Kitty Bucholtz, May Featured Author
May 1, 2020 by Kitty Bucholtz in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Kitty Bucholtz, May Featured Author of the Month, romantic comedy, Superheros, Write Now Workshop Podcast
Kitty Bucholtz combined her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. She writes romantic comedy and superhero urban fantasy, often with an inspirational element woven in. She loves to teach and offer advice to writers through her WRITE NOW! Workshop courses and the WRITE NOW! Workshop Podcast.
Besides Kitty’s website and WRITE NOW! Workshop Podcast, you will find her here on the 9th of each month writing It’s Worth It.
Books by Kitty Bucholtz
Why I Love Writing Romance by Kat Martin
April 29, 2020 by A Slice of Orange in category Guest Posts, Writing
Today we’re pleased to have a guest post by bestselling author Kat Martin. Kat a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, currently resides in Missoula, Montana with Western-author husband, L. J. Martin. More than seventeen million copies of Kat’s books are in print, and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Fifteen of her recent novels have taken top-ten spots on the New York Times Bestseller List, and her novel, BEYOND REASON, was recently optioned for a feature film. Kat’s next hardcover, THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, a Romantic Thriller, will be released on July 28th.
WHY I LOVE WRITING ROMANCE
From birth to death, romance is part of everyone’s lives, a mother’s love for her newborn baby, a son or daughter’s love for a parent, or love for the person who shares your life.
Falling in love is the part that intrigues me. I love giving my characters obstacles that reveal their strengths and weaknesses, everything from murder and mayhem to running for their lives. The obstacles they face form the plots of my stories. The way the characters overcome them shows their strengths and weaknesses and eventually is what draws the two of them together.
In my latest Romantic Thriller, THE DECEPTION, book two of my Maximum Security series, Kate Gallagher is devastated when she learns her sister has been murdered. Determined to find Chrissy’s killer, Kate hires lethal bounty hunter, Hawk Maddox. Working together, they follow a trail of clues that lead them deep into the city’s underbelly. Though Hawk warns her of the danger, nothing he says can convince Kate to walk away.
The best part of writing a romantic thriller is that the reader can be sure the perils the couple faces will be worth it. By the last page of the book, the hero and heroine are going to find the forever kind of love and get the happy ending they deserve.
I hope you will watch for THE DECEPTION, and that if you haven’t read THE CONSPIRACY, you’ll look for it, too.
Till then very best wishes and happy reading, Kat
THE DECEPTION, by Kat Martin
Excerpt
After her meltdown at the bar, which still embarrassed her, Kate spent the following week hounding the Dallas Police Department.
Chrissy’s case had been assigned to a homicide detective named Roger Benson, an older guy with thinning brown hair and a bad attitude. She’d done a little digging, found out he had previously worked in the sex crimes division, an unabashed misogynist who acted as if he believed all women were whores and was completely the wrong person to be handling cases in that department–which was probably why he now worked in homicide.
She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, figuring the crimes he had worked had changed him into the man he had become. Or maybe he had always been like that. Either way, Kate didn’t like him.
“Your sister was using the name Tina Galen,” he told her when she appeared in his office demanding answers for the fourth day in a row. “She was a heroin addict and a known prostitute.”
Her heart squeezed, though the police had already told her those things. “She was murdered, Detective. Her killer needs to face justice.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Ms. Gallagher. We’re doing everything we can to locate the person who killed her, but in circumstances like these, the odds of finding him aren’t good.”
“The killer must have left evidence. Fingerprints or DNA. Something.”
“We’re working on it. We believe Tina hooked up with a john who liked rough sex. That night, he got carried away, beat her worse than he meant to, and killed her. If that’s the case, he may have assaulted women before.”
“So you’ll be able to find him.”
“Like I said, we’re working on it. You need to let us do our job, Ms. Gallagher. Coming down here every day and badgering us isn’t going to help. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got things I need to do. Your sister’s case isn’t the only one on my desk.”
She glanced over at the stack of files on the detective’s desk and bit back a sharp retort. “Yes, I can see that.” And clearly, arguing with Benson wasn’t going to get her anywhere.
As she left the police station, it occurred to her there was a good chance nothing she said or did was going to get the answers she was determined to get in regard to Chrissy’s death.
She needed someone to help her. A detective who worked directly for her and strictly on her sister’s murder case.
At twenty-nine, she was the owner of Gallagher and Company Consulting, an up-and-coming management consulting firm. And though there were only two other analysts in the office so far, plus a receptionist who acted as her personal assistant, she had built a solid reputation during the time she’d been working in Dallas, and the company was making money.
She could afford to hire a private investigator.
Arriving in the lobby of the five-story building on North Akard near McKinney where the office was located, she waved at one of the security guards, a big guy named Clay, as she passed.
Kate’s stomach tightened. Clay didn’t have the thick dark hair and gorgeous blue eyes of the man she had nearly had sex with in the parking lot of the Sagebrush Saloon, but he was almost as tall, with the same rock-solid body. Every time she saw Clay, who was older and not nearly as good-looking, she thought of Jason “Hawk” Maddox and felt a combination of embarrassment and a ridiculous rush of heat.
Dear God, she had never been more turned on in her life. When he’d hauled her out on the dance floor and pulled her into his big, powerful arms, it occurred to her for the first time, she might really go through with the hookup she had only imagined.
Maddox really knew how to dance. And he could he kiss. She could have kissed him for hours.
Thank God, she had come to her senses before it was too late. She didn’t do hookups, especially with hot, muscle-jocks in jeans and scuffed boots. She didn’t have sex with strangers.
But after she’d left the morgue, she had gone a little crazy. Crying hadn’t done a lick of good and eventually she had managed to pull herself together, but the terrible feelings of guilt and failure would not go away.
It didn’t matter that she and Chrissy, an accidental baby eleven years younger, had never been close, that by the time Chrissy was in high school, Kate had moved from the small Texas town of Rockdale to Dallas.
She was working full time for Bain Consulting as a junior member of one of their teams when Chrissy began having problems with drugs and alcohol, and behaving promiscuously with boys. Kate had gone back to Rockdale to talk to her but it hadn’t done any good. A few months later, her sister had run away from home, and though the police had done everything in their power to find her, Kate had never seen her again.
Not until the police had called with the terrible news of her murder and Kate had gone to the morgue.
How she’d wound up half drunk at the Sagebrush Saloon still wasn’t completely clear. She’d just been desperate to get the image of Chrissy’s battered and bludgeoned body out of her head, and for a while in the backseat with Jason, it had actually worked.
It was impossible to think of anything but those big hands on her breasts and the thick ridge beneath the fly of his jeans. God, she had never known that kind of want before.
Other Titles in the Series
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Featuring Kidd Wadsworth, Author of the Month
April 28, 2020 by Kidd Wadsworth in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured Author of the Month, kidd wadsworth
Kidd Wadsworth writes to bring to life our magical, fire-breathing world. She believes we are super heroes. It’s time we put on our capes.
You can read Kidd’s monthly column, Infused with Meaning, here on the 18th of every month. More information about Kidd is found on her website, make sure you take the time to read her “about me” section.
A selection of books that include Kidd’s short stories.
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Authenticity by Neetu
April 26, 2020 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as connections, new friends, smiles
I see him outlined against the window in a busy café— his wool hat on the table beside a muffin and a cup of tea— a portrait from a bygone era and a study in longevity. He barely moves except to sip his tea. I walk up to say hello— he looks up and smiles, his teeth a shining white— they might be false but who cares? I catch the morning sun’s rays in his eyes; they cannot lie nor fake their light. We talk— it is so easy to converse, to steep in his cup, a rich brew he stirs slowly and thoughtfully— I wait in no hurry to leave. © Neetu Malik
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A Review of In Twilight’s Hush, A Thriller by Laurie Stevens
April 24, 2020 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Book Reviews
In Twilight’s Hush
A Gabriel McRay Novel Book 4
by
Laurie Stevens
Price: paperback $14.99 e-book: $6.99
Available wide
Publisher FYD Media, LLC April 2020
ASIN B086DCY5RQ
ISBN 978-0997006827
As a Homicide Detective for LA County Sheriff’s Department, Gabriel McRay has been assigned cold cases to investigate while he recovers from being kidnapped and held captive by a ruthless serial killer. He’s given the case of teenager, Nancy Lewicki, missing since 1988. Every clue he uncovers in Nancy’s case leads to more questions, but answers are dead-ends or blank walls. To make matters worse, his partner, good-cop to his bad-cop, is in jail.
His personal life is in shambles.
He’s not sleeping. His future father-in-law delights in insulting him—both for his choice of profession and his lack of finances. His fiancé, Dr. Ming Li, turns up the pressure on him by insisting on a huge wedding and by maintaining that daddy can pay for it. She also becomes distance when her parents come stay with her for an extended visit. His only friend is his therapist who refuses to be his best man.
Enter a celebrity psychic.
Gabriel tries to juggle his professional life and his personal life when a wildly popular celebrity psychic, Carmen Jenette, offers very public help with his cold case. He’s not interested, but she pushes the issue both with the Nancy’s family, with her powerful friends in the District Attorney’s Office, and with the public via her TV show. When Carmen is physically attacked all evidence leads back to his cold case. Gabriel realizes someone doesn’t want poor Nancy Lewicki found, and they’ll kill to keep what happened to her a secret.
Why I liked the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading In Twilight’s Hush. Gabriel McRay, despite all his problems and flaws, is a very likeable character. He tries to do his best for Nancy Lewicki, her family and, even though he doesn’t trust her, Carmen Jenette. He also tries to balance his needs with Ming’s and understand her relationship with her parents without trying to fix everything for her.
Readers who like Lisa Gardner’s DD Warren series or Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series will enjoy reading Laurie Stevens. In Twilight’s Hush is the fourth Gabriel McRay novel but it stands alone. A reader wouldn’t have to have read the other three to follow the action or backstory. Gabriel McRay is an engaging character, and Ms. Stevens does a great job of weaving a compelling story, so I suspect a reader will want to read them all. The other titles in the series are The Dark Before Dawn, Deep into Dusk, and The Mask of Midnight. This series has won twelve awards, among them Best of Kirkus Reviews, an IPPY for Best Mystery/Thriller, Library Journal’s Self-E Award, and Random House Editor’s Book of the Month.
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