DV Berkom - An Author Interview in the HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author DV Berkom. She is the bestselling author of two award-winning thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones).

Author Genre: Crime, Suspense, Thriller

Website: DV Berkom
Author's Blog: DV Berkom Books
Twitter: @dvberkom
E-Mail: dvb (at) dvberkom (dot) com
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Author Description:
DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the bestselling author of two award-winning thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-ass women characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages.

Raised in the Midwest, she earned a BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Several cross-country moves later, she now lives just outside of Seattle, Washington with the love of her life, Mark, a chef-turned-contractor, and several imaginary characters who love to tell her what to do. Her most recent books include Cargo, The Body Market, Bad Traffick, A One Way Ticket to Dead, and Yucatán Dead.


SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

Congratulations on your book: Cargo. What do you have on the drawing board next? Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?

Thank you! I’m very happy with the response for the latest Leine Basso thriller—especially since the book took me way outside my comfort zone. As for what’s next, I’m working on the currently untitled prequel to the series. I received several emails from readers asking me to write a book about Leine’s early life as an assassin and what led to certain events I describe in Serial Date and Bad Traffick, such as the Frenchman (an arms dealer), and Carlos (Leine’s first love interest). I’m planning to have it available the first part of 2016. After that, due to multiple reader requests I’ll be writing the next book in my other thriller series featuring Kate Jones. I’m really looking forward to getting inside her head again. That should be ready to go later in the year.

You have a good following on twitter. Since you started before the social media buzz, what impact has social media relationships had on your current success? How did you build your following in your niche? How much has it changed your book launch process?

Social media is key to building a solid reader base, and is a great way to connect to other authors. I’ve also met some great book bloggers/reviewers, many of whom have become friends. The impact of social media on my success has been tremendous. The ability to connect with readers who enjoy my work is so important. I doubt the majority of an independent author’s success would be possible without the reach social media provides. My book launches are certainly more effective each time I do one, due in no small part to that same social media following.

You do a lot of book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances. When and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?

I’m available on all the usual suspects like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al, and LOVE to hear from readers. I also have an event page on both my website and blog, so readers can go there and check out whether I’ll be in their area in the future. I also let my reader list know whenever I’m going to be somewhere, since they tend to be from all over. Right now, I have a couple of local appearances planned for the holidays, and then I’m taking a much needed break so I can get caught up on my writing.

You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?

Thank you! When I first started publishing, I designed my own covers, but since then have used a couple of different designers. I recently re-branded the Leine Basso series using Deranged Doctor Designs. I’m very happy with their vision for the series. I used the Killion Group for the last two books in the Kate Jones series, and intend to have them design the next one. I had quite a bit of input with both, although the finished product was definitely each designer’s vision.

Several of your novels have been converted into audio books. What has been the impact on your regular sales? Has the audio books gained a new audience for you?

I love audio books, and was stoked to be able to offer that version to readers. The audio book segment of the reading public has exploded in recent years and I’ve certainly added new readers because of it. But, as I see it the main benefit is accessibility. I’ve been a huge advocate for accessible content for years—e.g., tweaking websites and blogs to make them easier for non-traditional users to access. Being able to produce a professional version to include that segment of readers is a fantastic opportunity. As for impact, audio book sales have become a significant revenue stream and I haven’t seen a decline in book sales because of it. Usually, once readers have purchased an eBook, due to Amazon’s ability to offer a significant discount on the audio book after purchase they’ll buy that version as well.

You have written several novellas. Can you tell us if they had an impact on the sales of your novels? Are shorty’s one of your styles of writing or are they created to give readers a sample of your work? Do you feel short reads are a product of our email and smart phone age?

My first published book was Bad Spirits, a novella and the first installment in the Kate Jones thriller series. I wrote it specifically for an online publisher who had read Touring for Death (now the fourth book in the series) and requested I write the back story for the character, Kate, to publish as a serial. Due to Kate’s popularity with readers, I then published Dead of Winter, Death Rites, and the aforementioned Touring for Death, all novellas, before continuing the series with full-length books. It was early days in eBook publishing and serials hadn’t caught on as much as they have now, so I decided to combine the novellas into a box set (Volume 1) for release. Readers can still buy them separately, but I priced the box set lower than the sum of the novellas together, so most buy the set.

Learning how to write novellas was like boot camp for writing lean—to strip out all but the most essential information. This has two purposes: one, you don’t waste the reader’s time with unnecessary fluff; and two, it allows the reader to become more deeply involved in the story by using their imagination to fill in more details. I still apply these same principles for my longer works—my main rule is to NEVER bore the reader. Another one is to never underestimate reader intelligence. I think the recent surge in the popularity of novellas is partly a product of how easy it has become to access content. We’re reading on our phones while we’re standing in line or waiting at the doctor’s office, and shorter works are great for that. I don’t think novellas and short stories cannibalize longer novels, though. Data shows there is still a huge market for novel-length works.

I like the idea of bundling a series of novels. You have put together a several sets of your novels and novellas. What was the impact on your other sales? What was your main objective in bundling your novels?

I like to make things easy for readers—box sets make it easy for folks to find and read all of the books in the series, and allows for a seamless reading experience. Also, I usually price them lower than if they bought them all individually. The sets do tend to cannibalize sales of the separate books a bit but I’d rather give readers more choice. Also, I love a deal and figure most people do, too.

What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?

To paraphrase the saying, “Free has been very, very good to me.” Back in the old days of eBooks (ca. 2010-2012), as an unknown author with a small budget I didn’t have a lot of options for readers to discover my work. Giving away free copies worked really well. I doubt I’d be able to write full time if I hadn’t been able to take advantage of all the avenues to give away books, like Goodreads, LibraryThing, or having sales and using advertising sites like EReaderNews Today, et al. Putting my books on sale and for free makes reading my work a low- or no-risk offer, and I’ve gained tons of new readers by doing so. In fact, right now I’m giving away the first novel in each series to anyone who signs up on my website for my reader list.

Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?

All of the above. I find a reader list to be one of the most valuable ways to really connect with readers who enjoy my work. As I mentioned in the answer above, I offer free books to all new subscribers, and I’ll do giveaways and special, subscriber-only offers for the list throughout the year. I have a link to subscribe in the back of each book, and there’s a sign up form on my website. I send out a newsletter when I have important information to share, which tends to be once every couple of months (give or take). I don’t send more than that, even though I’ve been told I should do it at least monthly, because I assume people are as busy as I am and they haven’t got time to read half of the messages in their inbox. I want people to be glad to hear from me.

I liked your idea of having a virtual Audio Book Halloween party. What a great group of authors. I have been fortunate to interview most of them. The next one you do, give a heads up and I will promote it. Who put this promo together? What was the goal? I like the covers presentation.

Author/artist Uvi Poznansky put the party together with the goal of introducing new readers to our audio books. I’ll make sure to let you know next time—thanks for the offer. We had a great turnout, and there were some fabulous audio books on offer! It was fun and I got to meet so many new readers and authors. I’ll make sure to tell Uvi you enjoyed the cover presentation—she created all of the promotional material—basically all we had to do was show up and post excerpts.



Author's Book List
Cargo - A Leine Basso Thriller
Money—the universal merchant. Anyone can be bought, anyone can be sold.

Anyone.

Haunted by memories of an op gone bad, former assassin Leine Basso travels to Bangkok in search of a missing backpacker. With help from an old contact, she discovers the man responsible for the girl’s disappearance is connected to a violent Hong Kong triad and is the linchpin of an extensive trafficking network—both animal and human.

Making enemies isn’t new for Leine, but making one in the triad is—she soon finds herself a prisoner on board a cargo ship headed for sub-Saharan Africa. To ensure her survival and to continue her hunt for the missing girl, she must join forces with Derek, an ivory poacher who promises to help her.

For a price.

As her involvement intensifies, Leine delves deeper into a disturbing and treacherous criminal underworld where everything has a price.


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The Body Market - A Leine Basso Thriller
A retired assassin is called in when a celebration south of the border turns into a nightmare.

Everything's for sale...

Former assassin Leine Basso is hired by a wealthy Beverly Hills power couple to find their missing daughter, Elise, last seen partying with her boyfriend at a club in Tijuana. At first, police believe the two teenagers are the victims of a carjacking. But when Leine finds their missing vehicle with the boyfriend’s mutilated body inside, and the local cartel warns her away, she knows if Elise isn’t already dead, she will be soon, or worse.

In the lethal world of organized crime, there’s always a worse.

As Leine races to uncover the reason behind Elise Bennett’s disappearance, she must also battle the powerful interests fighting to keep her from the truth.


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A One Way Ticket to Dead - Kate Jones Thriller, Book 7
Digging up the past can be deadly...

After years of running from her ex—a vicious Mexican drug lord—and his subsequent death, Kate Jones is ready to bury the past and try to piece together a new normal. But first there’s a loose end to tie and it involves digging up old ghosts that are best left alone.

Unaware her actions have attracted the notice of a powerful enemy Kate is plunged into a deadly fight for survival, as both her life and the lives of the children of a man she once loved hang in the balance. And, with the possibility of an informant inside the DEA, she doesn’t know who she can trust.

From the emerald green shores of Seattle to the lush Yucatan jungle and unforgiving Sonoran desert, Kate Jones must once again face her past...and hope she survives.


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Yucatan Dead - A Kate Jones Thriller
She was a dangerous man's lover…now she's his dangerous enemy.

For Kate Jones, being on the run from her former lover—the vicious leader of a Mexican drug cartel—was never going to be easy. But with a new identity, a new lover, and a new life in Arizona, she was beginning to believe she'd made it through the worst.

Then, in an act of twisted revenge, Kate's kidnapped and imprisoned by her deadly enemy, his intention to force her to pay back the money she stole before he kills her.

Fate intervenes and she finds herself working against the cartels deep in the Yucatan with a group of off-the-grid commandos. From peaceful northern Arizona to the steamy jungles of Mexico, Kate Jones must decide for herself if she'll continue to run...

...or turn and fight the evil that pursues her.


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Bad Traffick - A Leine Basso Thriller
Dangerous obsessions take center stage when a former assassin and a homicide detective race against the clock to find a missing girl before she's sold to the highest bidder.

Identified as a person of interest in three cold case murders she didn't commit and required to stay in L.A., retired assassin Leine Basso accepts a temporary position as a security specialist for A-list actor Miles Fournier. Soon, a woman contacts Miles, claiming to be his long-lost sister. Her twelve-year-old daughter, Mara, has been abducted and she's desperate to get her back.

Leine learns from a contact that Mara escaped, but the traffickers are determined to track her down and deliver her to their powerful client. Running out of time, Leine must find Mara before they do, or she will be lost forever.


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Cruising for Death - Kate Jones Thriller #5
Kate Jones and her lover, Cole are on a luxury cruise in the Caribbean when a passenger dies of an apparent heart attack and the ship is boarded by modern-day pirates. Along with two other passengers, Kate is kidnapped by a long-lost enemy who wants to settle an old score.

Kate's vacation turns into non-stop action when Anaya's gunmen board the cruise ship and she finds herself on a jet ski surrounded by sharks, kidnapped, held captive, staked down over a patch of fast growing bamboo, and drugged in a Voodoo ceremony. Add a 16th century Spanish shipwreck, hidden treasure, and an Obeah priestess and you've got trouble in paradise.

Will Kate escape certain death or end up as shark bait in the middle of the Caribbean?

It's adventure in paradise and promises all the fast-paced action readers have come to expect from the Kate Jones Thriller Series.


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Serial Date - A Leine Basso Thriller
When a former assassin's daughter is abducted, she's drawn into the twisted game of a serial killer who may be a grisly remnant from her past.

What happens when a reality show turns deadly?

Determined to leave her old life behind, retired assassin Leine Basso accepts a job working security at one of television's most popular reality shows, Serial Date. When a contestant is found dead in the prop closet, it appears the killer is one of the 'bachelors' on the show- an ex-con billed as a serial killer- but the detective in charge of the case isn't so sure.

When Leine's estranged daughter is abducted by a man claiming to be the real killer, she's forced to rely on old skills to find her, and must come to terms with who she really is. She soon realizes the murderer may be a grisly remnant from her past and she'll need to use all of her cunning to stop him...

...and rescue her daughter.


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Touring for Death - Kate Jones Thriller Book 4
Kate Jones is hiding out from her shady past driving jeep tours through the rugged high desert of northern Arizona, determined to stop looking over her shoulder and find peace from her mistake of a gun-toting, former life. Testifying against a Mexican drug lord and a dirty DEA agent didn't turn out to be a life enhancing choice and she's been on the move ever since.

Now, five years have passed with no sign of trouble and Kate's finally starting to believe she's safe. Her current goal is to make enough money so she can get lost in the tropics when the tourist trade dies off. Unfortunately, it's the tourists that are dying off and she may be next.

When Kate and Sheriff Cole Anderson join forces to catch the killer, sparks fly. Kate has to decide if it's safe to trust him with her secrets. But trusting him could mean death-

- for both of them


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Death Rites - Kate Jones Thriller Book 3
When Kate has to leave Alaska (and Sam) behind, she runs to the last place she remembers feeling safe: the North Shore of Oahu. Against her better judgment, she re-establishes old connections, and soon faces a new problem in Alek, a gifted carver and avid surfer.

Then a brutal murder and theft of a priceless artifact from a museum is discovered, and Kate's thrown into the middle of what appears to be a violent ancient sect come to life. Her only chance of survival is to rely on her wits...

…and the ancient gods of Hawaii.


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Dead of Winter - Kate Jones Thriller #2
Kate Jones is hiding out in small town Alaska when she witnesses an execution-style murder. Convinced the killers are Salazar's men and desperate to stop them from finding her, she reports the crime to local law enforcement, hoping to put them off her trail so she can escape.

What she gets is Sam, an enigmatic officer with a mysterious past who's been assigned to watch over her as the hunt for the killers deepens.

Sam and Kate's obvious attraction to each other becomes a dangerous complication as Kate realizes the only way she can stay alive is to leave Alaska, trying to keep one step ahead of Salazar.


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Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.

Jenna Bennett - Adverse Possession is featured in the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

The Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.

The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Jenna Bennett New Book: Adverse Possession.

Author Jenna Bennett a.k.a. Jennie Bentley is the NYT and USA International bestselling author of Mystery Novels. Jennie writes the Do-It-Yourself Mystery series and Jenna authors the Savannah Martin Mysteries series.

Adverse Possession

Savannah Martin Mysteries Book 11

Author: Jenna Bennett


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Savannah Martin’s real estate career has been an uphill battle. As far as Savannah is concerned, her personal zenith was getting Aislynn Turner and Kylie Mitchell into their dream home, a Victorian cottage in the hip and happening historic district of East Nashville, last January.

That was six months ago, and now the dream has turned sour. Someone is sending Aislynn and Kylie threatening letters, warning them to get out while they can. Aislynn is terrified and Kylie is ready to cut her losses.

But finding a poison pen is only the beginning. When Kylie is attacked and the previous owner of the house is killed, the hunt is on for a murderer, and Savannah is determined to get to the bottom of what’s going on before Aislynn and Kylie have to give up their dream home, and maybe each other, in the process.

Excerpt from Adverse Possession

CHAPTER ONE

“I’m sorry, Savannah,” Kylie said. “Aislynn didn’t even want me to contact you, she’s so embarrassed. But you were so nice when we bought the place…”

“It’s OK.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was the ‘didn’t even want me to contact you’ that had caused it. “I understand. People sometimes sell their houses.” Even houses they had just bought. And they didn’t always—didn’t usually—use me to do it. Even if I had helped them buy the house in the first place. “It’s just… you’ve only owned it five or six months. And you seemed so excited when you bought the place…”

“We love the house,” Kylie said. “It isn’t the house.”

“The location?”

The house they’d bought back in December, a lovely Victorian cottage, sat in the middle of historic East Nashville. It was a very nice neighborhood, full of old, renovated houses, hip people, popular restaurants, and health food stores catering to dogs and people. It was hard to imagine that they weren’t enjoying it, especially considering how excited they’d been just last winter.

“We love the location,” Kylie said. “We couldn’t ask for a better place to live.”

“Then…” I glanced over my shoulder and lowered my voice, “the price?”

I was sitting in my office, a converted coat closet off the lobby at LB&A, a real estate company in the heart of historic East Nashville. The only person in sight was Brittany, the receptionist, and she had her nose buried in the most recent issue of Cosmopolitan. She couldn’t care less what I was saying. But it’s unladylike to inquire about someone’s finances, or lack thereof.

Kylie sounded amused. “It isn’t the price.”

I hadn’t thought so. Renovated Victorians in East Nashville come at a premium, but Kylie worked in banking and made good money. Unless she’d suddenly lost her job, she shouldn’t have a problem paying the mortgage.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “If you like the house and the location, and the money isn’t an issue…”

Kylie sighed. “It’s the letters,” she told me.

Letters? “Isn’t the postman delivering your mail?” That was a simple problem to fix. All I’d have to do was talk to the post office that serviced their address, and straighten things out.

“He is. That’s the problem.”

So they were getting mail they didn’t want. “You can opt out of getting junk mail, you know.”

“It isn’t junk mail,” Kylie said. “Or it is, sort of. I think we should just ignore it. But Aislynn is afraid. And I don’t want Aislynn to be afraid.”

I didn’t want Aislynn to be afraid, either. She was a sweet young woman, a waitress I had met last November, while trying to figure out what had happened to my late sister-in-law. Aislynn had fed Sheila her last meal, unbeknownst to either of them. Aislynn and her girlfriend Kylie had wanted to buy a house, and had asked me to help them. They had invited me over a couple of weeks after moving in, to eat dinner and see the place, and they had seemed thrilled to be where they were. It was disconcerting to learn, just a few months later, that something was wrong enough that they wanted to sell.

“What is she afraid of?”

“It’ll be easier if I show you,” Kylie said. “Are you free for dinner tonight?”

For a change, I was. “Rafe is taking some of the rookies out for surveillance and shadowing.”

My husband works for the TBI—the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation—training new recruits in undercover maneuvers, and once a month or so, they go out to sneak around after each other and the occasional unsuspecting civilian. It’s part of the training—how to follow someone, how to pick up a tail—but mostly I think they’re just out there having fun.

Anyway, Rafe wouldn’t be home until nine or ten tonight.

“We got the wedding invitation,” Kylie said. “Sorry we couldn’t make it.”

“It’s OK. I know it was last minute.” Rafe and I had intended to get married at the courthouse the first weekend in June, with just a handful of people in attendance. Instead, we’d ended up tying the knot a week later, at my childhood home in Sweetwater, Tennessee—the Martin Mansion—with almost everyone we knew in attendance, including half of our old hometown. But it had been short notice, so there were a few people who received Mother’s nicely calligraphied invitation who had been unable to make it.

“Can you stop by the house around five-thirty tonight?” Kylie asked. “I should be home by then. Aislynn is doing the cooking.”

I told her that would be fine, and I’d see them both then. Then I hung up, and leaned back in my chair to gnaw the lipstick off my bottom lip.

I’d had my real estate license for a little over a year. In that time, I had sold a few houses to a few people. Not as many as I should have. I kept getting sidetracked by dead bodies, and by people gunning for Rafe. But Aislynn and Kylie were one of my few success-stories, and I wanted them to be happy. If there was anything at all I could do to help figure out whatever was wrong, I’d do it.

Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Romance

Website: Jenna Bennett - Jennie Bentley
Author's Blog: Jenna Bennett
Twitter: @Bennett_Jenna
E-Mail: jennie@jenniebentley.com
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Amazon Author Profile




Author Description: USA Today bestselling author Jenna Bennett is best known for the Cutthroat Business mysteries, featuring Realtor and recovering Southern Belle Savannah Martin, who stumbles over dead bodies in Nashville, Tennessee.

As Jennie Bentley, she writes the New York Times bestselling Do-It-Yourself Home Renovation mysteries from Penguin/Berkley Prime Crime, about Avery Baker, a textile designer, and Avery's boyfriend Derek Ellis, a handyman, who renovate houses in fictitious Waterfield, Maine.

In addition to other mysteries, she's also the author of the award-winning Soldiers of Fortune series of science fiction romances, along with assorted other romance-type books, about FBI agents, Greek gods, and rich businessmen, among other things.

If you'd like to sign up for Jenna's email newsletter, and be the first to learn about new releases, sales, exclusive newsletter reads, and other exciting things, you can do that here http://eepurl.com/xzlRP or on Jenna's website, www.JennaBennett.com.





Author's Book List
Unfinished Business - #10 Savannah Martin Mysteries
When realtor and recovering Southern Belle Savannah Martin wakes up alone on what is supposed to be her wedding day, she isn’t sure what to think. Did her fiancé—bad-boy TBI agent Rafe Collier—decide he couldn’t face being shackled to one woman for the rest of his life... or is something more sinister going on?

Savannah’s mother Margaret Anne, in Nashville for the nuptials, is certain she knows the truth: her future son-in-law has always been an ill-bred cad, and leaving his pregnant girlfriend practically at the altar clinches it. But the people who know Rafe aren’t so sure. Wendell Craig with the TBI and Tamara Grimaldi with the Metro Nashville PD suspect foul play, and set out to prove it.

Shortly, a dead woman turns up in Savannah’s house. Rafe’s son David goes missing from church camp on the Cumberland Plateau. And a shadowy figure from Rafe’s past is stalking them all—a knife-wielding serial killer who likes to hurt women, and who has a score to settle.

Now Savannah must solve the murder, find David, and avoid getting herself killed... Or she can kiss her happy ending—and Rafe—goodbye.


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Fortune's Honor - Soldiers of Fortune Book 2
To save himself, his friends, and his mission, a fugitive must put his fate in the hands of the last women he should trust—the same woman who sent him to prison four months ago.

Last year, galactic translator Holden Sinclair had a great life. He was traveling the nexus with his friends, seeing new worlds, making money, and generally having a good time. The only cloud on his horizon was his unrequited crush on the captain’s girlfriend, but that matter resolved itself when she betrayed them to the Rhenians and they were shipped to the prison camp on the moon Marica-3.

Since then, Holden’s only thoughts regarding Josie have revolved around getting even. Or so he thinks, until he runs into her again, in a brothel in Calvados. She’s disillusioned, contrite, and still as desirable as ever. And all too soon Holden finds himself right back where he started: torn between his loyalty to Quinn and the crew of the Good Fortune, and his feelings for Josie.

But with prices on all their heads, their mechanic scheduled for public execution in the Calvados town square two days hence, and the Rhenian military drawing the net ever tighter around them... can he justify putting his trust in a woman who’s already betrayed them once?

Can he risk the consequences of reintroducing her into their lives?

And above all, can he stop his friends from killing her on sight?


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Finding You - Sex on the Beach Book 2
Sex on the Beach, the do-over.

Cassie Wilder had a simple plan for what to do in Key West the second time around.

Testify at the trial of the rapist she helped catch last year.

Make sure he gets locked away for the rest of his natural life, so he can never, ever hurt another girl.

Wait for her BFFs to get to town, so they can celebrate.

And stay far away from Ty Connor, because three months after breaking up with him, she still doesn’t know whether being with him is worse than being without him.

Spring Break, take two.

All of the above? Out the window.

Turns out testifying is a lot harder than she thought it would be.

Not only is the rapist she helped catch last year not locked away for the rest of his life, he’s on the loose and looking for her.

Oh yeah, and it’s definitely harder being without Ty than being with him, especially when she has to watch him with someone else.

Welcome to Cassie’s world.


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Fortune's Hero - Soldiers of Fortune Book 1
Last year, space smuggler Quinn Conlan was on top of the world. He had everything a man could want: a fast ship, a great crew, a gorgeous girlfriend, lots of money, and adventure and excitement around every corner.

That all changed when he agreed to ferry a shipload of weapons to the beleaguered planet Marica, currently under siege by Rhenian forces. Now he's stuck in a prison camp on the moon Marica-3, subjected to weekly sessions with the camp's "medical team," and praying for a quick death before he breaks under the torture and spills everything he knows about the Marican resistance.

When the opportunity presents itself, Quinn takes a Rhenian med tech hostage and heads into the inhospitable interior of the small moon. There, he has to keep himself and Doctor Elsa Brandeis safe from the deadly flora and fauna, as well as hidden from the prison guards searching for them, all while formulating a plan for getting his crew out of prison, his ship out of impound, and everyone out of orbit.

But when Elsa professes her love, can Quinn take the beautiful doctor at her word, or will trusting her--and his heart--condemn him and his crew to an eternity on Marica-3?


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Ditching David
When Gina Beaufort Kelly’s husband leaves her for a woman young enough to be his daughter, Gina doesn’t get mad... she gets even.

Or at least she tries to, by targeting David’s assets in the divorce. She spent eighteen years of her life with him; it’s only fair that he should compensate her accordingly.

However, David doesn’t agree, and when he ends up dead, on the evening before they were set to go before the judge, the police suspect foul play—and suspect that Gina’s behind it.

Now this jilted wife must figure out who else wanted her soon-to-be-ex-husband dead—and why—before she loses everything in the process, including her freedom.


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Dirty Deeds - #9 Savannah Martin Mysteries
With hotels in downtown filled to capacity months in advance, real estate agent Savannah Martin decides to pick up some extra money renting out her empty East Nashville apartment. She’s living with her boyfriend, and the place is just sitting there, begging to be put to use.

But when her latest tenant ends up dead—strangled in Savannah’s bed by what might have been a paying customer—the promise of easy money quickly turns sour.

As the hunt for the killer leads to their shared hometown of Sweetwater, Tennessee, Savannah’s boyfriend, TBI agent Rafe Collier, is tapped to help with the investigation. But a familiarity with the town and the people in it isn’t necessarily a benefit when the main suspect in the murder is the man Savannah decided not to marry. The same man who has never forgiven Rafe for stealing her away…


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Past Due - #8 Savannah Martin Mysteries
The sins of the past are coming due, and someone has to pay the price...

Savannah Martin’s high school reunion is supposed to be a fun weekend of catching up with old friends and parading her boyfriend—Sweetwater bad boy Rafael Collier—in front of everyone who used to sneer at him back in the day. Not even the daily battle she’s waging with morning sickness can douse Savannah’s anticipation.

But when Rafe won’t come to Sweetwater, Savannah has to face her old schoolmates without his support. And her best friend Charlotte isn’t as happy for Savannah’s new relationship as Savannah had hoped. And when a dead body turns up in the Colliers’ old mobile home in the Bog, Savannah is thankful to be on her own. The sheriff is always looking for a reason to shove Rafe back behind bars, and a fresh homicide is just the excuse he needs.

But when another murder takes place at the reunion, even the threat of jail can’t keep Rafe away. Soon old classmates are dropping like bowling pins, and Rafe and Savannah are scrambling to catch up with a killer hell bent on making sure old enemies pay for old sins... all while trying to stay one step ahead of Sheriff Satterfield and the Columbia PD.


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Kickout Clause - #7 Savannah Martin Mysteries
When Shelby Ferguson, Savannah’s ex-husband’s new wife, begs Savannah’s help in figuring out what’s going on with Bradley, Savannah can’t in good conscience say no. Shelby has no one else to turn to, no one to whom she can admit that her marriage is on the rocks and that Bradley may be straying.

But helping Shelby turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg. With two different sets of buyers vying to purchase Mrs. Jenkins’s house, and an escaped prisoner targeting Savannah, she has more than enough to deal with. And that’s before TBI rookie Manny Ortega is shot down in cold blood.

With Savannah’s boyfriend Rafe Collier, and their friend, homicide detective Tamara Grimaldi, busy looking for Manny’s murderer, it’s up to Savannah to juggle buyers and agents and vandals and lawyers, and come out on top... without losing her Southern Belle poise or her life in the process.


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Change of Heart - #6 Savannah Martin Mysteries
It’s late February, just two months after Savannah Martin and Rafael Collier finally worked things out between them, and Rafe is already sneaking out of bed in the wee hours.

Catching fellow realtor Tim Briggs rinsing blood from his hands in the office sink makes for a welcome distraction, and when Tim disappears just as one of his clients is found dead in a nearby park, Savannah throws herself into the investigation with abandon.

But even the murder mystery taking place right under her nose can’t completely distract her from worrying about personal problems. Has Rafe changed his mind about their relationship, or is something else going on? And what are the chances of Savannah coming out of this latest debacle with her life – and her heart – intact?


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A Done Deal - #5 Savannah Martin Mysteries
Silver bells, silver bells...

It's Christmas time in Nashville, and all Savannah wants to unwrap on Christmas morning is Rafe Collier. Unfortunately, things don't look so good. He's back in town, but not alone: on his arm is a stunning brunette, just the kind of woman Savannah always suspected was his type.

When Alexandra Puckett asks her help in figuring out a way to stop Maybelle Driscoll from marrying Alex's father Steven, Savannah jumps on the chance. It'll give her something to think about other than Rafe and the mysterious Carmen, and anyway, she doesn't like Maybelle much herself.

Between investigating Maybelle's past, helping her clients Aislynn and Kylie buy a house, and stalking Carmen and Rafe, Savannah soon has her hands full. And that's before someone starts gunning for her. Suddenly it's not a question of unwrapping anything on Christmas morning anymore; it's a question of whether she'll even survive to see another Christmas.


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Close to Home - #4 Savannah Martin Mysteries
Sometimes, trouble hits too close to home.

Savannah's late. The kind of late that comes with midnight feedings and the pitter-patter of little feet. And while it's a circumstance that should make everyone happy - now she can finally settle down and marry Todd Satterfield, the way everyone's been hoping and praying! - it isn't Todd's baby. And Rafe Collier, whose baby it is, didn't sign on for fatherhood.

Add in the murder of Savannah's sister-in-law Sheila, the trial of Sheila's friend Marley, and the disappearance of Rafe's twelve year old son David - the kid he never knew he had - and things get complicated fast. And there is worse to come: When Rafe comes back to Nashville to help look for David, and learns that Savannah's pregnant, things do not work out the way Savannah hopes. In the end, she's left with nothing she wanted and a whole lot of trouble she didn't, and when she gets in over her head, Rafe's not there to save the day.


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Contract Pending - #3 Savannah Martin Mysteries
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Savannah is certainly learning the truth of that statement.

It’s been a month and a half since Rafael Collier left town, and although Savannah knows it would be hideously inappropriate—not to mention supremely stupid—to miss him, she wishes he’d come back soon. His grandmother’s ailing, the nurse he hired to take care of her has disappeared, and somebody is watching the house and following Savannah as she goes about the business of bringing her first real estate transaction to a close.

But when Rafe comes back, things only go from bad to worse. Resident nurse Marquita Johnson is found murdered, and Metro Nashville Homicide Detective Tamara Grimaldi is asked to handle the case. It doesn’t take long for her to focus her interest, once again, on Rafe.

Now Savannah has to make the choice between staying safe by accepting her old flame Todd’s proposal of marriage, or taking a chance on losing her heart and her life by trying to help Rafe, as the term ‘contract pending’ takes on a whole new meaning.


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Hot Property - #2 Savannah Martin Mysteries
When Savannah Martin’s fellow Realtor and friend Lila Vaughn is robbed during an open house, Savannah rushes to the rescue with tea and sympathy, or at least a really good lunch and a shoulder to cry on. However, Lila seems more peeved than distraught, and her main gripe is that the sexy robber who tied her to a kitchen chair—for her own good—didn’t follow her suggestion to tie her to the bed instead.

Lila’s description of the man fits Savannah’s old school-mate Rafael Collier to a T. Rafe has recently turned up in Savannah’s life again, and he isn’t above doing a little breaking and entering. Metro Nashville Homicide Detective Tamara Grimaldi is of the same opinion, and when Lila turns up dead, tied to her bed and strangled, Rafe becomes a suspect. Now Savannah must get busy finding the real murderer before Detective Grimaldi can arrest the wrong man.


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A Cutthroat Business - Savannah Martin Mystery 1
Everyone has warned new-minted realtor Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn't think she's supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the 'bad' side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future--not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her.

Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed--or kissed--by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.


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Home For the Homicide - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 7
Avery Baker was a big city textile designer, until she inherited her aunt’s old Maine cottage and found her true calling—home renovation. But she never expected her latest job would come to such a bone-rattling dead end...

For Avery and her husband Derek, renovating the Craftsman Bungalow was like stepping back in time. The quaint old home was just as its original owners had left it—from the beautiful butler’s pantry to the surprisingly exquisite ribbon tile. But it’s the attic that yields the most heart-stopping surprise.

In a discreetly hidden antique crate, Avery finds a clue to a decades-old missing persons case. As Avery works on the house and delves deeper into the sinister story, it becomes clear that someone very crafty wants the Craftsman home’s secrets to stay that way!


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Wall-to-Wall Dead - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 6
Avery Baker never thought she’d leave Manhattan, until she inherited her aunt’s old Maine cottage and found her true calling—home renovation. But when Avery goes to work restoring a condominium, she discovers it’s another condo owner who’s been condemned...

Avery and her partner, Derek, are fixing up a cute little condo in homey Waterfield, Maine, hoping for a quick turnaround and some extra money. It seems like a simple project—and Avery is looking forward to using her big-city experience with small spaces.

But they didn’t expect to have their every move watched by the resident busybody in the condo, Hilda Shaw, who loves snooping on everyone’s comings and goings. When the busybody becomes a dead body, Avery suspects foul play. Soon she’s doing some snooping of her own—and it seems everyone in the complex has a secret. Could one of them be worth killing for? Avery needs to work fast, before someone decides to fix her...for good.


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Flipped Out - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 5
Avery and her hunky handyman boyfriend are renovating a house belonging to a local news anchor who's thrilled to be filmed as part of a home renovation show. But cable television fame proves fleeting when the man is murdered and Avery faces the task of nailing the killer. Fast.


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Mortar and Murder - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 4
Avery Baker was once a New York textile designer, but inheriting her aunt's old Maine cottage has led her down a new career path-home renovation. Finding a property's hidden potential has rewards and challenges-especially when a mystery surfaces from behind the walls of a centuries-old house on an island that has more than its share of deadly secrets.


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Plaster and Poison - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 3
Ex-New York designer Avery Baker left the bustle of the big city to start her own home renovation business in Maine. But as she renovates an old carriage house on behalf of a soon-to-be wed friend, she stumbles across a lifeless body-a person known all too well by the blushing bride. The small town is abuzz with big suspicions, and Avery realizes she must unravel a matrimonial murder.


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Spackled and Spooked - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 2
Avery Baker and her boyfriend, Derek Ellis, are flipping a seriously stigmatized house rumored to have ghosts. Soon they'll have even bigger problems-and this renovation project might haunt them forever.


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Fatal Fixer-Upper - A Do-It-Yourself Mystery Book 1
Avery Baker was once a New York designer, but inheriting her aunt?s old Maine cottage has led her down a new career path?home renovation. Now, with help from hunky handyman Derek Ellis, Avery starts learning the ABCs of DIY. But when the designer-turned-renovator finds clues that lead to a missing professor, she wonders if she can finish the house?without getting finished off in the process.


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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
eBook Author’s Corner
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Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.