UPDATE The winners are…Katrina Whittaker, Gail Siuba, and Jana Leah!

* * * * *

For those fans of the Night Fall series, here’s another tale—slightly removed from the timeline by a few centuries… You honestly don’t have to read any other story in the series to enjoy The First Knight. And isn’t that cover droolworthy?

The story is set back in Merry Old England, in a musty old castle. My heroine’s plucky and determined to trap her former betrothed in marriage, but he has brought back an “affliction”, which makes his lust a dangerous thing to tempt. And once the deed is done, another problem presents itself that only a naughty ménage can solve. Of course. Ahem. I do love my job. Enjoy! ~DD

The First Knight

While hiding her true identity, Maddie must seduce the mysterious Lord Garon to cement their marriage contract and ensure she won’t be returned into her lecherous stepfather’s care.

Fresh from Crusade in Palestine, Lord Garon has a secret he must hide, a hunger that must be fed, and a dark and uncertain future. Having shed himself of a fiancée he’d never met, he’s home to lick his wounds. The only thing he wants is a warm-blooded meal—but the new housekeeper is strangely insistent on giving him so much more.

Maddie’s seduction doesn’t progress without complications, but one secret from her own past might put an end to the love she nurtures for her dark, tempestuous lover.

Get your copy here!

Contest

To celebrate the release of The First Knight, I’m giving away copies of Night Fall stories, one each to three winners! All you have to do is answer two little questions!

Do you like ongoing series? How many sequels do you prefer? 

And excerpt from The First Knight…

Maddie shivered at the creaks and groans the portcullis made as it slowly rose. The rain-laden wind carried the noises and filled the silences in between with a howling that sounded like the hounds from hell had arrived at the castle gate.

Shouts outside the curtain wall had alerted them only minutes before of Lord Garon d’Albermarle’s arrival. With only a bliaut covering her sleeping shift, Maddie stood on the first step of the keep, holding a tray with a goblet of wine, ready to offer a proper greeting to her overlord.

“Are you sure this is the way you wish to go about this, M-Maddie?” Egbert asked, fidgeting at her side.

She swallowed against the sudden dryness in her mouth and nodded.

“It be on your head then,” he said, his always-mournful tone as dire as one of Father Ansel’s Sunday sermons. She sent thanks above that the cranky priest was away, or her deception wouldn’t last past the introductions.

The clatter of dozens of hooves on the cobbled bridge beyond the gate filled the castle yard with thunder. From the encroaching darkness, the sounds were as ominous as the dark shapes looming on the gatehouse walls. The torches she’d ordered lit sputtered and flared, distorting and elongating shapes, so the men riding through the entrance appeared as tall as giants.

Already tired and on edge because she hadn’t slept since a messenger had arrived, warning the castle of his lordship’s arrival days before, Maddie’s fevered imagination painted them darker and larger still.

“Be they devils?” Egbert asked, his narrow shoulders shaking. “No one travels on a night with nary a speck of light in the sky.”

“Hush!” The storm whipping at her clothing and the fatigue from months of worry over this very moment combined to make her hands shake and blackened an already foul mood.

The horsemen entered the bailey, and a large figure separated from the contingent who approached the keep. As he drew closer, her fears weren’t eased one whit. The warrior sat atop a huge black destrier, forcing her to raise her gaze quite high to seek his face.

He wore a helm that left only his square, stubbled jaw exposed. The darkness cast by the metal nose guard concealed his eyes. Only his mouth gave a hint of his mood—a thin, straight line with the corners crimped downward.

Under his stare, Maddie’s knees trembled, but her tray never rattled. She squared her shoulders and shot a glance about her at the castle folk. “Stephen!” she called to the stable master. “See to their horses.”

In moments, boys scrambled to accept reins, and the creak of leather and the clank of iron filled the air.

The stable master himself approached the dark warhorse at the foot of the steps, but the mounted warrior’s gaze never left Maddie.

She licked dry lips with an even drier tongue. “Lord Garon?” she asked, although there could be no question who led this contingent. All gazes remained on his intimidating figure. “Please come inside, milord. Your people will see to the comfort of your men.”

His mouth twisted. “And who will see to mine?”

Maddie’s heart leapt to the back of her throat. “I will, milord.”

A long pause indicated he looked her up and down. “And who might you be, madam?” he asked, his voice a deep, hollow rumble.

Maddie remembered to curtsy, and then straightened, girding herself to speak the lie aloud. “Your housekeeper. I take care of things now.” The latter, at least, was the truth.

Lord Garon grunted. Without a glance at the stable master, he tossed down his reins and dismounted.

When he turned toward her, Maggie’s breath caught. Lord, he’s a tall man. I thought it was just the horse.

Maddie lifted the ornate chalice from the tray to deliver her much-rehearsed welcome.

Instead, his lordship’s lips pressed into a tighter line, and he brushed past her.

She was left gasping on the bottom step. “What a rude ogre!” she exclaimed, annoyed he hadn’t fallen in line with the first step of her plan.

“Watch your tongue, madam,” an accompanying knight said tersely as he followed the lord up the steps. “He has exceptional hearing.”

“M-Maddie?” Egbert said, nodding toward the door.

She shoved the tray at his belly and grasped her skirts high to rush up the steps.

The plan had seemed so simple. All she needed was to get him alone and addle his sight with a little wine or ale, so he’d not care she wasn’t the comeliest creature in the keep. Then she would seduce him.

And the sooner, the better. The longer she took losing her virginity, the greater the risk he would discover her identity. The truth was, she would rather copulate with the devil himself than be returned home.

However, this business of copulation, which had seemed a simple, messy, perhaps even enjoyable act—according to the cook—now promised to be a daunting trial.

The lord of the keep had turned out to be a giant and as dour as a priest at confession. The thought of being naked with him and accepting his manstaff into her body frankly petrified her.

She rushed through the massive doors, hoping her preparations would meet with his approval. Nothing else could be allowed to mar her well-thought-out plan.

His lordship stood in the center of the hall, his hands fisted on his hips. Unlike his men, he wore no chain mail, only a leather hauberk to protect his body. He’d removed his headgear, revealing hair as black as midnight and a face as hard as carved granite.

He was everything she’d remembered and more—more frightening, more imposing—and more beautiful because of the differences. Thanks be to God, he hadn’t recognized her.

His gaze narrowed on the hall, and she looked around to see what might already have displeased him.

Around him, servants scurried, delivering warm food to the men-at-arms as boys eagerly divested them of their armor. If she hadn’t been observing him so closely, she might not have detected the change in his posture. He scarce seemed to notice the din of activity. His mouth lost a little firmness, his hands unclenched on his hips, and his chest rose and fell deeply.

In that instant, Maddie lost a measure of her fear. Here was a man savoring his first night home after a long absence. He had a heart and cared for something at least. Perhaps he wouldn’t be a complete troll when making her his wife.

Earlier this summer I attended an outdoor professional rodeo. I haven’t watched one in years. I used to go to rodeos all the time, and I’d forgotten how much fun they are. Sitting in the stands on a sunny afternoon watching handsome men in tight Wrangler jeans, flashy shirts, chaps, cowboy hats and high heeled boots punishing their well-toned bodies on top of wild, bucking broncs and two thousand pound, angry Brahma bulls is pretty thrilling. Their skills, stamina and courage are awe- inspiring. The excitement in the stands is intoxicating.

Along with clouds of dust, the overpowering smells of manure, beer, fried onions, and cotton candy hang in the air. I love everything about rodeo…the sleek animals with their gleaming coats, the rodeo clown’s corny jokes, the bravery of the pick up men and bullfighters, the country-western music blaring over the loud speakers, and the heart-attack-inducing food. (Who doesn’t love good old southern barbeque? Or deep fried Oreos?)

I don’t know why I stopped going to the rodeo, but I do know I’m going to go to another one. Soon. Who knows, I may even become a buckle bunny.

Bitter Legacy

Sharla-Jean Bromley returns to her hometown after a seventeen-year absence with vengeance in her heart. From the very beginning, her plans go awry when she meets devastatingly handsome Josh Morgan, the man to whom her father left half of his multi-million dollar lumber mill.

Josh, suspicious of Sharla-Jean’s reasons for returning to town after such a long absence, vows to keep control of the company he feels is rightfully his. She is equally determined to prove she can run her father’s mill, even though it means working side-by-side with Josh, a man whose very presence evokes an attraction that is increasingly difficult for her to ignore. In the process, they must overcome a villain who’s determined to destroy both the lumber mill and their lives.

Will Sharla-Jean succeed and heal the anguish that has long filled her soul? Wills he and Josh find the passion of a lifetime?

Excerpt:

Sharla-Jean Bromley had wanted only two things in life—a red dress and her father’s death. She’d waited years. Hell, she’d prayed for this moment. Why then, wasn’t this a celebration? Why was a ball of acid churning through her stomach? Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the taxi and smoothed the skirt of her figure-hugging, red, silk dress over her hips.

The crowd of somber mourners stood in clusters on the sweeping steps outside the old stone church under the late-October, overcast sky. The damp air was ripe with the familiar sweet-sour smell of freshly cut Douglas fir. Over the hill behind the church, steam trailed in white plumes from the two lumber-drying kilns at the mill. A wind gusted, marshaling scattered piles of gold and red leaves into the gutter.

Goose bumps riddled her arms, and she fought back a shiver as she strode forward, knees quaking, jostling through the crowd on the wide sidewalk.

A collective gasp filled the air, and her name swept over the mourners in a rising crescendo. “It’s her! Sharla-Jean. Big Jim’s daughter.”

Buy Links:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZVR5LJ/
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bitter-legacy-c-b-clark/1126254341?ean=2940157509132
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bitter-legacy-4
The Wild Rose Press https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/5061-bitter-legacy.html
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/bitter-legacy/id1231855938?mt=11

Social Media Links:
Blog https://cbclarkauthor.wordpress.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/cbclarkauthor 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cbclarkauthor/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15029617.C_B_Clark
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/C.-B.-Clark/e/B01BK61TQG/

About the Author

Broken Trust is C.B. Clark’s fourth romantic suspense novel published by The Wild Rose Press. My Brother’s Sins and Cherished Secrets were released in 2016, and Bitter Legacy in 2017. C.B. has always loved reading, especially romances, but it wasn’t until she lost her voice for a year that she considered writing her own romantic suspense stories. She grew up in Canada’s Northwest Territories and Yukon. Graduating with a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology, she has worked as an archaeologist and an educator. She enjoys hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing with her husband and dog near her home in the wilderness of central British Columbia.

I loved writing this story. The brothers are all distinct personalities I heard chattering in my head. (I know, the crazy’s coming out!) I loved the mom, the solution they came up with, the ENDING! I hope you will too. In the meantime, enjoy an excerpt. I dare you to resist clicking on that pre-order link. 🙂

Family Values

Excerpt from Family Values…

Pre-order your copy now!

Her voice came from the other side of the door. They were separated by only a few inches of wood—the closest they’d been in years.

“Angel…”

She gave a heavy sigh, and then turned the lock. “Come in.”

Into her room? He’d never been inside while she’d lived here, although after she’d gone he’d often come to sit on her bed to talk to her whenever the loneliness crowded in. He turned the handle and stepped into her bedroom.

Angel sat on her mattress, cross-legged, gazing back at him. Her black eyelashes were starred, sticking together because of her tears.

Since he didn’t want to tower over her, and the chair in front of her vanity looked too delicate, he sat on the edge of the bed. He kept his gaze on his hands fisted on his thighs. “I’m sorry I shouted. But I’m not sorry for what I said.”

She snorted softly. “That was an apology?”

He aimed a frown at her. “I don’t have much practice.”

One corner of her mouth twitched. “I bet you don’t. Don’t get out much, do you?”

“Do you mean on dates?”

“Yeah, with women.”

Her tone was warm but slightly sarcastic. “I don’t date at all, Angel. I haven’t kissed a woman in years. Maybe it’s unnatural, but since you came of age, there hasn’t been anyone I wanted more.”

Her mouth dropped an inch then snapped closed. Her cheeks grew pink. “That was to the point.”

“I don’t know how to be any other way.”

Her chest expanded with her next shaky breath. “But you sent me away. Did I disappoint you that much?”

The quaver of her voice caused a pain inside his chest. “You were eighteen. What I wanted was wrong. The fact my brothers were after you, that only added to my worries. I didn’t want you trapped by a pregnancy before you had a chance to see a bit of the world.”

“I was on the pill. Mama told you that. And I only saw Austin.”

“That’s hardly Texas.”

She ducked her head, smiling slightly. “I never wanted to be anywhere but here,” she whispered.

Brand dropped his head, staring again at his fists. “I’m sorry, Angel. It’s all I can say. You have an education now. You’re grown. You can make your own choice.”

“But I can’t.”

He shot her a sideways glance. There were tears in her eyes. “Are you afraid of hurting one of us?”

Her chin trembled. “That, and…” Her gaze went to the wall, and she released a slow breath. “I love you. All three of you. So, you see…”

He stopped breathing when he heard the I love you. The second sentence was disappointing, but better than a rejection. She didn’t know it yet, but they were going to make this easy for her.

Brand reached out for her hand and held it inside his. It was slender, soft, and so small. He worried now about so many things. “Will you trust me? I know I haven’t given you much reason, but before I sent you away, we were friends, weren’t we?”

A tear rolled down one cheek, and she wiped it away with the back of her other hand. “You were always quiet, Brand, remote. A little too removed from me for us to be besties. But I did trust you. When I was scared, you were the one I ran to.”

“I was older. I had no business lustin’ after you.”

“Lusting?” Her plump mouth twitched again. “There’s only twelve years between us.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And back then, I could still see you in pigtails.”

“Do you see me as a child now?”

He tightened his jaw. “No,” he rasped.

“Brand…” She paused and bit her lip.

“Out with it,” he growled. “We’re bein’ honest here.”

“I was never sure you wanted me,” she whispered. “You never kissed me. Eli brought me flowers and kissed me in the barn. And you know what Nate and I did.”

He felt a muscle jump at the side of his jaw and forced himself to relax. “I wanted kisses, Angel. I wanted you in my bed. Don’t ever think I didn’t.”

She shook back her hair and angled her chin higher. “And now? Do you still want me?”

Brand saw the challenge in the jut of her chin, but he also saw the vulnerability. There in her doe-like eyes. And the only thing he could think to do, because he sure as hell couldn’t force another word past his tight throat, was lean toward her and kiss her.

Just in time for your weekend reading enjoyment…

I have another story back “out there” for you to enjoy! If you love sexy mmf-flavored menage with some light BDSM, this will be your perfect cup of tea. I’ve included an excerpt from the opening scene below. My heroine is newly divorced and sick and tired of crying over it. Her eye is set on getting the handyman next door into her bed, and she’s not shy about tricking him to do it!

Also, there are several contests from Heather, Desiree, Susan & Allie, still open, below this post! Be sure to hit each one on your way out the door! Have a great weekend!

Handy Men

Two very handy men mend a divorcée’s broken heart…

Rather than cry over spilt milk, a newly divorced woman throws caution to the wind and decides to seduce her neighbor’s handsome handyman.

Jeff isn’t stupid—Pamela tossed those screws into her sink to get his attention! The fact she’s beautiful and vulnerable convinces him she needs “special” attention. When he has her hot and horny, he surprises her with his partner Casey and a threesome.

What starts for Pamela as a wild, no-holds-barred fling quickly gets stickier as the guys push for something lasting.

Get your copy here!

And remember what’s coming next week!

Coming August 31st!

When coming between three brothers, it’s best to just let go.

Angelina Flores lived a perfect ranch-kid childhood, complete with three princes on horseback who treated their housekeeper’s daughter like a princess. At age eighteen, the fairytale came crashing down when she realized she had to choose between Brand, Nate and Eli McAffee.

And when she did choose one–she lost all three.

She’s older now. Wiser, thanks to her college education and a few years’ distance. A distance she’d planned to maintain…until her mother begs her to fill in at the ranch while she takes care of a sick relative.

The minute her boots hit the front porch, the memories come flooding back, right along with the hunger. It’s tough to put the past behind her when temptation is so close. Especially since the brothers seem bound and determined to woo her. Separately. Together. Whatever it takes to keep her right where she belongs–in their arms.

Pre-order your copy here!

Excerpt from Family Values…

For Angelina Flores, stepping across the threshold of the MacAfee ranch house was a moment filled with both nostalgia and pain. The dull thud her boots made on the natural, planed-oak flooring was a familiar sound—and not one she’d heard anywhere else. The faint smells of beeswax and Pine-Sol mixed with the scent of the freshly cut roses in the Mexican crockery atop the rugged fireplace mantel. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself at ten years old, running with her muddy boots through the family room to tell her mother about her day, about the animals and the cowboys—her new friends, who’d let her ride behind them on their tall horses.

Her childhood had felt enchanted. And she’d had three handsome princes fawning over her, showering her with pretty clothes and dolls. Even then, she’d dreamed of growing up and having a fairytale wedding, and when they’d teased her and asked her which one she’d choose for her husband, she’d asked why she couldn’t choose them all.

How prophetic that now seemed. As, when she’d approached graduation from high school, two of the McAfee men had suddenly let her know of their individual interest.

Oh, she’d been flattered. And thrilled. Until the moment she’d realized she really would have to choose. Then she’d been filled with dread, because she didn’t want to hurt any of them, and she didn’t know how she could favor one over the other, especially when she was also interested in the third.

Angelina shook her head to rid herself of the painful memories and entered with trepidation, wondering what her welcome would be like once the brothers returned home. The last time she’d been here, in this room, she’d been led through it by a hard hand clamped around her upper arm. She’d been escorted crying and half-dressed back to her room off the kitchen, and then her door closed in her face.

The next morning, she’d been taken by the same hard-faced man through the back door to his Expedition parked beside the porch. The chill in the morning air not nearly as cold as his final goodbye at the Dallas airport.

She’d been eighteen, and the only place she’d ever called home was her home no more.

Angelina took a deep breath and stepped farther into the room. She set her suitcase on the floor beside her and tilted her head to listen for any sounds of movement in the house. Her mother had said the MacAfee boys were at an auction in San Angelo, and that she’d have the place to herself for the weekend, to acclimate and to shore up her nerves.

“Mama, you know why I can’t be there,” she’d said in the early morning hours, holding back her hair and squinting at the digital alarm beside her bed.

“I have no one else I can trust, mija. It’s been years. Things have changed. You have changed. No one will say a word about the past. Have I ever asked anything of you, Angel?”

Angelina’s shoulders had slumped. “I don’t know if I can go there,” she’d whispered.

“I know it will be hard, Angel. I know. But you must take my place and look after the boys while I am away. Do this for me, please?”

She’d taken a deep breath and gripped her cellphone harder. “How long? How long must I stay?”

“Your Aunt Cecilia is having a hysterectomy. I might be weeks.”

Angelina shook her head. Her stomach twisted in a knot, and sudden nausea made her skin clammy. “I’ll have to call my boss. Damn, he’ll probably let me go. I just started there.”

“Gracias, mija. You will see. You worry for nothing. The past is the past.”

But the past wasn’t so distant that she didn’t feel the same longing as she gazed around the room for dreams she’d shattered when she’d followed her heart to make the biggest mistake of her life. And she would never forget the shame.

After picking up her bag, she trudged toward the kitchen and beyond it, to the small bedroom that had been her own when she was a child and the world had seemed such a bright place, full of romantic possibilities.

But princes didn’t exist, at least not in her realm. And she wasn’t a starry-eyed chatterbox anymore, eager to sit on certain cowboys’ knees. She was a college graduate. Had her own job—maybe. Her own place. She’d made a life for herself. The fact she still felt pangs of loneliness late at night when she went to bed alone was something she’d eventually outgrow. Someday. And somewhere far from the MacAfee ranch.

UPDATE: The winner is Jennifer Beyer!

* * * * *

So, this title, Family Values, was totally tongue in cheek. If you’ve read me long enough, you know that sometimes I have to have fun with a title: Fournicopia, Between a SEAL and a Hard Place, Sm{B}itten—for that one I even offered pronunciation advice, smuh-bitten… If you can’t have fun…

Anyways, Family Values is the last of the previously written Lone Star Lovers stories I need to release. Anything you see in the future from that series will be a brand new story. And I do plan to write a couple more of my naughty cowboy menages. Just don’t ask me when.

Family Values releases August 31st, so if you haven’t read it, go pre-order it! I really like this story. It’s hot. It’s sweet. You get to “see” many of the characters from the previous stories in the series in a lovely epilogue… Plenty of reasons not to miss this one, got it?

Read the opening of the story below, but if you’d like to win one of the prequel stories in the series, let me know whether you’re ready for more Lone Star Lovers, and if you’ve got a hankerin’ for a particular theme, say a stepbrothers crossover or a SEAL crossover. Let me know! 

If you’re curious about the rest of the series, just click on the covers!

Family Values

When coming between three brothers, it’s best to just let go.

Angelina Flores lived a perfect ranch-kid childhood, complete with three princes on horseback who treated their housekeeper’s daughter like a princess. At age eighteen, the fairytale came crashing down when she realized she had to choose between Brand, Nate and Eli McAffee.

And when she did choose one—she lost all three.

She’s older now. Wiser, thanks to her college education and a few years’ distance. A distance she’d planned to maintain…until her mother begs her to fill in at the ranch while she takes care of a sick relative.

The minute her boots hit the front porch, the memories come flooding back, right along with the hunger. It’s tough to put the past behind her when temptation is so close. Especially since the brothers seem bound and determined to woo her. Separately. Together. Whatever it takes to keep her right where she belongs—in their arms.

Pre-order your copy here!

Excerpt from Family Values…

For Angelina Flores, stepping across the threshold of the MacAfee ranch house was a moment filled with both nostalgia and pain. The dull thud her boots made on the natural, planed-oak flooring was a familiar sound—and not one she’d heard anywhere else. The faint smells of beeswax and Pine-Sol mixed with the scent of the freshly cut roses in the Mexican crockery atop the rugged fireplace mantel. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself at ten years old, running with her muddy boots through the family room to tell her mother about her day, about the animals and the cowboys—her new friends who’d let her ride behind them on their tall horses.

Her childhood had felt enchanted. And she’d had three handsome princes fawning over her, showering her with pretty clothes and dolls. Even then, she’d dreamed of growing up and having a fairytale wedding, and when they’d teased her and asked her which one she’d choose for her husband, she’d asked why she couldn’t choose them all.

How prophetic that now seemed. As, when she’d approached graduation from high school, two of the McAfee men had suddenly let her know of their individual interest.

Oh, she’d been flattered. And thrilled. Until the moment she’d realized she really would have to choose. Then she’d been filled with dread, because she didn’t want to hurt any of them, and she didn’t know how she could favor one over the other, especially when she was also interested in the third.

Angelina shook her head to rid herself of the painful memories and entered with trepidation, wondering what her welcome would be like once the brothers returned home. The last time she’d been here, in this room, she’d been led through it by a hard hand clamped around her upper arm. She’d been escorted crying and half-dressed back to her room off the kitchen, and then her door closed in her face.

The next morning, she’d been taken by the same hard-faced man through the back door to his Expedition parked beside the porch. The chill in the morning air not nearly as cold as his final goodbye at the Dallas airport.

She’d been eighteen, and the only place she’d ever called home had been her home no more. Read the rest of this entry »

Excerpt:

The hero, Dare Logan, is in the midst of a tropical tempest, on a cruise ship. His ex is on the small tropical island he’s just left. And he can’t stand where he is.

The storm was a bitch, approaching near gale.

Dare leaned into the railing around the hurricane deck, his fingers white-knuckling the cold metal, the relentless wind buffeting him and forming his jacket and pants so hard against his body they were like a second skin.

Freezing. He was so damn cold.

The wall of wind, unyielding.

He sucked in a breath through his nose, lips clamped together. He’d opened his mouth a moment ago, and airborne spray and some marine concoction had hurtled in as the torrent of air had whipped his breath away. No, thanks.

He stared, gaze narrowed, at the boiling sea. Watched the waves dancing crazily, froth bursting into life then gone from existence the next second as new sections of briny ocean reared. Strained to see the island he’d left just a few short hours ago, and made out the grey shapes of palms in the distance bowing in the ferocious wind.

“A mess.” One of the crewmen appeared at his side, and he felt strangely comforted by the presence of another human. “Captain wants everyone inside.”

Dare didn’t answer, just kept his eyes straight ahead. A thousand possibilities cycling through his mind. Considering.

The relentless storm. What the gale force winds were doing to the water. Heaving it, slashing it into sharp lines that could cut.

How a bunch of tiny humans could protect themselves on land against Mother Nature’s evil bitch step sister. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks Delilah, for having me.

We’re snowbirds. Every year when it gets cold up north we head for the sunny south. Our resort has multiple activities and crafts.  Each year I try something new – watercolor painting, ukulele, and two years ago I tried glass fusion, and now I’m addicted.

Glass fusion is the technique used to join at least two glass pieces together by partly melting the glass at high temperature in either a small kiln or a large kiln.

I started by making earrings. I thought they would be easy. I learned to find a design, pick the glass and the colors. Since you need at least two pieces of glass it’s usually a color plus a clear piece either on top or underneath. You need to find or make a pattern and the two pieces have to match up when placed together. For jewelry they are placed in a small kiln for over four hours. After they cool down you add the backing or posts.

Last year I advanced to trays, serving dishes and bowls. The process is the same, just on larger surfaces. I’m a panda person so my favorite piece is my panda  plate. I used a decal which you put on prior to fusing. I do it for fun, but many people do it and sell their pieces. I didn’t use glass fusion in my last book but I’m considering adding it to a new one. My latest book, By Design, came out in June. By Design is about cloning.

*~*~*~*

By Design

 

Nurse Evie Dalton succumbs to greed and a chance to work with sexy Dr. Adam Marsden. She accepts a position at an isolated hospital with an onsite animal farm, screams in the night, and mysterious limos arriving in the dark. People disappear and turn up dead. There’s no way to leave and no communication outside the town.

Dr. Adam Marsden left his past behind. Now he has it all; a great job, money, and a chance to buy his own hospital. But he hadn’t counted on Evie Dalton. Because of him, she’s at risk and might be the next victim.

Excerpt

A slender woman, maybe in her mid-thirties, wearing a simple, but very expensive designer black suit and hat, stepped out and tripped up the stairs in her four inch heels. Diamonds flashed on her wrist and her ears.

The driver closed the back door.

When she reached the top step she turned toward the driver. “Charles, check with my husband in about a week. I should be ready by then.”

“Yes ma’am.” He nodded, slid back behind the wheel, and turned the key. The engine purred quietly as it slid down the driveway. The taillights disappeared into the night.

Grethe Byrne watched the car fade away.

“You have what we want?” the woman asked.

“Of course, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” Nurse Byrne snapped.

“No. I mean exactly. Do you have exactly what we ordered? White blonde hair, sky blue eyes, IQ of at least 130?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. It will be exactly what you ordered. Did you bring the balance of your payment? In cash and small bills?”

“Yes of course. I’ve kept my part of the arrangement. You had better keep yours.”

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