Welcome Author Diane Burton

Today, It’s my pleasure to have Romantic Suspense author, Diane Burton, on my blog! Diane is one of my wonderful “Author Helping Author” friends and this isn’t the first time she’s been a guest on Under A Paper Moon! Diane is here to tell us about her new release, Numbers Never Lie! Welcome Diane!

Darcy, thanks so much for having me here today. I’m thrilled to share with you and your readers my new release, Numbers Never Lie, a romantic suspense. This book was over fifteen years in the making. I was almost done then had to set it aside because Life intruded. This winter, I delved into it and discovered I wasn’t as far along as I thought. LOL

Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter at the end of this post for a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Tell us a bit about your new release?

Numbers Never Lie was over fifteen years in the making. I was almost done then had to set it aside because Life intruded. This winter, I delved into it and discovered I wasn’t as far along as I thought. LOL Even worse, the manuscript was spread across several old floppy disks. Thank goodness, Hubs had an external floppy drive reader. Though it required a lot of work recovering the many files, it was worth the effort. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Maggie, Drew, and Jack’s story.

Dang girl! Floppy disks – hadn’t heard that word in a while. LOL That is old school. So glad you had the tenacity to stay with it and recover those files!

Before you gasp and think I’ve written a M/F/M managestory, I’d better tell you Maggie and Jack are siblings and Drew is Jack’s best friend. Though stunned by Jack’s accident, too many inconsistences worry Maggie, and she drags a reluctant Drew into her investigation.

What’s a typical working day like for you?

As soon as I get up, I grab a cup of coffee (thank goodness for my Keurig) and open my laptop. I wish I could say I don’t open email or play a game (or 2) but open my work-in-progress first. Some days my eyes don’t function that quickly, I play a game to wake them up. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.) I’ll write until lunch, take a break, then either get back to writing or read/respond to email, read blog posts, and work on promotion.

My day is similar. During my lunch break I watch an episode of Stargate SG 1. Love, love, Richard Dean Anderson! *sigh*

So tell me, if a book were being written about your life, what would the title be?

That’s hard. If you’d ask me to name a song, I’d say Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” How about My Life is an Open Book? Oops, that’s a song title, too. Seriously, if anyone reads my blogs—and I’ve written a ton of them since 2011, both on my own blog and on others’ plus Facebook—it wouldn’t be hard to piece together my life. In my forty-six-year marriage, with two kids and 5 grandkids, I’ve experienced highs and lows, like most people. Fortunately, the highs way outnumber the lows.

Wow, forty-six years! That’s amazing! 

If you could have any meal delivered to your door right now, what would it be?

Ooh. P.F. Chang’s. I’d start with the signature lettuce wraps and dim sum; Oolong Chilean seabass with lobster and shrimp fried rice, and a side of crispy green beans. For dessert, banana spring rolls. Mmm, now I’m hungry. Because all of that is way too much food for me to eat alone, Hubs would have to help me. The best part is my son is a culinary partner with Chang’s, and he would ask me what I was in the mood for and cook that meal accordingly. I am so lucky.

Thanks, Darcy. Those were great questions.

So happy to host you and your new release, Diane! 

 

NUMBERS NEVER LIE

A Romantic Suspense

By Diane Burton

Romantic Suspense

Length: approx. 80,000 words

Available at Amazon http://a.co/gUmO9wZ

Free with Kindle Unlimited

 

Blurb:

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie.

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack’s an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Upon returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother Jack’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

 

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that–an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack dothat puts Maggie in danger?

 

Excerpt

The garage door rose. All by itself.

Maggie Sinclair’s heart shot into high gear as she set down the camping equipment next to her SUV. She wasn’t anywhere near the button next to the door to the house. And the remote was right where it belonged, clipped to the Suburban’s visor. Shehadn’t opened the door.

Someone had keyed in the code.

As the door lifted, a pair of athletic shoes and legs encased in wrinkled khakis came into view. Only one other person knew the code to her garage. The numb-nut scaring her half to death had better be him.

In case it wasn’t, Maggie moved quietly to the rack on the wall where the garden tools hung. As the figure outside bent in half and ducked under the door, Maggie raised the shovel, ala Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera, fully prepared to whack the intruder. When he straightened, his look of surprise almost matched hers.

“Jack Sinclair,” she yelled. “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”

“Whoa!” Her brother recovered fast, right after dropping a plastic case on the dusty garage floor. A CD spilled out. “What are you doing here?”

She lowered the shovel. “Gee, I don’t know. Ya think maybe because I live here?”

Jack picked up the CD and case. “Are you sick? It’s Friday. And only—” He checked his watch. “—one o’clock. Why aren’t you in school?”

About to lambaste him for scaring her, she gave him a long look. Shadows rimmed his eyes, and his mouth had creases she hadn’t noticed the last time she saw him, a couple of weeks ago. Her neatnik brother never looked disheveled, yet there he was in wrinkled slacks and part of his sport shirt hanging out.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look tired.”

Actually, he looked like his shoulders carried the weight of the world, as their mom used to say. “With Ben out, I had to take over his clients on top of my own. You never said why you’re home in the middle of the afternoon.”

“School is out for the summer.” She returned the shovel to the rack, securing it properly while cringing at the screech. “And you never said why you’re sneaking into my garage?”

He gave her a cocky grin. The creases along his mouth and across his forehead eased. “Can’t I visit my kid sister?”

“When you thought I wasn’t going to be home? Try again, Ace.”

Jack cuffed her around the neck. “Okay, you got me. I wanted to try out a new CD on your system.”

She ducked out from under his arm then hip bumped him. “The truth comes out.”

His combination Christmas and birthday gift to her a couple of years ago was a sophisticated sound system. After he set it up, he’d left detailed—printed, no less—instructions for its use. That was Jack. Always covering the bases. Heaven forbid, he left anything to chance. Even his sister’s entertainment center.

While she pulled the fixings for lunch out of the fridge, Jack went into the living room. When the music didn’t come on right away, she called out, “Forgotten how it works?” She couldn’t resist a smirk. “Why don’t you read the instructions?”

“Nobody likes a smart-ass,” he called back.

Because he seemed so tired, she was surprised by the music. Head-banging rock would not have been her first choice.

“Could you maybe turn it down?” she yelled to be heard over the music. “The neighbor kids will get the wrong idea about their English teacher.”

Jack lowered the volume. When he came out into the kitchen, he grabbed her around the waist and spun her away from the counter. “Maybe those teenage delinquents you insist on trying to educate will think you’re a normal person.”

While he whirled her around the small kitchen, Maggie laughed. “Normal? Instead of the Wicked Witch of the West?” She gave an evil laugh. “‘I’ll get you my pretty.’”

“’And your little dog, too,’” Jack quipped. “You gotta work on that image, Mags.”

“Hey, it works for me.”

 

Numbers Never Lie is available at Amazon.

 

About the Author:

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction. Besides writing science fiction romance, she writes romantic suspense, and cozy mysteries. Diane and her husband live in West Michigan. They have two children and five grandchildren.

For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

 

Connect with Diane Burton online

Blog:  http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/dmburton72

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor

Goodreads: Diane Burton Author

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dmburton72/

Sign up for Diane’s new release alert: http://eepurl.com/bdHtYf

 

If that doesn’t work, here’s the link to Rafflecopter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/16cf1daf21/?

Meet Nick Forrester, hero of Caper Magic

Please welcome Nick Forrester, from Caper Magic, a romantic novella, available in digital and print format [Hauntings in the Garden, Vol II] from the Wild Rose Press.

Where are you from, Nick? Syracuse, New York

Tell us a bit about Caper Magic. Cape Brendan is a small tourist town at the eastern end of Lake Ontario where it empties into the Saint Lawrence River. Each October, the town puts on Caper Madness, a month-long celebration of all things Halloween. My uncle Hank has been the chief organizer for the last thirty years or so. I came up to help him out because he’s not getting any younger and his health is not the best. I needed to spend some time with him before he . . . you know. I ran into Nunie Doyle shortly after I arrived.

What did you think the first time you saw her, Nunie I mean? That her legs went on forever and that she ought to think about tying back her hair so it didn’t blow all over in a huge black cloud or hang like a curtain of velvet that melts against her curves in all the right—or wrong—places.

What was your second thought? I reminded myself that a few years back she’d stuck her nose into things that didn’t concern her. The ‘sticking’ business led directly to my partner’s suicide. Needless to say, my thoughts about Miz Doyle were not exactly friendly.

Did you feel it was love at first sight? As if.

What do you like most about her? Not that I like anything about her, in the least, but I’ll admit she is totally dedicated to whatever assignment she takes on—whether it’s advocating for victims of abuse, or helping Hank organize Caper Madness, or running a station on the underground railroad. Nunie is fearless. Plus, she bakes the best pies in the known universe and has a temper which is monumentally scary.

How would you describe her? Tall, thin, long black hair that begs for a man’s touch. She’s got an Irish accent which is normally easy to understand and rather musical. When she’s tense or upset, it thickens and she starts talking fast, it’s impossible to understand what she’s saying.

How would Nunie describe you? She’s called me a simpering git more times than I care to count. I think it’s a less than complimentary term. Truth is, I was acting like a complete hemorrhoid at the time so maybe I deserved it.

What made you choose law enforcement for a career? As a child my parents believed boundaries or limits of any type weren’t necessary. After they took off for better pickings, leaving my sister and I to fend for ourselves, my Uncle Hank and his wife rescued us from the streets where we were hiding from the authorities. Hank and Genny gave us the things every child deserves. As an adult, I found police work met my needs; I stayed with it for almost 30 years, then joined a big law firm in Syracuse to head their investigation unit. I’ve been with them for a couple years. It pays the bills and keeps me off the streets.

What is your biggest fear? Mucking up an investigation by taking the easier, softer way out only to have the client suffer because I screwed things up.

How do you relax? I like to listen to audio books. Any excuse to drive somewhere is always top of my list.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Mitch Rapp who is the lead character in a series of political thrillers written by the late Vince Flynn. Mitch is a real piece of work and doesn’t hesitate to speak what’s on his mind. He lost the on/off switch for tact and discretion a long time ago. I also like Robert B Parker’s Jesse Stone; Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers by John Sandford; and Elmore Leonard’s Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Do your job to the best of your ability; don’t hesitate to ask for help; think before you speak.

 

Here’s a bit more about Caper Magic:

P.I. Nick Forrester comes to Cape Brendan ostensibly to assist with Caper Madness, a month long celebration of everything Halloween. In reality he is tracking a woman on the run. Within days he is confronted by Annunciata Doyle, a vivid reminder of a pain-filled past.

After retreating to Cape Brendan in defeat and humiliation, Nunie Doyle’s only hope was to make the best of forced retirement. There, in this quaint tourist town on the shores of Lake Ontario, she has earned the love and respect of new friends and neighbors—and now puts her talent for helping women to use.

With the mutual goal of making Caper Madness the best ever, Nick and Nunie fight tooth and nail on the personal level, each discovering a new side to the other, sides that make them consider making drastic changes for the rest of their lives.

This attraction: complete madness—or sheer magic?

BUY LINKS:

Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/3329-caper-magic.html

Amazon: wwwAmazon.com/Caper-Magic-Hauntings-Garden-Veronica=ebook/dp/B00O0FVUDC/ref=pd-rhf

Author Bio:

            Legal nurse consultant, victim advocate, sexual assault nurse examiner Veronica Lynch–and her alter ego–Kat Henry Doran, has been there and done that–many times over. She often travels to the shores of Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River to the historic Adirondack and Catskill Mountains for settings in her books which feature strong characters who stand for the less thans in this world. Over the years, she has been called many things, not all of them flattering. The name she treasures most is Nana to the four brightest lights in her life: Meredith and Ashlin, Owen and Kieran.

Veronica is giving away this adorable cosmetics bag with a scarecrow on the front to one commenter!

 

 

 

For more information on Kat and Veronica, go to:

Email:                        WildWomenAuthors@yahoo.com

Blog:                        http://www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com

Amazon:            http://www.Amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Veronica+Lynch

Facebook:            http://www.Facebook.com/WildWomenAuthors

Pinterest:            http://www.Pinterest.com/KatHenryDoran

Twitter:            @VLynchAuthor and @KatHenryDoran1

Welcome Author Casi McLean

BENEATH THE LAKE ~ A Time-Slip Romantic Suspense
by Casi McLean
USA Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/2jB4JXp
Worldwide Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/BeneathTheLake

Casi’s Inspiration For Beneath The Lake: (PG13)
I love to talk about my, Beneath The Lake, and the eerie lake lore that inspired my muse. A town that time forgot––the history and creepy stories attached to a rural area that sleeps beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made lake, Sidney Lanier, fascinated me. Homes, churches and businesses still linger beneath the surface. The moonshiners of the 1940’s added built-in suspense, and the birth of NASCAR. Looper Speedway, a half-mile dirt track where bootleggers competed with their souped-up cars, exposed its cement stands in a recent draught.
There’s a Lady of the Lake who haunts the ghost town too––the spine-chilling lore is the basis for book three in my Beneath The Lake series, Between The Shadows. Some say she lures victims to her watery grave. The truth is, swimmers get trapped among the deadfall of sheered-off trees and town remains. Even expert divers get tangled beneath the murky surface, hence the lake’s unnerving label: Lanier never gives up its dead. The inspiration swirled in my mind, begging for a story to be told. What a perfect setting for my romantic time-slip suspense series.

 
Why time-slip? Ever since my childhood imagination discovered Madeleine L’Engles, A Wrinkle In Time, the idea of time travel intrigued me. And Lake Lanier, a man-made lake with mesmerizing history, presented a plausible theory. What if the excavation explosions triggered a seismic shift? Given enough energy, could the blasts rip a portal into a different dimension or a crack in time? The possibilities were endless.

 
The birth of Lacey Montgomery evolved through my young adult love for Jude Deveraux’s A Knight In Shining Armor. The time-slip novel introduced her endearing Montgomery family. I hope my books honor her inspiration. My high school friend, Hilary Johnson, inspired the persona of my heroine, Lacey Montgomery. A lawyer, discouraged with defending criminals, yearned to help honest people in trouble. Some of Hillary’s finer qualities became part of Lacey––the dysfunctional relationships came from my own personal experiences. LOL. Once these elements entwined, Beneath The Lake blossomed with an energy and life of its own.

 
The sequel, Beyond The Mist, picks up where the first story ends incorporating two minor characters as the new hero and heroine. Beyond The Mist is complete, in editing, and will be published in a few months.

 
For a Free Gift, and a chance to win my entire short story collection, Destiny: Five Novelettes With a Twist, click here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/pxekfzj8Rx4el/

Trailer, blurb, and the opening excerpt follow:

Blurb:
A ghost town submerged beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made Lake Lanier reportedly lures victims to a watery grave. But when Lacey Montgomery’s car spins out of control and hurtles into the depths of the icy water, she awakens in the arms of a stranger, in a town she’s never heard of–34 years before she was born.
When the 2012 lawyer tangles with a 1949 hunk, fire and ice swirl into a stream of sweltering desire. Bobby Reynolds is smitten the moment the storm-ravaged woman opens her eyes and, despite adamant protest, Lacey falls in love with a town destined for extinction, and the man who vows to save his legacy.
Threatened by a nefarious stalker, the wrath of bootleggers, and twists of fate, Lacey must find the key to a mysterious portal before time rips the lovers apart, leaving their star-crossed spirits to wander forever through a ghost town buried beneath the lake.

Excerpt:
Lake Lanier, Georgia—June 2011
A final thud hurled him backward, flailing through brush and thickets like a rag doll. Grasping at anything to break momentum, Rob’s hand clung to a branch wedged into the face of the precipice. Spiny splinters sliced his skin. Blood oozed and trickled into his palms, and one by one, his fingers slowly slipped.
A sharp crack echoed through the silence of the ravine as the bough succumbed to his weight. He plummeted into free-fall. Clenching his eyes, he drew in a deep breath, terrified of the pain, the mauling that waited on the jagged rocks below.
When icy water broke his fall, the chill kept him from losing consciousness. He spun, straining to see, but darkness enveloped him. Soggy clothing pulled him deeper—deeper into the murky, fathomless depths. He wrestled to squirm free from the waterlogged jacket dragging him down to a watery grave, watched the coat disappear into black obscurity. Panic gripped his stomach, or was it death that snaked around his chest, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing the air, the life from his body? Lack of oxygen burned his lungs, beckoning surrender, and a shard of rage pierced his gut as reality set in. He lunged upward with one last thrust and burst from the water’s deadly grip, gasping for air. A gurgling howl spewed from the depths of his soul and echoed into silence.
Sunlight shimmered across a smooth, indigo lake, but aside from the slight ripples of his own paddling, nothing but stillness surrounded him. He floated toward the shore, sucking deep breaths into his lungs until the pummeling in his chest subsided. When he reached the water’s edge, he hoisted his body onto the soft red clay and collapsed while the sun’s warmth drained the tension from his body.
No one knew he had survived. The rules had shifted. Now he could reinvent himself, become a stealth predator. His target: Lacey Madison Montgomery.
Contact Links:

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Author Casi McLean’s Bio:
Award winning author, Casi McLean, pens novels to stir the soul with romance, suspense, and a sprinkle of magic. Her writing crosses genres from ethereal, captivating shorts with eerie twist endings to believable time slips, mystical plots, and sensual romantic suspense. Beneath The Lake won the 2016 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for BEST Romantic Suspense.
Her stories entwine strong, believable heroines with delicious hot heroes to tempt the deepest desires then fans the flames, sweeping readers into their innermost romantic fantasies. Ms. McLean weaves exceptional romantic mystery with suspenseful settings and lovable characters you’ll devour. You’ll see, hear, and feel the magical eeriness of one fateful night. You’ll swear her time travel could happen, be mystified by her other worldly images, and feel heat of romantic suspense, but most of all you’ll want more.