Guest POst with Kelli A. Wilkins: Behind the Scenes of her book, A Most Unusual Princess

 

Behind the Scenes: A Most Unusual Princess

Book 1 of the “Royal Desires” Series

By Kelli A. Wilkins

www.KelliWilkins.com

This “Behind the Scenes” blog is part of a series examining my romance novels. In each blog, I’ll talk about why I wrote the book, share my thoughts on the plot and/or characters, and reveal what I loved most (or least) about writing the book. Warning: Blogs may contain spoilers.

If you missed any blog in this series, you can catch up here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/blog

 

Hi everyone,

Many years ago I wrote A Most Unusual Princess for the Amber Quill Press “Amber Heat” romance contest. My premise was simple: a headstrong, spoiled princess has to find a husband. Her father has arranged for her to meet a lot of eligible bachelors while being watched over by her new bodyguard, Dalton. (Basically, it’s a medieval style of speed dating.)

Elara is an independent young woman and insists she doesn’t need a husband. But what she’s really saying is she doesn’t want to be controlled by a man. She wants to make her own decisions in life and refuses to allow anyone to tell her what to do. She is an unusual woman for her time—smart, quick-thinking, and knows what she wants. Or at least she thinks she does... then Dalton enters her life.

Dalton and Elara’s first meet is anything but typical. On his way to the palace, Dalton comes across a young lady bathing herself in a pond... except she’s not exactly bathing. Dalton knows he shouldn’t watch, but he is captivated by the beautiful free-spirited woman. When Elara discovers she is being spied on, she gives Dalton hell and tries to slap him—but he’s not bothered by her actions. In fact, he finds her amusing... and enchanting.

Later, things really heat up when Dalton learns he has been assigned to watch over Elara while she courts suitors. He is not allowed to leave her side and decides to make a pest of himself. At first, Elara resents Dalton for being around her all the time, but over the course of the story, they realize how compatible they are. Along the way they also discover how easy it is to share a few forbidden passionate encounters.

When I wrote the novella, I wasn’t exactly sure what defined erotica, so I decided to spice things up right on the first page. (Believe it or not, erotica and erotic romances were a new subgenre at the time.) I made sure to keep the romantic/sexual tension between Dalton and Elara building throughout the story.

One of the things I liked best about writing the book was coming up with the different situations for Dalton and Elara to bond over. Each encounter between them (whether they are arguing or teasing each other) helps build their relationship and show how well-matched they really are.

Dalton is unmoved by Elara’s tantrums and moodiness and has the ability to settle her down when she gets riled up. (Her calls her “little princess” to annoy her. She insults him by saying he’s “just a bodyguard” to her.)

Dalton isn’t intimated by Elara when she tries to pull rank on him; instead, he finds it entertaining. The more Elara insists she doesn’t want a husband, the more she finds herself falling for Dalton. The longer Dalton stays with Elara, the more he realizes he doesn’t want to lose her to anyone else. He goes out of his way to protect her and even fights for her honor—with mixed results.

When I wrote this novella, I had no idea it would be the first book in a trilogy (collectively the three books are known as the Royal Desires series). Readers fell in love with the characters and wanted more. Elara and Dalton were fun characters to write for, and I wanted to explore more of their relationship and give them new erotic adventures. So I wrote a sequel, A Most Intriguing Temptation. (I’ll talk more about that book in another blog.) Although the story is part of a series, it stands alone as an individual read.

A Most Unusual Princess is still one of my favorite romances for many reasons. I love the connection and banter between Dalton and Elara. It’s a lighthearted, humorous, and sexy story. And it’s anything but boring.

I hope you will read the book and fall in love with Elara and Dalton as much as I did. Here is the summary and links:

A Most Unusual Princess

Princess Elara needs to find a royal husband, but claims that no man can satisfy her. Her father hires Dalton, a special guard, to watch over her while she’s courting suitors. Dalton finds her unusual behaviors charming—and enthralling.

Dalton’s aloof manner intrigues Elara, and despite their differences, they share tender moments and intimate nighttime encounters. Elara is heartbroken when her father chooses a “proper” husband for her—until she meets the mystery man.

The Royal Desires series is available on Amazon & other platforms. Catch this hot historical/fantasy trilogy from the start:

 

Book 1: A Most Unusual Princess:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CBX43D8 

All other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/me00L9 

Read reviews here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/a-most-unusual-princess

 

Then Read Book 2: A Most Intriguing Temptation:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D8P8604

All other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/47kkvj

Read reviews here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/a-most-intriguing-temptation

 

Don’t Miss Book 3: A Most Unfortunate Prince:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Unfortunate-Prince-Historical-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B01DMBYJ6E

All other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/3yPPM6

Read reviews here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/a-most-unfortunate-prince

 

I hope you enjoyed this “Behind the Scenes” look at the making of this romance.

I welcome questions and comments from readers and other authors. Contact me via the form on my site or on social media.

Happy Reading,

Kelli A. Wilkins

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has published more than 100 short stories, 24 romance novels, and 8 mystery/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and she likes to scare readers with her horror and mystery stories.

Her twenty-fourth romance, For Love’s Sake, an epic historical/fantasy romantic adventure, was published in January 2025.

In August 2024, she released Surreal Escapes, a collection of 7 speculative/spooky stories. Anything can—and does—happen in this anthology.

Kelli also released her fourth gay romance, A Thousand Summer Secrets, in 2024. This tender contemporary romance takes place over a summer weekend, where two friends reconnect while seeking love and acceptance.

She published The Route 9 Killer, a mystery/thriller set in Central NJ, in 2023.

Follow Kelli on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins and visit her website/blog www.KelliWilkins.com for a full title list and social media links.

 

Release Day Spotlight: Dragon Marked by Donna Grant

 

Get ready as the next Dragon King book is here with Dragon Marked!!

Series: Dragon Kings Book 9

Paranormal/Dark Universe

Release Date: April 15th, 2025

 I would sell my dragon soul to possess her…

From the moment I saw her, she held me enthralled. It was more than her beauty. It was in the very way she looked at the world.

The way she looked at me.

She saw me as no one ever had. The scars I tried to bury, the wounds no one else knew about. She saw the worst parts of me—and she didn’t look away.

Together we pursue a shared nemesis. While a terrifying foe stalks us at every turn.

Whatever enemy dares to get close, I will slay. Whatever path she walks, I will be beside her.

For I am hers. Utterly. Completely.

She’s my greatest temptation. The other half of my soul.

My mate.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant delivers a powerful story of redemption, danger, and passion in the next chapter of the Dragon King series.

 

BUY LINKS:

✦SIGNED HARDCOVER PRINT→ https://dgrant.co/3Pv0xJF

✦SIGNED PRINT→ https://dgrant.co/3C5PhA8

✦Amazon→ https://amzn.to/3QGA2S0

✦BN→ https://dgrant.co/4boKfvS

✦Kindle→ https://amzn.to/4eA0irv

✦Nook→ https://dgrant.co/3MWwJnW

✦Apple→ https://apple.co/4edRpUp

✦Kobo→ https://dgrant.co/3MYaJZW  

✦Google→ https://dgrant.co/3BplQbr     

✦Tantor→ https://dgrant.co/4grIXlA

✦Nook Audio→ https://dgrant.co/3AWf9OB

✦Kobo Audio → https://dgrant.co/4fU3UoU

 

About the Author 

Donna is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a hundred novels. Her most popular series is the breathtaking Dark King (aka Dragon King) series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.

In addition to her novels, Donna has written short stories, novellas, and novelettes for digital-first and print release. She has been dubbed as giving the “paranormal genre a burst of fresh air” by the San Francisco Book Review. Her work has been hailed as having “deft plotting and expert characterization” by Publisher’s Weekly and “sizzling” by RT Book Reviews.

She has been recognized with awards from both bookseller and reader contests including the National Reader’s Choice Award, Booksellers Best Award, as well as the coveted K.I.S.S. Award from RT Book Reviews.

Donna travels often for various speaking engagements, conferences, and book signings. She is also a frequent workshop presenter at national conferences such as RT Book Lovers Convention and Thrillerfest, as well as local chapters.

Born and raised in Texas, she also has ties across the border in Louisiana. Growing up with two such vibrant cultures, her Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding. She is never far from her faithful 80 pound dog, Sisko, or her three cats. She can often be found at the movies or bookstore with her children. Or buying makeup. And shoes.

You an find her at www.DonnaGrant.com
as well as her website devoted entirely to the Dragon Kings and all series that encompass the Dark World at www.MotherOfDragonsBooks.com.

Blog Tour Stop/Giveaway: Sanguine Shadows by Willa Okati

Title: Sanguine Shadows

Author: Will Okati

Cover Art: Marteeka Karland

Genres: Action Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, New Releases, Paranormal, Romance, Wildest West

Themes: Age Gap (Older Man), LGBTQ+ Gay, Vampires

Book Length: Novella

Page Count: 50

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

This is where everything changes.

Darce has done his best to live off the radar as one of the bloodkind, keeping himself separate from the company of other vampires and the danger they court. The cowboy might be lonely in his solitude, but he's safe.

Raven's come to change that. He's come to change everything.

A newly made bloodkind, Raven's out to shake up the old world order that oppresses their kind. He carries Darce along in his wake like a leaf on the tide, pushes and goads and tops from the bottom, inciting Darce to lust, passion and action. He makes a centuries-old cowboy feel alive again, something well worth taking risks for.

But when Raven challenges the Sanguine, the most dangerous of all vampires, has he gone too far?

Excerpt

Sanguine Shadows

Second Edition

Will Okati

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2025 Will Okati

All he'd wanted was a quiet drink.

Darce swirled the drop or three of tequila left in his shot glass and raised it to the guy who tended bar in this backwoods dive. If he had a name, or if the bar did, Darce didn't know it and he liked it that way. Tall and skinny as a pool cue, his head shaved just as bald, he didn't talk much and took Darce's glass with a grunt. Didn't ask what Darce wanted. You had your choice here of PBR, Bud, Jose and JD. Like 'em or find somewhere else to drink.

Tequila suited Darce fine. Didn't do anything for him, no, his being a dead man walking and all -- vampire, as some might say -- but he'd developed a taste for agave over the years. He held up one finger. Already had two, and three was one more than his usual.

The bartender shrugged, not giving too much of a damn. Maybe the folks around here knew what he was. Maybe they didn't. Knew enough to keep their mouths shut, anyway.

One more drink in peace and it'd be time to walk. He had a peaceful stretch of road home, nothing but the cicadas and bullfrogs and the yellow half-moon to guide him on his way. Nothing to hinder him.

Until the stranger slid onto the bar stool next to Darce and jostled him like they were old friends, bumping his shoulder. "I've got this one," he said. Sounded young. "One for me, too."

The bartender eyed Darce's new companion.

"I'll pay my own way," Darce said; that, and nothing more.

"Ouch. Not too friendly there, cowboy," the new arrival said. He swung around to give Darce a bold once-over.

Out of his peripheral vision, Darce got a good enough look at the new kid. Pretty. Fresh-faced and young, his jaw cut firm and his grin made for promising wicked deeds in the dark. He had a dusting of freckles on his nose and cheeks that nearly tempted Darce into a snort of humor because he'd seen a lot in his time but a vampire with a scattering of pale sepia freckles was a new one on even him.

"I'm Raven," the vamp said, offering his hand along with his unlikely name. Darce snorted quietly. Raven, Silvershadow, Witchlight, Darce had heard 'em all and believed none. This one would be newly made, then, not knowing of the rules by which their kind lived. Which were no rules at all, for the most part, except to watch your back in case someone was sneaking up to shove a silver knife in it, and most of all to keep to yourself.

"That a fact," Darce said, not asking it. He caught the shot glass as the bartender slid it his way, amber drops spilling over the backs of his fingers.

Raven waited, then laughed under his breath. "And you're not going to tell me your name. That's okay. I already know who you are."

Darce stilled. That was more than he cared to have bandied about. "You'd be wise to keep that to yourself. That and your own name. Names get you in trouble."

"Do they really," Raven murmured. He swallowed his drink like a man with nary a grimace nor a cough. Not new to that game, at least.

Darce shot him a sideways glare. He shook his hair back and slammed the tequila neat, no salt or lime around here. Damn hair; it'd been long, near to chin length when he'd come across, and no matter how he cut it back it'd grow out by the next new moon.

Freckles there had short hair, crisp-cut dark, some kind of gel keeping it stuck up in spikes that looked sharp enough to prick a finger on. So young he was damn near veal, and fresh meat for any who cared to take a bite. No wonder he'd been turned. Someone had wanted to keep him that young and pretty for good, was Darce's bet.

And he'd gotten away. Darce wondered how, for a second, then discarded the question. Not his business. He backslapped his empty shot glass across the bar and licked his lips to get the last of the burning-hot taste off them.

"Now there's a pretty sight," Raven said, his gaze hot where it glanced over Darce's face.

A vampire sometimes liked to pretend to breathe, to mix in all the better, and for the most part Darce did it well. He drew air in through his nose and let it out slow and smooth. "You want to watch that kind of talk around here," he said. "Matter of fact, you want to keep your mouth tighter shut overall if you don't want trouble."

Raven laughed loud enough to draw a few wary looks. No one who drank in that backwater Texas dive wanted to draw attention, except this young'un. "You honestly think you're fooling anyone?" He lazily drew his finger around the rim of his shot glass. "Look around you, old man. Pretty crowded in here tonight for a place like this. I count fifteen heads, yours and mine and Baldy's not included, and it's not a big bar. Yet there's an empty space three men deep all around you. No one wants to get too close. They all know, even if they don't say. Maybe they don't want to admit it's true, but somewhere inside them they all know what you are -- what I am -- and that's why they leave you be."

Darce ground his back teeth together. His fangs, folded up against the top of his mouth usually, rattlesnake-style, slid down and pricked his tongue as he clamped his jaw shut.

"Must be lonely." Raven pushed his luck, shifting closer. "How long's it been since you traded more than a handful of words with anyone else? How long have you been around, old man?"

Something cool and firm brushed the top of Darce's thigh, tantalizingly close to his groin. He inhaled sharp and quick, and cursed it as a giveaway that Raven pounced on as sly and quick as a fox.

"If you want," Raven said, thumbing half an inch away from Darce's stiffening cock -- it had been a long, long time, whether he'd admit it out loud or not, "I'll leave you be. All you have to do is say 'go,' and I'll be out the door."

"Like hell you would."

"I think we're gonna get along, you and me." Raven stroked higher up and closer. "You know me already."

"I know you're trouble walking on two legs," Darce said. He fought with the urge to rise into the teasing pressure. Damn, it'd been half of forever since someone, anyone, laid a hand on him not in anger or with an addict's mindless craving. "I know I want you on your way as fast as you think you can run."

"No, you don't." Raven's palm molded over Darce's cock, his touch firm and strong as any vampire's, and for half a moment Darce burned with curiosity over what this kid's story was, anyway. What'd shaped him this way? He forgot that in the next second when Raven moved fast in the way of their kind, faster than most, his lips brushing Darce's ear, and said, "I could leave, or I could take you around back and suck your dick." He pierced Darce's earlobe with one of his fangs, slim and needle-sharp. "Your choice."

Purchase at Changeling Press

Meet the Author

Will Okati (formerly known as Willa) has lived through a few Interesting Times, but come out the other side a little grayer, a little wiser, and ready to get writing. Still as passionate about coffee, cats, and crafts as ever, but knowing that to your own self you must be true. Also still one of the quiet ones to watch out for, but life -- like storytelling -- is always a work in progress.

Website | Facebook

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a $10.00 Changeling Press Gift Code! 

 

Tour Stop: Midnight in Soap Lake

 

MIDNIGHT IN SOAP LAKE

Author: Matthew Sullivan

Publication Date: April 15, 2025

ISBN: 9781335041791

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press

Price $28.99

 

A lake with mysterious properties. A town haunted by urban legend. Two women whose lives intersect in terrifying ways. Welcome to Soap Lake, a town to rival Twin Peaks and Stephen King’s Castle Rock.

When Abigail agreed to move to Soap Lake, Washington for her husband’s research she expected old growth forests and craft beer, folksy neighbors and the World’s Largest Lava Lamp. Instead, after her husband jets off to Poland for a research trip, she finds herself alone, in a town surrounded by desert, and haunted by its own urban legends.

But when a young boy runs through the desert into Abigail’s arms, her life becomes entwined with his and the questions surrounding his mother Esme’s death. In Abigail’s search for answers she enlists the help of a recovering addict-turned-librarian, a grieving brother, a broken motel owner, and a mentally-shattered conspiracy theorist to unearth Esme’s tragic past, the town’s violent history, and the secret magic locked in the lake her husband was sent there to study.

As she gets closer to the answers, past and present crimes begin to collide, and Abigail finds herself gaining the unwelcome attention of the town’s unofficial mascot, the rubber-suited orchard stalker known as TreeTop, a specter who seems to be lurking in every dark shadow and around every shady corner.

A sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters, and puzzle hunt scenarios, Midnight in Soap Lake is a modern day Twin Peaks—a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget.

Buy Links:

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/midnight-in-soap-lake-matthew-sullivan?variant=43103022350370

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/397/9781335041791

Barnes & Noble: http://aps.harpercollins.com/hc?isbn=9781335041791&retailer=barnesandnoble 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=9781335041791&tag=hcg-02-20

 Excerpted from MIDNIGHT IN SOAP LAKE by Matthew Sullivan. Copyright © 2025 by Matthew Sullivan. Published by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HTP/HarperCollins.

Abigail

 

            Something was there.

An animal, Abigail was certain, loping in the sagebrush: a twist of fuzz moving through the desert at the edge of her sight. The morning had already broken a hundred. Her glasses steamed and sunscreen stung her eyes—

Or maybe she hadn’t seen anything.

Yesterday, while walking along this desolate irrigation road, she’d spotted a cow skull between tumbleweeds, straight out of a tattoo parlor, but when she ran toward it, bracing to take a picture to send to Eli across the planet—proof, perhaps, that she ever left the house—she discovered it was just a white plastic grocery bag snagged on a curl of sage bark.

Somehow. Way out here.

The desert was scabby with dark basalt, bristled with the husks of flowers, and nothing was ever there.

When Eli first told her he’d landed a grant to research a rare lake in the Pacific Northwest, Abigail thought ferns and rain, ale and slugs, Sasquatch and wool.

And then they got here, to this desert where no one lived. Not a fern or slug in sight.

This had been the most turbulent year of her life.

Eleven months ago, they met.

Seven months ago, they married.

Six months ago, they moved from her carpeted condo in Denver to this sunbaked town on the shores of Soap Lake, a place where neither knew a soul.

Their honeymoon had lasted almost three months—Eli whistling in his downstairs lab, Abigail unpacking and painting upstairs—and then he kissed her at the airport, piled onto a plane, and moved across the world to work in a different lab, on a different project, at a different lake.

In Poland.

When she remembered him lately, she remembered photographs of him.

The plan had been to text all the time, daily calls, romantic flights to Warsaw, but the reality was that Eli had become too busy to chat and seemed more frazzled than ever. This week had been particularly bad because he’d been off the grid on a research trip, so every call went to voicemail, every text into the Polish abyss. And then at five o’clock this morning, her phone pinged and Abigail shot right out of a drowning sleep to grab it, as if he’d tossed her a life preserver from six thousand miles away.

And this is what he’d had to say:

 

sorry missed you. so much work & my research all fd up. i’ll call this weekend. xo e

 

As she was composing a response—her phone the only glow in their dark, empty home—he added a postscript that stabbed her in the heart like an icicle.

P.S. maybe it time since remember using time to figure out self life?

 

What kind of a sentence was that? And what was a “self life” anyway?

Abigail had called him right away. When he didn’t pick up she went down to the lab he’d set up in their daylight basement. She opened a few of his binders with their charts of Soap Lake, their colorful DNA diagrams, their photos of phosphorescent microbes, as cosmic as images from deep space. She breathed the papery dust of his absence and tried to imagine he’d just stepped out for a minute and would be back in a flash, her clueless brilliant husband, pen between his teeth, hair a smoky eruption, mustard stains on the plaid flannel bathrobe he wore in place of a lab coat.

From one of his gleaming refrigerators, Abigail retrieved a rack of capped glass tubes that contained the Miracle Water and the Miracle Microbes collected from the mineral lake down the hill— she sometimes wondered if her limnologist husband would be more at home on the shores of Loch Ness—and held one until a memory arose, like a visit from a friend: Eli, lifting a water sample up to the window as if he were gazing through a telescope, shaking it so it fizzed and foamed. And then he was gone again.

She hated that she did this. Came down here and caressed his equipment like a creep. Next she’d be smelling his bathrobe, collecting hairs from his brush. It was as if she felt compelled to remind herself that Eli was doing important work and, as the months of distance piled up, that he was even real.

Back when they’d first started dating, Abigail had been the busy one, the one who said yes to her boss too much and had to skim her calendar each time Eli wanted to go to dinner or a movie. Of course her job as an administrative assistant in a title insurance office had never felt like enough, but when she mentioned this restlessness to Eli, finding her path—figure out self life—had suddenly become a centerpiece of their move to Soap Lake. But they got here and nothing had happened. It wasn’t just a switch you flipped.

Abigail slid the tall tube of lake water back into its rack. Only when she let go, the tube somehow missed its slot and plunged to the floor like a bomb.

Kapow!

On the tile between her feet, a blossom of cloudy water and shattered glass.

She stood over the mess, clicking her fingernails against her teeth and imagining microbes squealing on the floor, flopping in the air like miniscule goldfish. She told herself, without conviction, it had been an accident.

And then she stepped over the spill, put the rack back in the fridge and, surprised at the immediacy of her shame, went for a walk in this scorching desert.

It stunned her, how harsh and gorgeous it was.

Loneliness: it felt sometimes like it possessed you.

She hadn’t spoken to anyone in over a month, outside of a few people in the Soap Lake service industry. There was the guy who made her a watery latte at the gas station the other morning, then penised the back of her hand with his finger when he passed it over. And the newspaper carrier, an old woman with white braids and a pink cowgirl hat, who raced through town in a windowless minivan. She told Abigail she was one DUI away from unemployment, but the weekly paper was never late. And the cute pizza delivery dude who was so high he sat in her driveway on his phone for half an hour before coming to the door with her cold cheese pizza, saying, Yes, ma’am. Thanks, ma’am, which was sweet but totally freaked her out. And the lady with the painted boomerang eyebrows in the tampon aisle at the grocery store who gave her unwanted advice on the best lube around for spicing up menopause, to which Abigail guffawed and responded too loudly, “Thanks, but I’m not even goddamned forty!”

At least she’d discovered these maintenance roads: miles and miles of gravel and dirt, no vehicles allowed, running alongside the massive irrigation canals that brought Canadian snowmelt from the Columbia River through the Grand Coulee Dam to the farms spread all over this desert. The water gushed through the main canals, thirty feet wide and twenty feet deep, and soon branched off to other, smaller canals that branched off to orchards and fields and ranches and dairies and soil and seeds and sprouts and leaves and, eventually, yummy vital food: grocery store shelves brimming with apples and milk and pizza-flavored Pringles.

Good soil. Blazing sun. Just add water and food was born.

Almost a trillion gallons a year moved through these canals. T: trillion.

All that water way out here, pouring through land so dry it crackled underfoot.

She halted on the road. Pressed her lank, brown hair behind her ear. Definitely heard something, a faint yip or caw.

She scanned the horizon for the source of the sound and there it was again, a smudge of movement in the wavering heat. Something running away.

A few times out here she’d seen coyote. Lots of quail, the occasional pheasant. Once, in a fallow field close to town, a buck with a missing antler that looked from a distance like a unicorn.

Not running away, the smudge out there. Running toward. She was nowhere near a signal yet her instinct was to touch her phone. She craned around to glimpse the vanishing point of the road behind, gauging how far she’d walked and, if things got bad, how far she’d have to run.

Three miles, minimum. Six miles, tops.

Definitely approaching.

Not something. Someone.

A human. Alone.

Running. A boy.

A little boy. Sprinting.

Abigail froze as their eyes met, and suddenly the boy exploded out of the desert, slamming into her thighs with an oof! He wore yellow pajamas and Cookie Monster slippers covered in prickly burrs.

He clung to her legs so tightly that she almost tipped over. When she registered the crusty blood on his chin and cheeks and encasing his hands like gloves, she felt herself begin to cry, scared-to-sobbing in one second flat.

Deep breath. Shirt wipe.

“Hey! Are you hurt? Look at me. Are you hurt?”

The boy wasn’t crying, but his skin was damp and he was panting hot and wouldn’t let go of her legs. She felt a hummingbird inside of his chest.

She knelt in the gravel and unfolded his arms, turning them over at the wrist. She lifted his shirt and spun him around as best she could. He had some welts and scratches from running through the brush, and the knees of his pj’s were badly scuffed, but he wasn’t cut, not anywhere serious, which meant— The blood belonged to someone else.

Author Bio: 

Matthew Sullivan is the beloved author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist and winner of the Colorado Book Award. He received his MFA from the University of Idaho and has been a resident writer at Yaddo, Centrum, and the Vermont Studio Center. His short stories have been awarded the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize and the Florida Review Editors’ Award for Fiction. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Modern Love column, The Daily Beast, and Shelf Awareness amongst others.

Social Links:

Author Website: http://matthewjsullivan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickmatthew1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.j.sullivan.77/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5690035.Matthew_J_Sullivan

Blog Tour Stop: Unorganized Crime Series by Judy Serrano

Getting to know author Judy Serrano

Can you share a story about what brought you to this particular career path (becoming an author)? I actually wrote my first book when I was 12 years old. I have always loved to write songs, poems, and stories. If you were to ask my parents, they would tell you that I had quite the imagination for “telling stories.”

Your latest series, Unorganized Crime, focuses on crime fiction. Why do you love writing crime fiction? I have always been fascinated by Mafia movies and television shows, and I read a bunch of crime fiction when I’m on my treadmill. Yes, I use my Kindle. I love suspense, surprises, and danger. I also love a good love story. If there is no romance, I tend to get bored. I think everyone could use a little love in the afternoon.

One of your main characters, Jazz, is such a great character. I love it that her goal is "wiping out organized crime forever." What's her background story? How did she get to where she is today? Her mother and father worked for the FBI. Her father disappeared and her mother took off when she was young. They specialized in organized crime, along with Gage, who she had a crush on back then. They all disappeared from her life, so she wanted to get even. 

If you and Jazz traded places, what would you be doing today instead of answering interview questions? I would stay at home and start my family with the love of my life. Since he was so financially well-off, I could simply stay home and write books. It looks like Jazz would have a lot to write about. 

Who are the other main characters? My other main characters are Gage, Hawk, Michael, Alex, and Hector. You gotta love that Hector the protector. 

What’s the very first line of your book? “When you think about it, I really only need one hostage,” he said as he put his hand on the small of my back and gave me a gentle shove. 

What’s the main reason someone should really read your book? It is a page-turner, and you will never guess what is coming next. It is funny, sexy, and full of suspense. I find that people get personally involved with my characters. That is why I wrote book #2.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? If I could start a movement that would change lives, I would like to push towards ending domestic violence. Most of my books are usually Mafia-related, and there is always a hero who comes to the rescue. The sad part is that in real life, there isn’t always a hero. Although usually it is the woman in the relationship who suffers, domestic violence does not discriminate. Men often suffer silently if they are being abused as well. I would like it to be easier for victims to get help and see more programs in place to support their plight.

Secrets have a way of revealing themselves like a towel falling off of a naked body...

Title: Unorganized Crime (Unorganized Crime Series Book 1)

Author: Judy Serrano

Pages: 283

Genre: Mafia Romance/Crime Fiction/Romance/Adventure

As Jazz finds herself falling from a helicopter, Gage St. Claire comes to her rescue. Organized crime is once again the culprit of her parents’ situation, and as usual, she is caught in the crossfire. Gage pulls her out of the water and helps her escape to safety. The love between them is undiscovered as he tries to leave her behind in an attempt to keep her safe and move forward with his black ops pursuit. Jazz becomes an undercover cop with wiping out organized crime forever as her goal. After Jazz exposes one of the largest crime families in the country, quite by accident, she is hired to expose crime syndicate leader Michael Giambetti Jr., otherwise known as Achilles. Achilles earned his nickname because he has no weaknesses. He has no weaknesses, that is until he meets Jazz. Achilles has been untouchable, and if she were to break this case, she could finally prove herself as a serious undercover officer. Her job is not an easy one, and people around her are not who they appear to be. Will Gage come back for Jazz, or will he be lost to her forever? Will she crack the case on her own? Read as this courageous upstart stumbles through another adventure.

Here’s what reviewers are saying about Unorganized Crime!

“Serrano is brilliant! Her words grab your interest. This is a real page turner, and one you can’t put down. Serrano’s writing is very versatile. This story combines action, romance, and suspense with many twists and turns. She will have you at the edge of your seat and keep you guessing where the adventure will lead. I highly recommend!”

— Bonnie Still

“This book was so exciting to read . Judy Serrano is a talented person and author. She writes books in a way that draws you into the story from the first page to the last. I love the characters in Unorganized Crime. It is a stand alone book but if you have not read the Easter’s Lilly series you need to. The way she writes her book makes you feel like you are part of the story and I absolutely like that. The way she makes you feel connected with the character’s. I hope to read more books about Jazz and Gage !!!“

— Myra Sharp

Unorganized Crime is available at Amazon.

Title: Unorganized Secrets (Unorganized Crime Series Book 2)

Author: Judy Serrano

Pages: 294

Genre: Mafia Romance/Crime Fiction/Romance/Adventure

With Achilles still on the run, Gage and Hawk do what they can to protect their own. Gage and Jazz make their relationship official, while Hawk decides it’s time to do the same. When Hawk shows up at Elizabeth’s doorstep, she is gone, and his son, whom he has never met, is also missing. The mystery surrounding Elizabeth takes Hawk to a dark place. When he opens the door to Elizabeth’s past, who will he find behind it?  

Unorganized Secrets is available at Amazon.

About the Author

 

Judy Serrano graduated from Texas A&M University-Commerce with a master’s degree in English. She is the owner of Make Cents Editing Services and is an English teacher at a local high school. Judy writes romantic suspense, Mafia romance, and paranormal romance. She is the author of The Easter’s Lilly Series, The Linked Series, Ivy Vines, Visions and the Unorganized Crime series. Although originally from New York, Judy resides in Texas with her husband and six cats.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ www.judyserrano.com 

Twitter ➜ http://www.twitter.com/AuthorJSerrano 

Facebook ➜  https://www.facebook.com/JudySerranoAuthor/

Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4792103.Judy_Serrano

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