Book Spotlight~ Tricia Andersen's Breaking the Silence

Breaking The Silence (Hard Drive Series #2)

Release Date: September 17, 2014

Publisher: Sweet Cravings Publishing (www.sweetcravingspublishing.com)

Genre: Contemporary/Sports/Sweet Romance Novel

Blurb:

MMA Bad Boy Rico Choate falls for Avery, a deaf Marine – but will she stick around when she learns of his career in the octagon?

Rico Choate is a MMA bad boy with a love them and leave them attitude.  That is until he meets Avery Walker, a deaf Marine who lost her hearing when her transport is destroyed in an I.E.D explosion in Afghanistan.  He falls hard for her, even learning sign language from his friend, Chloe, so he can talk to her.  However, Avery’s hatred for all celebrities forces Rico to keep his career in mixed martial arts a secret.  How long can he keep such huge parts of his life separate?  And if she does find out will she leave him or put her stubborn pride aside to stay with the man she loves?

Excerpt:

The next day didn’t fare much better for Rico. Another late shipment meant another afternoon arriving late at the gym. Fortunately, there was no class for him to teach. It was just a night to work out and answer questions, if need be. And it was the last day he needed to worry. By noon tomorrow, Max would be home and back at the helm of his own ship.

At the off ramp red light Rico noticed a text message. He clicked to open it.

Can you pick me up a cup of coffee on your way here?

Rico sighed. Now I’m Chloe’s delivery service? I didn’t agree to this. He quickly typed on the screen.

From where?

He waited for a response. As the light turned green, his phone chimed. He glanced at it before the traffic moved.

That cute coffee shop down the road. Thank you.

Rico sighed as he tossed his cell on the passenger seat. Driving past the gym with a growl, he didn’t stop until he reached the strip mall.

He stepped into the small shop with a gleaming smile. He glanced around. The dark stained shelves were lined with mugs, bags of coffee, and other trinkets. Another set of shelves was lined with books for patrons to read. Sofas and overstuffed recliners were scattered among the tables with mismatched chairs. Sitting on those chairs and sofas were lovely ladies already cooing at his presence. He laughed. I might just have to get a date or two before I leave.

Rico sauntered to the counter, where a tall, lanky redhead waited to take his order. After paying for a cup of coffee, he stepped back, winking at a girl sipping on a glass of iced tea. His eyes raked over her as she giggled. He grinned then glanced up behind the counter again.

He lost his breath. He felt his pulse pick up a notch. The last thing on earth he believed in was love at first sight. But in this moment, he was a true convert.

The barista barely came to his chest. Her long, blonde hair wisped in curls around her shoulders. Her frame was small, with perfect curves in all the right places. Her lips were a soft, very kissable pink. And when she looked up at him to hand him his drink, her eyes glittered a clear, crystal blue. She smiled then turned to fulfill the next order.

She never said one word to him. Him. Rico Choate. MMA superstar Rico Choate. His picture was on posters, in magazines.

And she didn’t say one word.

He was baffled. He gripped the coffee and rushed out the door. It wasn’t until he parked his Jeep at Hard Drive that he realized he hadn’t gotten one number, not from any of the women in the shop.

He rubbed his forehead, puzzled. He didn’t want any number. He just wanted the barista’s. But for the first time in his life, a woman wasn’t interested in him. He was still shaking his head when he strode into gym and plopped the paper cup down in front of an equally perplexed Chloe. Before she could even utter a syllable, he stormed out of her office and onto the mats.

Rico spent the rest of the afternoon working the speed and punching bags, hoping for a little bit of relief from his memory of the barista. He couldn’t get her out of his head. After a couple of hours, he couldn’t take it anymore. He jogged up the steps two at a time then ducked his head into the office.

“Need another cup of coffee?” he volunteered.

Chloe lifted up the empty cup. “I just finished this one. I’m—”

“Another cup coming right up.” Before Chloe could object, he was down the stairs and out the door. He hopped in the front seat of the Jeep, fired it on, and sped away. He brushed his fingers through his thick, brown hair as he waited at the lone stop light that separated Hard Drive from the coffee shop. He glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror.

Then, he checked again. Yes, he looked incredible. The barista may have been able to blow him off before. She certainly wouldn’t miss him this time.

Rico stepped inside the cool, dimly lit store and glanced around. There were fewer people lounging than there were earlier. A couple of girls that had been there before waved in his direction. He ignored them as he approached the counter, frowning as he did so. The redhead greeted him with a goofy grin. “Need another jolt of java, bro?”

“Ummm…yeah.” Rico scanned behind the counter as he paid for the coffee. “Where’s the blonde who was here earlier?”

The redhead shot him a puzzled look. “Avery? You know her?”

“Not yet. But I’d like to.”

“Her shift is over. She’s heading to class. She just left to wait for the bus.” The barista handed him a paper cup. “Hey, aren’t you that MMA guy? I think I’ve seen you fight.”

“Yeah, probably.” Rico grabbed the drink and raced outside, never looking at the girls who now were vying for his attention. He searched up and down the sidewalk for the blonde barista. He picked up his pace again as his eyes landed on her standing at the corner, still dressed in her white blouse and khakis from the restaurant. A large, sky blue backpack nearly bursting at the seams was slung over her shoulder. She checked her watch as the bus crawled to a stop before her.

“Hey! Hey!” Rico shouted as she stepped on. She never turned, never acknowledged him. The door closed behind her, and the large beast chugged on its journey, leaving a dumbfounded Rico behind.

Buy Links

SweetCravings Publishing  | Amazon  |  AllRomance E-books  |  Smashwords  |  Barnes and Noble

Author’s Bio:

Tricia Andersen lives in Iowa with her husband, Brian and her three children – her sons, Jake and Jon, and her daughter, Alex.  She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Kirkwood Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in Communications Media/Public Relations.  Along with writing (which she loves to do), Tricia practices mixed martial arts, coaches and participates in track and field, reads, sews and is involved in many of her children's activities.

Tricia is one of the hosts of the Blog Talk Radio show Freshly Booked, a part of Writers Online Network.  She is also a member of the Romance Writers of America.

Author Links:

www.triciaandersen.com

www.insidethiswritersmind.com

www.facebook.com/t.l.andersenauthor

www.twitter.com/triciaandersen

www.youtube.com/channel/UC-urTJQmAbPpgO4aJ6PooMQ

www.pinterest.com/tricialandersen

www.goodreads.com/triciaandersen

Submission Calls from Secret & Sweet Cravings Publishing

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Submission Guidelines

At this time, we are accepting submissions for all genres of romance

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Secret Cravings Publishing is a full-service, royalty paying publisher of general fiction and non-fiction books, focusing on Romance and high quality Literary Fiction. We publish in electronic and paperback formats.  Electronic formats will include pdf, epub, lit , mobi, and html.

We are seeking high quality original short stories, novellas, and novels that have never been published before.

Please send query letter with your contact information, synopsis, and completed manuscript to submissions@secretcravingspublishing.com. If you do not receive a confirmation email stating we have received your manuscript, please resend it.

See our special calls for submissions here, http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6

Lines include Weekend Getaways, Special Love and Ropin' Love on the Silver Spur.

Discover the world of Darlene P. Winston

Please welcome author Darlene P. Winston today as she sits down to answer my nosy questions and treat us to a teaser of her latest book, The Other Woman.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?  Buying books and reading…Thank God for E-readers, now my husband doesn’t know how bad that guilty pleasure has gotten.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Hawaii

How do you get yourself in the mood to write? I have a mental conversation with my characters, if we aren’t on the same or can’t compromise then I will not put word to paper.

Where do you find the inspirations for your stories? The people around me, I love to people watch.

Are your characters able to love or do they need to be taught? In my first novel, the heroine needed to be taught to love and it took a very patient man to teach her.

When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline? I always go with the flow. I find outlines too stringent.

Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names? I find it hardest to come up with titles.

Is music a factor for you while you are writing? Do certain songs put you in the right frame of mind to write certain stories? No, music isn’t a factor while writing.

Has there been any character that started off as supporting character, but then developed into a more prominent character? Yes, Marilyn in my novel The Other Woman was to be a supporting character. She was one that I could not compromise with so I allowed her to take over.

What has been the defining moment in your career that made you think “Yes, I am now a writer!”? That would be when my readers started asking for a sequel to my first novel.

The Other Woman

Genre Mainstream/ contemporary fiction

Publisher Sweet Cravings Publishing

Available at Amazon / Publisher / Createspace / Barnes & Nobles / Bookstrand

Krys Harriston has what every girl wants—a good job, a handsome hardworking husband, two beautiful kids and a loving home…everything that makes her happy. But there’s another woman out for revenge trying to break up her marriage, and this is one woman Krys may not be able to compete with. Her husband, Cameron, never imagined that the one person who loves him unconditionally is the very one causing his world to come crashing down around him. Does he have enough strength to fight the evil forces and save his marriage or will he allow it all to slip away?

Excerpt:

“Okay, Cameron,” she said barely above a whisper, “You deal with it your way. But you’re going to have to deal with it alone because I’m not taking this shit.”

He looked up at her. “Are you leaving?”

She looked at him and then said, “No, I’m not leaving.” She pointed at him. “You are.”

“What?”

She got up to go to the bathroom. “You heard me, I’m tired of feeling like a stranger in my own home. Get your shit and get out!” With that, she slammed the bathroom door.

Krys knew he must have been stunned at her ultimatum. Finally he followed her into the bathroom and stopped beside her as she stood brushing her teeth.

“What good will my moving out do? What about the kids?” He stepped back to lean against the door jamb.

Krys looked over at him as she leaned over the sink to rinse her mouth. If he could have read her mind, he would have heard her ask, Lord, where is my husband because this specimen standing before me sure isn’t the one I married? She reached for a towel. She wiped her mouth and continued to eye him. She stepped around him and walked out of the bathroom and got in the bed.

Cameron stood in the bathroom door. “Krys, I asked you a question.”

“Damn it, Cameron, the good it’ll do is I’ll have some peace of mind. And as for the kids, they’ll be just fine. You can come by to pick them up and spend as much time with them as you want.”

“And what will this do to them?”

“What will you staying do to or for them, Cameron? Do you think that they haven’t noticed the difference in our relationship?” She started to cry again. Damn it, the tears just keep coming, she thought. “What do you think that is doing to them?”

He moved over to her and tried to wrap his arms around her. She held up her hand to stop him. “Don’t.”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“Me, too, Cameron.” At that moment she couldn’t contain the tears and all hell broke loose. “But, you know what? Sorry, doesn’t fucking help the way I’ve been feeling these past few weeks!” She wiped at the tears that continued to fall no matter how hard she willed them not to. “Sorry doesn’t excuse your actions toward me. Sorry doesn’t make me want to stay with your sorry ass after you swore to me that you’d forsake all others for me. Sorry hasn’t wrapped an arm around me at night nor has it given me an orgasm. Sorry sure as hell doesn’t make me think that you deserve my love after the way you’ve been treating me.

“Well, guess what? I’m sorry, too, Cameron, sorry that I’ve put up with your mother’s shit just to save face with you. Maybe if I’d told her ass off the very first time she looked down her nose at me we wouldn’t be in this mess. I’m just so fucking sorry to have to put your ass out, but you know what? You’ve got to go. And when you realize that your mother can only be your mother and not your lover and friend then you let me know what you’ve decided to do about this situation.” She paused long enough to draw breath into her lungs. This time she spoke more calmly, “So Cameron, I say again, get your shit and get out.”

About the Author

 DARLENE P. WINSTON is a native of Waverly, Virginia. She is an avid reader and spent much of her adolescence at the local library, where she got excited about books and the power of words. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Virginia Union University in Richmond and years later she returned to school for a master’s in Business with a concentration in Information Technology Management from Touro University International. Currently Darlene resides in Chester, Virginia with her husband, son and their dog and she has a daughter in college. Darlene loves bowling, traveling and spending time with her husband and two kids when their busy schedules permit. She works full time for a large insurance company.

dpw1102@verizon.net

http://www.darlene-p-winston.net

Welcome Mark Love today

Please give a warm welcome to the Marc Love who joins me today at the Reading Nook blog.

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

Currently I’m finishing revisions on a story about serial killer who leaves the victims in room 319 of different hotel rooms around the city.  I’m also working on the third book in the Jamie Richmond mystery series.

If we asked your muse to describe you using five words, what do you think they would say?

Those five words would be: devilish, diligent, humorous, smart-assed, and twisted.  Of course, those same words could be used to describe my muse.

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

For those who like romance, start with “Devious” which is the first book in the Jamie Richmond series. In this novel, Jamie is doing research for a character in an upcoming book. While riding along with a state trooper, she witnesses him being shot. Jamie is determined to unravel who did the shooting and why. Along the way she begins a romantic relationship with another trooper, a guy named Malone who may not be everything he appears to be.

 If you prefer more of a straight mystery or thriller, check out “Desperate Measures”.  That novel is the story of a struggling author who decides to write a book that no one can reject. So he writes a ‘How to Kill Your Wife and Get Away with It” book.  Three days after he sends it to a publisher, his wife disappears.  Soon the police are involved. Would a guy really kill his wife in order to get his book published? 

Do you have a book that was easiest to write or one that was the hardest?

The ones that are harder for me to write are the Jamie Richmond series, because these are from her perspective. So while I’m writing, I have to think like a woman, react like a woman. That’s not so easy for a guy to do. 

When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?

I’ve never been able to write with an outline, so I begin with a basic idea and go with the flow. It always surprises me some of the turns a story will take. I like to get the characters interacting on the page and see where they want to take me.

Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names?

Titles are difficult, because I always want them to be unique, yet related to the story. I have fun with character names. I like to use different ones and often use names that might give the reader a clue as to how the character will react or behave.   In the Jamie Richmond series, Malone is the name of her love interest. He doesn’t use his first name, which drives her slightly crazy. So Jamie calls him by a different first name each day, in the hope that someday she will figure out his real name.  Many readers enjoy this interaction. 

Is music a factor for you while you are writing? Do certain songs put you in the right frame of mind to write certain stories?

Music is definitely a factor. For the romantic scenes, I’ll listen to songs by Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Laura Fygi, Seal, Van Morrison and others in the same genre.  For more action scenes, I’ll switch to the blues and rock and roll, from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton to Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen.  If the characters are being thoughtful or introspective, I’ll use classical music, like Beethoven or Mozart or instrumental piano or guitar solos. Music can definitely set the mood. 

Has there been any character that started off as supporting character, but then developed into a more prominent character?

Yes, Dr. Vincent Schulte started out as a minor supporting character in “Devious” but he was just too good for me to ignore him. So he played a key role in the sequel “Vanishing Act”. 

If a movie or TV production company chose to produce your books into a series of shows or movies, who would your ideal cast be?

For the character of Jamie, I’d cast Hilarie Burton. The first time I saw her, she’s was a gorgeous redhead who took my breath away and when she spoke, I knew she was the perfect actor for Jamie. She can do sass and sarcasm with the best of them.  For the Malone character I think Colin Ferguson could carry it off with a solid mixture of strength and humor.  

What is the best trick to overcome writer's block?

Go back a chapter or two and read what you’ve already written. That’s usually the spark I need to return to the story line and get me motivated, assuming you’ve already started the project and are hitting a wall. If you’re looking at a blank screen, try the shotgun approach. You can use bullet points if you like. Just start typing random ideas.  Write down names of characters, occupations, love interests, hobbies, passions, fears or anything that comes to mind.  Read the obituaries and use those names and occupations for characters, making up a strange interaction.  Before you know it, you’ve knocked through the wall and you’re writing.

Author Blog / Facebook 

Teaser from Devious by Mark Love

Sweet Cravings Publishing

Available at Publisher / Amazon / Barnes & Nobles 

Jamie Richmond, reporter turned author, is doing research for her next book. Attempting to capture the realism of a police officer’s duties while on patrol, she manages to tag along for a shift with a state police trooper. A few traffic stops and a high speed chase later, Jamie’s ride takes an unexpected turn when she witnesses the trooper being shot.  Although it is not a fatal injury, Jamie becomes obsessed with unraveling the facts behind this violent act. While she is trying to sort out this puzzle, she becomes romantically involved with Malone, another trooper with a few mysteries of his own. Now Jamie’s attention is divided between a blooming romance and solving the crime which is haunting her. Jamie begins to question the events that took place and exactly who could be behind the shooting. It was a devious mind. But who?

Teaser Excerpt:

The first time on the sofa was wild. There was no chance for foreplay. We both wanted it too much for that. Clothes were flung so far that I didn't find my red bra until two days later.  It must have bounced off the wall and slid behind the planter. After the initial rush, Malone introduced me to the romantic aspects of each room in my apartment.  At one point after a warm bath together, I was on my stomach in bed and he proceeded to drive me crazy by slowly making patterns down my spine with one solitary fingertip.

Each time after the first started out slow and tender. A kiss here, fingers stroking there. Malone was toying with me, bringing me to the edge of excitement now, his lips following his finger.  My whole body felt alive, energized with the reactions to his touch.

He kissed his way up my body, taking his time. A nuzzle here, another tantalizing kiss there.  My skin was singing. My face was flushed, probably as red as my hair.  At about the time I could actually feel my body starting to recover, he zeroed in on my breasts.

Now I can’t say this is true for all women. I can only speak for me. Maybe it’s because of the infrequency of romantic interludes. Or maybe it’s my age. Or maybe the moon was rising.

My breasts are small. I hinted at that before. There are fourteen-year old girls out there with bigger breasts than mine. To clarify the situation, all my bras are padded and yes, the cup size is A. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it’s what I’ve got and I’d never consider surgery to pump them up.  All I know is that when Malone starting stroking and kissing my breasts, it’s like there was a direct connection down below. I was immediately wet with anticipation yet again.

“What am I going to do with you,” I whispered my voice little more than a feathery gasp.

 “Whatever you would like, I’m open to suggestions.”