar, but he’s immediately drawn to her fiery spirit, kind heart and beautiful smile. Liam’s got a whole host of problems and a past that’s haunting him, now can’t be the time to fall in love, but Parker might just be the one to break down his barriers and let him live a little – if she’ll let him in.

Will these two strangers allow serendipity to force them together, or will their fears keep them apart?

From the bestselling author of The Lucky Dress comes a story about love, finding yourself and living your dreams.

Universal Amazon link: mybook.to/LoveMeLikeYouDo

About the Author

Aimee Brown is a writer of sweary, swoony romantic comedies set in Portland, Oregon. She writes closed-door romance (NO sex scenes, light kissing) with humor and crude language. She spends much of her time writing, raising three kids (who are all nearly grown now), binge-watching shows on Netflix and obsessively cleaning and redecorating her house. She’s fluent in sarcasm and has been known to utter profanities like she’s competing for a medal.

Aimee grew up in Oregon but is now a transplant living in cold Montana with her husband of twenty+ years, one of three children, and far too many pets. She is a lot older than she looks and yes, that is a tattoo across her chest.

Aimee is very active on social media. She’d love to have you stop by and say hi!

Aimee’s links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AimeeBWrites
Facebook: https://facebook.com/AuthorAimeeBrown
Instagram: https://instagram.com/AuthorAimeeB
Website: https://mfeoromance.com/

The winners are…Candi Kandelas, Colleen C, and Amanda Zook!
*~*~*

Protect: keep safe from harm or injury; what real men do

I guess I have a hero complex because my favorite stories are the ones with strong heroes who have a soft spot and who also will do anything they can to protect women, especially those they love. Protecting Maddie kicked off a series for me in  Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World, and brought to life Hawkeye St. John, one of my favorite heroes. Readers loved the story so much I was urged to keep it going. Well, of course! Writing about real heroes is one of the best things to do. And Maddie’s success brought readers to the other stories.

So here, for you, is a taste of all five books in the series:

Leave a comment for your choice of one of these books!

Get all the links here: desireeholt.com

Protecting Maddie

When Maddie Winslow talked a student out of his gun in her classroom, she never figured it would set off a chain of events that put her life in grave danger, and the lives of her parents.

Hiding in WitSec for thirty years, her parents thought they had beaten the odds—until the image of Maddie, an identical replica of her mother—hits the television airwaves and the people who have been seeking revenge all these years find her. Intent on learning where her mother is hiding, they break into her home and then try to kidnap her. Frightened, she goes to her friend, Zee, who once dated someone in Delta Force. She calls him to explain her friend’s situation, but he’s prepping for a mission and can’t leave the base.

Hunter “Hawkeye” St. John, a Delta Force team member, is on medical leave recuperating in Tampa and chafing for some action. When the he and Maddie meet, the sparks flying between them sizzle the air. But if Hawkeye wants to move forward with Maddie he first has to keep her safe and then eliminate the bad guys.

Protecting Cassie

Injured and discharged, he is lost…

Sam Alvarez is newly discharged from SEALs that had been his entire life. Without the Team he is lost, but a bad injury to his left arm ended his career. His rehab is slow and he resents everything. The tiny isolated cabin in Maine former SEAL John “Tex” Keenan found for him is just what he wants.

Frightened and in hiding…

Physical therapist Cassie Malone had a job she loved, great friends and a man in her life she thought was Prince Charming. Until by accident she discovered he’s one of Boston’s drug kingpins. Now she’s hiding out in tiny Castile and scared he’ll find her.

When Fate throws Cassie and Sam together, it’s a battle for him to let her help him relearn everything. His surliness is in high gear and she’s always looking over her shoulder. But neither of them counted on or expected the hot, hot attraction blazing between them.

When drug smugglers show up and put everyone in danger, including Cassie, it’s up to Sam to use his skills to take them down and save the woman he’s come to love. But can he do it before it’s too late?

Protecting Amy

She thought her past was firmly behind her…

Amy Ressler was a vivacious, outgoing person, looking forward to her first job after graduating college. Until the night her stepbrother slaughtered her entire family and thought she was dead, too. For ten years she’d been living under an assumed name in a house in Tampa with security guards and a security system. Her agoraphobia keeps her a prisoner in the house where she designs sought after video games.

Quinn Molloy couldn’t seem to find a place for himself when he left the SEALS…

He has been part of the teams for eighteen years and suddenly an injury left him with no place to go, except to visit his friends Melody and Tex Keenan. Where they introduce him online to KitCat, Amy in her online disguise, a terrified woman who needs a bodyguard.

The killer is loose…

When Matthew Baker escapes from jail the hunt is on, led by the US Marshals. But with Amy helpless in her self-imposed prison, Quinn accepts the job as her personal bodyguard, and they discover that what starts online can explode n the bedroom. As long as he can keep her alive.

Protecting Arizona

She wasn’t a no-name sex kind of woman but stress had gotten the better of her…

She’d never see him again so she could indulge every need and desire she had with this hot, sexy, intense, troubled man. Now she has to put it out of her mind as the DEA task force she’s on prepares to take down dangerous drug kingpin Luca Vasquez, coincidentally her brother-in-law. When her sister is murdered and her niece disappears, se leaves he task force to find her.

He couldn’t get the memories of the woman out of his mind…

Being a SEAL was the only thing Clint “Razor” DaCosta had known for twenty years until a disastrous mission ended his career. Now dreams of the raw sex with the passionate redhead are the only things that keep the nightmares of that mission at bay. He’s still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life when a phone call from a friend brings him to a shocking meeting.

Passion…danger…murder…a lethal combination

No one is more shocked than Razor and Arizona when he answers her call for help. The heat is still there and it’s hard to put aside the memories of their scorching sex. But first, they must find her niece and avenge her sister’s murder. And hope they both don’t get killed in the takedown.

And the newest…

Protecting Terra

When Terra Oenning and Griffin Dunne were paired in a Department of Homeland Security Op, neither of them expected the heat that exploded between them like the cabin they were surveilling. Personal relationships have no place in their lives. Ever. Period. That’s it. Except the night the cabin blows up so does their restraint, the sex between them so hot it sets fire to the sheets.

When the trail they are following takes them to the frozen north of Maine, even that isn’t enough to cool them down, but like experienced DHS agents, they never take their eyes off their assignment. Terrorists, computer hackers and the Croatian Mafia are combining to destroy the United States and Terra and must focus on destroying them. No problem. Despite the addictive, off-the-charts sex, they are trained agents who do their job, surveilling key players and helping to set up the takedown.

But when it goes awry and Terra is caught in the crosshairs, it will be up to Griffin to rescue her, a wake-up call for both of them that maybe, just maybe, what they have between them is real.

During Facebook parties to celebrate book releases, I sometimes ask the readers, “What do you want to know about Hawaii?” As someone who was born and raised here in the islands, I know a few things…

I thought it might be fun to turn it into a weekly thing that I post in my reader group on Facebook each Wednesday and call it Wiki Wednesdays.

We’re baaaack!

Back with our third Love in Lockdown story, which is also the second part of the series author Reina Torres is bringing to you—FOR FREE! Can I say that enough? Free—free—free—free!

If you haven’t been following this blog, then maybe you don’t know that a group of authors is writing short stories and offering them for FREE (see how I did that, again?). All the stories are set during the lockdown, so you’ll easily identify with what our characters are going through, and so that you will enjoy how our “bookpeople” manage to connect and keep each others’ spirits up.

So far, three short stories have been published. Two are in a continuing series, written by the wonderful Reina Torres! Her latest installment in SUBLET is out today! Click on the covers to get your copies!

I Have a Secret

I read my first BDSM novel not long after getting my first e-reader.  Annabel Joseph’s novel, Molly’s Lips, changed my life.  I was pulled into the world of dominance and submission through the extreme Master/slave relationship between Molly and Mephisto.  Needless to say, I bought the first book in the series and subsequently the final book in the trilogy.  Then I went on to buy every book Annabel has ever written.  I wasn’t just a fan, I was a superfan.  I even got to meet Annabel in person—a meeting that changed my life.

Meanwhile, I started to do research into the BDSM lifestyle.  I was fascinated, and somehow knew, this was more than just a passing interest.  I wrote my In Their Eyes trilogy before I’d ever heard of Fifty Shades of Grey.  Amber Eyes is the first book in the trilogy, and I don’t think I ever believed the book would be published.

In January 2015, I went to my first munch.  A munch is a vanilla event for kinky people.  You go to a restaurant wearing street clothes, but hang out with people who are curious about or into BDSM.  Although I was nervous, I also was instantly comfortable, sensing I had met my people.  I met a woman who became my protector.  She watched out for me and guided me as I moved further and further into the lifestyle.  Pretty soon, I was attending conferences and dungeons.  Eventually, I got involved in scenes.

Shhh.  My parents don’t know.

Eventually, I revisited the trilogy I’d written, and I realized there were scenes needing to be rewritten.  Personal experience, as well as discussions I’d embarked upon, had opened my eyes.  Now, I knew what it was like to, uh, partake in scenes.  I’ll leave it to your imagination, but there are several scenes in my book that come from personal experience.

After all the changes in the book, and after extensive edits, I found a home for the book at The Wild Rose Press.  I found an editor who understood my vision, and who saw the potential in the story. I owe her for helping me make it a better book.  One I hope readers will enjoy.

So now you know my secret.

Amber Eyes

She needs a firm hand.
He needs a challenge.

School principal Gage Clayton is still grieving the death of his wife and submissive, yet he can’t ignore his Dominant needs. As he enters Club Kink, he’s inexplicably drawn to a newly released sub with an intriguing proposition and the most captivating amber eyes. But she has disturbing baggage and her expectations prove quite a challenge, one that would necessitate a commitment he’s not ready for.

Rielle Reid needs a Dom while she waits for her former Master to return. When she invites a handsome stranger to her home dungeon for a night of play, she’s surprised at his gentle dominance—and her response to it. But in the light of day, his demand for equal footing confounds her. After living four years as a twenty-four/seven slave, she has no concept of how to be anything other than property.

Gage must find a way to master Rielle to free them both from the shackles of the past.

Exclusive Excerpt

She released his hand, rose, and stretched. Leaning down, she placed a kiss to his cheek. “Come to bed soon. You’re looking as tired as I’m feeling.” Then she was gone.

In her wake, however, a wave of desire swept over him.

Come to bed soon, she said. As in, come to our bed soon? There had been no talk of sleeping arrangements, and the room she’d used the previous weekend had been cleaned, sheets laundered, everything put to rights. Sex was out of the question, but sleeping with someone? For the whole night? That held almost as much appeal.

Almost.

Cleanup was simple, and within a few minutes, he headed to the bathroom. The steam from her earlier shower had dissipated, but her scent lingered. He’d yet to put his finger on the exact scent of body spray she used, but he liked trying to guess. He loved the mystery and allure that came with the not knowing.

When he stepped into his bedroom, one of the bedside lamps was on, casting the room in shadows. She was already in bed, covers pulled up. He stripped out of his clothes and slid in beside her, cradling her against him, spoon-style. She extended a hand to switch off the light, and he stopped her.

“I don’t mind sleeping with the light on.”

“With you next to me, I don’t need the light.”

He was moved almost to the point beyond words. “I’ll always protect you. You know that, right?”

Instead of responding, she cuddled closer to him, burrowing herself under the blankets. It wasn’t long before her breath evened out and even less time after that before his did.

Links:
Amazon US:  https://amzn.to/3jf4oJd
Amazon CA:  https://amzn.to/2CasIeT
Banes and Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amber-eyes-gabbi-black/1137343876
Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Black_Amber_Eyes?id=g-33DwAAQBAJ
KOBO:  https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/amber-eyes-11
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/amber-eyes/id1526064524?
Publisher:  https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/amber-eyes
Add it to GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54920296-amber-eyes

About Gabbi Black

Even though Gabbi Black is a firm believer in happy endings, she makes her characters work for it in every romance she writes, no matter what the genre.  From contemporary to BDSM, they are penned late at night in her home on a beautiful British Columbia mountain surrounded by magnificent trees and every conceivable woodland creature—including bears.  She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey.

Personal links:
Website:   https://gabbiblack.com/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbiblack/
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/Author-Gabbi-Black-106666354460589/
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.ca/authorgabbiblack/boards/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GabbiAuthor
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/2763198834

Maybe, you’ve already read this story. It first appeared in the anthology, First Response. If you read Cage, you have “In the Wild”, because I included it at the back of the story as a gift to you. However, if you haven’t read Cage or First Response, or even if you have and want a separate copy of this short story for your eReader,  get your free copy now! This offer lasts only through Saturday!

In the Wild

After a charging bison comes between her and her latest skip, a bounty hunter must rely on the survival skills of her park ranger rescuer…

Get your copy here!