Monday, April 29, 2019

A Love Restrained by Becky Flade



Blurb:

Old secrets, new threats...What are they willing to sacrifice?

Philadelphia police officer Kylee Parker is dedicated to protecting and serving. She sees the work in absolutes: right and wrong, black and white, good guys and bad guys. That is, until she chases a drug dealer into a dead-end alley and finds the bad boy she had a painful crush on throughout her teen years has turned into a more dangerous and more attractive man.
Jayson Donovan knows he doesn’t deserve someone as good as Kylee Parker. As the right hand man to a local drug-pushing mobster, he’s solidly on the wrong side of Kylee’s moral compass. But he can’t help reaching for her time and again when he knows he shouldn’t.
Even when his secrets threaten them both.


Extract:

Spring in the city brought people out of winter hibernation like a siren song, but as the temperature rose, so in turn, did the crime rate. Cops had to be sharp as they walked the streets of Philadelphia. In her ten years on the force, on these streets, she’d seen a lot of crazy and often stupid criminals do a lot of crazy and often stupid things. But to be so brazen, or so plain dumb, as to do a hand-to-hand drug buy right in front of two uniformed officers rode high on her list of top ten.
“Tell me you saw that?”
“Saw what?” Hunks of half chewed soft pretzel fell from Sherman’s mouth.
Pete Sherman’s not a bad cop, just not an observant one whose paunch portrayed his love of all things fried and his reupholstered recliner. He hadn’t seen a thing in the last six months. But he took direction well, despite the fact he had seniority.
“There, across the street.” She pointed. “The junkie walking east just scored off the guy in the leather bomber heading west. I swear the dealer looked right at us before the exchange. Call it in, Pete, and grab the junkie. I’m going after the dealer.”
Sherman didn’t argue. She took off into a quick lope, kept her footsteps light so as to not alert the man she pursued. The spring day had drawn people out and the complaints of the pedestrians she weaved through grew loud. The guy glanced over his shoulder, and the edge of his mouth tipped into a grin before he sprinted around the corner.
“Cocky jerk.” She turned the corner, and shouted, “Stop! Police.”
She ran clean and fast, closing the distance between them with little effort. The dealer ducked into an alley she knew to be a dead end. She slowed and put one hand on the butt of her service pistol as she approached. He had his back to her, his hands on his hips as he stared at the brick wall in front of him.
“Philly PD, you’re under arrest. Slowly put your hands above your head and against the wall to your left.” She closed the few feet between them, using her free hand to release the handcuffs from her belt, the other remaining on her weapon. She cuffed him, with practiced efficiency, and then read him his rights before leading him out of the alley, preferring to do the pat down with her partner present.
“Kylee Parker, I’ll admit I daydreamed a time or two about you cuffing me, but it was never in this context.”


Meet the Author:

Becky has been writing stories since kindergarten. But it wasn’t until she found her very own knight in slightly tarnished armor that she took the leap in to publishing. And hasn’t looked back once. In addition to being a wife, mother and grandmother, she works as a legal professional when she’s not writing, reading or dancing. And Becky’s proud to tell people she’s making her own dreams come true one happily ever after at a time.
• • •

• Find Becky Online •

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Silent Mayhem by Sue Coletta

SILENT MAYHEM
The Mayhem Series, #3
Sue Coletta

$4.99

BUY HERE

FREE on Kindle Unlimited

(99c through Sunday 28 April)
Available 24 April

Some things in life defy comprehension, but that doesn’t make them any less real. Or deadly.

When a familiar crow drops a cryptic scroll at Shawnee Daniels’ feet, she’s compelled to open it, even though everything in her power warns her not to. Mr. Mayhem—the most prolific serial killer the North Shore has ever known—claims her life is in danger. He “claims” he wants to help her, but just last year he threatened to murder everyone she loves.

While Mayhem taunts her with oddly-placed feathers, like The Creator left at his crime scenes, an interstate killing spree rocks Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A madman is decapitating men and women, dumping their headless corpses on two area beaches. But what Shawnee soon uncovers shatters all she’s ever known, her memories shredded, the whispers of the past in shambles on the ground.

Can she find the strength to move forward, or will the truth destroy her?

• • •

Monday
Midnight

“As you take your final breath, let the tears rain down from the heavens, a silent mayhem whispering the sins of the past.” In the bunker, an ornate lair several feet below ground, Mr. Mayhem leaned toward Mary Rowlandson’s face, her bloody nose an inch away from his. Gazing into her watery eyes, he listed his head to one side. “Will you scream for me? Oh, how I miss the sound of raw emotion.”

She screeched, “Why are you doing this?”

“You don’t know?” He jerked away from her, laying splayed gloved-fingers to his chest. “My apologies. I was under the impression that you’d been fully informed.” His gaze fled over his shoulder to Chayton, his protégé. “Is there some reason you withheld the truth from Ms. Rowlandson?”

Chayton bowed his head, staring at the concrete floor.

“By doing so, you’ve missed the mark, my dear boy. Look at me.” He waited for the young executioner to look up. “This message is important. She needs to know…to understand…she must feel her shame.”

With an intent stare into Chayton’s eyes, he strode toward him. “Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks. Listen to your heart…”

“It knows,” replied Chayton.

“Indeed, it does.”

He gave a knowing nod, and young Chayton swung the sword.

In one swift motion, Mayhem snagged a fistful of Ms. Rowlandson’s fair hair before her decapitated body crumpled to the concrete. Raising the severed head toward the dome ceiling, he proclaimed, “With this one brave act, the tears shall fall. Your reign has begun, my son. Make us proud.”

• • •


Sue Coletta is a Member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of the Grafton County Series and the Mayhem Series, which won the Best Mystery/Thriller/Heist Award and Readers’ Choice Award in Mystery/Thriller. Sue also writes in the Kindle Worlds, where she hit #1 in Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense. Sue’s had short stories and flash fiction published in Out of the Gutter Flash Fiction Offensive magazine and numerous anthologies, and InSinC Quarterly featured her forensic articles.

In 2017 & 2018, her Murder Blog won Feedspot’s Top 50 Crime Blog Award. She’s also the communications manager for Forensic Science and the Serial Killer Project, both groups founded by cold case expert, Detective Sergeant (Ret.) Joe Giacalone. As a way to help fellow crime writers, Sue created a team of crime experts (detectives, coroners, police captains, etc.) and founded #ACrimeChat on Twitter.

Sue lives in northern New Hampshire with her husband/best friend. When she’s not writing or reading, you might catch her feeding circus peanuts to her beloved pet crows, who live free.


Find Sue Online:

Website - http://www.suecoletta.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SueColetta1
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/SueColetta1
Blog - https://suecoletta.com/murder-blog
Blog - https://killzoneblog.com
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/SueColetta
StumbleUpon - http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/SueColetta1
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/suecoletta1
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/pub/sue-coletta/a0/1b9/161
Tirgearr Publishing - http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Coletta_Sue




Monday, April 15, 2019

One Night in New Orleans by Kristi Ahlers



Blurb:

Dr. Kaitlyn Burrows and her best friend, Anya, have come to New Orleans to have a little vacation and to attend an annual fundraising masquerade party. Kaitlyn is there to have fun and donate some much needed funds. What she isn’t expecting is to meet Thierry Beaulieu. He’s about to take one night in New Orleans and make it a night to remember.
Thierry Beaulieu is a pilot and has come home to his native New Orleans for some much needed down time, and to support his best friend with the bachelor charity auction. When he meets a mystery woman at the ball and finds he wants to get to know the woman better, he fixes it so she wins the auction. He has one night to prove to Kaitlyn that there is such a thing as love at first sight, and there is nothing wrong with lust being the motivator. He’s going to make sure his Kaitlyn has a night she won’t forget.


Extract:

Kaitlyn nibbled on the ragged hangnail of her ring finger—a horrid trait she had when she was stressed or nervous—and dubiously watched the tarot reader shuffle before she placed the tatty and bent cards on the black velvet tablecloth. Between her and the other colorful people making up Jackson Square, Kaitlyn felt really out of place.
The woman let her hand hover over the deck and closed her eyes, tipping her head back to the sunlight. Kaitlyn looked at Anya and raised her brow.
Anya smiled and put a finger to her lips in the international signal of be quiet. Kaitlyn countered with narrowed eyes, but turned her attention back to the woman. The tarot reader focused on the cards once again and appeared to know she was doing. Then again what did Kaitlyn know? Nothing, as far as this sort of thing went. But she did think the woman would appear more credible if she abandoned the clichéd stereotype and maybe tried to look like a normal person.
Then again normal was relative.
“Stop frowning, Kaity,” her best friend whispered. “She’s the best at this.”
Kaitlyn smiled painfully and cocked a brow. “Anya, trust me, I like surprises, and I don’t need to know the future. How do you know she’s the best?”
The woman looked up and focused on Kaitlyn. “Because I am.”
Oh, okay well why didn’t she just say so to begin with? Kaitlyn was aware their conversation in front of the woman was rude, but hello. Saying you’re the best doesn’t make it so. Then again, what was the standard? Was there one? Gah, this was getting complicated and the tarot wasn’t even spread yet!
The other thing Kaitlyn wouldn’t admit was she found her nerves on total edge. A panicky feeling rushed through her bloodstream. Did other customers feel the sort of anxiety before their future was read? And as to that, if life was all about choices, and you made choices based on the reading of a card, did that seriously alter your life path, and would it change her stars? It was that whole argument of path pre-ordained opposed to free choice.
Kaitlyn rubbed her temple where a headache was beginning to form, and suddenly the beignets and coffee weren’t settling as well as they had before. She hadn’t felt this anxious or sick when she was taking her final medical exam before she graduated.
“Ha, that’s what you think.” Her friend patted her on the arm. “You need a little excitement in your life.”
“And exactly how does having my tarot read going to provide that, huh?”
“Cut zee cards,” The woman across the table said as she indicated the deck in front of Kaitlyn. “Make a wish before you touch them.”
Kaitlyn sighed and closed her eyes and made her wish. I hope I have the most erotic night of my life with the man of my dreams tonight. Since she knew there was no way in heck that was going to happen, as the man was literally a dream, she felt a little bad about setting the woman up for failure. Kaitlyn didn’t believe in tarot, or gem readings. Chalking it up to just a bunch of tourist entertainment and nothing more, Kaitlyn sat back and watched as the woman dealt the cards.

Picture of Kristi Ahlers

Meet the Author:

Kristi Ahlers is a California girl! She grew up in Northern California in a small city called Yuba City. Since then she's lived in Brussels, Belgium, and England along with a myriad of other locations. A former flight attendant, she was able to continue to feed her love of travel. This has greatly influenced her writing, allowing her to pen stories about places she's managed to visit and things she's experienced.
• • •

• Find Kristi Online •

Website
Facebook
Facebook
Blog

Find Kristi's other Tirgearr titles: HERE.

Monday, April 8, 2019

In The Dark by Becca Fox

This week, I'd like to introduce Becca Fox:



Blurb:

How far would you go to save your family?

Movies and books have made being a monster sound cool.
Lindsay can’t wear silver jewelry or get drunk with her friends, but hey, she sprouts fur and fangs during the full moon. Totally rad, right? Not. Forget about exploring the beast within, Lindsay just wants to graduate from nursing school. When a stroll in the park ends with her and her little brother being surrounded by masked goons who want to sell them overseas, Lindsay has no choice but to change.
Despite her best efforts, these kidnappers know how to handle a werewolf inexperienced in hand-to-paw combat. She regains consciousness hours after the scuffle to find her brother gone. In a panic, she turns to the only werewolf she knows: Wayne, Mr. Werewolf Pride, the guy Lindsay rejected none-too-kindly several years ago. Being the forgiving kind of guy he is, Wayne agrees to help. . .so long as Lindsay joins his pack. Living among others of her kind is the last thing Lindsay wants, but for her brother’s sake, she bites her tongue and agrees.
Lindsay learns a few things while traveling through Europe in search of her brother. One: Being a werewolf can be pretty badass when you know how to use your abilities. Two: Being a freak isn’t so bad when you’re surrounded by other freaks. And three: She might have misjudged Wayne.
When she and Wayne stumble onto the mastermind behind the kidnapping, this werewolf mafia king decides they know too much. Lindsay and Wayne should get out of dodge but, they know that unless this man is stopped, innocent people will die.


Extract:

“Are you okay? Talk to me! I can’t see you.”
She lowered her hand, wrestling with panic and anger. He’s barely thirteen. Who could’ve done this to him? Why was he targeted? She immediately thought of her father. Has he made any enemies?
The thirteen-year-old stumbled over something and fell. “Oof!”
Surprise jolted Lindsay out of her thoughts. “Kyle?”
“I’m okay, I’m okay. I think. . .Holy crap! Lindsay, there’s somebody else in here.”
Lindsay nodded grimly to herself. I know.
“I don’t remember there being anyone else with us when they came.” He gasped in alarm. “Brody! Brody was with us. Do you think they took him, too?”
Lindsay remembered that first swing of the bat and the shriek of the Yellow Lab. She shuddered. They would never see that dog again. “I think he would’ve woken us up earlier if they had.”
“Oh, right.” He paused. “Um. . .”
“What? What is it?”
He sounded uncomfortable. “Well. . .I know it’s a guy. . .”
She laughed, but stopped when pain stabbed at her ribs.
Kyle’s hesitant footsteps came closer. “What’s going to happen to us?”
“They can’t keep us in here forever, munchkin.”
Kyle stumbled on her ankle. With a shout of triumph, he threw himself down by Lindsay and wrapped his arms around her.
“Gently,” she grunted.
“I thought you said you weren’t hurt.”
“I’m not. Not very badly, anyway.”
“Lindsay.” Kyle brushed a hand across her face. “Why’s your cheek wet?”
She wiped her skin and brought her fingers to her nose. Blood? It can’t be mine. I’d recognize the scent. . .I think. “It’s blood, but it’s not mine,” she told Kyle. “I don’t have any cuts on my face.”
“You must’ve been lying near someone who was bleeding. Maybe it was that guy I tripped over. No, wait, he wasn’t bleeding. . .”
“There must be a fourth hostage,” Lindsay concluded.
Kyle’s grip around her tightened. “I’m glad you came back.”
“I should’ve visited sooner. I’m sorry,” Lindsay said, giving his shoulder a squeeze.
Her brother shifted his weight, suddenly gruff. “That’s okay.”
“There were a bunch of things going on between me and Dad. It had nothing to do with you. I—”
Lindsay tensed. “Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“Shush.” There was movement somewhere across the room.
“God, that hurts!” a man groaned. “What the—? Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
A mixture of emotions coursed through her at the sound of his voice: familiarity, longing, frustration, and exasperation.
“This doesn’t make any sense. I’m freakin’ broke, people!” The air around Kyle and Lindsay was disturbed as he walked right past where they sat, and ran into something solid. After grumbling more curses, he pounded what sounded like a cement wall. “I don’t have any money for you!”
“Before you start yelling again,” Lindsay said, causing him to yelp in alarm, “just know that you’re not the only one down here.”
“Don’t you have a sexy voice?” the man purred, recovering quickly from his scare. “What’s your name and what you in here for?”
“Shut up and back up, Avery, before I do something stupid,” Lindsay snapped.
“Oh, great,” Avery Mackenzie said, dropping the act. “I’ve finally been sent to hell, haven’t I? If this is the first stage, I’m never going to get through the rest.”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? What are you doing here?”
“I’m obviously being tortured by one of my other exes. All right, I’m a jerk! I’ve learned my lesson.” He started pounding the wall again. “Get me out of here before she eats me alive.”
“You know this guy?” Kyle asked.
“Unfortunately, I dated him for ten months,” Lindsay muttered.
“You still love me. They all do,” Avery said with an audible smirk in his voice. “Why I didn’t recognize your voice earlier I have no idea. Maybe it’s because you weren’t yelling at me or screaming under me.”
“I swear, Avery, you say another word and I’ll—”
“What’s he talking about, Linds?” Kyle squeaked. “Did he hurt you?”
“Repeatedly,” Avery said. “Not that she complained, of course.”
Lindsay kicked out with her good foot and made contact.
He fell with a grunt. “Often. She didn’t complain often.”
“Ignore him, Kyle. He’s just an idiot.”
Avery chuckled. “So you’re Kyle. Nice to meet you, kiddo. Your sister told me lots about you. Don’t be too hurt that she’s never mentioned me before. She swore I didn’t exist after she ended it.”
“You ended it,” Lindsay said. “Seriously, who in their right mind would pay a ransom for you?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, toots. I’m broke.”
Lindsay snorted. “Big surprise there. Don’t call me toots.”
“Whatever you say, sweetheart. All I know is that one minute I’m walking this really cute girl home after a lame party, and then I get hit on the back of the head. I woke up here.”
“We were attacked,” Kyle chimed in. “Three dudes in masks appeared out of nowhere and put a sack over my head. Lindsay tried to fight them, but I think they hurt her to keep her quiet.”
“What?” Avery said, concern changing his voice.
“I’m fine,” Lindsay said, irritably. You have no right to be worried about me.
A feminine moan sounded in the distance. “What’s. . .How. . .Where am I?”
Avery lit a match and held it up. “That’s what we’d all like to know.”


Meet the author:

Becca Fox was that strange girl in high school who always seemed to have her nose in a book. She didn’t talk much because, more often than not, she was daydreaming about the different worlds in her books. Instead of doodling on the corners of her notes, she wrote scenes for her works in progress while the teacher lectured. She preferred quiet weekends at home with family or with Netflix over parties and large crowds.
Becca talks a bit more now, but not much else has changed. She still enjoys reading, writing, daydreaming, and watching TV, although, she’s gotten a lot better at socializing…over Twitter.
She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, a fat orange tabby cat, and a forever-puppy.

• Find Becca Online •

Facebook
Twitter
Blog
Instagram

Find Becca's other Tirgearr titles: HERE.

Monday, April 1, 2019

The Final Straight by Charlotte Howard

Today's Tirgearr Tuesday extract is from The Final Straight

the final straight by charlotte howard - 500

ISBN: 9781311748546
ASIN: B00SW7GE26
Blurb:
April Miller works for her bestfriend, Max Knight on his livery and competition yard. Their friendship has withstood many turbulent times, and while April is deeply in love with Max, she is also aware of his womanising ways and has refused to succumb to his flirtatious charms. When her ex, AJ, suddenly comes back with a business proposal, April finds herself torn between the two men.
Excerpt:
April stared at the few black blobs on the screen. She knew they should have formed sentences, but her mind was elsewhere and unable to create readable words out of the muddle. The biro’s plastic end crunched between her back teeth.She’d managed as much as ‘Dear AJ,’ when a knock on the door disturbed her. Max poked his head around and gave her the same soulful puppy-eyed look he always did after he’d managed to upset her.
“What do you want, Max?” she asked, pretending to be engrossed in whatever was on her screen.
“Peace offering,” he said, walking in and putting the mug of tea by the mouse pad.
She looked up at him. The frustration and irritation faded. “I’m sorry for snapping.”
Max sank into the chair opposite. “I’m sorry for…”
April raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to finish the sentence. “Shagging everything in sight?” she suggested. “You need to watch yourself.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do. Every time your bedroom antics are flaunted, I get a phone call. Six o’clock this morning and Banks was on the phone screeching at me. You hadn’t even got out of the shower and I was helping him load his horses onto a lorry.”
Confusion spread across his face, giving him the look of an innocent teenager.
“She woke up, and you weren’t there,” April reminded him. “Of course she’s going to ring her dad, who, may I remind you, has a shotgun license. You’re lucky it was only money he was cutting off.”
Max winced. “I am sorry.”
April hummed, not sure whether to believe him. “They are the second client we’ve lost this month because of you. I’m fed up of having to placate pissed off husbands and fathers.” She rubbed at the corners of her eyes as her contact lenses began to itch. “We have a board meeting next week. Please don’t make me ask them for more money.”
“Hey,” he cooed, sweeping around to her. He knelt by her leg, taking her pale knuckles in his hands. “You won’t need to.”
“I will if we run out and I can’t pay the bills. I can’t afford to forfeit my wage to support this place.”
“No,” he said, with a shake of his head. “That won’t happen.”
“I do have something for you to consider.”
“What? Anything if it will cheer you up.”
“The college rang and asked if we’d be willing to take on a work experience girl over the summer holidays.”
He dropped her hands, stood up, and began to pace in front of the desk. “You know how I feel about that.”
“It would be free labour, good publicity, and we’d be helping her out. Good karma, which is something I think you need.”
“I just have…” he hovered around the words. “Standards.”
“I’m asking you to hire her, not sleep with her.”

Charlotte Howard


Meet the author

Award-winning author, Charlotte lives in Somerset with her husband, two children, and growing menagerie of pets and can always be found with a cup of tea in her hand. When she's not writing or running around after small people and animals, she loves to eat curry and watch action films.
Charlotte is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
• • •
• Find Charlotte Online •