Excerpt: Jordan Reclaimed by Scarlett Cole

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Series: Preload #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub. Date: February 28, 2017

Dear Reader,

I know how much you loved the couples at Second Circle Tattoos. So for my next series, I wanted to give you more of the characters you have already come to care about. Welcome to Preload. For those who have read The Purest Hook, Preload is hero Dred Zanders' band. And yes, for all of you who wrote to me asking for the band members to each get their own stories after reading The Purest Hook, here they are. Jordan is up first and will be followed by Elliott, Nikan, and Lennon. I can't wait for you to get to know and fall in love with these men who grew up in a group home together and the women who bring them to their knees.

And for those who haven't read The Purest Hook, it doesn't matter because these stories are all completely stand-alone.

Love, Scarlett

Synopsis

Jordan Steele’s life began when he was ten. When he was taken from his parents and a house that was never a home. When he met his brothers, the other lost and abandoned boys in his group home. When he learned what friendship and family and love looked like.

Now he’s made good, touring the world with the band he and his brothers formed in that crowded group home. No one but his found family really knows the man under the fame and fortune, the scars he hides behind the rockstar lifestyle. Until he sees her through the windows of the National Ballet, dancing, and suddenly the world doesn’t seem so dark.

Aleksandra Artemov ticks all the ballet boxes. Father a legendary Kirov dancer. Check. Prepping since birth for classical ballet. Check. Compulsive control over the food she eats. Check. Principal dancer at The National Ballet of Canada. Check. But what she craves is freedom.

She craves Jordan.

Everything about him should terrify her. His size, his tattoos, his edge. But he doesn’t. He stirs her very soul. Jordan has nothing but himself to offer her, and he's never been good enough for anyone. Can he figure out how to face his own demons before he loses his light for good?

Excerpt

Copyright © 2017 by Scarlett Cole

He got it.

He finally got it.

He got why John Lennon left the Beatles for Yoko.

He got why Dred wrote a love song for Pixie.

From the moment Jordan’s lips touched Lexi’s, he couldn’t imagine anything else feeling and tasting quite so perfect for the rest of his life.

He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and she groaned, opening for him. He thrust his hands further into her hair as their tongues touched. She tasted of wine and sweetness, and he couldn’t get enough.

While her eyes were closed, his were open, unwilling to miss a single moment of what was happening between them. He angled her head, and she rose up on her toes to meet him. He thought he was going to faint as the blood rushed from his brain to his cock, which ached for contact.

Lexi’s arms wound their way around his waist, her hands finding the way under his leather jacket and sweater to rest upon his back. Skin on skin. How he wanted them to be. Naked. Exposed. Nothing between them as he made love to her in a huge bed that they could stay in for days.

Except he didn’t have a huge bed. And he didn’t have the kind of room she deserved to stay in. He had an attic. And a box under his bed that held his most treasured possessions that nobody else would understand. A secondhand copy of Scales, Chords & Arpeggios, and the first birthday card he ever received from Maisey and Ellen. Random shit nobody else would care about.

Jordan pulled away slowly and looked carefully at Lexi. Her lips were pink and plump, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide.

“Jordan,” she whispered.

“I gotta go. Bye, Lexi,” he said. He needed to get home and then drink enough to forget about her. Banish the stupid idea swirling around in his mind that they could have any kind of relationship. He should never have kissed her. It was hard enough to walk away before, but now that he had a clearer idea of what it was he was actually walking away from, it hurt all the more.

“Wait,” Lexi said as she grabbed his arm.

The small voice in his brain told him to keep walking, but he couldn’t. Instead, he turned to see what she wanted.

Lexi grabbed a pen from her purse, the one she had given him to sign the napkin in the restaurant. She reached for his hand and turned it over so his palm was facing up and quickly scribbled something on it. When she was done, she stood on her tiptoes again and kissed his cheek.

Weakness was a new sensation, but he felt it down to his boots as, against his better judgment, he leaned his cheek ever so slightly toward her lips.

“Good night, Jordan,” she said and bounced up the porch, grabbing her hat from the chair where Jordan had tossed it.

She paused in the doorway to wave good-bye and then closed the door silently shut.

Only when he was certain that she was definitely gone did he allow himself the luxury of seeing what she had written on his hand. It was a phone number. Despite himself, he felt a murmur of excitement that she found him worthy of a second date.

Jordan turned toward home. As snow began to fall again, he hurriedly made the short hike across the Don Valley river and ravine to his neighborhood, trying to halt the avalanche of emotions because of ten hand-scribed digits.

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About the Author

Scarlett Cole is a writer of contemporary romance and a two-time RITA finalist. Her debut, THE STRONGEST STEEL, has already become an Amazon best seller in romantic suspense, was a Best Debut Goodreads Author Finalist 2015, and Authors On The Air Global Radio Network Contemporary Romance Pick of 2015.

When Scarlett isn't writing, she spends her time reading, hoarding mason jars, and working out to off-set an epic sour candy habit. She likes hot men, cold beer, and expensive shoes.

Having travelled the world for work and fun, Scarlett is a citizen of both Britain and Canada. A true city-dweller, she considers Toronto and Manchester home and likes to set her books in vibrant locations such as Miami and Toronto.

Rep'd by Beth Phelan at The Bent Agency, and published by St. Martin's Press.

She'd love to hear from you on via social media.

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Spotlight: Cade's Loss by Selena Laurence

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Synopsis

Cade Jenkins is a study in loss. At twenty-five he lost his parents, his dreams, and his career on the pro surfing circuit. He gained guardianship of his two younger brothers, responsibility for an entire ranch, and a life without love.

Nina Cline is on the mend. Her cheating fiance is in the rear view, and she's concentrating on her job as an organic certification consultant. Now that she's gained her independence, Nina will never make the mistake of giving it away again. Especially to some anonymous hookup she meets at a beachside bar...no matter how good he looks in the water. Then she meets her newest Big Sur client and realizes that the beach bum that curled her toes is her new boss—and he thinks “organic” is a dirty word. 

As tensions, tempers, and chemistry reach a boiling point at the ranch, these two heartbroken souls will need to decide if they’re willing to take a chance again, or let the love of a lifetime slip away with the tide.

Excerpt

There was nothing that soothed Cade’s battered soul more than the ocean. He’d been that way as long as he could remember, spending every available moment at the beach, in the water, following his dad from wave to wave until he’d been better on a board than the old man. As he looked at the water now, he could almost see the outline of his dad’s form, riding the long tail of a wave midway out, sun on his hair that was the exact color of Cade’s, water spraying on his tan skin, weathered from the years of being outdoors. The familiar ache that was his companion so much of the last six years caught him like a hoof to the gut, and he swallowed, tasting the lime and tequila in the back of his throat as he blinked the painful image away.

And that was when he saw her. She was leaning on the glass wall that ran along the edge of the deck, her blonde curls blowing in the light breeze that came off the water. She had on a sundress, white cotton, like a little girl’s, but it was backless, tiny straps running over her slim shoulders, and with the sun shining through it, the long skirt was nearly transparent. He could see enough to know that she was wearing thong underwear or none at all, and that her legs were long and lean, curved in all the right places.

Before he could think about it, he’d snatched the other two shots off the bar and was walking toward her, drawn like a moth to a flame, ready to incinerate himself for only a moment of warmth. As he drew closer, he saw another man approaching from across the deck. He gave the guy a hard look, and the dude stepped off, hands up to communicate “no harm no foul.” Cade slid into position to her right and set the shots down on the railing.

“Tequila?” he asked, turning to look at her profile. She had high cheekbones, and her skin was dark for a blonde, a beautiful golden shade that made her look like she’d walked off the pages of a swimsuit magazine. Her nose was straight and small, turning up ever so slightly on the end, but her lips were full, covered in some sort of peach shiny stuff that Cade thought might taste quite good if he could lick it off her.

She turned to look at him when he spoke to her, and the breath was knocked clean out of him. Instead of the standard blue eyes that he’d expect from a blonde, hers were amber, almost glowing under the frame of thick black lashes. She blinked up at him, and Cade’s sore heart gave a jolt that nearly had him gasping.

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About the Author

Selena Laurence is a USA Today Bestselling author who loves Putting the Heat in Happily Ever After. In 2014 she was awarded the Reader’s Crown Award for Contemporary Romance of the Year. In 2015 her rock star romance A Lush Betrayal was a finalist in three national contests.

Selena lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her kids, Mr. L, “Goldendoodle” and “Demon Cat.” When she’s not writing she can be found at soccer games and tennis matches, or one of her favorite coffee shops.

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Preorder: The Coppersmith Farmhouse by Devney Perry

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Today we have the pre-order blitz for The Coppersmith Farmhouse by Devney Perry! Check out the gorgeous cover and grab your copy before it comes out March 9th! 

About the Book

One old farmhouse brought them together. It could also tear them apart.

Gigi has just uprooted her whole world to start a new life. The unexpected gift of a farmhouse in small-town Montana is just what she and her daughter need to escape big-city loneliness. The last thing she needs is attitude from the town’s sheriff, the most perfectly attractive and ruggedly handsome man she’s ever laid eyes on—and a complete jerk.

Jess knows all about women like Gigi. Beautiful. Sexy. Scheming. She’s stolen his sanctuary, the farmhouse that should have been his. But along with a face full of freckles, she’s got a sharp wit and a backbone of steel—something he doesn’t discover until after making a complete fool of himself. If he can earn back her trust and win her heart, he might just find the home he’s always needed.

Exclusive Excerpt

“Coffee’s getting cold, Georgia.” He leaned on the counter with his forearms.

Forearms that were tanned and sinuous. Forearms that I really wanted to touch, with veins I really wanted to trace as they snaked their way across the muscle.

Forearms I should not be thinking about.

I needed to focus. My mission? Get Jess away from my ER counter.

“Did you poison it, Sheriff?” I asked, grabbing my cup.

He chuckled but didn’t answer.

The sheriff probably wouldn’t poison me and more caffeine was a necessity, so I took a healthy pull.

Bliss.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

I had no desire to feel indebted to Jess but also didn’t want to be rude. I wasn’t a rude person, normally. Something about him brought it out in me.

“So why the coffee, Sheriff? And how did you know what I liked?” My curiosity was piqued.

He smirked and took a drink from his own cup. What he didn’t do was answer me.

“You do realize a smirk is not an answer.”

Still no response.

“Seriously, what’s going on?”

He sighed. For once, his beautiful eyes weren’t glaring at me. They were kind and gentle. He could melt me with those eyes.

Damn.

“I made some wrong assumptions about your relationship with Ben. Been an asshole this week. Sorry.”

Yep. Hell had frozen over. Why wasn’t it on the news?

In less than twenty-four hours, Jess had changed personalities. He’d been utterly mean to me last night, and now here he was being nice, buying me coffee and making apologies.

I appreciated his admission but I wasn’t going to let down my guard. One apology wasn’t enough to erase the way he’d treated me. To make me think he was as wonderful as everyone professed him to be.

“Would you mind expanding a bit on these assumptions? I’m interested to know what type of relationship you thought I had with an eighty-one-year-old man.”

His answer was a wide smile filled with perfect, straight white teeth.

Eff.

During our previous and rather unpleasant encounters, I hadn’t seen Jess smile. So far, I’d only gotten scowls, glares and smirks.

But damn if his smile wasn’t perfect.

Shivers erupted across my skin. My cheeks flushed and there was a throbbing sensation between my thighs. My core temperature skyrocketed a couple hundred degrees.

I was hot for the town sheriff. I was hot for a man who I absolutely did not like one bit.

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About the Author

Devney lives in Montana with her husband and two children. After working in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her kids. She loves reading and, after consuming hundreds of books, decided to share her own stories.

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Spotlight: Sprinkled With Love by Jennifer Faye

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About the Book

What does one do with a matchmaking cat named Romeo?

Spirited and beautiful, Jillian Parker is one of Marietta’s newest business owners. Still, her mother worries about Jillian’s bare ring finger. So in order to give her mother something else to fuss over, Jillian adopts a cat named Romeo. He turns out to be anything but a docile lap cat.

One snowy night, Romeo makes a break for it. With Jillian right on his heels, they have a near miss with a passing pickup driven by Avery Wainwright, one of Jillian’s closest friends. A rodeo accident has the sexy cowboy returning home to recuperate, and he’s not happy about it.

So when Avery finds himself lassoed into the Bachelor Bake-Off, he turns to the one person who has always helped him out—Jillian. But will teaching him to take chances outside of the show ring have them both discovering that their feelings for each other run much deeper than they ever imagined?

Excerpt

They climbed in the sleigh and then Avery covered Jillian with a heavy lap blanket. “Are you ready?”

She nodded, clutching the thermos. “I am now.”

And then they were off, gliding over the snow. The snow muffled the sounds. And though the moon was hidden behind the clouds, it was still bright out. As they made their way through the field, Avery glanced over at Jillian. She was nestled beneath the plaid blanket and still clutching the thermos. She looked stunning. He should have brought her out here a long time ago.

“What are you smiling about?”

Jillian’s voice drew him from his thoughts. “Who’s smiling?”

“You are and you know it. So what’s up?”

“Nothing. I’m just enjoying the evening.” It was so much more than that, but he really didn’t want to risk ruining this moment. He’d worked so hard to pull it together. He wanted to savor their time together.

For a while they glided along in silence. He had a particular destination in mind. It didn’t have a name. It was just a spot where you could see for miles. And at night, it was like visiting a planetarium with all of the stars twinkling overhead.

“Are you warm enough?” he asked.

She nodded from inside her big, fuzzy hood. “I’m perfect. This is amazing. Do you take the sleigh out very often?”

He shook his head. “This is my first time. I usually come out here on horseback.” He slowed the horse to a stop before turning to Jillian. “I wanted to do something special for you. A way to thank you. You’ve always been there for me and my family, whether it was helping me with the Bake-Off or being the best nanny in the whole world.”

“You…you really think that?”

He’d obviously done a lousy job of communicating his thoughts in the past. He would have to do better going forward.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear before.” He stared into her eyes. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family.”

His gaze dipped to her lips. They were shiny and full. And he was overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her again. So what was holding him back?

They were all alone on this snowy evening. And as he’d come to discover while he was planning this evening, it was a very romantic setting. If he were ever to have a chance with her, it would start beneath the starlit sky. But should he risk it? Should he put himself out there again?

It wasn’t like he was asking her to marry him. It was a kiss—a simple, no-strings-attached kiss. It was a starting point.

He rested his arm over the back of the sleigh. His heart started to pound hard in his chest. He’d kissed a number of girls over the years on the rodeo circuit and he’d never put this much thought into it. But none of them had meant as much to him as Jillian. He leaned toward her.

Suddenly Jillian raised the thermos between them. “Hot chocolate?”

He settled back in his seat. Had he read the signs wrong? Was he that rusty where women were concerned?

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About the Author

Award-winning author, Jennifer Faye pens fun, heartwarming contemporary romances with rugged cowboys, sexy billionaires and enchanting royalty. Internationally published with books translated into nine languages. She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, named a TOP PICK author, and been nominated for numerous other awards.

Now living her dream, she resides with her very patient husband, amazing daughter (the other remarkable daughter is off chasing her own dreams) and two spoiled cats. When she's not plotting out her next romance, you can find her curled up with a mug of tea and a book.

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Spotlight: The Empty Room by Sarah J Clemens

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About the Book

Rain soaked and dreary, it was a 1901 abandoned Victorian that newlyweds Dean and Elizabeth Montgomery hoped would fulfill their dreams of a new start in life, even if the town of Eastbrook, Maine was nestled under a constant blanket of fog.

The first neighbor the couple meets dashes those hopes when he raises a bizarre question: what happened to the last person who lived in their house? A cryptic question, but nothing to worry about. At least not until the couple looked under the floorboards inside the house.

Under mounting pressure from the residents of Eastbrook to stop questioning the past, Dean and Elizabeth are driven deeper into the history of the house, the town, and their neighbors. When the couple discovers what happened in Eastbrook, keeping the secret could save their lives, but uncovering the truth might be worth the risk.

What happened inside The Empty Room is a mystery until the last page. A gripping psychological suspense, the story takes readers on a cat-and-mouse game where some secrets are better off hidden.

Excerpt 

The two were quite uncertain as to why it seemed so difficult to step inside the room. They

had trampled across every inch of the house and looked through the belongings of a man they had never met, but felt as though they were intruding to even stand outside the door of an empty room.

Dean was a problem solver though and had finally settled on a way to get over that feeling.

As he stood behind Elizabeth, just outside of the door frame, and with his coffee cup still in one hand, he put the palm of his hand on her back and gave a strong push.

She stumbled awkwardly into the room.

“There,” he said proudly as he took a sip. “What do you think?”

“I think that you’re going to have a hard time sleeping tonight,” she replied.

He found it ironic that he had already weighed that possibility before he shoved her, and had still decided to do so. He smiled. “I’m good with that.”

He took a few faltering steps behind her before taking a deep breath and stepping inside

completely. They both looked around and identified the same exact features they had seen the first time they stood outside the door: an entirely empty room with a sheer white curtain covering the only window, now with a new perspective standing inside.

Compared to the rest of the rooms in the house, this room was small. It had a closet on the

left wall and the window on the back wall, which looked out into the backyard. There was

nothing special or unique about the room, except this one wasn’t crammed to the ceiling with personal touches.

Dean and Elizabeth stared at each other as though competing for a prize in a contest, when Dean’s concentration fixated on something else. She followed the direction of his eyes to the wall behind her which had abruptly claimed his attention.

He had only stepped a few feet inside of the room when he eyed something on the east wall behind his wife. As he walked around her, she turned to look. He still clenched his coffee cup tightly in his left hand but reached up his right hand and ran his palm along the wall. Elizabeth stood in silence behind him and waited for an explanation. His hand paused in areas and then continued up and down until he reached the corner of the room.

The wallpaper, which was striped with thick bands of blue and slender bands of green, had

stolen his concept of the English language, and he ignored his wife’s persistent calling of his name.

“Dean? Dean. Dean!” she insisted without a response from him. She approached him from

behind and grabbed ahold of his shoulder and shook him.

He stumbled back upon reality long enough to mumble, “What is that?” he said, half dazed.

Elizabeth’s curiosity had remained occupied on her husband’s behavior until she too caught sight of what he had been eyeing. Covered by the blue and green wallpaper was the faint and somewhat abstract outline of something beneath the paper.

“Go get me something to get this wallpaper down.” The sound of his voice was urgent. He

sat his coffee up on the window sill and ran both hands along the wall.

Elizabeth froze for a moment before turning toward the door. She had just reached the hall

when he called out, “Hey, wait. Look at this. It peels off.”

She turned sharply on her heel and headed back toward him.

“Here, can you help me with this? I’ll grab the top corner,” he said.

Each gripping a piece of wallpaper, they slowly pulled back the sun-faded sheets as it wilted off the wall. The persistent rain and wet weather, along with a poorly insulated window would make for some mold problems later on down the road, but for now, it made the process of removing wallpaper move at a much more rapid speed, and with their joint efforts the paper pulled cleanly off the wall.

The two stood with the now crinkled wallpaper clutched in their hands. Dean released his

grip and dropped the ball of paper. He took a step back from the freshly unveiled wall.

“What on…” Elizabeth’s mouth gaped open and she seemed faced with the same loss of

speech that her husband had experienced moments ago.

The wall, originally painted a now-faded yellow color, was splattered in red. Dean reclaimed the step that he sacrificed an instant earlier and squinted at the wall. The two had questioned the intentions of a man who would leave everything he owned behind and they had possibly found the answer, but now, the question shifted to whether or not they wanted to know.

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About the Author

Sarah J. Clemens is the author of the debut mystery novel, The Empty Room. She started writing The Empty Room in 2008 and formed her own imprint in 2016 called Off the Page Publishing.

She started out her professional career working as a news assistant for her local newspaper before finding a passion for the law and pursued an education in criminal justice. In addition to writing fiction, she is also a legal assistant with an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Human Services.

Sarah was born in California and now lives and works in Boise, Idaho. She has the same sarcastic sense of humor as the characters in her books, and she has an unparalleled love for animals.

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Excerpt: Starlight Bridge by Debbie Mason

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About the Book

A second chance for romance...

Hidden in Graystone Manor is a book containing all the dark secrets of Harmony Harbor, and Ava DiRossi is determined to find it. No one-especially not her ex-husband, Griffin Gallagher-can ever discover what really tore her life apart all those years ago. With Griffin back in town, it's more important than ever that she find the book before someone else does. Because her ex is still angry with her for leaving him. And he still has no idea Ava never stopped loving him...

Ava is no longer the vibrant, happy woman Griffin had once loved and married, and he would do anything to bring back the sparkle to her brilliant green eyes. But what's never changed are the sexy sparks of attraction between Ava and Griffin, and he won't give her up again without a fight. He knows there's the real possibility of a future together... if the truth doesn't burn the bridge between them forever.

Excerpt

Griffin Gallagher gaped at his ex-wife standing fully clothed under the shower’s icy spray. Beneath a dripping wet gray sweater several sizes too big, her uniform clung to her birdlike frame, an ugly pair of shoes on her feet. Her long, jet-black hair plastered to her head, Ava stared at him through the water streaming down her pale, gaunt face.

Despite the changes to the woman he’d once loved more than life itself, he felt a familiar stirring, a familiar heat low in his belly. He was reacting to her as though nothing had changed. With her gaze riveted on the evidence of his body’s betrayal, embarrassment and anger coursed through him.

“What the hell are you doing in here, Ava?” He shut off the water with such force that he nearly ripped the lever off the wall.

Her impossibly green eyes jerked to his face, reminding him where they’d lingered only seconds before. Swearing under his breath, he covered himself with the shower curtain and then leaned to his right to grab two towels off the rack. He threw her one. She blinked and caught it before it hit her in the face.

Reeling from the realization that he still wanted her, still felt something for her after all this time, he said through clenched teeth, “Get out. Now,” and wrapped the towel around his waist.

“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you so soon. I was…I was just cleaning the tiles.”

Everything about her was foreign to him—the meek, stammering voice; the way she stood with her shoulders bowed; the raw, chapped hands that trembled as she brought the towel to her face. She looked exhausted, and she was lying.

He opened his mouth to ask her what was going on. Then quickly closed it before he uttered the questions that had been eating at him since he saw her at his great-grandmother’s funeral. Are you okay? What happened to you? What can I do to take the shadows from under your eyes? It was no longer his job, no longer his right.

He’d been there before, a long time ago. And all it had gotten him was a broken heart. It’d taken him years to recover. There’d been a time when he didn’t think he ever would. With Ava, he’d never again allow his heart to overrule his head.

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About the Author

Debbie Mason is the USA Today bestselling author of the Christmas, Colorado series and the Harmony Harbor series. Her books have been praised for their "likable characters, clever dialogue and juicy plots" (RT Book Reviews). When she isn't writing or reading, Debbie enjoys spending time with her very own real-life hero, their three wonderful children and son-in-law, two adorable grandbabies, and a yappy Yorkie named Bella.

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