GetToKnowThe Book: Have You Seen Her? by Chicki Brown

ABOUT THE HERO FROM THE HEROINE'S POV

For the life of me, I can’t figure out Taylor Villanova, the bouncer at Frenzy, the nightclub where I recently started working. When I first met him, he came across as a monosyllabic “muscle head.” You know, the kind that never cracks a book unless it’s the latest issue of Muscle and Fitness.

Actually, I was a little afraid of him at first. The man is twice my size, a six foot two, two-hundred-twenty-five-pound tower of sculpted muscle. A study in contrasts, he is so physically beautiful he could be a runway model or movie star yet he resents his extraordinary good looks.

Taylor makes his living using his brawn, but he works a part-time job that displays a sensitive, artistic side I never imagined. He has no problem with using his fists on rowdy, disruptive club patrons but is repulsed by violence against women.

Just the other day I found out that he’s taken it upon himself to look after his widowed mother.

Everything I originally thought about him was dead wrong. He’s the most fascinating man I’ve ever met.

EXCERPT

Her thoughts seemed to drift away for a moment. The distant look in her eyes had a sobering effect on him. He broke in on her mental digression. “There’s a reason why I don’t drink.” Her gaze settled on his face. “My father was a drunk. When he got wasted, he beat my mother. I can’t count how many times I had to jump between them to keep him from hurting her.”

Her lips parted in shock, she sat up straight but didn’t speak.

“I started lifting weights in high school. All I wanted was get bigger and stronger than him so I could protect her. It kind of became an obsession. He was a big guy, but he wasn’t strong. That bastard never lifted anything heavier than a bottle of Chivas Regal.” He stopped and drew a long breath. “I rushed her to the emergency room more times than I care to remember. Seeing you with those bruises brought it all back. My mother wasn’t as strong as you are. She never got the courage to leave him. The sick part is I think she still loves him even now. I don’t do alcohol because of him. I know from experience what it can do to people -- to families. Plus, I don’t know if alcoholism is in my genes.”

Dani took the salad bowl he slid across the table towards her. “Did they get divorced?”

“No. He died.”

Her gaze dropped to her plate. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I hated him. He got killed in a car accident. DWI - exactly what he deserved.”

The coldness in Taylor’s voice sent a shudder through her body.

“I remember the night like it happened yesterday. The doorbell rang at four o’clock in the morning. It was the cops. They’d come to tell my mother he’d lost control of his car on the AC Expressway coming back from a playing a gig in Neptune. It went over the guardrail and into the Intracoastal Waterway. His blood alcohol level was one point four. He was too drunk to unfasten his seatbelt and drowned inside the car.”

“Oh, God. That’s horrible,” Dani said in a whisper.

“I still don’t understand how or why my mother grieved for him. He’d put her through so much pain during their marriage. I admire you, because as small and fragile as you appear to be, you found the courage to choose to live rather than spend the rest of your life being the object of a sick man’s rage.” He took a deep breath then exhaled. “There are other similarities between my father and me. He was a musician. In fact, he started teaching me the piano when I was about four. Over the years, he played keyboard with different bands. He met my mother playing at a club up in Newark and claimed he fell in love with her that night. They got married in two months and I was born nine months later. He traveled all the time,” Taylor remembered looking off into the distance. “Every time he’d come home, he’d be loaded down with gifts for us like it was Christmas. He bought gifts because he felt guilty about being away all the time.”

Dani didn’t know what to think of his sudden talkative disposition. She took in his every word as he revealed his painful past.

“His homecomings were like little celebrations. I remember listening to him and my mother in the bedroom when they thought we were asleep. I didn’t understand at first because I was little, but somehow I knew it was a good thing. They made love like he’d been away for years then the next morning they’d be all hugged up on each other.” The memory brought a wry smile to his face.

“But by the time I got into middle school he’d started buying liquor from the corner store. The longer he stayed on the road, the worse it got. By the time I was in high school, he’d become a world-class lush. Out of nowhere he started getting violent.”

“Did he hurt you or your brother and sister?”

“Tony never went after us kids. He didn’t hesitate to knock us out of the way though. Their fights were either about his drinking or money. He acted like he forgot she had three mouths to feed and clothe and bills to pay.

He hesitated and spoke haltingly. “The first time he hit me I was fifteen. They were fighting, and I tried to get him off of her. That was all it took to make me know he’d never to do it to me again. The next morning I signed up at the Y, started lifting and learning how to box. I know it probably sounds bad, but I couldn’t wait until the day when I knew I could beat his ass.”

“Did you?”

“I broke his jaw the first time I hit him.” His face remained expressionless, yet she heard a disturbing pride in his voice.

Where you can find the author and the book:
Link to the author's website: http://chicki663.webs.com/haveyouseenher.htm


Link to her Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Have-You-Seen-Her/138634486150116?ref=ts

Link to the YouTube trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXBmteVDtRY

Buy links: Amazon.com for Kindle, PC and phone - http://su.pr/26hZz2

Smashwords for all e-formats - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18241

Treasure Maze: Treasure Maze Contest week 1 author Suzannah Safi

Treasure Maze: Treasure Maze Contest week 1 author Suzannah Safi: "Fantasies are made to be enjoyed. Wouldn’t you want to live a forbidden lifestyle, if not in reality, in a fantasy? Well get your sleeves r..."

Treasure Maze: Paranormal Submission for Oct contest now open

Treasure Maze: Paranormal Submission for Oct contest now open: "Wow, I'm pleased to say that the response has been great for our promotional party starting this September. October marks the new monthly c..."

GetToKnowTheBook: Author Kaily Hart 'Picture This'

Writers. Where do we get our ideas? There’s no easy answer to this and you’ll probably get a bunch of different answers if you ask a group of writers. For me, it’s ‘everywhere’. Everything I see, read, feel and hear is potential input. It could be a funny expression, a piece of clothing, a snippet of a song, a hair style, a name on a sign, my reaction to something…literally anything can spark an idea and it can happen at any time. I may not remember names, I might forget my kid’s dentist appointments, I might not be able to repeat what my husband said to me mere minutes before, but I never, ever forget a detail I liked. And it gets filed away for later use. Someone recently asked me about the premise for Picture This, and how I came up with it. Honestly? I have absolutely no idea. Just for fun, I thought I’d take some of the elements of the book I can trace back and tell you about those:
The hero, Sam Steele’s name is similar to a guy my husband used to play golf with over fifteen years ago! Always loved the name ‘Steele’, but he looked absolutely nothing like Sam! See? Never forget a detail!
I have the denim dress Jillian wears to Sam’s house. Trust me, I’ve never gotten as lucky as Jillian does wearing it and ah…it probably doesn’t look as good on me :)
Jillian’s shaving mishap? Yeah, well, that can happen to anyone, right? Right? LOL
I might not have described the building where Jillian lives it in the book in much detail, but the visual I had is of an apartment building I used to actually live in, in downtown San Diego.
Ideas are funny things. Sometimes it’s easy to see what sparked one. Other times, I have no clue. One thing I do know is I have no shortage of them!

Blurb:

Desperate and young, Jillian Moore did something she knew would one day come back to bite her in the ass. She’d posed nude. For money. Years later, and on the fast track to a successful career, she’s still haunted by her mistake. She can’t help but wonder when her past will catch up with her.

Samuel Steele is not short on female attention, but the women who warm his bed pale in comparison to the fantasy he’s created of the seductive temptress in the painting hanging prominently in his bedroom. A fantasy that has ruined his once satisfying sex life. When he discovers that her exact likeness works in his building—for him—things get…interesting.


Excerpt R-rated

Oh my God, Samuel Steele was a walking, talking wet dream.
She’d drooled from afar plenty, but up close he was downright gorgeous. Every woman in the place, and even some of the guys, had checked out his tight butt, flat abs and broad shoulders, and although he’d never worn anything but a suit to the office, that didn’t stop imaginations from running riot. His hair was dark and thick, his skin tanned, and regardless of the time of day, his jaw always seemed darkened with at least a day’s beard growth. And his eyes. She’d never been close enough to make out their color before, but they were a dark, piercing gray. They should have looked cold, but the way he was looking at her made her wonder if someone had turned off the air-conditioning.


Author's links:

Book buy link - http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8437-picture-this.aspx

Web – www.kailyhart.com
Blog - http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart
Twitter - http://twitter.com/kailyhart

Review: Flaherty's Crossing' by Kaylin McFarren

From Pacific Northwest's award-winning author Kaylin McFarren comes a powerful novel about love, loss, and the power of forgiveness...

Successful yet emotionally stifled artist Kate Flaherty stands at the deathbed of her estranged father, conflicted by his morphine-induced confession exposing his part in her mother's death. While racing home, Kate's car mishap leads her to a soul-searching discussion with a lone diner employee, prompting Kate to confront the true reasons her marriage hangs in the balance. When her night takes an unexpected turn, however, she flees for her life, a life desperate for faith that can only be found through her ability to forgive.


Reviewed by Author Betty Ann Harris
It was apparent to me as I read Flaherty's Crossing by Kaylin McFarren, that she poured her heart and soul into this story of love, healing, and faith. Ms. McFarren evokes strong emotional responses from her readers, and I can truthfully admit that I cried at the end of the story. Not tears of sadness, but rather, tears of pure emotion and a feeling that the author truly connected with me. And that I felt the same emotions while reading the book as she felt and wanted to convey while writing it. And isn't that what writers truly want to achieve? Well, Ms. McFarren accomplished that with her wonderful book, Flaherty's Crossing.

The main character, Kate, who grew up feeling unloved, almost loses everything because she is not able to forgive or trust those closest to her. It takes her father's death, a car accident, a good knock on the head, and her husband almost leaving her before she realizes what is most important in life. She learns to forgive and to trust her heart. And once she is able to do that, a whole new world awaits her.

I truly loved this story and the way it was written, with such depth and emotion. I give this a well-deserved five stars. It was a fantastic book!

http://www.flahertyscrossing.com
http://www.kaylinmcfarren.com

Champagne Books
ISBN: 978-1-926681-19-1
Publication Date: February 2010

Review: 'Kincaid’s Call' by Leigh D'Ansey

Nathan Kincaid reckons any man’s testosterone would go into overdrive at the sight of a dynamite-looking woman with wild hair and topaz eyes, a gorgeous pair of legs and a peek of satin panties right there on his desktop. This is not the matronly PA he was expecting. Even worse is the nagging sense of familiarity. Carrying the burden of his brother’s death and the breakdown of his family, the last thing Nathan needs is a pocket dynamo from the past complicating the life he’s just begun to salvage.
Kate Summers has created the life she wants and knows exactly the kind of man she needs: someone compliant, steady and calm. She’s constructed a model of her perfect mate and is bent on finding him when Nathan Kincaid, with his disturbing reminders of her fractured past, strides back into her life and makes a mockery of her database.

(Pages 176) Spicy



Reviewed by Desiree Rogers: I found Kincaid’s Call to be a great read. I usually find it hard to read books on the computer, needing to take breaks to break up the monotony. This time I found myself sailing through the pages, stunned when I found myself at the end. I got caught up immediately in the character, rooting for Nathan to win the girl. My only complaint would be the lack of New Zealand in the story. I realize that it was not a long story and only had a short amount of time, so it’s not a huge disappointment.
Kate Summers was a spunky, soft-hearted character, who never lost that fire as often happens to other heroines in the stories. You understood her angst and fears, but she didn’t let them completely run her. She knew better and you could see that in her actions.
Nathan Kincaid made for a very sexy hero, with his own gut-wrenching issues. He threw me off a bit in the beginning and near the end, but that turned out to be a good thing. You want a hero that keeps you on your toes and Leigh D’Ansey did an excellent job of that.
I enjoy Ms. D’Ansey’s writing style, the flow of it similar to everyday speaking. She did a wonderful job of dropping just enough info to keep her you interested, but not so much you feel as if you’re drowning. I enjoyed the way she allowed the characters to grow, without it seeming forced or contrived.
Excellent job Ms. D’Ansey’s, four hearts for you.

BUY THE BOOK


Leigh D'Ansey

Romance Author

www.leighdansey.com

GetToKnowTheBook: 'All the Good Men' by Cindy Jacks

My novel, All the Good Men, centers around two characters who find love while dealing with the challenges of life at middle-age. Dahlia Foster is a florist who owns her own shop and Jackson Carmichael is firefighter. The two meet when Jackson moves in next door to Dahlia.

Though there are lots of scenes I love about this book—if I do say so myself, lol—my favorite scene has to be the 'training burn' because it's based on a real life experience. I'm in a committed relationship with a firefighter and was fortunate enough to attend a training situation in which a fire was set under a controlled situation to train the new recruits. The sheer amount of practice and study that goes into becoming a firefighter is amazing, but when face with the reality of the job they do, I was floored.

Since it was Community Day, we had a company veteran give us a walk-through of the practice building that would be set ablaze. Aside from being dark and foul-smelling—due to having been charrred repeatedly—it also set off my mild claustrophobia. I couldn't imagine entering the building as it burned while wearing sixty pounds of personal protective gear. The experience gave me a whole new respect for that the men and women of fire and rescue squads all over the country do.



When I returned home from the training burn, I added the following scene to All the Good Men as my humble tribute to brave firefighters everywhere.



Blurb:

Dahlia is sure the hackneyed platitude is true: After a certain age, all the good men are married or gay. She feels her thirty-eight years put her well past that 'certain age.' Her best friend and her sisters dare her to put her fate where her mouth is. The terms of the challenge? During the month of October, she has to end her five-year-long man fast and go on dates with men of their choosing. Oh, and she also has to go out with anyone else who asks.


Excerpt:

Jackson pulled his turnout bag from the back of the truck, unzipped it, and stepped into his gear. First the boots and pants with suspenders, then a hood and thick leather gloves. He slipped on a massive coat marked with reflective tape. Once the jacket was zipped, snapped and velcroed shut, a helmet followed. He'd become indistinguishable from the other firemen on the scene. Dahlia could only recognize him by the muffled timbre of his voice.
The seasoned pros explained the exercise and strategy the trainees should employ, if the burn went as planned.
With a laugh, Jackson reiterated, “If all goes as planned, right Smithy?”
The older fireman gave a knowing grin and nodded.
“Let's do this thing,” another instructor said.
They disappeared inside and came out once the smoke poured from all the windows.
“This is what you would see as you pull up to the scene,” Jackson yelled over the noise of the fire. “You see that top window with all the black smoke?”
The trainees nodded.
“The darker the smoke, the hotter the fire. Keep watching. The window frame is going to start glowing orange and then burst into flames.”
As if Jackson had psychic powers, the attic window did just that. Though Dahlia knew there was no supernatural phenomenon involved in his prediction, it still seemed like magic to her and to the other civilians who'd come to watch their local fire department at work. A seasoned vet stood nearby to narrate for the viewers and answer any questions.
The firefighters donned their SCBA units—self contained breathing apparatus. The trainees broke into teams, performing esoteric tasks that Dahlia couldn't quite follow. There were different types of hoses, different nozzles, different techniques to apply water to contain and extinguish the flames. And once the fire had been put out, the salvage and overhaul began. The probies performed exercises with ladders and other tools to ensure the fire had been fully extinguished and to remove any items from the building that might be saved, such as furniture and fixtures.
One new firefighter's PASS—personal alert safety system—alarm sounded, but only because he'd stood still for too long.
“You see that little side-to-side jig the guys do from time to time?” The instructor said. The onlookers made an affirmative murmur. “That's because if they're motionless for longer than thirty seconds, the PASS alarm will go off. It's a system we use nowadays so that if a fireman loses consciousness or is too injured to make his way out, we can find him in building. Keep in mind, our visibility during the thick of a fire is only about a foot in front of us—if we're lucky.”
“Wow,” Dahlia said.
“It's a lot different now than in my day,” the old-timer went on. “In my day, you showed up at the fire, ran inside to check for victims, put out the fire and went home. No one cared if you were okay, physically or mentally. You had to man-up and just do the job.”
Jackson worked with the search and rescue team. They emerged triumphant with two adult-sized dummies and a doll-sized one. He patted his crew on the back. They'd saved the baby. Though they joked around with the doll, Dahlia could tell they were proud of themselves. And rightfully so, she thought.
All in all, the burn took two hours from start to finish. Though wilted and covered in soot, the firefighters-in-training seemed to ride high on a powerful adrenaline rush.
Jackson came over to check with her. Grimy and sweaty, his gear half removed, he'd never looked sexier or more masculine. “Hey, you. So, what did you think?”
“That was freaking awesome. I'm impressed.”
“Good.” He rubbed his gloved hands together. “My plan worked.”
“You know you don't have to set a building on fire to impress me. Candlelight and dinner works, too.”
“But I figure why go for mediocre when I can pull out all the stops? What other guy's gonna set a house on fire and put it out for you?”
“Good point.”
“I need a shower and then we're all going out for a beer. Care to join us?” he asked.
Fighting a knee-jerk denial, Dahlia said, “Yeah, I'd love to.” God only knew what horrors awaited her at home.
“Well, if you don't mind sharing the truck with a dirty, stinky man, let's go.”
He stowed his gear and stripped off his soggy shirt. She'd seen him make this move before, in her own living room as a matter of fact, but at the time hadn't noticed the scars that marked his back and abdomen. Some looked neat and surgical, others more jagged and erratic. Having faded to almost the color of the rest of his skin, they weren't ugly. Quite the opposite, she had to catch herself before she reached out and ran her fingers over them.

Author bio:

Prior to becoming a writer of romantic and erotic fiction, Cindy was a 'jacks' of all trades. Besides obtaining a BFA in sculpture, interning as a pastry-chef, and learning the art of furniture restoration, she worked for ten years in the corporate arena, but now happily spends her days as a full time author. Her first published work--"The Point of Distraction Series"--was inspired by a collection of short stories she wrote to entertain her best friend. Since then she's explored her inner bad girl and penchant for love stories by producing books full of humor and packed with real emotion. When not chained to her laptop, she enjoys belly dancing, international cooking, and making jewelry. She and her family call the Washington, DC area home.

Book Title: All the Good Men
Tagline: Good things come in forty-something firefighter packages...

Cindy Jacks
website: http://cindyjacks.com