Diane Burton - The Case of the Meddling Mama 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 Diane Burton's Book: The Case of the Meddling Mama.

Diane Burton is Science Fiction Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mysteries author. Diane is the creator of the Switched and the An Outer Rim series.

The Case of the Meddling Mama

Alex O'Hara Novels Book 3

Author: Diane Burton


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Once again, Alex O’Hara is up to her ears in mysteries. After surviving an attempted murder, all she wants is R&R time with Nick Palzetti. But his mother leaving his father (“that horse’s patoot”) and moving in with Alex puts a crimp in their plans. Then Nick leaves on assignment and the teen she rescued from an abusive father believes his buddy is doing drugs. Meanwhile, Alex has two easy cases to take her mind off her shaky relationship with Nick—a philandering husband and a background check on a client’s boyfriend. Piece of cake.

Excerpt from The Case of the Meddling Mama: An Alex O’Hara Novel by Diane Burton

“Alexandra, is that you?” Maria Palzetti, Nick’s mom and self-appointed office manager, called out as I came in through the back door of the agency.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“It is I,” Maria corrected as she bustled down the hall. Short and a little on the plump side, she always looked stylish. Today, she wore a floral infinity scarf over a soft lavender short-sleeve sweater and a gray skirt. Her salt-and-pepper hair framed her face on which she wore light make-up.

“Always remember to use proper English.”

“Yes, Mother,” I said, hoping my grin would take the sting out of my smart-aleck response. After Mom died, Maria had become the closest thing to a mother, even though she never tried to take Mom’s place. Actually, she was my mother-in-law—she just didn’t know it.

And I wasn’t saying.

Author: Diane Burton

Author Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mysteries

Website: Diane Burton ~ Author
Author's Blog: Diane Burton - Adventure and Romance . . . in this world and beyond
Diane Burton
Twitter: @dmburton72
E-Mail: dmburton72@gmail.com
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Author Description: Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction. Besides the science fiction romance Switched and Outer Rim series, she is the author of One Red Shoe, a romantic suspense, and The Case of the Bygone Brother, a PI mystery. She is also a contributor to the anthology How I Met My Husband. Diane and her husband live in Michigan. They have two children and three grandchildren.





Author's Book List
The Case of the Fabulous Fiance - An Alex O'Hara Novel
Alex O’Hara wants to take her investigation agency in a new direction—background checks for potential spouses. She hopes this new case will do the trick when a high-powered executive asks for info on her new boyfriend. Is the man she met on a cruise her Mr. Right or is he too good to be true? On the same day, Alex gets another case—finding a deadbeat dad. And both women want to double her rates so she’ll give them highest priority. She can’t believe her luck. Her finances are on the upswing. If only Nick Palzetti was around to share her good news. He disappeared on Christmas Eve, and she hasn’t heard from him in almost three months. But glitchy phones and no internet bring everything to a screeching halt.


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The Protector - An Outer Rim Novel
After tavern owner Rissa Dix rescues two girls from a slave ship, she must rally the townsfolk to prevent traffickers from raiding the frontier colony. She’s met with apathy and disbelief. Because she lost her own baby to traffickers, she’s determined that no other mother will suffer the same heartache. Industrialist heir Dillan Rusteran aids her in rescuing more children. Little do they know they’re about to tangle with a trafficking ring that puts Rissa in danger. Dillan’s loved her for years despite her claim she’s too old for him. As they fight the traffickers, will she finally see him in a new light?


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The Case of the Bygone Brother - An Alex O'Hara Novel
Alex O’Hara finally gets a case that will give her bottom line a much needed boost. She might even be able to change her diet from ramen noodles to prime rib. All she has to do is track down a man who’s been missing for over ten years. Piece of cake . . . until an old flame arrives and a mugger roughs her up with orders to back off.


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The Chameleon - An Outer Rim Novel: Book 2
Legally Blond meets Mata Hari

Socialite Jileena Winslott has perfected the image of the spoiled, rich, bubble-headed daughter of an industrial magnate. In reality, she’s a smart, savvy aide to her father in social situations where she is his eyes and ears. She yearns to be her true self and run the family business. When her father sends her on a covert mission to the Outer Rim, she has the chance to prove herself. Big problem. He insists she take along a fake fiancé—the man she’s secretly loved for years.

Security Officer Laning Servary has better things to do than babysit a spoiled rich girl on a tour of the Frontier. If he refuses, he can kiss his career good-by. Then Jileena’s father sweetens the pot. If Laning keeps her safe, his family will receive the land they share-crop. He can’t refuse.

In the close quarters of her ship, Laning and Jileena discover they aren’t who they seem. Pirates, weather, and her recklessness threaten to derail the mission. As Laning and Jileena revise their impressions of each other, they’ll have to make hard choices about their goals. Can their budding love survive?


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One Red Shoe
Daria Mason's life is too predictable. Nothing ever happens in her small Iowa town where everybody knows everybody else. But when she travels to New York City looking for a little excitement, she never expects to bring home a wounded spy.

From the moment agent Sam Jozwiak steals intel vital to US security from a Russian Mafia kingpin, Murphy's Law takes over. No matter how he covers his tracks, the kingpin's assassins find him. What's worse than getting shot in the butt? Accepting help from an Iowa tourist.

Sam and Daria flee cross country with the assassins right behind them. Sharing danger and excitement--and a few kisses--with Sam soon has Daria convinced he's the man for her. He thinks she'll be better off once he's out of her life for good. With their lives on the line, can she convince him they belong together?


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Switched Resolution
Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. Does the reserved Marcus have what it takes to imitate his smart-aleck twin? Despite help from his love, Veronese, Scott’s already been outed by two of Marcus’ best friends.

When rebels steal the ship with part of the crew aboard, Scott has to rescue them and retrieve the Freedom. The stakes increase when he discovers the rebels are heading for Earth. They know he’s a fraud and they want Marcus. The safety of the Alliance of Planets depend on Scott and his allies—Veronese and Marcus’ friends.

Switched Resolution, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.


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The Pilot - An Outer Rim Novel: Book 1
There's no place like home and he stole hers.

Forced to use her starship as collateral to replace stolen cargo, pilot Celara d’Enfaden risks losing everything if she fails to deliver the goods. Her ship is the home she never had as a child.

Determined to bring order to the frontier, rule-bound official Trevarr Jovano refuses to tolerate those who disrespect the law. So when an indie pilot refuses to obey, he seizes her ship and cargo.

The only thing Celara cares about more than her ship is her brother. To rescue him from the clutches of a galactic gangster, she’ll even join forces with Trevarr who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.


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Switched, Too
Be careful what you wish for . . . you might get it.

Down-sized astronaut candidate Scott Cherella leaps at the chance to go into space. He just has to pretend to be the captain of an Alliance of Planets starship. His lifelong dream quickly becomes a nightmare when sabotage erupts. To save the ship and crew he has to depend on an uptight, disapproving colleague.

The only time Veronese Qilana broke the rules, tragedy resulted. She vowed never again. Now, to protect the real starship captain, she'll have to deceive the crew by helping the imposter. They must work together to uncover a saboteur and get the crew safely home. In doing so, they discover opposites really do attract.


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Switched
As if being kidnapped by aliens isn't bad enough, Jessie Wyndom discovers they grabbed her by mistake. She wise cracks past her fear especially when she learns she was part of an experiment separating Terran twins before birth. Her twin just took Jessie's place back in Ann Arbor, Michigan while she gets to twiddle her thumbs on an Alliance of Planets starship. The only good part is the hunky captain. Except. He's so unemotional he could be Mr. Spock's double.

Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by the free-spirited female from Earth. Problems with the starship prevent him from returning her to her home. Together, they discover treachery and true love.


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Sally Berneathy – Triple Chocolate Murder Collection (Books 1-3) is featured at the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

Today the HBS Author's Spotlight is showcasing the USA Today Bestselling Author Sally Berneathy set: Books 1, 2, & 3 Death by Chocolate series

These are some of the BEST DEALS from outstanding Authors for the Kindle at Amazon.



Triple Chocolate Murder

Books 1, 2, & 3 Death by Chocolate series

Author: Sally Berneathy

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USA Today Bestselling Author

Books 1, 2, and 3 from bestselling series, Death by Chocolate

BOOK 1: DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

BOOK 2: MURDER, LIES, AND CHOCOLATE

BONUS! Chocolate recipes included. Poison optional.

BOOK 3: THE GREAT CHOCOLATE SCAM

Author: Sally Berneathy
Author Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Romance

Website: Sally Berneathy
Twitter: @sallyberneathy
E-Mail: sally@sallyberneathy.com
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Author Description:
I grew up in a small rural town in Oklahoma where our favorite entertainment on summer evenings was to sit outside under the stars and tell stories. When I went to bed at night, instead of a lullaby, I got a story. That could be due to the fact that everybody in my family has a singing voice like a bullfrog with laryngitis, but they sure could tell stories--ghost stories, funny stories, happy stories, scary stories.

For as long as I can remember I've been a storyteller. Thank goodness for computers so I can write down my stories. It's hard to make listeners sit still for the length of a book! Like my family's tales, my stories are funny, scary, dramatic, romantic, paranormal, magic.

Besides writing, my interests are reading, eating chocolate and riding my Harley.

Currently I have written four Death by Chocolate mysteries: Death by Chocolate; Murder, Lies and Chocolate; The Great Chocolate Scam; and Chocolate Mousse Attack as well as three Charley's Ghost mysteries: The Ex Who Wouldn't Die, The Ex Who Glowed in the Dark, and The Ex Who Conned a Psychic. More in each series will be released as soon as I can copy them from my brain to the computer!

I have sold fifteen romance novels ranging from comedy to dark suspense under the names Sally Carleen, Sally Steward and Sara Garrett. For these novels, I won several awards including National Readers' Choice, Romantic Times Best Silhouette Romance and two Rita finalist slots. Most of the Silhouettes are available as e-books, and I have e-pubbed six of the out-of-print single titles




Death by Chocolate

Author: Sally Berneathy

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Lindsay Powell's only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by neighbors with deadly secrets. Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker.

Her best friend and co-worker, Paula, dyes her blond hair brown, hides from everybody and insists on always having an emergency exit from any room. Secrets from Paula's past have come back to put lives in jeopardy.

Determined to help Paula and to save her own life, Lindsay enlists the reluctant aid of another neighbor, Fred, an OCD computer nerd. In spite of his mundane existence, Fred possesses tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns and the inside of maximum security prisons.

Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos.

Excerpt from DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

I opened the door to see two cops on the front porch—a Suit and a Uniform.

The Uniform looked like a nice guy...young, pleasant expression, a little apologetic as if he hated to interrupt somebody’s Sunday morning. In contrast, the Suit’s face was a study in sharp angles. He did have nice eyes. His were kind of hazel, like trees in the early spring when they’re ready to explode with leaves, and even though they’re still winter-brown, you can see a green shimmer.

The Suit flashed his badge. “Police,” he said, like I couldn’t recognize the uniforms—both of them.

“Chocolatier,” I said in reply. I couldn’t help myself. Blame it on the Coke and cookies. With all that sugar and caffeine, I was feeling ten feet tall and bullet proof.

The Uniform looked puzzled but one corner of the Suit’s mouth quirked upward as if he wanted to smile but knew he shouldn’t.

“Are you Paula Walters?” he asked.

“No.” I felt reluctant to volunteer any information, and not just because of my paranoia about traffic tickets. I could sense waves of fear emanating from Paula who remained on the sofa behind me. She was always a very careful driver, so careful I sometimes wanted to lean out the passenger door and push off with one foot to make her go faster. This wasn’t about a speeding ticket.

“Is Paula Walters here?” the Suit asked, exasperation evident in his voice. The angles of his face seemed to become even sharper than before.

“Yes,” I answered.

He waited.

So did I.

“Could we speak to her?” He was practically gritting his teeth. Now I was the one who had to suppress a smile. It’s not often I can frustrate a cop though I always make an effort.





Murder, Lies and Chocolate

Death by Chocolate Book 2

Author: Sally Berneathy

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Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, eats her brownies, and drops dead on her sidewalk. Lindsay enlists the aid of her enigmatic neighbor, Fred, to help solve the mystery of his death while trying to keep her police detective boyfriend, Trent, from getting in their way with his insistence on all those silly cop rules.

On the positive side, sales skyrocket for the special dessert Lindsay calls Murdered Man's Brownies.

BONUS! Chocolate recipes included. Poison optional.

Excerpt from MURDER, LIES AND CHOCOLATE

Within a matter of minutes an ambulance and two squad cars arrived with lights and sirens blaring.

I stood behind the counter gripping Paula’s hand while the uniforms swarmed all over the sidewalk and into my restaurant. I wasn’t holding her hand just to be supportive. She still had a problem dealing with cops even though her ex, a cop who’d abused her and tried to kill both of us, was safely behind prison bars. Mostly I held onto her hand because I was afraid she would run away and hide, and that sort of action tends to look suspicious.

“You the lady who called 911?” a big burly cop asked me.

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Sir.”

“You said you killed this man?”

“No! Well, yes, I probably said that, but I didn’t mean I killed him.”

The cop pushed his hat back on his head and scowled at me. Do they teach them Scowling 101 in the Police Academy? They all seemed to do it so well, and that included Adam Trent, the homicide detective I was almost dating. “Then what did you mean?” he asked.

“I don’t know! I was upset! I just meant he died after eating dessert in my restaurant. I was worried he might have nut allergies. My cookies have nuts.”

“Brownies,” Paula interjected. “He had a brownie, not a cookie.”

Paula told me the next morning that we had made the ten o'clock news. They'd featured some great pictures of the cops being interviewed with my sign in full view, and the reporter had mentioned that the dead man's final act before collapsing on the sidewalk had been to eat dessert at "a local restaurant, Death by Chocolate. Appropriate name."

I considered the alternatives…prepare small quantities of everything and pretend all was normal or go with the flow. I chose the latter and made brownies with nuts, dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips then layered on thick chocolate frosting and called our special dessert of the day Killer Chocolate.

I made the right choice. We had a big crowd for breakfast and a huge crowd for lunch. Everyone wanted to know what dessert the murdered man had eaten. I finally drew a line through Killer Chocolate and wrote above it Murdered Man's Brownies. Okay, it was a little macabre, but we sold out. It's not my fault if people are strange. I don't judge. I just feed them chocolate.




The Great Chocolate Scam

Death by Chocolate Book 3

Author: Sally Berneathy

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After two years of waiting, Rick has finally agreed to sign the divorce papers and give Lindsay her freedom. But while she’s waiting in her lawyer’s office for him to appear, his car blows up in his driveway. Lindsay is left with an image of her estranged husband’s green SUV flying around the neighborhood along with pieces of Rick—a blue contact lens in Mrs. Hawkins' driveway, a perfectly creased trouser leg hanging on the street sign, a vertebra on the immaculate lawn.

Since their divorce wasn't final and Rick has no family, Lindsay assumes she is his only heir. But before his estate is settled, poor orphan Rick has more relatives than a lottery winner.

Is the obnoxious Rickie Jr. really Rick's son? Why is the woman who claims to be Rick's mother so certain the child is not her grandson? Are these people really related to Rick, or was he actually an alien stranded on earth when the mother ship left without him?

Come for the Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars, stay for the murder, mayhem and fun!

Excerpt from THE GREAT CHOCOLATE SCAM

Rick was dead.

A man I’d once loved and been married to was gone forever from this earth. I’d never again see those blue eyes enhanced by colored contacts, that arrogant smile, that carefully streaked blond hair.

A part of me was sad, but I have to admit that a tiny part of me was just a little bit relieved. Rick had driven me crazy with his cheating while we were married, then after we separated he’d switched to just driving me crazy in general. Even though the separation was his idea…out with the old (Lindsay), in with the new (Muffy)…as soon as he and Muffy broke up, he decided he wanted me back. I, on the other hand, decided that one burst of insanity—marrying him in the first place—was enough for one lifetime.

I drove to the police station, and Trent met me at the front desk. He was a welcome sight in his rumpled jacket and slacks. He has great eyes, brown with hints of green. The happier he is, the more green shows in his eyes. That day his eyes were brown like the bark on a tree in winter, and his expression was grim.

He came over to me, wrapped me in his arms and hugged me in front of God, the dispatcher and everybody. Since my divorce wasn’t final, we had never indulged in public displays of affection. This public hug made the new circumstances suddenly real. My divorce was final.

“I’m sorry, Lindsay,” Trent murmured in my ear.

As soon as he released me, his partner, Gerald Lawson took his place, embracing me gently. My nickname for Gerald is Granite Man. He’s tall and thin with structured gray hair and a face that never shows emotion. From the first time I met him, I’ve had a goal to break him down, to make him show some kind of emotion, maybe even toss caution to the wind and laugh without restraint. Seems I cracked the granite that day, but not the way I intended. When he pulled back, his expression was marked with sadness and sympathy.

I felt a little guilty, accepting all that compassion under false pretenses. Sure, I was upset that Rick was dead, but in a detached sort of way, the same way I’d feel upset over the death of a stranger. That’s what he had become. An annoying stranger.

The boys led me into an interrogation room with a scarred wooden table, uncomfortable wooden chairs and a one-way mirror. Suddenly I felt like a criminal rather than the object of sympathy. Surely they didn’t think…

“We’re sorry for your loss.” Lawson sat across from me.

“My loss?”

“Your deceased husband.”

“My ex husband,” I said.

“Your divorce wasn’t final.”

“I think it is now. I think this is about as final as it’s going to get.”

Lawson nodded and looked down at the papers lying on the table in front of him before once again lifting his steely gaze. “Where were you at three o’clock this afternoon?”

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