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Fiction, Food, and Foolishness
Murder, Romance, and Five on Friday
I want to thank Andi Ramos for sharing her debut novel, Gumshoe Girl. I love the cover!! Be sure and follow and friend her on social media!
Sheagan O’Hare got more than she bargained for when her newly inherited detective agency lands its first case; a missing person, embezzlement, and murder. Sheagan’s out to prove she can hang with the pro’s, despite the constant reminder of her amateur status from an annoyingly attractive FBI agent, Colin ‘Mac’ MacEvine, who’s forced himself into her life.
How does she feel when an old high school friend hopes to ignite a new romance?
Will she be able to discover if detective work and love can mingle before someone gets hurt?
Buy Links:
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gumshoe-Girl-Andi-Ramos-ebook/dp/B07CMZVJ9Zi
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Gumshoe-Girl-Andi-Ramos-ebook/dp/B07CMZVJ9Z
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/gumeshoe-girl/id1376902448
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/820388
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/gumeshoe-girl
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gumeshoe-girl-andi-ramos/1128555736
Andi Ramos is a debut author from central Massachusetts where she lives with her family, goat, and Boston Terriers. Her love for reading grew into a passion for writing. She dabbled with pen and paper for a long time and eventually stopped pushing her amusements aside and started developing those stories into novels. One of her favorite things to do is to hop into her motorhome with her family and write while traveling down the road as they journey to various destinations.
Website: http://www.andiramos.com
Blog: http://www.andiramos.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andiramosauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andiramosauthor
Five on Friday
Name the three most recent movies you’ve watched.
I LOVE old movies! I just watched the Philadelphia Story the other day, my favorite non-love scene in any movie is with Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, I love how they play off of each other in that scene. So then imagine my surprise when High Society was on just a few days after that, I was eating it up! While I like Bing Crosby in the role, I think Cary Grant wins over, his charm is just intoxicating. I like newer movies too. My third and most recent watched was Jumanji. Let me preface this by I wasn’t a fan of the first one and that is why it took me so long to see this one. Really, the only reason I watched it was because it had my boyfriend Dwayne Johnson in it. I was pleasantly surprised on how good the Rock looked in this movie, I mean how good the movie was. They did a great job with updating the film and bringing something new and fun to the screen.
Ann: Okay, I challenge you to watch the scene between Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe in The Last of the Mohicans (1992) where she asks him, “What are you looking at?” And he replies…”You, ma’am. I’m looking at you.” HOLY SMOKES!! It’s my favorite non-contact love scene of all time! And, I actually loved the first Jumanji and liked the second one, too!
Do you laugh at your own jokes?
I do!! My kids think I’m nuts (well, they think I’m nuts anyway) but, my laugh it unique. It’s a blend of a wheeze (which I blame on my asthma), chortle, and a snort. When we are out with friends, they all bet on who can make me laugh first, it’s bad when I win the bet on myself!
Ann: I say beware of those who can’t laugh at their own jokes or at themselves!
What’s the best advice you ever got?
I heard this at an RWA workshop and it stuck with me: It’s okay to write crap- you can fix it later. That is what editing is for. Before I understood this, I would stare at the blank page just trying to formulate the words in the most perfect sentence or waiting for my muse to kick my butt into high gear. If I didn’t get it right I would erase and start again. I wasted more time trying to start and get it perfect. Now, pair “It’s okay to write crap” with JK Rowling’s quote, “The muse works for you. You don’t write at her beck and call—you train her to show up when you’re writing,” and you’ve really got something to kick your muse in high gear even if it’s crap on the page- you can fix it and make it brilliant later!
Ann: I totally agree. I think most new writers suffer with the perfection problem.
Name the last three books you read.
Kari Lemor- Wild Card Undercover- Romantic Suspense-I was captured from the start and didn’t let go until the very satisfying end. Meg is charming and courageous and Chris is everything we want our white knight to be.
Damon Suede- Verbalize- Amazing industry book. If you have ever heard Damon speak it is very much like that, a whirlwind of fantastic information that leaves you exhausted. When you finish you need to catch your breath and try to remember all the knowledge you just dumped into your brain!
Kemberlee Shortland- One Night in Dublin- Romantic Contemporary- Whoo-hoo sexy romp through a woman’s desire to be loved body and soul. I wanted to keep the main character for myself!
Ann: I’m always interested in the answer to this question. It’s a good way to find new books!!
What is one of your favorite quotes?
Here is another quote that has inspired me for years, not by a writer, but a legend in hockey. The Great One, Wayne Gretzky’s quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” I never realized how much I lived my life in fear until I adopted that quote as my mantra for trying something new, or something I might be nervous about. It’s the kick in the pants I need.
Ann: I love that quote!! Words to live by.
Slyvie Grayson’s Khandarken Rising Book Series
Today, I welcome Canadian author, Slyvie Grayson to Five on Friday. See all of her books on her Amazon page. Follow her on social media. AND, remember to review the books you read!
Major Dante Regiment must find a way to protect Beth, as the Emperor is not the only one causing chaos in Khandarken
The Emperor has been defeated. New countries have arisen from the ashes of the old Empire. The citizens swear they will never need to fight again.
Bethlehem Farmer is helping her brother Abram run Farmer Holdings in south Khandarken after their father died in the final battles. But when Abram takes a trip with Uncle Jade into the northern territory and disappears without a trace, suddenly things are not what they seem and no one can be trusted.
Major Dante Regiment is sent by his father, the General of Khandarken, to find out what the situation is at Farmer Holdings. What he sees shakes him to the core and fuels his grim determination to protect Bethlehem at all cost.
***Ms. Grayson has created a fascinating new world with a lot of the same old problems. Sci fi and fantasy rolled into one with a sure hand and enormous imagination.
Author of many contemporary romantic suspense novels, and the sci fi/ fantasy series, The Last War, Sylvie Grayson loves to write about suspense, romance and murder, all about strong women who meet with dangerous odds, stories of tension and attraction.
She has lived most of her life in Canada, in spots ranging from Vancouver Island on the west coast to the North Peace River country and the Kootenays in the beautiful interior of British Columbia. She spent a year in Japan. She has been an English language instructor, a nightclub manager, an auto shop bookkeeper and a lawyer. She lives in southern British Columbia with her husband on a small piece of land near the Pacific Ocean.
Sylvie loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at:
email: [email protected]
website: http://www.sylviegrayson.com where you can sign up for her newsletter.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sylvie.grayson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SylvieGrayson
Pinterest: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NCCESMO
Amazon author page – https://www.amazon.com/author/sylviegrayson
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/sylvie+grayson?_requestid=873902
Free Book: http://bit.ly/FreebookfromSylvieGrayson
Sylvie’s Five on Friday Questions
If there was one person, real, fiction or fantasy, you could spend time with, who would it be and why?
I would choose a character in my book, Khandarken Rising, Paulo Regiment. He is now General of the Khandarken military, a stern man with an iron will and deep physical wounds from the last battles in the War that still cause his skin to pull and his mouth to curl. But he was there at the beginning, when Emperor Aqatain began to lose his grip on the populace and rebellion fomented everywhere. Regiment found himself in the position of choosing sides, turning against the Empire and helping the rebels win that slow and painful war. During the battle, he lost his wife and tried to keep his growing sons out of the conflict. What does he know that I don’t? One day I’ll have to write his story.
Ann: Wow, my answer is so shallow compared to yours. I’d also choose a character from one of my books…only because he’s hot!!
What is one strong memory that has stuck with you since childhood and why?
When I was thirteen, we lived in northern British Columbia. I had just walked my sister to the bus stop and was heading home alone, when two timber wolves leaped the snowbank at the side of the road. They stopped and stared at me. I thought I was a goner. So I raised my arms above my head and yelled as I ran at them. They leaped down the bank, across the road and into the bush on the other side.
Ann: I’ve always heard animals are more afraid of us than we are of them. Lucky for you, that was the case!
Name the last three books you read.
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson- a stunning novel that I’ve read twice.
To All Appearances a Lady, by Marilyn Bowering, a story of Chinese immigration to Canada and the aftermath, very insightful.
Forty Years in Canada, by Sam Steele. I’ve read this book twice as well, it tells the history of settlement in the west, from Ontario to British Columbia through the eyes of the North West Mounted Police.
Ann: Kudos to you. I never read anything twice…or watch a movie a second time!
One of your favorite quotes.
I love quotes and have a long list of favorites on my website, http://www.sylviegrayson.com, that I have gathered over time. They make me laugh, they make me think. Hard to pick a favorite but these are pretty good—
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits”- Albert Einstein
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read- Groucho Marx
Ann: I love both of those.
Name the most recent movie you’ve watched.
La La Land, with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. I know everyone loved it but I found it just a bit blah. The dancing wasn’t great, the story a bit sad but nothing unusual. Sorry, you did ask me!
Ann: Yes, it got high praise, but I have no desire to see it. Maybe it comes from watching so many musicals when I was a kid. Now, I’d rather watch something with lots of action.
I Must be Dreaming
Today, I welcome Susan Palmquist to Five on Friday. She writes in different genres and under two different names. Check out her website and books at the links below.
How difficult could it be to take care of your five-year-old niece? Rob Conners thinks it’s going to be a breeze, but when Mollie gets gum in her hair there’s only one thing to do—head to the nearest hair salon.
Jenna Hopkins had one crush in high school and that was Rob Conners. She can’t believe he walked into her salon a decade later. The only course of action is to play it cool and pretend she never had fantasies about him.
However, despite the passing of ten years, the crush is still there and now it seems the attraction might be mutual. Can these two former classmates find love and happiness or are they both just dreaming?
http://www.vanessadevereaux.com
Writing site http://www.thiswriterslife.com
Susan’s contact e-mail: [email protected]
FIVE ON FRIDAY
What’s the best advice you ever got?
It was from my paternal grandfather who told me to always be myself and say what I thought was right. He added that if I did that not everyone would like me but they’d respect me so it was my choice if I preferred to be liked or respected.
Ann: I always thought once I became a grandmother I’d be able to offer some wise advice like your grandfather. So far…not so much!
What is your favorite TV show of all times and why?
Breaking Bad because it has all the ingredients that makes a show compelling. Top notch performances from everyone in the show. Fantastic directing. And last but not least, brilliant writing. The show ended with me wanting more which is a rarity. I think I’m now of an age that I won’t live long enough to see another masterpiece like this come along again.
Ann: That show is on my to-watch list. One of these days I’ll binge it on Netflix!
A genie grants you three wishes. What would they be?
I think I’d only need one and that would be to time travel back in time with the knowledge I now have about everything that’s happened in my life and I’d change things for the better.
Ann: Oh…I don’t know, Susan. You know if you change one thing in the past, it changes lots of other things in the future. Time travel is tricky, and I’m a scaredy cat!
What would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Without a doubt, a bear. I still have two teddy bears from childhood and bears or should I say, bear shifters, have been great for my career.
Ann: I have a regular response to this. I’m Texan, so I’d be an Armadillo!
What is the loveliest thing you have ever seen?
Seeing my soulmate for the very first time.
Ann: Awe…that’s sweet—and romantic. My soulmate, even though I’ve had him since high school and still love him like crazy…wouldn’t have made the top three for this question!
Mary Marvella
Today, I welcome author, Mary Marvella and feature her book, The Cost of Deception. It is a romantic suspense novel, rated R for steamy scenes.
Widow and former teacher, Tess, has been so wrapped up in her role as a single mother, she’s forgotten how it feels to be desirable. But when she attends her 2o-year class reunion and reconnects with old classmate, Drew, things begin to change.
Once known as a loner, after high school, Drew became an adrenaline junkie. First in the military and now as an undercover cop. His love of danger has never allowed him to think about starting a family. And he likes it that way—until he sees Tess again.
Tess needs stability.
Drew needs Tess.
Will they be able to make it work, or will the dangers they face keep them apart?
Mary Marvella has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember. The arrival of the book mobile was as exciting as hearing the music of the ice cream truck.
Retired from teaching classic works of the masters, Mary plays let’s pretend with her characters. She presents editing workshops, edits, coaches writers, and tutors one-on-one
Mary has published novels, novellas, and short stories. Her genres include paranormal romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction, and sweet romance.
Georgia raised, she writes stories with a Southern flair.
Amazon http://amzn.to/29g2nKW
https://www.amazon.com/Cost-Deception-Protective-Book-ebook/dp/B076FLTTHB/
Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/author/show/4909455.Mary_Marvella
website: http://www.MaryMarvella.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mmbarfield
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Marvella-Author/121044561311561
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mmarvellab
http://pinkfuzzyslippersauthors.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/ARomanceCape
Carolina Montague Writes about Witches and Vampires
Welcome to Five on Friday. Today, I feature Carolina Montague. Learn about her and her books, then follow her on social media. AND, remember to always review the books you read!
Carolina Montague grew up in upstate New York and in the Bay Area of California. Her first novel, a medieval paranormal, was published in 2000, followed in 2002 by a short story in the Berkley Jove anthology Words of the Witches, and a dark angel novel, Sacred Guardian, with Wild Rose Press in 2010. Her recent releases are the first three books in her Wild Rose Press Forever and Ever vampire series, Forever Green (2015), Forever Hunted (2016), and Forever Endangered (2018).
https://www.facebook.com/carolinamontague
https://twitter.com/carolinamontag
Kim Parker and Rakesh Alcourt shelter inside a decommissioned Titan missile silo, recovering from near-fatal wounds incurred in their battle with Kronos, the vampire creator of a virus that is depopulating humanity. While humans die by the millions, Kim and Rakesh search for cures and for Kronos. When they venture into nearby Denver, Kim is captured which sends Rakesh into a tailspin. Just three weeks ago, Kronos threatened to skin Kim alive.
While Rakesh desperately searches, Kronos takes Kim on his cargo-container ship and has his surgeon operate on her. Kim fears Kronos may have had something implanted inside her. After she is released, the secret within her body proves more perilous than anything she feared.
And the repercussions shake the very foundations of the love she shares with Rakesh.
https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Endangered-Carolina-Montague/dp/1509219730
Here are the five questions Carolina chose to answer.
What is your greatest fear?
I fear that we won’t take the necessary steps soon enough to prevent catastrophic environmental disasters. When I was talking to UC Berkeley scientists and taking classes there to give me background for the Forever and Ever series, a few of them said it may be too late now. Others were hopeful, but they all agreed that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was only this high millions of years ago, when the planet was quite a different place, and more hostile to life forms.
Ann: This is another reason I don’t read the paper or watch the news. The less scary things I know about…the better!
What is your favorite thing to do during your spare time…besides writing?
That’s easy – I love to read. I had a countdown to retirement calendar when I was in the home stretch with only weeks until my last day at work. All the books I’d bought over the years but didn’t have the time to read were stacked all over my house, just waiting for me.
Ann: I know. There is never enough time to read all the books we’d like.
Do you have a secret? Something you’ve never told anyone…just answer yes or no.
Yes. Sad to say, yes.
Ann: Usually it’s the bad or sad things we keep secret.
What is the first book that made you cry?
The Diary of Young Girl by Ann Frank. I read it in Junior High School. She was so honest and real. I felt that I knew her. Even though I knew how her story ended, I still cried. Now I have a friend who is a concentration camp survivor. He was a young man when he and his family were rounded up. They all made it through. He told me this was because they were in Italy, not Germany.
Ann: I think that’s what makes a good book. One that can pull those emotions to the surface.
Where were you when JFK was shot?
I was in elementary school in Syracuse New York. The teachers let us go home early. It was a Friday and my brothers and I were looking forward to watching a science fiction all-weekend special on a local station in Syracuse. I felt weird that I was disappointed the special was cancelled. If someone could shoot and kill our young president, then anything could happen. My brothers were older and they already knew that life was fragile. I remember trying to keep an eye on my mom and dad and looked out the windows that weekend to see if anyone was out there, lurking with a rifle.
Ann: It just dawned on me it won’t be long until this question will no longer be relevant. Sad to think everyone alive at the time of his assassination will be gone. Time flies so fast, it will come sooner than we think!
NYT Bestselling author, Dana Marton Blog Tour
Threat of Danger
Mission Recovery Series Book 2
By Dana Marton
Dana is giving away a $25 Amazon or B&N GC and a Dana Marton Tote Bag. The winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Don’t forget you have a chance to enter every day so be sure to visit all the stops on this tour. You may find those locations here. 
Falling in love can be a deadly proposition in this pulse-quickening Mission Recovery novel from the New York Times bestselling author.Jess Taylor and Derek Daley were in the throes of first love in a small Vermont town when they were kidnapped by a serial killer. They escaped his clutches—but not the trauma of the unsolved crime. With their lives changed forever and their romance cut short, they went their separate ways to exorcise their fears.
Jess is living on the edge as Hollywood’s hottest stuntwoman. It’s no longer terror thrumming through her veins. It’s adrenaline. Derek is a former Navy SEAL spinning his ordeals into heart-pounding bestselling thrillers. But when Jess is called home on a family emergency, she must face the past—and face the man she left behind, who is just as haunted and, like her, still so much in love.
Now, as an old flame reignites, Jess and Derek are taking advantage of second chances and putting their bad memories behind them. But here, in the quiet town of Taylorville, a killer is getting a second chance as well.
Book Links:
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/produ
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Thre
Excerpt:
Common sense said to walk away. She’d worked hard to make a life for herself in LA that worked for her.
Screw common sense. He stepped forward and reached around her, looped his fingers around her slim wrists, and tugged her hands from her pockets. Then he took those hands and drew her closer to him.
“Derek . . .”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d ever come back.”
“I’m only back temporarily.”
“Is that how you left things with Eliot?” That she’d be going after him soon? His mouth tightened at the thought.
“He had to go. He had meetings scheduled with directors. And new equipment coming in that he has to test and make decisions on before the next shoot.”
When she talked about Eliot, she talked about the business. That gave Derek hope. Sounded like they’d parted as friends and colleagues, not as lovers who couldn’t wait to reunite.
Two and a half weeks left, at the most. He knew her shooting schedule from talking with Zelda. About eighteen days more before Jess had to report to the set. So why in hell was he wasting time?
He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers. He’d gotten lost once in the Iraqi desert for three days. He hadn’t been as thirsty for water back then as he was now for a taste of Jess.
When she didn’t protest, he pulled her fully into his arms and kissed her.
The point of no return. He needed to find out if things could still work between them. He wanted her, and he could no longer pretend that he didn’t.
Her body was firm, but her lips were soft and silky, as sweet as Zelda’s prizewinning angel food cake. As sweet as the old Jess. Except, this new Jess, she was a woman. She had the power to bring Derek to his knees.
He’d told her that he would give her whatever she needed from him. He hoped she’d figure out that he was what she needed. He was going to have to help her reach that conclusion.
He breathed her in. She smelled like redemption. Like maybe he could have a do-over and get it right this time.
She stood still in the circle of his arms. Undecided. Wary.
Better than a sharp knee in the balls, but Derek wanted more. He nibbled her lips and licked the seam, tasting her.
She tasted like a whole new world opening up. She tasted like the blank page of a book before he’d written the first word, the possibilities limitless.
Was the story of his life written on her heart? Was the story of her life written on his?
Too early to tell. But he wanted to find out. Letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence. If only she’d let him.
She did let him in, let him deepen the kiss. Progress, but this was just the opening of her lips, not the opening of her heart. Still, Derek wouldn’t have been a good SEAL if he didn’t grab every advantage, no matter how small. And, really, the kiss could not be called small by any measure.
As he swept into Jess’s mouth, he felt his boundaries expand. Need rushed in, and filled him like water flooding into a torpedoed submarine. He sank onto the seabed of things he always wanted but never believed he could have. Jess’s forgiveness . . . and more.
All these years, he’d thought her forgiveness was all he wanted.
He’d been stupid.
He wanted this. Jess. And he knew in that moment that he was going to do whatever it took to get her and keep her. Eliot couldn’t have her, no matter how handsome he was, or how much they had in common, or how hot women thought it was that the guy was some grandmaster of stunts.
Derek wasn’t going to let Eliot have Jess. He didn’t care if the guy jumped out of a burning helicopter, tied hand and foot, with a ticking bomb in his backpack, and got an Oscar nomination in every single category for the performance.
Silent Threat
Mission Recovery Series Book 1
Amazon Buy Link
About the Author:
If you love heart-pounding romantic suspense, books you can sink your teeth into, you’ll love New York Times bestselling author Dana Marton’s stories. Kirkus Reviews calls her writing “compelling and honest.” RT Book Review Magazine says, “Marton knows what makes a hero…her characters are sure to become reader favorites.” Her writing has been acclaimed by critics, called, “gripping,” “intense and chilling,” “full of action,” “a thrilling adventure,” and wholeheartedly recommended to readers. Dana is the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, the Readers’ Choice Award, and the RITA Award, the highest industry award for romance.Beyond being a bestselling author of romantic thrillers, Dana also writes a popular fantasy romance series: Hardstorm Saga. Book 1, RELUCTANT CONCUBINE, spent 6 weeks at #1 on Amazon’s fantasy romance list.
Website: danamarton.com/Facebook: facebook.com/DanaMarton/
Twitter: twitter.com/danamarton
Pinterest: pinterest.com/danamarton
Ann Everett, Best Selling Author
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