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giveaway – Page 212 – Luv Saving Money

Category: giveaway

Live On TV 3 Book Tour & Giveaway


Live on TV3: Palm Springs
The Broadcast Murder Series Book 2
by Bill Evans
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
California’s Palm Springs was a hotbed for movie stars, big
money and high crime,
making it a great town to be a TV news reporter and police detective
in the ’80s and ’90s. There, we see the
explosive Sonny Bono rise to mayor before he

becomes a US Congressman, we meet Frank

Sinatra and his wife at exclusive dinner
parties, and journey with a hard-nosed cast of police and newsroom
personalities mingling among the stars while trying to solve a
pyramid scheme and murders. Evans provides a candid insider’s view of
newsroom operations and scheming TV personalities who will do
anything to get ahead.

Palm Springs is the prequel to Evan’s

first novel, Murder

at Broadcast Park. Learn how Stewart,
Lisa,

and the ever unsuspecting Dugan

built a broadcasting empire.

 

 

Bill Evans is a 45 year broadcast veteran who has turned writer. His first

novel, Murder at Broadcast Park, was released in October, 2017 by
Koehler Books. His second book in the Broadcast Murder series will be
released in the summer of 2018. Both books are being considered for
TV Movies. Bill writes with a lot of dialogue and in the words of his
publisher, “doesn’t use a lot of word calories.”

With his experience and insight of what goes on behind the scenes in the
broadcast world, Bill’s novel is able to paint a vivid picture of
what really happens when the cameras are off. Leaving you on the edge
of your seat, you will not want to put “Murder at Broadcast
Park” down. The story is fiction with so much non-fiction thrown
in you might not know the difference by the time you finish.
Currently Bill resides on California’s beautiful Central Coast. He
continues to
have a passion in the broadcast world and working in local media.
Bill has developed a love of writing and is excited about the
launching of his writing career.
 

TOM PRESTON HEARD Jennie Neeley introduce him from the news anchor desk.
Three . . . two . . . one . . .
“Tom Preston is on assignment outside the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Palm Springs. TV3 has
uncovered a major Ponzi scheme involving some very highprofile business people and
educational leaders from our desert communities.”
“Jennie, that’s right. I’ve been working on this story for the past three weeks—”
The television monitor suddenly went blank.
Jennie and the TV viewers couldn’t see the pandemonium and chaos erupting on Palm Canyon,
the street in front of the Hyatt Hotel. The TV3 live truck had exploded, spewing metal, shrapnel,
and bodies everywhere.
“Shit, what happened to our live shot? Our truck is dead.” The TV3 production control room
scrambled to figure out what went wrong. “Get Tom onthe phone.”
“Somebody find out what’s going on out there!” Johnny Johnson shouted.
JJ, as he was called, was the news producer and commanded the troops. He reported to the
news director, the head person in the newsroom. He was like a sergeant in a foxhole, taking
orders from his lieutenant and keeping his control room calm as everyone scrambled around
trying to find out what had happened. JJ cued Neeley and told her to get them into a commercial
break.
Losing a live shot was not all that uncommon for a small-market television station in 1987.
However, TV3 had fixed most of their technical problems over the years, and people in the know
thought they were a technically sound station.
Their problem tonight was beyond any technical issues they could have imagined.
Outside the Hyatt, the scene looked like something from a Third World country. First responders
—police, fire, ambulances—poured onto the scene. TV3’s main anchor, Tom Preston, had been
doing a rare standup, anchoring his investigative story on location. He was found on the ground
unconscious, his shirt splattered with blood and cuts on his head. There was a second body
facedown about a hundred feet away. It was Terry Lynch, the photographer responsible for
running the live truck and camera for Tom Preston’s story.
Glen Barnes was the first detective on the scene from the Palm Springs Police Department.Sandi DiSanto, his partner, arrived moments later. The police were quick to cordon off a half-
block radius for their crime team. Tom drifted out of his unconscious state just in time to watch

the EMTs perform CPR on his photographer. Tom tried to get on his feet and over to where
Lynch was dying.
He wasn’t able to stand, collapsing only to have his fall stopped by one of the attending EMTs.
Tom slipped back into unconsciousness.
Neeley sat on the anchor desk inside the studio trying not to be pissed. She took it personally
whenever something like this happened. The main anchor was the face of the station. It was
easy to be mad at her engineers and the loss of the live shot. The station had been promoting
the story for two days, and it was disappointing to everyone involved in tonight’s newscast. The
live shot was the whole story.
Jack Router, TV3’s news director, rushed into the news production control room. “What
happened to our live shot?” he screamed.
Jack was a serious newsman; he pushed his newsroom kids to take their game to a
considerably higher level than what a television station in market 163 should be performing at.
He called to an assistant. “I’m going out to the Hyatt. Keep Jennie in the anchor chair. Roll the
other live truck and let’s get some more reporters down there. We need to figure this out on the
run until we know what’s going on. Call everyone in and see if we have someone close to the
scene.”
Jack ran out of the control room, out the station door and to his station vehicle in the parking lot.


 

Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadow’s Keep Book Tour & Giveaway


Shadow’s Keep
by Meghan O’Flynn
Genre: Crime Thriller

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FAMISHED
”
Dark and intense, with an M. Night Shyamalan-level twist.”
~Kristen Mae, bestselling author of the Conch Garden series
OLD SINS. NEW BLOOD.
Deputy Sheriff William Shannahan doesn’t feel like a detective, at least
not like the ones he admires on TV. Not that he needs to be; the
small town of Graybel, Mississippi, is a peaceful place, with acres
of farmland, neighbors who always take care of their own, and noise
from the outside world muted by a hundred miles of forest.
That silence is about to be broken.
When a child is found dead in the woods, the medical examiner deems it
a
dog attack. But the paw prints belong to something far larger than
any creature in the Mississippi forests, and what animal would remove
the victim’s eyes? Though no one believes him, William can’t
shake the feeling that a human killer lurks in the shadowed woods.
And his girlfriend, Cassie, has a son the same age as the victim.
Cassie Parker was raised amid horrors she’s long pushed from her mind,
but
her scars won’t let her forget. Nor do the hallucinations, dreamsso vivid she can feel and smell and taste them. And no one is more
terrified than Cassie when another victim is found mauled to
death—because this body has been drained of blood. She knows
exactly what type of person would sacrifice a child, and why they’re
after hers. But how can she explain it to William?
This is William’s chance to act like a detective, to protect the woman
and child he’s desperate to save. Pushing back against prejudice
and presumption, he uncovers a trail of cruelty that spans decades,
but each clue brings him closer to a truth more horrifying than
killer beasts in the forest. For concealed beneath small-town
politics is knowledge that will shatter everything he knows to be
true about his town—and the people in it.
A compulsively readable thriller in
the vein of Cujo, The
Girl on the Train, and M. Night Shyamalan’s
The Village,
Shadow’s Keep
is a mind-bending exploration of obsession, desperation, and how
far we’ll go to protect those we love.
 
 
 
 

Meghan O’Flynn is a clinical therapist, writer, artist, wife, and mom. She
adores her amazing little boys, dark chocolate, tea, dirty jokes, and
back rubs with no strings attached, in that order. Meghan is the
bestselling author of The Jilted, Shadow’s Keep, and the Ash Park
series–which includes Famished, Conviction, Repressed, Hidden and
Redemption–and has penned a number of short stories including
“Crimson Snow” and “Alien Landscape.” She is
frankly amazed that her wonderful husband still agrees to live with
her after reading them and even more shocked that he seems to sleep soundly.
 

FOR WILLIAM SHANNAHAN, six-thirty on Tuesday, the third of August, was “the moment.” Life
was full of those moments, his mother had always told him, experiences that prevented you
from going back to who you were before, tiny decisions that changed you forever.
And that morning, the moment came and went, though he didn’t recognize it, nor would he ever
have wished to recall that morning again for as long as he lived. But he would never, from that
day on, be able to forget it.
He left his Mississippi farmhouse a little after six, dressed in running shorts and an old T-shirt
that still had sunny yellow paint dashed across the front from decorating the child’s room. The
child. William had named him Brett, but he’d never told anyone that. To everyone else, the baby
was just that-thing-you-could-never-mention, particularly since William had also lost his wife at
Bartlett General.
His green Nikes beat against the gravel, a blunt metronome as he left the porch and started
along the road parallel to the Oval, what the townsfolk called the near hundred square miles of
woods that had turned marshy wasteland when freeway construction had dammed the creeks
downstream. Before William was born, those fifty or so unlucky folks who owned property inside
the Oval had gotten some settlement from the developers when their houses flooded and were
deemed uninhabitable. Now those homes were part of a ghost town, tucked well beyond the
reach of prying eyes.
William’s mother had called it a disgrace. William thought it might be the price of progress,
though he’d never dared to tell her that. He’d also never told her that his fondest memory of the
Oval was when his best friend Mike had beat the crap out of Kevin Pultzer for punching William
in the eye. That was before Mike was the sheriff, back when they were all just “us” or “them” and
William had always been a them, except when Mike was around. He might fit in somewhere
else, some other place where the rest of the dorky goo#alls lived, but here in Graybel he was
just a little…odd.
Oh well. People in this town gossiped far too much to trust them as friends anyway.
William sniffed at the marshy air, the closely-shorn grass sucking at his sneakers as he
increased his pace. Somewhere near him a bird shrieked, sharp and high. He startled as it took
flight above him with another aggravated scream.
Straight ahead, the car road leading into town was bathed in filtered dawn, the first rays of sun
painting the gravel gold, though the road was slippery with moss and morning damp. To his
right, deep shadows pulled at him from the trees; the tall pines crouched close together as if
hiding a secret bundle in their underbrush. Dark but calm, quiet—comforting. Legs pumping,
William headed off the road toward the pines.
A snap like that of a muted gunshot echoed through the morning air, somewhere deep inside
the wooded stillness, and though it was surely just a fox, or maybe a raccoon, he paused,
running in place, disquiet spreading through him like the worms of fog that were only now rolling
out from under the trees to be burned off as the sun made its debut. Cops never got a moment
off, although in this sleepy town the worst he’d see today would be an argument over cattle. He
glanced up the road. Squinted. Should he continue up the brighter main street or escape into
the shadows beneath the trees?
That was his moment.
William ran toward the woods.
As soon as he set foot inside the tree line, the dark descended on him like a blanket, the cool air
brushing his face as another hawk shrieked overhead. William nodded to it, as if the animal had
sought his approval, then swiped his arm over his forehead and dodged a limb, pick-jogging his
way
down the path. A branch caught his ear. He winced. Six foot three was great for some things,
but not for running in the woods. Either that or God was pissed at him, which wouldn’t be
surprising, though he wasn’t clear on what he had done wrong. Probably for smirking at his
memories of Kevin
Pultzer with a torn T-shirt and a bloodied nose. He smiled again, just a little one this time.
When the path opened up, he raised his gaze above the canopy. He had an hour before he
needed to be at the precinct, but the pewter sky beckoned him to run quicker before the heat
crept up. It was a good day to turn forty-two, he decided. He might not be the best-looking guy
around, but he had his health. And there was a woman whom he adored, even if she wasn’tsure about him yet.
William didn’t blame her. He probably didn’t deserve her, but he’d surely try to convince her that
he did, like he had with Marianna…though he didn’t think weird card tricks would help this time.
But weird was what he had. Without it, he was just background noise, part of the wallpaper of
this small town, and at forty-one—no, forty-two, now—he was running out of time to start over.
He was pondering this when he rounded the bend and saw the feet. Pale soles barely bigger
than his hand, poking from behind a rust-colored boulder that sat a few feet from the edge of the
trail. He stopped, his heart throbbing an erratic rhythm in his ears.
Please let it be a doll”. But he saw the flies buzzing around the top of the boulder. Buzzing.
Buzzing.
William crept forward along the path, reaching for his hip where his gun usually sat, but he
touched only cloth. The dried yellow paint scratched his thumb. He thrust his hand into his
pocket for his lucky coin. No quarter. Only his phone.
William approached the rock, the edges of his vision dark and unfocused as if he were looking
through a telescope, but in the dirt around the stone he could make out deep paw prints.
Probably from a dog or a coyote, though these were enormous—nearly the size of a salad plate,
too big for anything he’d expect to find in these woods. He frantically scanned the underbrush,
trying to locate the animal, but saw only a cardinal appraising him from a nearby branch.
Someone’s back there, someone needs my help.
He stepped closer to the boulder. Please don’t let it be what I think it is. Two more steps and
he’d be able to see beyond the rock, but he could not drag his gaze from the trees where he
was certain canine eyes were watching. Still nothing there save the shaded bark of the
surrounding woods. He took another step—cold oozed from the muddy earth into his shoe and
around his left ankle, like a hand from the grave.
William stumbled, pulling his gaze from the trees just in time to see the boulder rushing at his
head and then he was on his side in the slimy filth to the right of the boulder, next to…
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
William had seen death in his twenty years as a deputy, but usually it was the result of a
drunken accident, a car wreck, an old man found dead on his couch.
This was not that. The boy was no more than six, probably less. He lay on a carpet of rotting
leaves, one arm draped over his chest, legs splayed haphazardly as if he, too, had tripped in the
muck. But this wasn’t an accident; the boy’s throat was torn, jagged ribbons of flesh peeled
back, drooping on either side of the muscle meat, the unwanted skin on a Thanksgiving turkey.
Deep gouges permeated his chest and abdomen, black slashes against mottled green flesh, the
wounds obscured behind his shredded clothing and bits of twigs and leaves.
William scrambled backward, clawing at the ground, his muddy shoe kicking the child’s ruined
calf, where the boy’s shy white bones peeked from under congealing blackish tissue. The legs
looked…chewed on.
His hand slipped in the muck. The child’s face was turned to his, mouth open, black tongue
lolling as if he were about to plead for help. Not good, oh shit, not good.
William finally clambered to standing, yanked his cell from his pocket, and tapped a button,
barely registering his friend’s answering bark. A fly lit on the boy’s eyebrow above a single white
mushroom that crept upward over the landscape of his cheek, rooted in the empty socket that
had once
contained an eye.
“Mike, it’s William. I need a…tell Dr. Klinger to bring the wagon.”
He stepped backward, toward the path, shoe sinking again, the mud trying to root him there,
and he yanked his foot free with a squelching sound. Another step backward and he was on the
path, and another step off the path again, and another, another, feet moving until his back
slammed against a gnarled oak on the opposite side of the trail. He jerked his head up,
squinting through the greening awning half convinced the boy’s assailant would be perched
there, ready to leap from the trees and lurch him into oblivion on flensing jaws. But there was no
wretched animal. Blue leaked through the filtered haze of dawn.
William lowered his gaze, Mike’s voice a distant crackle irritating the edges of his brain but not
breaking through—he could not understand what his friend was saying. He stopped trying to
decipher it and said, “I’m on the trails behind my house, found a body. Tell them to come in
through the path

on the Winchester side.” He tried to listen to the receiver, but heard only the buzzing of flies
across the trail—had they been so loud a moment ago? Their noise grew, amplified to unnatural
volumes, filling his head until every other sound fell away—was Mike still talking? He pushed
End, pocketed the
phone, and then leaned back and slid down the tree trunk.
And William Shannahan, not recognizing the event the rest of his life would hinge upon, sat at
the base of a gnarled oak tree on Tuesday, the third of August, put his head into his hands, and
wept.


 

Follow the tour HERE

for exclusive content and a giveaway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost Human Series Book Tour & Giveaway

**ALMOST
HUMAN is a series of successive trilogies, not stand-alone books.
Each trilogy is self-contained enough to be read alone as a 3 book
set, but the story unfolds chronologically, and the characters do
continue from one trilogy to the next. Main storyline closure is in
each 3rd book, but there are also story-ties leading from one trilogy
to the next in the series. **


Fatal
Infatuation
Almost
Human- The First Trilogy, Volume 1
by
Melanie Nowak
Genre:
Paranormal
Romantic Urban Fantasy
 
Shy
Felicity never expected to gain the attention of a handsome man…ora vampire, but she’ll need all the help she can get to navigate
difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires;
and struggles with abuse, morality and…college.

Cain
is an elder vampire who displays quiet confidence even as he
struggles to overcome sins of his past. Surprisingly, he found that
in losing his life he gained his faith and a purpose. His mission:
find the hostile vampires that inhabit this small college town, and
educate them to live in peace with humans. Their leader, Sindy, is a
wicked temptress who has set her sights on Felicity’s new friend Ben.
She will be difficult to control, but after meeting Felicity, Cain’s
most difficult task lies in controlling himself.
 

*Please note –
while there is no graphic sex in this book, there is mature subject
matter, and there are some graphic (but tasteful) sex scenes in
subsequent books of the series







Lost
Reflections
Almost
Human – The First Trilogy, Volume 2

 

Felicity
has helped her friends to escape the venomous vixen Sindy, but cannot
divine the motives of Cain, the vampire who captured first her
gratitude, and then her heart.

 

She finds the historical
account of Cain’s past enthralling and frightening. Now she must
determine whether the addictive venom in Cain’s kiss is clouding
her judgment, and if his thirst for her blood is a driving force too
strong for their love to conquer.
It’s difficult to
contemplate such questions while under the attack of a vengeful
vampire and his zombie slaves. Felicity’s heart has already been
lost to Cain; will she lose her life as well?

 
 
Evolving
Ecstasy
AlmostHuman – The First Trilogy, Volume 3

 
The
relationship between Cain and Felicity has crested to a peak that
leaves them unsure whether to step back from each other for safety,
or jump into a future united in death. 

 

Felicity
is unlike any human Cain has known before. She treats him as an
equal; a man worthy of friendship, respect and even… love. She
embodies qualities of gentleness and loving trust that he has never
found among his own kind. This makes her far more desirable to him
than any creature of darkness could ever be. 

 

The
venom of Cain’s bite could protect Felicity from hostile vampires,
but it would give him a measure of psychic control over her as well.
Would Felicity only accept becoming a vampire, due to his addictive
venom, coupled with the foolishness of a young girl in love?

 

Perhaps
there is a brighter future for her in the human world. Is Cain’s
desire for Felicity’s love worth the loss of her life?

 

 

 
 
Born
To Blood
Almost
Human – The Second Trilogy, Volume 1
 
Alyson
used to think that vampires were almost human; that is, until she
became one. Finally consenting to be lovingly turned by her boyfriend
Mattie, Allie has come to possess traits and powers previously
unknown among vampire kind. Now Allie seeks the help of the elder
vampire Cain, to discover not only what she is capable of, but
why.

 

 

Still
healing from heartbreak over Cain, Felicity looked forward to a nice,
human relationship, but dating the son of a vampire hunter, and
having a psychic bond with one of his prey makes life far from
normal. How can Ben and Felicity discover the truths of love when
they are forced to live with so many secrets?

 

 

Someone
has contrived a diabolical plan to control destiny, and blood may not
only be the catalyst for change, but also the master of manipulation
behind it. Is rebirth as a vampire always at the discretion of an
undead sire, or sometimes is one simply born to blood?

 

 
 
Descendant
of Darkness
Almost
Human – The Second Trilogy, Volume 2
 
The
saga continues…

 

 

Heartbroken
and soul searching, the vampire Cain believes he has finally found
his purpose. He is mentoring Allie, who is grudgingly coming to terms
with the fact that she is unique among vampires… The United One.
Together with Allie’s husband Mattie, they are working to discover
her powers, when the vampiress Sindy returns with some new tricks of
her own.

 

 

Ben
and Felicity have tried to leave their past involvements with
vampires behind them, settling into human life together, despite
having to deal with Ben’s vampire hunting father – but is mundane
love strong enough to supersede the supernatural?

 

 

The
vampire Elric has sabotaged his master’s plans to control The United
One more times than for which he can expect to safely escape the
consequences. Coven Master Arif knows what he wants, and the guiding
forces behind his plan know how to help him get it… If Elric
rebels, he could lose his love, but thwart disaster for the human
race. Is staying true to the coven in order to save his love, worth
the price the world will pay?

 

 

When
you are descended from darkness, is it still possible to reach for
the light? In times of peace, prepare for war.

 

 
 
Destined
For Divinity
Almost
Human – The Second Trilogy, Volume 3
 
Sindy
is a vampiress of little morals and large aspirations…or at least,
the old Sindy was. Love and friendship are becoming more important to
her, and after becoming an accomplice to kidnapping and an agent of
betrayal, she would be willing to settle for escaping the tangled web
she has woven without getting herself dusted.

 

Felicity
is being held for a ransom that no one of sound moral conscience
should be willing to pay. Coven Master Arif, a vampire whose
terrifying talent of mind-control holds her more tightly than chains,
wants control of The United One; Alyson. A vampire of great power
unlike any other, Alyson is a good friend to Felicity and a dear
covenmate of… 

 

Cain,
a vampire who declared his love for Felicity, but left her to fulfillher dreams of having a human family. Since renouncing his vampiric
tendencies, Cain’s existence has been one of self-sacrifice and
benevolence. To rescue Felicity, he would have to betray Alyson and
endanger the world, an act that would torture his conscience for
eternity.

 

Perhaps
Felicity’s husband Ben can rescue her, but to ensure Felicity’s
safety he would have to play by Arif’s rules. Is Ben willing to
make a deal with the devil to retrieve his wife? Or should he put his
differences aside to try and work with Cain, his former rival, to
find a solution? Cain may be able to help rescue Felicity, but is he
willing to give her up…again?

 

Alyson
has never been one to meekly follow others. Is it time for The United
One to take a stand of her own? Her blood dictates that her divine
destiny is to rule vampire-kind. Maybe it is time to lay down some
rules! A battle is sure to ensue…can Alyson protect everyone she
loves?

 

Will
Felicity survive Arif’s wrath to keep her life…and her humanity,
or when all is said and done, will she find herself ALMOST HUMAN?

 

 
 
 
 
 

Melanie
Nowak is author of the venomous vampire series ALMOST HUMAN, and a
happily married mom of 2 boys. She holds a Master’s Degree in Library
and Information Science, and lives with her family on a peaceful
mountaintop in the forest of upstate New York. She has always had a
vivid imagination and a fascination for the paranormal. Acting and
singing are loves of hers as well. However, upon conceiving the idea
for her ALMOST HUMAN series in 2003, she discovered a previously
unknown passion for writing! Now she puts her over-active imagination
to good use, creating characters she loves, and she gets to play all
of the parts!
 
 


Follow

the tour HERE

for exclusive content and a giveaway!




 
 
 
 
 
 


Honor Among Seals Book Tour & Giveaway

Honor Among Seals
Hearts of Valor #2
by Dixie Lee
Brown
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pub Date: 10/9/2018

Working for a security company with his brothers-in-arms has given former

SEAL Matt “MacGyver” Iverson a reason to get up every morning.
But keeping a runaway bride from harm isn’t in his job description . . .

Former Marine Kellie Greyson is in over her head. A cold-hearted ultimatum leaves
her no choice but to wed mob boss Tony Palazzi. But when she overhears his
deadly plans for her after she says ‘I do,’ Kellie flees his
casino, only to wind up in a seedy Vegas bar. The next thing she
knows, she’s waking up beside a protective powerhouse of a man . . .
Though Kellie’s body kickstarts his into high gear, MacGyver is all business trying
to
convince her that they need each other. Both are looking for missing
people—and all roads lead to Palazzi. MacGyver will have to lay all
his cards on the table to get Kellie to trust him in a game they
might not survive . . .





Heart Of A Seal
Hearts of Valor
#1
They’re brothers in arms, Navy SEALS risking their lives for their country

. . . and the women they love.

This is Luke Harding’s story.

Six months in a desert hellhole taught Navy SEAL Luke Harding things
he
never wanted to learn about life and death. Only tender memories of
the beautiful brunette he met a few weeks before his deployment
helped get him through the torturous days and nights. Back in the
States after a perilous rescue, physically and emotionally damaged,
Luke’s about to plunge into a new kind of war. In a seemingly
bucolic Idaho town, Sally Duncan faces real—and
unpredictable—danger.
All Sally ever wanted was a safe place to raise her nine-year-old
daughter. Her identity hidden behind a façade of secrets and lies,
can she trust Luke—a man she barely knows—with the truth? Even as
they give in to long-denied passion, a killer with a personal
vendetta is setting an ambush that will leave them praying for a
miracle and fighting for the future they may not live to see.




Dixie Lee Brown
lives and writes in Central Oregon, inspired by
gorgeous scenery and three hundred sunny days a year. Having moved
from South Dakota as a child to Washington, Montana and then to
Oregon, she feels at home in the west. She resides with two dogs and
a cat, who are currently all the responsibility she can handle. Dixie
works fulltime as a bookkeeper. When she’s not writing or working,
she loves to read, enjoy movies, and if it were possible, she’d
spend all of her time at the beach. She is also the author of the
Trust No One romantic suspense series, published by Avon Impulse.

Chapter One

Kellie Greyson peered from beneath lowered lashes at the three solemn men making no
secret of the fact they were watching her every move. Tony Palazzi, that slimy piece of horse
manure, and two of his thugs leaned their backs against the bar to her left, holding drinks they’d yet
to sample. Second day in a row.
Good. Maybe the low-cut tops and miniskirts I bought aren’t a waste of money after all. The
sky-high heels were killing her feet, though. Combat boots had been far more comfortable.
She placed a hundred dollars’ worth of chips in the betting circle of the Blackjack table, and
the dealer dispensed cards to each of four players, turning up a five for himself. The first two
gamblers went bust. The third stayed at eighteen. To make Tony think she appreciated his perusal,
Kellie smiled before tapping her finger on the table beside the seven of spades and two of hearts
she’d been dealt. The dealer hit her with an ace, and a murmur of approval rippled through the
players to her right.
Kellie watched in amusement as the dealer appeared to swat absently, as though at a pesky
fly buzzing around his ear—the obvious signal about as subtle as a freight train. His hole card was a
nine, and when he dealt himself another nine, he did a lousy job of hiding his frustration.
She reached for the chips he pushed toward her, leaving a small bet on the table for the next
deal. When he shoved those chips toward her too, she glanced at him. The dealer nodded to
someone behind her, and, immediately, a heavy hand dropped on her shoulder.
One of the muscled suits, who’d been standing with Tony a moment ago, leaned to speak in
her ear. “Miss, please come with us.” His tone left no room for discussion.
Kellie glanced over his shoulder to see who “us” was and met the stern glare of Tony’s other
gorilla. Well, it’s about friggin’ time. Three days she’d been here, choking on the foul air, counting
cards and beating the house—waiting for this exact moment. She grabbed her chips, which the
helpful dealer had placed in a box, and stood to accompany her escorts to the cashier’s window.
After she cashed out, she’d demand to speak with the owner of the Dominion Hotel and Casino,
whose orders were, apparently, getting her tossed out. At long last, she’d have her chance to find
out what Tony knew about her sister.
Except…they weren’t taking her to the cashier’s window. Sandwiching her between them,
the two beefy men veered toward the elevators.
“Where are you taking me?” There was really only one place they could be going, and
Kellie’s restrained excitement warred with nervousness.
One of the men pushed the top button beside the closed elevator, and an arrow flashed on,
pointing up. “Mr. Palazzi wants to talk to you.” The doors opened, and the man gripped her elbow,
guiding her ahead of him into the car. His hand moved over the panel of buttons and the number
forty lit up—the top floor. The second man fingered a card on a lanyard around his neck and slid it
into a slot above the numbers. The elevator started upward.
Kellie’s heart rate lurched into overdrive. Her palms started to sweat, in spite of her plan
having finally become reality. All she had to do was continue her charade a while longer. She fished
a tube of lipstick from her purse and swiped on a fresh coat of Parisian Red. Tony’s vice was
women—and his weakness would be her means to the information she needed. Saliva pooled at the
back of her throat as revulsion threatened her determination.
Stick to the plan.
She’d been over this a hundred times. Tony had been the last person to see Anna before
she disappeared. Her sister’s missing person’s case was now officially cold. But Tony, Las Vegas
businessman and crime boss, knew something. She felt it in every fiber of her being. All she had to
do was get close enough to make him trust her—long enough to find a thread of
evidence—something or someone who knew what happened and was willing to tell the story.
To find her sister, Kellie would use the assets the good Lord gave her without conscience. As
much as she despised playing the slut card, that description epitomized the type of woman Tony
was attracted to. She’d

seen the pictures, read the stories in the rag magazines and seen the women hanging on his arm.
Dumb, beautiful and the sleazier the better. That was what it would take to catch the eye of the rich
and powerful Tony Palazzi.
Kellie wasn’t gorgeous, by any stretch of the imagination, and she certainly wasn’t dumb, but
she cleaned up good enough, and her strong, toned legs, thanks to four years in the Marine Corps,
had garnered her fair share of admiration. She could play the vamp if incentivized—and finding
Anna, possibly alive, was incentive enough. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to bring her home.
Nothing.
The elevator doors slid open directly into Tony’s office. Tall and slim, with glistening black
hair and pretty-boy features that belied his evil heart, he leaned against the edge of his desk and
stared.
The man on her right gave her a shove and stepped into the room behind her. The doors slid
shut and the elevator whirred to life again, taking the other man back the way they’d come.
Tony pushed away from the desk and advanced toward her, his face a mask of annoyance.
“Who are you, and why are you here?”
Despite having prepared herself, mentally and emotionally, to meet the casino’s owner on his
turf, his nearness and obvious anger almost made her back up a step. She stopped herself just in
time. I can do this. Just play the role. Locking away any emotions that might trip her up was second
nature, also courtesy of the Marine Corps. She allowed a faint smile to curve her lips. “My name is
Kellie Greyson. As to why I’m here…I’m afraid you’ll have to enlighten me.”
Tony stopped in front of her, snatched the box of chips from her hand and set it on a nearby
table. He slid the strap of her small handbag off her shoulder and rummaged through it until he found
her driver’s license. Sidestepping her, he handed the ID to his thug and whispered something. The
man disappeared through a doorway to the right of the desk.
Kellie seethed at Tony’s arrogance and the high-handed examination of her personal
property, but the object of this exercise was to convince him he could trust her, so she’d let it go.
She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe me?”
Tony turned his back, setting her purse on the edge of his desk. “You were counting cards in
my casino.”
Kellie shrugged. “That’s not against the law.”
He faced her again, a cold smile stopping far short of his eyes. “It’s frowned upon. Surely
you’re aware of that. I’m curious why you were so obvious. Winning eighty percent of the hands
you’re dealt is sure to get you caught and kicked out.”
Kellie glided forward until she reached a chair positioned in front of his desk, sat and crossed
her legs. “If that’s the case, why did it take you so long to catch me?”
His lecherous appraisal flicked over her legs and back to her face. “Because I enjoyed
watching you.”
She caught herself before disgust mushroomed and seeped through her facade. With effort,
her smile widened. “I could say the same to you. Perhaps that’s why I kept coming back.”
The door swung open and Tony’s man returned, striding across the room until he reached
his boss. Their whispered exchange continued for far too long, unnerving her, and suddenly the
wisdom of her scheme came into question.
The hired man didn’t look at her as he scooted by to resume his silent vigil in front of the
elevator doors.
“Well? Am I who I said I was?” Kellie stayed in character, clinging to her bravado, but it was
definitely slipping.
Something was wrong. Either Tony’s penetrating gaze saw right through her, or he simply
wasn’t interested. Either way, her sixth sense said it was time to go, regroup and try again another
day.
A smirk twisted Tony’s features, and his silence battered her flagging confidence. She
pushed to her feet with a deep sigh. “It’s settled then. You have your money back, and I promise
never to set foot in your casino again.” She stepped toward the desk and reached for her handbag.
“I’ll let

myself out.”
Tony moved quicker, catching the strap of her handbag, and ripped it from her fingers. “I’m
afraid I can’t let you leave, Kellie. You see…counting cards is a felony, if you use a computer.” He
reached inside her bag and brought out a pocket-sized device she’d never seen before.
Kellie’s uneasiness grew. “That’s not mine.”
“You know that, and I know that, but the Nevada Gaming Commission will believe what I tell
them. And I’m going to tell them I found it in your handbag, where you hid it after I caught you
cheating.” Tony stepped closer, draped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to her chair.


 

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Grasmere Cottage Mysteries Book Tour & Giveaway


Dead in the Garden
Grasmere Cottage Mystery Book 1
by Dahlia Donovan
Genre: Cozy Mystery, M/M Romance
Join bestselling author
Dahlia Donovan on a cosy mystery adventure in
Grasmere Cottage Mystery book one. With love, wit, and a murder to
solve, life for Valor and Bishan is about to get bloomin’ complicated
in this sweet gay romance.
Dead body in the garden? Check.
Mystery to solve? Check.
Police focused on the wrong person? Not good.
All grown up and graduated, Valor Tarquin
Scott, son to Earl and Countess Scott, owns The Ginger’s Bread, a
biscuit shop, in Grasmere in the Lake District. The love of his life,
Bishan Tamboli, has turned his music studies into a successful career
playing with the London Symphony Orchestra. It’s a perfect life
with their cat, spending evenings watching Poirot on the
television.
The nightmare begins with one dead former
schoolmate, leading police to believe Bishan is responsible.
Valor struggles to solve the cryptic puzzles left behind in a race to prove
Bishan’s innocence.
He can’t help wondering how far the
body count will rise before they manage to stop the killer.

**only .99 cents!!**

 

 
 

Dead in the Pond
Grasmere Cottage Mystery Book 2

Join bestselling author Dahlia Donovan on a cosy mystery adventure in

Grasmere Cottage Mystery book two. With love, wit, and a murder to
solve, life for Valor and Bishan continues to be blinkin’ complicated
in this sweet gay romance.

Killer on the loose? Check.
Frogs in the garden? Check.
Playing a twisted game with a killer? Not good.
Bishan Tamboli struggles to recover from his false arrest. He worries the
police still aren’t as convinced about his innocence. With his
longtime boyfriend, Valor, at his side, he intends to solve the
puzzles and catch the murderer amongst their former
schoolmates.
He’s fought hard for his independence as an autistic and refuses to throw
it all away because of a nameless monster. With friends and family in
the killer’s crosshairs, Bishan fears the mystery will bring the
end of everything and everyone he loves.

**only .99 cents!!**

 

 
 

Dead in the Shop
Grasmere Cottage Mystery Book 3

Join bestselling author Dahlia Donovan in the final book of her cosy

mystery adventure in Grasmere Cottage Mystery book three. With love,
wit, and a murder to solve, Valor and Bishan really need to stop life
being so bloody complicated in this sweet gay romance.

Deadly fire? Check.
Fear-induced heart attack imminent? Check.
Time running out on them? Not good.
Valor Scott wants nothing more than to enjoy life in his little cottage
with his boyfriend. The shadows of a serial killer continue to haunt
him, though. He only wants the living nightmare to end. He battles
one catastrophic event after the other, intent on bringing his loved
ones through to the other side safely.
As their killer finally comes out into the open, Valor finds himself
face-to-face with an obsessed murderer intent on destroying everyone
in their path.

**only .99 cents!!**

 

 
 

Dahlia Donovan wrote her first romance series after a crazy dream about
shifters and damsels in distress. She prefers irreverent humour and
unconventional characters. An autistic and occasional hermit, her
life wouldn’t be complete without her husband and her massive
collection of books and video games.
“That is a body.” Valor stared stupidly out the window over the sink where he’d been rinsing his coffee
mug, his hazel eyes glued to the obviously dead man at the corner of their garden. He dragged his fingers
shakily through his mussed-up red hair. “Bish?”
“Yes, it is.” Bishan joined him with their fawn-coloured, long-haired cat, Staccato, perched on his
shoulder, playing with his wavy inky hair.
“That’s a dead body in our garden.” He risked a glance at his long-time boyfriend to find him mesmerised
by the sight. “I mean, it’s a corpse.”
“Very astute of you. Very. Astute. Quite astute. Incredibly so, actually.” Bishan had a tendency to repeat
words when he enjoyed the way they sounded to him. He claimed it was one of his many autistic
superpowers. “Ahhh—stute.”
“Yes, I grasp the concept. Why’s a body in our rose bushes?” Valor carefully set the mug into the sudsy
water, drying his hands off on his jeans and ignoring the indignant huff from Bishan. “Right. I’ll call the
police, and you put Staccato in the bedroom.”
Their cat enjoyed climbing up on anyone who came into their cottage. Valor didn’t think the local
constables would appreciate their uniforms being covered by their feline’s orange-sherbet-tinted hair. She
also loved to disappear into the garden, something that wouldn’t be helpful either.
“Why are you calling the police?” Bishan had his phone out already.
“They hate you.” Valor fumbled with his iPhone for a second.
“Only because I set fire to cotton wool. And they think I’m a terrorist.” Bishan shuddered, obviously
thinking about the offensive white fluff balls that he hated with a passion. “Val? It’s a body. Out there. In
our garden.”
“Maybe stop looking at it?”

 

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for exclusive content and a giveaway!