Halloween is Murder by Carolyn Arnold!

Join our Halloween Spooktacular!  Give a warm welcome to Carolyn Arnold, author of  Halloween is Murder, eleventh book in the McKinley Mysteries released today on October 3, 2017. Happy Book Birthday!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter or my world famous Pumpkin Spice cookie from the plate.  There’s also hot apple cider on the counter.  Now and let’s find out about  Halloween is Murder, Book 11 in the McKinley Mysteries.

My Review of Halloween is Murder!

Halloween is Murder is a spooktacular holiday tale, with lots of tricks and treat and an intriguing cast of characters.   Sean and Sara McKinley own a PI Firm.  After a reporter does a segment on their Halloween haunted house charity fund-raiser, the reporter turns up dead. Sara convinces Sean to take on the investigation. The skeletons they turn up searching though the reporter’s proverbial closet will surprise you.

I enjoyed Carolyn’s  quirky characters set in a back drop of the tough news reporting industry and my favorite holiday — Halloween. If you like your murder mysteries served with a dash of romance and humor, you don’t want to miss Halloween is Murder.

5 stars in my haunted Halloween sky!

Beware of all that goes bump in the night…
Sean and Sara McKinley are excited about the haunted house they’ve set up as a Halloween charity fund-raiser, but things take a ghoulish turn when the reporter covering their story is found dead. With the media keeping mum about how she died, Sara’s curiosity is piqued, and she convinces Sean to take on the investigation through their PI firm.
But this case is not without its challenges. The police are actively investigating it, as well, and it’s not even clear that the woman was murdered. It will take a little cloak-and-dagger, dress-up, and finesse for the McKinley’s to get to the bottom of it, but they aren’t the kind to give up.
As they troll for leads and work through the skeletons in the reporter’s closet, they unearth a few suspects, but they’ll need to carve out the whole truth if they’re going to find her killer. If they do so fast enough, there might even be time for a little trick-or-treating.

Kobo             Google Play          Goodreads

A peek between the pages of Halloween is Murder (McKinley Mysteries)
Sara was calling your source from her home office one last time.
That’s what she told herself anyhow. She’d lost count of how many times she’d
called them, but she had always met with a busy signal. And there it was again…
She lowered the receiver to its cradle.
One could be certain that the station had plenty of rollover lines, so it had
to be other people calling in about Chloe’s death, too. Other crazy people like
her wanting answers. At least, she was sure that Sean thought she was crazy,
but she had a niggling sensation in her gut that they needed to look into
Chloe’s death.
Maybe it was because she and Sean
were surrounded by murder wherever they looked and wherever they went. Even
when they were supposed to be relaxing on their honeymoon, a case had found
them. And the inclination to view any death as suspicious was embedded in her
psyche from years working as a homicide detective with the Albany PD. Sure,
Chloe could have died from natural causes, an accident, or even suicide, but it
was also just as likely that someone had caused her death intentionally. To
quiet her mind, Sara had to find out which scenario applied to Chloe. And if
her calls weren’t making it through, there was another route she could take.
She flicked on the monitor, pleased
that she had the habit of leaving her computer on most of the time. She brought
up an Internet search engine and typed in Chloe’s full name and Your Source.
This brought up pages of results. The first entry was a post from the
television station entitled, DEATH OF LOCAL REPORTER CASTS DARK CLOUD OVER
ALBANY. Sara clicked to open the link.
Scanning down the page, she found
she was no closer to knowing what had happened to Chloe. There was no cause of
death listed, but rather, the piece read like an obituary with a recap of
Chloe’s career accomplishments and brief mentions of her personal life—she had
a sister and had died single. That was it. Somehow it seemed like a sad
summation of a twenty-five-year-old woman’s life that had been cut so short.
There was so much that Chloe had yet to experience, and Sara hoped that Chloe
had at least known romantic love at some point in her life. Sara
returned to her search results and clicked on many of the other links, but they
were more or less copycats of the statement Your Source had published.
What to Expect from the McKinley Mysteries
Romance. Humor. Murder. Are you looking for a murder mystery without all the graphic violence and foul language? Something that you can enjoy in an afternoon and walk away feeling good about afterward? How about a dash of humor and romance? If so, meet former detectives Sean and Sara McKinley. When a billionaire leaves them all his money, they no longer have to work, but they find themselves sticking to what they’re good at—solving murders. Undercover, off the books, and around the world, they’ll get to the bottom of things…and romance it up along the way.
About the Author:
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international bestselling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at http://carolynarnold.net/newsletters .
It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Halloween is Murder!

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My Review of A Shot at Love by Peggy Jaeger

Tomorrow, October 3, 2017, is release day for Peggy Jaeger’s  A Shot at Love. I had the great pleasure of being offered an advanced copy of this book.  I truly enjoyed reading the Spooktacular whodunit! LOL. After all it’s October. 

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron, a Bat Wing Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out about A Shot at Love.

Here’s my take on A Shot at Love.

Gemma Laine is a world famous photo journalist. When a Mob hit goes down right in front of Gemma, she captures it all with her digital camera.  Now the FBI take her camera and SD card as part of their investigation, raising her ire as those are not the only photos on that SD card and that camera is her baby.

The police and FBI are not the only ones seeking those pictures. After an attempt on Gemma life, Special Agent Kyros Pappandreos insists on taking Gemma into protective custody.  In the mob hit, two of his men and a crucial witness were killed. He’s not taking any chances with her.

What neither Ky or Gemma anticipate is the heat that sizzles between them as Ky tries to keep Gemma out of the mob’s hands.

The storyline keeps you enthralled with the perfect balance of romance and suspense. It’s no surprise that Peggy’s characters grab hold of you and don’t let go until you’ve turned the last page and closed the book with a satisfied sigh.  I highly recommend A Shot at Love and look forward to reading the next book in this series.

5-Stars in my haunted skies.

A little about A Shot at Love.

Nothing’s impossible when love is on the menu. In Peggy Jaeger’s luscious series, the only thing more tempting than a delicious meal is a truly delectable romance . . .
Look for exclusive recipes in each book!  
 
Photographer Gemma Laine is looking for arresting faces on the streets of Manhattan when her camera captures something shocking—a triple murder. In that moment, she becomes a target for the mob—and a top priority for a very determined, breathtakingly handsome, FBI special agent. With deadlines to meet and photo shoots on her calendar, Gemma chafes at the idea of protection, but every moment she spends under his watchful eye is a temptation to lose herself in his muscular arms . . .

With two of his men and one crucial witness dead, Special Agent Kyros Pappandreos can’t afford to be distracted. But Gemma is dazzling—and her connection to Kandy Laine’s high-profile cooking empire makes her an especially easy mark for some very bad people. Keeping her safe is much more pleasure than business, but as the heat between them starts to sizzle, Ky is set to investigate whether they have a shot at love . . .

Available at Amazon and other online retailers.

About the author:

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

You can find Peggy at:

Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072?ref=bookmarks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mmj122687/

Stop by Authors’ Secrets often where you’ll find award winning and best selling authors, interviews, their new releases and my reviews. 

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Devil in the Details by Vikki Romano

Give a warm welcome to Vikki Romano , author of  Devil in the Details!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Vikki and her Devil in the Details!

Vikkie ready to answer some questions?

Sure am!

  1. What defines you as an author? As a person? Are they one in the same? I don’t think I’ve ever considered myself defined.  I change and learn daily and it’s hard to nail me down on most days.  As an author, I strive to express myself as often as possible and allow my stories to reveal bits of myself and my psyche, but I think that’s a commonality for most writers.  You can’t write and expect to reveal nothing of yourself.  Writing is cathartic and therapeutic for me in so many ways.  Keeps me sane and grounded.
  2. What inspired this particular story?  I was asked to participate in Desiree Holt’s Kindle World last year and had reservations.  I write sci fi thrillers and this was a departure from that comfort zone.  Maybe that’s what intrigued me.  I love a good challenge and Desiree had faith that I could do it.  The MCs came to me right away and I knew I wanted the hero to be different.  I didn’t want the typical beefy, broody ex-Marine type.  I wanted a stealthy, athletic man with a curious mind.  Asher Boyce fit that bill and was really fun to write.
  3. What secret do you use to blast through writer’s block? Personally, I don’t believe in it.  I’m a writer and if I can’t write, something is wrong.  Most times blocks are caused by stagnation in the story or with the characters.  I usually have two or three books going at a time in different genres so if I find myself stalling, I switch.  The different genre and mindset refresh my thought process pretty quickly.  I also find music suitable to the scene helps stir emotion and thought.
  4. Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why? Calder McKenna.  The hero of my Alpha Core Trilogy. (http://smarturl.it/ACT3) He’d been on my mind for years just waiting for a story.  I initially used him as a target, you know, how much pain and angst could I put him through before he cracked.  All the “what ifs” that just piled up.  He’s a strong guy, but he has a rough past full of regret and anger.  Add a hacked brain on top of it all and you have yourself a perfect storm.  I found myself very vulnerable and emotional writing him.
  5. What inspired you to write? Life.  Everything around me.  I’m one of the oddballs that has a story running through her head at any given moment.  I can see them like movies and at times feel like I’m taking dictation when I write.  It would be great if I could type as fast as my brain could think.
    Since I was a kid.   Literally since I could hold a crayon.  I used to make little books for my family out of scrap paper and staple them together.  I think my mom still has a few.  Wonder how much they’re worth now? LOL
  6. Did you tell friends and family that you were writing a book? Or did it take a while to come out and tell friends and family you were a writer?  No, it was more like “When are you going to publish” from my family and friends.  I had full manuscripts written in junior high and high school and it wasn’t until I was in college that I started seriously pursuing publication.  Back then, there were only a few publishing houses and not much else.  No ebooks or audiobooks.  I got requests for a historical I had written from a couple of them, but I didn’t agree with the changes they asked me to make and decided early on that I wouldn’t sell out, become cookie cutter.  I’m glad I stuck to my guns.
  7. Do you see yourself in your characters?  Oh yeah, you can’t not.  You put a little of yourself in everything you write.  I see the stubbornness and the gumption.  I also see the self-deprecation and fear.  It’s all there.  You can’t hide from it.
  8. What do you want your readers to take away from your books?  I want to provoke thought.  Again with the “what if”.  I have been in technology since it’s infancy in the 80s and I’m enthralled with where it could go from here.  AI, sentient life, technical advances that we can’t even dream of.  I touch on a lot of that in my sci fi series and want it to spark questions, doubt and interest.
  9. Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?  Life, news, anywhere really.  I’ll hear something in a passing conversation on the street and my mind will just take off.  I have a notebook with me always… in the car, at my desk, in most rooms of my house.  If I don’t have paper, I record snippets on my phone.  I’ve always had a curious mind and have been told I’ve been asking questions since I could speak.
  10. Do you find it easier to write from a male or female point of view?  Why?  Male and perhaps it’s a bit of a bad habit.  Romance novels of the past painted women as such needy, desperate creatures with no spine without a man.  I am so not that woman.  I’ve been independent and self-reliant all my life and never felt I needed a man to make me whole.  I never understood that sentiment.  I’ve always had a more aggressive, dominant personality that was easier to express as a male character, but once I started writing sci fi and self-published without the agents pressing for submissive heroines, I could let out what real women could be.  Still learning to let go of bad habits, but I think in my last series, Sierra Mason was a revelation.  She’s strong, vibrant and has a spine.  She was a perfect match for Calder.
  11. Why do you write what  you write?  Ie. Contemporary, paranormal,  suspense, etc. I write cross-genre.  For me writing is writing.  As mentioned, I’m a techie geek, so the sci fi stuff was a no-brainer.  It was almost too easy for me.  I’m also a history buff so writing historicals is also a love of mine (see those at www.VictoriaOliveri.com)  As a writer, you need to love your subject.  Your personal passion must be there or the story will just be flat.

If writing is your first passion, what is your second? Research.  It’s one of the reasons I love writing historicals, but it’s also a double-edged sword.  I could spend all day researching and not get any writing in.  It’s all-consuming and can go off on a tangent.  I could start in the morning looking for specific info on a historical place and look up and realize it’s 3am and I’m looking at 13th century soup recipes.

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite movie:  The Big Blue

Favorite book:  Zen and the Art of motorcycle maintenance

Last book read: Royally Screwed

Favorite color: Purple

Stilettos or flipflops: barefeet

Coffee or tea: chai

Ebook or audiobook or paperback: everything

Pencil or pen: pen

Favorite song:  Two Ghosts

Streak or not: streak

Favorite dessert: Blondies

Favorite junk food: bacon

Favorite thing to do to relax: sleep

Champagne or gin: amaretto

Paranormal or Historical: historical

Wonder Woman or Top Model:  WW

Favorite TV show:  Lucifer

Hot or cold: cold

POV:  third

I’d die if I don’t have: cell

Review or Not: Review

Finally, Tell me something no one knows about you. 

            I’m a tech geek and gadget junkie with a background in hardware and software development.  My first typewriter wrote in cursive and I love info on space exploration and AI.  You can find me at www.VikkiRomano.com

So we have Devil in the Details!

Asher Boyce is a veteran private securities agent with a jaded history in the CIA and with the women in his past.  When hired as a linguistics specialist by the Holden Agency to seek out a missing treasure in Russia, he realizes immediately that danger is inevitable.  And death is imminent.

Tara Harriman had been burned before. Working in conjunction with MI6 and the CIA, she knows what she’s getting into and she knows who she’s being partnered with…. a man she’d worked with five years earlier.  A man whose nearness ignited a passion she never thought could exist.  A man who’d never left her thoughts, even after all these years.

When danger traps them and threatens not only their lives but the lives of their friends, they must find a way to forgive the past so that they may have a chance at the future.  Together.

 

Let’s take a peek between the pages of Devil in the Details.  Shall we?

“If you’re not going to take this mission seriously, I’ll let Grey know that I need a replacement.”

Asher furrowed his brows and sat back from her.

“Jesus, when did you get so uptight?” he asked, his eyes searching hers, noting how she looked away from him. “No, it’s just me, isn’t it?”

“Since I’ve met you, you’ve done nothing but leer and offer innuendos.  I don’t consider that professional behavior.”

“Leer?” he asked with a smirk.  “Is that even a word anymore?”

“You were looking down my shirt!”

“I did no such thing.  I simply noted your bra peeking from behind your sweater.  Kind of hard to miss.”

She turned a sour face back to him and after a moment’s hesitation, started the car and sped away from the palace.

“Besides, I seem to remember you being a little more than interested while we were holed up in that skirmish in Greece,” he said, watching the scenery fly by as she pulled onto the highway.

“That was five years ago,” she said harshly, almost angrily as she shifted the car.  “Some of us tend to grow up and move on.”

“Grow up?” he said with a scowl turning to her.  “I was thirty- two when we met and had already completed over a hundred successful missions.  Just because I happen to have a sense of humor and like to look at a beautiful woman, that makes me childish?”

“It makes you dangerous…” was all she said without even looking in his direction.

This was going to be a long, long mission.

Devil in the Details – Coming September 21, 2017 from Kindle Words. Buy links will be listed on Vikki’s website. http://www.vikkiromano.com/

About the Author:

My love for sci-fi goes way back to my childhood. I mean, who didn’t love movies like Tron and Terminator when they were a kid? Or great oldies like War Games. I grew up in the advent of technology and rode the wave of the dot com lifestyle in my 20s.

In college, I was a true cyberpunk and gloried over works by Gibson and Dick. I reveled in the hackers manifesto like a warrior and actually prayed for a world like BladeRunner. They were very cool, hyper-energized times we were in and it gave me scores of ideas and hands-on experience to dump into my work.

It was a wonderful time to be alive, to see where tech could go. Being involved in the field as a database admin and then later as a hardware tech and web designer, I had my fingers in all of it and I loved what it was all about. To this day, I still follow tech news and grin childishly when something new and spectacular comes onto the tech science scene.

My Alpha Core series reflects all that I have experienced and all that my mind has considered in our tech burgeoning times. And there’s a lot more where that came from. 🙂

 

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Devil in the Details.

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Review & Interviews for Casi McLean’s Beyond the Mist

Welcome back Casi McLean, author of the Lake Lanier Mysteries, the second book, Beyond the Mist releases in a few days on September 15, 2017! I see you’ve brought a couple friends with you.

Yes I sure have. This is Nick Cramer  and Piper Taylor from Beyond the Mist.

Oh goodie, more victims, uh — I mean guests. (Tena rubs her hands together gleefully.)  Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate.

 Casi, first tell us about writing Beyond the Mist.

Beyond The Mist took shape as a sequel to Beneath The Lake in my Lake Lanier Mysteries. The eerie lore attached to the ghost town that sleeps beneath the surface of Lake Lanier fascinates me. And creating a time portal hidden in Reynolds Cove bubbled so many stories to the surface, I could write for years and still have fodder. That said, my own passion about the 9/11 tragedy, how the details are already slipping into silent corners of history books, coupled with a real and present danger facing the world, I felt compelled to share this story.

Was it fun or difficult? I read and researched so much to make sure my facts were accurate, but watching live videos and History Channel documentaries for days on end ripped through me like nothing I’ve written about before. That was extremely difficult!

Do your characters always act as you expect? A better question might be does my writing describe my characters well. They truly have a mind of their own and nudge my muse endlessly to be heard.

Are you a plotter, or fly (write) by the seat of your pants? I’m totally a panster. I can’t start a story until I know my characters…what they look like, who they are inside, their hopes and dreams as well as their baggage and not so pleasant qualities. They write my stories. I simply try to keep up.

What are you working on now? 

Between The Shadows, Book #3 in my Lake Lanier Mysteries. I’m on chapter 9, so depending on my available writing time, maybe this time next year. I submitted Beyond The Mist last February and the publication date is September 15, so the process takes time. That said, the story is flowing so well now, I can’t wait to seclude myself and write away.

Now let’s find out a little about Nick Cramer.

Thanks for stopping by Nick.  Do you mind answers a few questions?

Not at all.  Shoot!

Tells us about the real you—

   What event in your past has left the most indelible impression on you? If I told you that, I might ruin the story for a lot of people. I will say a glimpse into the past of your future is priceless.

 What do you most value? Definitely my family and friends, especially a certain blonde who completely stole my heart.

 What is the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with? The perfect woman for me is one who brings out the best in me.

 What do you consider most important in life? I used to think my law career was the most important mark I could make on the world. But now I’d say relationships…it’s the people not the places or things that make life worth living.

What is your biggest secret? Telling you would defeat the purpose of a secret now, wouldn’t it? I’ll just say murdering someone can really mess with a guy’s head.

I should say so, not to mention the legal consequences.  Okay, Piper your turn.

I’m ready — I think. (laughs nervously)

Who were the biggest role models in your life? Lacey Montgomery. We grew up together and she’s like a sister to me. But I’d have to include her husband, Rob and my Aunt Alice.

What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with?  My knight in shining armor is a man who loves me for me, someone who gets me, respects me and has my back no matter what. Of course if he’s hot, sexy and can curl my toes with a kiss, I wouldn’t mind at all.

What kind of man would you never choose? As far as I’m concerned, a man who is all about himself, his needs, his wants, his desires…he’s not for me. I put my man first and I want a man who does the same for me.

What is most important to you in life? My parents died when I was little and I Aunt Alice raised me. Lacey’s family became mine when my aunt died and I can’t imagine anything more important than my family.

What is your biggest fear? After popping in and out of time and seeing up front and personal the horror of the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York, my fear is our world could self-destruct if people blindly live their lives in ignorance. People need to wake up and unite against terror lurking in the shadows.

Thanks so much for joining us Piper and Nick.   Casi, tell us a little about  Beyond the Mist

Piper Taylor concedes she’ll never fall in love, until a treacherous storm spirals her into Nick Cramer’s arms. Unrelenting remorse over a past relationship haunts Nick, until a secret portal hidden beneath Atlanta’s Lake Lanier lures him into a time slip that triggers consequences beyond his wildest dreams. Can Piper avoid the terrorism of 2001 New York and bring him home before he alters time, or will the lovers drift forever Beyond The Mist?

Here’s my review on Beyond the Mist.

Dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 21 terrorist attack on United States soil, Beyond the Mist was written with author Casi McLean’s deepest respect and compassion for their families and friends.  That being said, this tale is an exciting fictional prospective of the possibilities of time travel and bad decisions made for the right reasons.

Beyond the Mist returns to a tiny hamlet nestled in the north Georgia Mountains and the eerie Lake Lanier.  Is it cursed or is something else going on here? A prototype time machine perhaps taking advantage of a seismic shift creating a portal though time in Lake Lanier? Unauthorized use can cause unbelievable consequences to the timeline for those involved and those not.

Nick Cramer blames himself for the death of former girlfriend, Carly Patterson, if only he could go back in time to right his perceived wrong. Piper Taylor is willing to risk her life to save Nick from himself and the disastrous results of his actions during his time-slip to 2001. Can they correct results of Nick’s well-meaning actions in time to set the timeline on the right path? Will Nick realize that Piper is may well be his destiny?

The events swirl around the days leading up to and during September 11, 2001.  The actions of the character’s will keep you enthralled until the very last page.

I loved this book! An exciting, unique tale of time travel adventure with second chances at true love. Twists and turns in Beyond the Mist will keep you flipping pages until the end when you close the book and wonder what’s next in the world beyond the mist.”

My rating – Five Stars

Let’s take a peek between the pages of Beyond the Mist.

A soft mist hovered over the moonlit lake, beckoning, luring him forward with the seductive enticement of a mermaid’s song. Rhythmic clatter of a distant train moaned in harmony with a symphony of cricket chirps and croaking frogs. Spellbound, Nick Cramer took a long breath and waded deeper into the murky cove. Dank air, laden with a scent of soggy earth and pine, crawled across his bare arms. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled, shooting a prickle down his spine that slithered into an icy pool coiled in the pit of his stomach. He clenched his fingers into a tight fist, determined to fight through the emotion consuming him. Fear sliced through his belly like icy shards until he finally heaved, forcing rancid bile to choke into his throat.

I have to do this––he inched forward––only a few more steps and––

A sudden surge swirled around him, yanking him into a whirling vortex, where a violent blue streak dragged him deeper, deeper beneath the lake into the shadowy depths. Heart pounding, he battled against the force, twisting, thrusting toward the surface with all of his strength but, despite his muscular build, he spun like a feather in wind into oblivion. When the mist dissolved, Nick Cramer had vanished.

****

Darkness consumed him, a cyclone spinning, twisting Nick as he ripped through an endless void. His lungs burned for oxygen. He could hold his breath no longer, and relinquished his resolve, but he felt no pain. Instead, a sense of serenity encircled him as if he were floating, weightless, breathless, helpless on a cloud of warm air…then the abyss abruptly imploded. Pierced by a brilliant violet-blue light that shattered into a kaleidoscope of color, the tempest hurtled him, whirling, snaking boundlessly until he finally burst through the surface, gasping for air.

He filled his lungs to capacity, breathed in and out several times before opening his eyes to assimilate the greenish blur surrounding him. Instinctively dog-paddling to stay afloat, he stared at a rustic old wooden bench situated atop a ridge above until his head stopped swimming. He had survived the tumult that ripped his body through Lord knows what and challenged him physically and emotionally to the limits few men could endure. And for what, to end up exactly where he started?

“Noooooo.” His blood-curdling moan cut through the silence.

He slapped his hand across the water, scooping a splash that flew around him. There was nothing more he could do. He tried. He risked his life to set things right, to offset the tragic event that had haunted him for eleven years, but he always knew the chance equated to that of a snowball in hell.

Beyond the Mist is available at online retailers including Amazon and The Wild Rose Press.

Check out the trailer of Beyond the Mist  Beyond The Mist ~ star-crossed lovers survive a cyclone of 9/11 terrorism

About the Author:

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, like Beneath The Lake, WINNER: 2016 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for BEST Romantic Suspense.

Casi’s powerful memoir, Wingless Butterfly: Healing The Broken Child Within, shares an inspirational message of courage, tenacity, and hope, and displays her unique ability to excel in nonfiction and self-help as well as fiction. Known for enchanting stories with magical description, McLean entices readers in nonfiction as well with fascinating hooks to hold them captive in story lines they can’t put down.

Her romance entwines 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.

Learn more about Casi at the links listed below:

Website  Twitter  Facebook  Goodreads   Amazon Author Page  Blog  Pinterest  Instagram

Book trailer links:

Beneath The Lake Trailer A Time-Slip Romantic Suspense

Destiny Trailer ~ Shorts With A Sprinkle Of Magic 

Wingless Butterfly Trailer ~ An Inspiring Memoir

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Beyond the Mist!

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