Book Birthday - Ruby Dawn Releases Today!

Today is the official release day for the second book in my Shades of Hope series! Ruby Dawn is a story very close to my heart and I 'm so excited that it comes out today!


I had such a great time last year on the Purple Knot Book Tour and I can't wait to get out there and hang out with fellow lovers of romance. I made some great friends during that time and it was such a blessing to meet you all.


I will be out and about in a little bit and will share the details as soon as I can.


For now, I'd love to share a blurb and excerpt...

Ruby Dawn, Book Two - Shades of Hope series

Dr. Ruby McKinney understands the plight of runaways in her city; she used to be one of them. Tom, Ruby’s friend and protector in juvenile detention, disappeared after a tragedy. Now a DEA agent, his investigation pulls Ruby back into his life and back into danger. Will they survive long enough to take their second chance at love?

A Painful Past.

A former street kid, Ruby now reaches out to runaways through her medical clinic in the worst part of the city, but her escalating battle with a gang leader puts that in jeopardy.

 A Love Returns.

Cavalier, a risk-taker, charming… Ruby’s first love is now on the right side of the law and the center of a dangerous DEA sting involving her clinic.  Tom’s disappearance ten years ago broke her heart and rattled her faith. As their romance relights, memories of what it costs to love him flood her with fear.

A Desperate Plan.

Ruby’s battle with the gang ignites a firestorm of danger, and a pattern of lies from within her own camp emerges. With Tom’s life in the balance and her world cast in shadows, can Ruby trust God as she once did…or has she strayed too far, for too long to ever return?  

Excerpt:

“Shhh,” Tom whispered. He took my hand in his and kissed my palm sending a ripple through me. “Its okay, I know what you meant, Ruby. And you’re right about what you said the other night too,” he breathed and leaned closer.

Barely able to think, I stood frozen by his nearness. “What I said?”

He smiled, so close now that I could feel his lips move. “You said that I don’t know you anymore. That I need to get to know you all over again.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what I said,” I breathed.

Tom’s hand slipped to my face, cupping my cheek in his palm. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and it sent heat thrumming through me. I gripped his sleeves, my fingers digging into the material.

A wayward warning flittered somewhere in the back of my brain, but I closed my eyes instead of moving.

Tom brushed his lips against mine, barely touching, his breath soft.

Up front, Lilah shouted. “This place is a wreck!”

Startled, I pulled away from Tom. Lilah had either rotten or impeccable timing. I hadn’t decided which just yet. “I – I’m back here,” I shouted back. “I’ll be right out.”

Tom groaned and let go of me. He looked up at the outer door with frustration. I followed his gaze to Lilah rooting through the debris making enough noise for three people.

Reluctantly, I turned from Tom and walked back down the hall to the front lobby. “It looks worse than it is, Lilah.”

“What are you talking about? This place is jacked-up!”

She spun slowly around with her arms out at her sides. Behind me, I heard the rear door swing shut and turned to look for Tom. My heart sank. He was gone.

Lies - Romantic Friday Writers

~This Week's Challenge~

This week's challenge for The Romantic Friday Writers is Lies! I thought I'd enter an excerpt from my soon to be released romantic suspense, Ruby Dawn.  


The second book in the Shades of Hope series, Ruby Dawn introduces us to Ruby, a former foster kid, who reunites with her first love as they battle a vicious gang. Tom, now in the DEA, reappears in her life after going missing ten years ago bringing with him a secret Ruby thought was long hidden...

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Ruby Dawn ~ 


He stared, and then his face changed from concern to suspicion. “Y – You were there?”

I nodded.

“What…how?”

“Let it go, Ben. It was a long time ago.”

Ben wrapped his hand around my arm and leaned forward.

“Ruby, this guy has brought nothing but destruction since he got here. What am I supposed to do, just let things fall apart?”

I pulled my arm away, irritated.

“That’s not fair. Tom didn’t do any of the damage. Antonio Llave got one of his boys to do it. It was the Culebra.”

“You’ve known all along who was behind the vandalism, they killed Dakota too.” It was a statement, not a question. Angry, he closed the file abruptly.

“Ben—”

“Does Tom know who did it?”

I nodded.

Ben’s expression hardened.

“I was afraid you’d go after him, Ben. He’s a dangerous guy. Antonio is with the Culebra street gang.”

Ben looked at me like I was a stranger. When he spoke, it was with bitterness. “I thought I was doing you a favor, Ruby, letting you know what you were getting into, but apparently you already know what kind of guy Tom is and don’t care.”

“He isn’t like that,” I argued and pushed the file away. “He…you don’t know the whole story.”

 “Then enlighten me, Ruby. Explain how this kid, this killer, can turn into your white knight.”

“He’s not my white knight, Ben.”

“Then tell me you’re not in love with him.”

I hesitated, then looked out the window. “I…I can’t.”

Ben picked up the file and waved it. “I don’t know how you can justify what he did, Ruby. I don’t know how you can want to be with him.”

“Just because I have these old feelings for him resurfacing doesn’t mean I’m going to throw myself back into a relationship with him,” I spat. Guilt for leading Ben on and giving in to Tom’s magnetism burned in my gut.

“You love him, but you don’t want to be with him,” Ben looked at me with suspicion. “Explain that one.”

“Tom and I obviously have a complicated history,” I said quietly, fighting for control.

Ben’s gold-flecked eyes darkened. He waved the file at me again. “Explain how something like this doesn’t make you run the other direction.”

“You don’t understand what it was like, Ben.” My voiced hitched.

“Tell me, Ruby. What happened that night?”

There was no way I would talk about that. Not here, not anywhere. Ben wouldn’t understand.

“Fine.” Ben got up from the table, grabbed the file, and stalked out the front door. He never looked back. He just drove away, from me and the mess that was left of my life.

---

I hope you pop on over and check out the other excerpts and entries from my fellow Romantic Friday Writers.  If you'd like to participate, sign up and join in the fun. Every Friday is a new challenge and new things to share.

They Made A Book Trailer!

My publisher, White Rose, just sent over the link to the book trailer they made for the whole series. I love it!  Please take a look and leave a comment.

Just Kiss Already! - A Blogfest

Today is the best blogfest EVER! You get to post the scene where your main characters finally, FINALLY, kiss. It is the genius idea of Christina Lee over at Write Brained.

This excerpt is from Bayou Blue, the third book in my Shades of Hope Series coming out this year from White Rose Publishing.  

A romantic suspense, Riley and Jake,  have been trying to find out what happened to Riley's brother after a terrible accident rocks a small Louisiana parish. As the sheriff, Jake is caught between love and loyalty to the people of his parish as he begins to both suspect and fall for Riley. 

This scene takes place after a sudden downpour breaks up the harvest festival and their dance together...

---

We walked down the hall, past meeting rooms and offices, to a small room with white wicker couches lining the walls. A waiting room of some sort.

Jake grabbed a towel off a stack near a tray with water bottles and a bowl of mints. He wrapped it around my shoulders, pulling it together at my neck. I slipped my hands over his, looking at him, my mind going a million miles a minute.

What had he meant to say to me on the dance floor? Had he changed his mind? Did he not want me to go? I pushed the spark of hope down deep. I couldn’t handle another rip at my heart.

Static from his radio punctuated the silence, back and forth comments from the deputies echoing in the small room.

“I should get out there; make sure everyone gets home safe.” He didn’t move, kept his grip on the towel. “They need me.”

“Yeah,” I breathed, unable to think with him this close.

His eyes flit over my mouth and back to my eyes and I felt him tug on the towel gently, drawing me nearer. I went with him, letting myself go off balance, leaning into his space.

“This is a bad idea, Riley,” he whispered. “You shouldn’t stay.”

His lips brushed my eyelids, the tip of my nose, and sent a tremor of want ripping over me. Tilting his head lower, he ran the bridge of his nose against my cheek, back and forth like he was telling himself, ‘No’…to stop.

My heart fluttered with his touch. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave him.

I let go of his hands, spiked my fingers through his hair, pulling him to me.

A low growl sounded in his throat and then he clutched me to his body, his lips finding mine with a heat so intense I gasped in a ragged breath. He ran his hand down my back, grabbed my blouse in his fisted fingers, crushing me to him. A soft moan escaped my lips, the feel of him making my head spin.

And then he was pulling away, whispering that he was sorry, and pulling my arms from around his neck. Confused, I could barely catch my breath.

“What’s wrong?”

He put his forehead to mine, his eyes squeezed shut, struggling for breath. “I shouldn’t have done that, Riley.”

---

Thats all of Jake and Riley for now...Please take a moment to check out the other amazing entries into the blogfest at Christina Lee's Write Brained Blog.

Falling In With The Crowd...

Photograph by Andrea Allen

So...a friend talked me into giving NaNoWriMo a chance this year. And I have to say, that I am exceedingly nervous. For those of you who don't know,  NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Its a challenge put forth by various sponsors to write a 175-page, 50,000 word novel from November 1st to November 30th.  Its a seat-of-your-pants approach designed to get the words on the page...no editing allowed. Yikes!

For anyone interested in joining or learning more about it. Andrew over at The Write Runner did a fabulous post yesterday all about it. He even has a countdown clock and everything.


Now, writing by-the-seat-of-my-pants is the EXACT OPPOSITE of the way I go about writing a book.  I am a planner. A list-making, outline-constructing, plot-blocking fool and the thought of just...writing is sort of putting me on edge here. You see, they SAY that joining gives you permission to "Write With Abandon", but that probably doesn't take into consideration the incredible depth of my control issues.


So...I am going to work on my Snowflake program during the month of September and October...really plot out where I want this book to go, and THEN...I can write with, you know, semi-abandon.


You see this book, Bayou Blue, is the third in a series of Romantic Suspense novels that I'm looking to publish for the Christian market. The series is called Shades of Hope, and I truly hope to find a home for them soon.  The first two are complete and delivered so getting this one done will put a nice feather in my cap.


In December I want to begin converting my Intelli-Trace series to screenplay...a task that looms over my head like a black cloud roiling with lightning.  A huge task, yes.  I am currently studying how to format and write a screenplay and its VERY different than writing fiction. Its going to be a wonderful and terrible challenge.


For now, I am constructing my NaNoWriMo profile page, putting my synopsis and what not in the novel description section, and begging people to join and be my writing buddies. Oh, and I got a nifty word counter all ready and on my side-bar. Pretty, yes?


I encourage you all to join in on the fun and "abandon" during the month of November. Though you may not go about writing in the seat-of-your-pants manner normally, its said to do wonders for those that give it a go.  I'm willing to try...what about you?


Until next time...Go Write!

Bloom of Raging Red - A Word Paint Blogfest

Photograph by Troy Kelly.

Dawn Embers is celebrating 100 followers with a Blogfest that is all about description...painting a picture with words.

Her Word Paint Blogfest is in full swing today and I threw in my writer's cap with an entry.


This selection is from a work in progress for my Shades of Hope Series. Bayou Blue is a romantic suspense novel... Cajun style.


Riley's family name is synonymous with death; her brother the cause of a terrible tragedy. When she receives a letter that casts his blame in doubt, Riley will do anything to prove his innocence...even if it means teaming up with a man she loves, but doesn't trust.  This is an excerpt from the first chapter.

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Bayou Blue

Chapter One

Bayou La Foudre, Louisiana

I used to think of the ocean as a place of peace until that night on the black water; when the air heated so fast and so furious that the wet steamed right off me. The dark night lit up with a bloom of raging red and orange. The night the sea stole my brother.

I remember how our lifeboat bucked on the water and I clutched the side with aching, sweaty hands. Members of the crew jostled and jockeyed for position on the craft, tending to the wounded. I noticed absently the paint on the hull melted off from the blast and the sickening feeling in my gut when we capsized in the swells.

Overhead, acrid smoke billowed up from the listing structure blacking out the jaundiced moon. Helicopters panned search lights back and forth lighting up the churning waves with frantically jerking beams. All around us flames flared across the water fed by the oil slicking along the surface. Trembling with fear and loss, my brother’s last words clanged in my head.

Don’t believe what they tell you.

The car behind me honked, tearing me out of my memories. I waved my apology and tore through the intersection on the yellow light. Skating around a curve, I rolled across the pebbled driveway of the Roustabout Bunkhouse, and slid into a parking space up front.

The worn structure sat huddled under a pair of large Cypress trees. Spanish moss draped over the branches and hung down to the roof, just scraping it with the faded green tendrils. Low in the sky, the sun angled shards of sunlight through the softly swaying leaves. I shut off the engine and sat staring through the windshield at the building’s faded wood façade trying to find the courage to go inside.


My phone buzzed on the seat next to me, the screen heralding my boss at the paper. Joseph Bradley ran San Diego’s North County Chronicle with an iron fist. The fact that one of his reporters didn’t show up for work this fine Monday morning must be driving him nuts.


Digging in my purse for my press credential, I found it and tossed it into the glove compartment of the rented sedan.


Wouldn’t be needing that out here. The less people knew I was back in Louisiana, the better.


I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and bit my inner cheek. If I turned around now, caught a flight back to California, and just called the head office…


No. Randy deserved to have his stuff packed up by someone who knew him before his name meant death and destruction. Someone who loved him despite what he’d become. I thought about my younger brother and the breath whooshed out of me with the weight of his memory.


Hand going to my arm, to the still-healing burns, I wondered at how life pulled us in such different directions that he could turn so far into darkness without me knowing. Without me having one clue.


I folded and refolded the letter I received in the mail three days before the tragedy. Stained with tears and mottled with the oil of my hands, I knew the contents by heart. Randy’s all-capital handwriting scratched across the page.


I’m in over my head, sis. I don’t know how to stop this.


He’d asked for my help. He’d said he was scared. He said he’d explain when I got here. That was it. That is all Randy left me. That and scars both inside and out.


I knew one true thing. I failed Randy before. I wouldn’t do it again. One way or another, I would make things right...

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I hope you enjoyed my selection. There are some really great entries over at Dawn's...take a few minutes to check them out. 

Until Next time...Go Write!