Welcome Amber Daulton & her Upcoming Release Arresting Alan

Please welcome my guest Amber Daulton, who will tell us all about her upcoming romantic suspense release, Arresting Alan. This is Book 4 of her popular series Arresting Onyx. Arresting Alan is available for pre-order now, and will release April 9. The floor is yours, Amber.

His darkest secret is exposed. Will he find love and redemption in the arms of the woman who could destroy him?

Blurb

A hacker, a federal agent, and a crime boss. The time has come to fight.

Computer technician Alan Harding is no saint, but his squeaky-clean image is unshakable in the eyes of his family and especially his young son. After he agrees to assist a drug lord-turned-snitch and hack into a criminal database, he’s faced with an impossible challenge—keeping his hands and heart away from his sexy-as-sin bodyguard, DEA Special Agent Hannah Adler.

Hannah would rather go hand-to-hand with an assailant than go undercover as Alan’s girlfriend, but she’s determined to keep him safe and his illegal activities on the down-low. The handsome man and his adorable child, however, are more than she bargained for.

Once their enemies learn the truth and retaliate by kidnapping Alan’s son, they’ll have to race against the clock to save the boy and bring a dangerous empire to its knees.

Arresting Alan

Daulton Publishing, Release Date: April 9, 2024
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 85,000 words
Heat Rating: 5 Flames
Series: Arresting Onyx (Book 4)
ASIN: B0C887HXK9

Excerpt: The bad guy and even badder guys

Alan and Hannah have spent all day working on their assignment and then overhear something they shouldn’t have. Tension mounts as they demand answers from a dangerous drug lord. 

    Voices carried from down the dimly lit corridor.

As they neared the armory, the rough voices grew louder. The sound of metal clanked in his ears. His gut clenched. He grasped Hannah’s hand to keep her at his side in case she tried to jump in front of him with some harebrained notion that he needed protection. Harsh white light shone from the open doorway. His pulse thrummed faster as he paused at the threshold.

Five bulky men in SWAT gear pulled a few semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles from a corrugated-metal cabinet.

“It’s about time Thorn fucks with the Jestons.” One thug jammed a clip into a gleaming black gun. “I never liked their store—too damn expensive.”

“Got that right.” A dark-haired man stuffed on a ski cap.

Hannah stiffened and whispered to Alan, “What’s going on?”

He stepped back and pulled her with him before anyone could bitch at them for intruding. Chills raked his skin. “I don’t know, but it’s not our business.”

“Like hell, it’s not. They’re prepping for war. I can’t let this go.”

Neither could he since those assholes were going after the Jestons. He tightened his grip on Hannah and stomped back the way they came. The two dead-eyed guards in the vestibule outside Bristol’s office sneered as he stopped in front of them.

Hannah tugged her hand free and spread her feet in a battle stance.

“I need to speak with Thorn. Tell him I’m here.” Alan waited for a guard to open the doors or phone the man, but they continued to skewer him with their beady glares. The high-tech camera in the corner with the blinking LED light inside the globe fed the footage to Bristol’s computer—a system Alan had designed for each camera in the compound. “Damn it, I have no beef with you, but I’m getting into that room. Move, or I’ll make you.”

The blond bastard smirked.

All right, then. Alan fisted his hands. There was no time like the present to test out his boxing skills.

The barrier swung open from the inside, and the guards stepped away.

Bristol blocked the entryway with his broad shoulders, six-foot-five height, and his fuck-off scowl. Deep creases bracketed his cold brown eyes like craters.

Unfazed, Alan gazed past him to the four angry lieutenants near the desk. The heat of their stares burned as hot as the noonday sun.

He focused on the captain. “Why are your henchmen dressed for war?”

“You’re supposed to be gone by now. We’ll speak tomorrow.”

Alan pushed past him to enter the room with Hannah at his heels. “Now, in private.”

Bristol’s eyes bugged out. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” He grabbed Alan by his coat’s lapel and dragged him closer until barely an inch separated them.

 Add it to Goodreads - https://bit.ly/ArrestingAlanGoodreads

Check it out on BookBub - https://bit.ly/ArrestingAlanBookbub

 PreOrder Links

 Only 99 cents for a limited time!

Universal link - https://books2read.com/arrestingalan

Amazon - https://amzn.to/3CQFCuh

Apple/iBooks - https://apple.co/3PE4vAA

Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arresting-alan-amber-daulton/1143584871?ean=2940160981956

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/arresting-alan

Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=d2vCEAAAQBAJ

 

About the Author 

Amber Daulton

Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic suspense series Arresting Onyx and several stand-alone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

Social Media Links

Universal link – https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton

Exclusive Newsletter (free ebook to new subscribers) – https://amberdaulton.com/newsletter-signup/

 

Long & Short Reviews Anniversary Bash Features The Wishing Tree

 

Fun for one and all—LASR is celebrating its 16th anniversary with books of all kinds and loads of prizes. Today my latest cozy mystery The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island is spotlighted. Read all about it, answer a question and enter to win!

Who’s stealing documents from the top secret facility? The handsome stranger who's tapped into her heart could be a spy, or even a murderer.

Here's the link: 

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/guest-blogs/lasr-anniversary-scavenger-hunt-the-wishing-tree-love-lies-and-spies-on-chincoteague-island-by-m-s-spencer

The Wishing Tree in The Big Thrill August issue

 

I'm interviewed in the Big Thrill August issue! I talk about my new release The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island and more. 

Read it here: https://www.thebigthrill.org/2023/08/the-wishing-tree-love-lies-and-spies-on-chincoteague-island-m-s-spencer/

A New Excerpt from The Wishing Tree at Beyond Romance Today

 

Come by Beyond Romance for a new excerpt and a bit about the “naughty triumvirate”—a trio of erotica writers from the 18^th century.

https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2023/07/his-every-word-may-be-lie-cozymystery.html

The Naughty Triumvirate

July MFRW Magazine here with The Wishing Tree

Check out the wonderful Marketing for Romance Writers Magazine, July issue:

https://viewer.joomag.com/marketing-for-romance-writers-magazine-july-2023-volume-6-issue-7/0467963001688154397?short&

Wonderful articles for writers (not just romance writers) and announcements of new releases. The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island—to be released July 17—is the featured spotlight in Suspense on p. 22.

Happy reading!

Please Welcome Kerry Blaisdell & Her New Book Burying the Dead

Please welcome my friend and an inspired writer, Kerry Blaisdell. The fourth installment of her acclaimed Dead Series will be released January 16, so we’re getting an early taste of it here.

Burying the Dead

The Wild Rose Press, January 16, 2023

Dead Series, Book 4

Supernatural Suspense/Paranormal Romance

PG-13, 330 pages

 

Be sure to drop in at her January 16 Facebook party for fun and prizes! 

So, Kerry, tell us what on earth made you start writing about demons and returning from the dead…as a comedy?

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the inspiration for my Dead Series books came from. I’ve always been fascinated with the supernatural—the Active Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch was one of my favorite books as a kid. Plus I love a good mystery, and adventure stories (Can you say Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and The Five Books?) (And now you know how old I am—LOL!).

As an adult, I love TV shows like Supernatural, Stranger Things – anything with “atmosphere”, and otherworldly themes. Plus, I’m fascinated by religion in general, and early Christianity specifically. So, after writing romantic suspense for a few years, I got the urge to write something different, something I wanted to read. I had no idea if it would be “publishable.” I just started writing, and Debriefing The Dead is what came out, then Waking The Dead and Damning The Dead—and here we are at Book Four, Burying The Dead.

Blurb

Sometimes the only way to stop the world from going to Hell is by working with Demons.

Hyacinth Finch has one goal: Save her nephew Geordi from the Hell Demon who kidnapped him. But to succeed, she’ll have to work with his demon Mafia relatives, which she swore she’d never do. Worse, she’ll have to make another deal with the High Demons who murdered her. But Geordi's life is worth it, even if she loses her own humanity in the process.

Meanwhile, Hyacinth’s ghost boyfriend Eric is wasting away, after being ejected from his “borrowed” body. While digging in his past for something to make him fight for survival, she uncovers secrets that could destroy their relationship. Moreover, her feelings for Geordi’s demon cousin Jason are stronger than ever, though every morally impossible choice she makes drives him farther away. Can she save Eric and Geordi, without losing herself—and Jason—forever?

Excerpt: Facing My Demons

I picked an invisible speck of lint off my maroon tights and tried not to fidget with the hem of my black pencil skirt.

Jason gave me the side-eye. “Relax, will you? Everything will be fine.”

“Easy for you to say—you’re one of them. They have to listen to you. Me, not so much.”

In fact, at best, the “they” in question probably wished they’d never heard of me. And at worst—well, let’s just say my current outfit could easily be accessorized with concrete boots and a deep ocean dive, to make sure I never resurfaced again.

If you’re wondering, I’m Hyacinth Finch, former graverobber turned “art dealer” for a certain select clientele who like to steal from each other for fun. I’m also a former dead person, with a brand-new third career as Assistant to the Angel of Death, otherwise known as Archangel Michael. His job is to shepherd souls Up or Down, depending on their life choices, and my job is to “presort” said souls, so he can attend to other business, like stopping Satan’s escape from Hell. Which I also help with, by tracking down rock shards that contain both his and Satan’s powers, left over from a big battle they had, eons ago. If Satan gets enough of these, he can use them to break out of his prison, and I’m the only “rock senser” Michael’s ever met, so…lucky me.

But I’m on a temporary hiatus from the day job, so I can grovel to my dead sister Lily’s ex in-laws, Niccolò and Caderina Dioguardi—the aforementioned “they”—in hopes they’ll help me save my nephew, Geordi, from the Hell Demon who kidnapped him. The slight hitch being that they’re also demons—although not from Hell—and they want Geordi for themselves. He’s their only grandchild, and has incredibly strong supernatural powers himself. Which is why he was kidnapped in the first place: to be used as a bargaining chip by various factions who want his powers for themselves. Including Satan.

I shivered, and Jason took my hand. “Hey—seriously—it will be okay. Marchosias won’t hurt him. Geordi’s far too valuable to be damaged.”

The vast marble-columned foyer in which we sat, awaiting an audience with Nico and Rina, felt cold and unwelcoming, and I wanted nothing more than to burrow into Jason’s side and let him keep lying to me that this would all be okay.

Jason is also a Dioguardi, and a demon, but a “good one.” Supposedly. He uses Jones as his surname, but even so, it’s hard to separate him from the larger family sometimes, especially since he’s got the signature Dioguardi “look”: wavy black hair, baby blue eyes—when they aren’t demon black—and a hefty six-foot-six height. Which seven-year-old Geordi, who is technically his cousin, is well on his way to achieving.

But things are complicated between us right now, so instead of caving to my instincts, I removed my hand and tugged at my skirt again, and Jason sighed and sat back.

“Look,” he said, “I get how much it cost you to do this. Hell, Rina and Nico get it, too. I know you’ve viewed them as the Enemy for months now. And I admit, you’re probably not their favorite person.”

In spite of it all, I laughed, and a smile crept onto Jason’s face.

I blew out a breath. “I don’t trust them. I know you think there’s another side to the story, but Nick didn’t happen all by himself. His abusive nature was augmented by their nurture, and he meant everything to them. And I…”

Jason grimaced. “It’s not your fault their only son—”

“Their only child!”

“—died. He brought that on himself. But you’re right. They do blame you, in part. Still, they’ll take into account that you came to them. The family as a whole has done terrible things. But they’re honorable. If they give you their word, you can trust it.”

His eyes were dark and unreadable—not black, thank God, so his demon powers weren’t surging, or whatever it’s called. But…did he count himself among the “whole” who’d done “terrible things”? Did I want to know?

At this point in our relationship, probably not. Not that we’re in a relationship—far from it. In fact, I have a boyfriend. Sort of. Assuming his spirit recovers.

As though reading my mind—an annoying talent he has—Jason said, “Eric will also be fine. If anyone can save him, Nadezhda will.”

Eric Guilliot is a former French police officer killed by the Dioguardis the same night I died, and Nadezhda is a woman we met in Turkey who, like me, walks among the Dead. She had saved Eric once before, by making him Full Dead, but this was different. He’d been damaged, possibly beyond repair, when he appropriated a fresh corpse, to gain a living body again. He’d succeeded for a time, but then the man’s body began absorbing Eric’s spirit, and kept those bits behind after Eric got ejected.

The nausea roiled, and I shoved it down. “How can you be so sure? About any of it? How can you stay so positive?”

What I really wanted to ask was, Why are you always so damn nice? The words stuck in my throat, and he looked away. But not before I saw the suppressed emotion in his blue eyes—rage, but not at me. And fear—but not for me.

“I have to,” he said quietly. “It’s the only way through.”

 Buy links

https://books2read.com/BuryingTheDead

 About the Author

Kerry Blaisdell is the bestselling and award-winning author of the acclaimed Dead Series, including Debriefing The Dead and its sequels, which InD’tale Magazine recommends for “fans of shows like ‘Constantine’ or ‘Supernatural.’” She also writes award-winning romantic suspense (Publish Or Perish, a Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize quarterfinalist) and historical mystery. She holds a BA from U.C. Berkeley in Comparative Literature (French/Medieval English), and a Master’s in Teaching English and Advanced Mathematics from University of Portland. Kerry lives in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest with her family, assorted animals, and more hot pepper plants than anyone could reasonably consume.

Social media contacts

Subscribe to her Very Occasional Mailing List (https://kerryblaisdell.com/voml/) and get TWO free downloads!

Facebook Reader Group (http://facebook.com/groups/kerryskin)

http://linktr.ee/kerryblaisdell

http://linktr.ee/kerrysbits

 

Chatting around the Fire with D. V. Stone

 

Chatting around the Fire today at D. V. Stone’s: https://www.dvstoneauthor.com/around-the-fire-with-d-v-stone/around-the-fire-welcomes-todays-guest-m-s-spencer

Among other bits of confessions, D. V. weasels out of me my strange affinity to a statue of Ganesh, my best talent (wiggling out of stuff), and life on Capitol Hill. Oh yes, and there’s a bit about Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine! Do drop by—I’d love to hear your comments!

https://www.dvstoneauthor.com/around-the-fire-with-d-v-stone/around-the-fire-welcomes-todays-guest-m-s-spencer

Hidden Gem at Jill Piscitello's Today

 

Today Jill Piscitello hosts me for a quick look at my new cozy mystery/romantic suspense Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine. Do drop by!

https://jillpiscitello.com/2022/04/18/book-in-the-spotlight-hidden-gem-the-secret-of-st-augustine-by-m-s-spencer 

#wrpbks #Cozymystery #NewReleases #MSSpencerbks #FloridaMystery

Hidden Gem at Rebecca Grace's Writing Corner...with a dead body

Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine, my new mystery romance, released yesterday!  

Rebecca Grace has kindly invited me to talk about on her blog today. Do drop by to learn a bit about the Gilded Age and St. Augustine—and to discover what I mean by the tag line: Their story begins with very bad chili and a dead body.

Find it here:

https://rebecca-grace.blogspot.com/2022/04/05-Hidden-Gem-M-S-Spencer.html

Hidden Gem at Alicia Dean's Today

 

Release day for Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine! Lots of stuff going on, but be sure to stop by Alicia Dean’s wonderful blog for an introduction to the book, and discover what the tag line: Their story begins with very bad chili and a dead body.

 

Catch it here:

https://aliciadean.com/2022/04/04/spotlight-on-m-s-spencer-hidden-gem-the-secret-of-st-augustine-cozymystery-romanticsuspense-wrpbks-blog/

Five Plus Plus Stars for Hidden Gem!

Five Plus Plus Stars for Hidden Gem!

N. N. Light loved my book! This is my first review for Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine, and it’s a doozy. Here’s a quote:

“Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine is a romantic adventure rolled up into a mystery that is one of the best books I've read this year. It has all the components I crave in an unputdownable read and then some. M.S. Spencer writes an addictive mystery with quirky characters, a treasure hunt, all taking place in one of the oldest cities in America.”

You can read the whole review here:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/hidden-gem-the-secret-of-st-augustine-br