Tag Archive for: romantic suspense

The Second Shot Release Day!

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by Bethany Maines
Have you ever seen one of those Looney Tunes characters just
runs around screaming?  That feels like
me today.  I mean, I’m trying to keep it
contained, but… inside I look like this.

My latest novel, The
Second Shot, is now available to the public and that means that people will
(hopefully) buy it and then (ack!) read it. 
Today is the day that we see if all of my writing, marketing, and
general daydreaming has paid off. I’ll be celebrating the release with on-line
“take-over” parties and giveaways.
GIVEAWAYS:
Enter to win 1 of 10 print copies on Goodreads – giveaway
ends 10/26 – CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Enter to win a $40 Amazon card and a signed copy on Facebook – CLICK HERE TO ENTER
Meet me online and maybe get more free stuff!
October 25: Take-Over of Next Steps PR Facebook Page
October 30: BestStellars BestSellers Release Party (stay
tuned for who’s partying!) 
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY:
The Second Shot is
a thriller/mystery dished up with a heavy side of romance. Think that sounds
like you’re cup of tea, but aren’t quite ready to commit?  Read the first chapter at: bethanymaines.com/the-second-shot-chapter-1 
WHAT ITS ABOUT:
A drunken mistake in college cost US Marshal Maxwell Ames
the affection of Dominique Deveraux and six years later, he’s determined to fix
the slip-up. But there’s just one tiny problem—someone wants the Deveraux
family dead. Dominique Deveraux never expected Max to reappear in her life, let
alone apologize, but as Dominique investigates the mysterious attacks on her
wealthy family Max quickly becomes far more than her one time college
classmate. Now, Max and Dominique must dodge mercenaries and bullets as they try
to make sure that they’re the only ones who get a second shot.

Buy on all platforms: https://books2read.com/The-Second-Shot

The Marketing Paradox

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by Bethany Maines

A funny thing happens when you begin marketing book. Suddenly
a project that has been intensely personal becomes public property. And even
worse, once it’s public, the public begin to have opinions about it. (The
nerve!) And as much as an author wants everyone to universally love our
precious baby novel, not everyone is going to. From reading while in a bad
mood, to just not being someone’s cup of tea, not everyone is going to like a
book.

But even if everything does go as smoothly as possible and
someone does love the book, suddenly ownership becomes shared with everyone who
loves it. The story takes up residence in someone else’s head which, for an
author who has had those characters living in her head for months or years, is
intensely strange and disconcerting. With each book I write I start out wanting
to share about it immediately.  It’s like
falling in love.  You’ve met these
wonderful, hilarious, romantic, daring people and you want to tell everyone
about them. But as I move into the marketing stage I find that in some ways I
become more protective of my characters and story. Please love that one even
though I’ve made him annoying.  And don’t
make fun of her – she has hidden depths! Although, yes, go ahead and hate
him.  We all should hate him.

Except that a book needs to be shared to be successful. I
want strangers to talk about it, readers to review it, and friends to share it.
Those things are literally what make a book a success. It is a very strange dichotomy
of wanting to shout as loud as possible while at the same time hoping nobody
looks at me while I’m doing it. So nobody look at me while I say this next
bit…

The Second Shot is coming out in two weeks!!! Please share the news with others.
A drunken mistake in college cost US Marshall Maxwell Ames the love of Dominique Deveraux. Six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up, but there’s just one tiny problem: someone wants the Deveraux family dead. Now Max must make sure that the only one getting a second shot at Dominique is him.

Pre-order on all epub platforms (Kindle coming soon!): CLICK HERE

Want a chance to win a free print edition of The Second
Shot? Enter to win at Goodreads!   CLICK HERE to Enter!

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Top Secret No More!

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by Bethany Maines
I have been slaving away at several different manuscripts (including San Juan Islands #3, more on that later), but I’m finally able to announce that my super top secret hush-hush book The Second Shot is going to be released in October!  I’ve been sitting on this action-adventure , mystery laden romantic suspense novel for months and it’s been sooooooo hard.  Today I am finally able to announce that it is available only on Apple Books for super secret pre-order! The coming months will have more announcements, including the cover reveal, giveaways, additional pre-order platforms (kobo, nook, kindle, etc) and a few “behind the scenes” teasers.

This novel has all the stuff I love: funny characters, tough girls, clever guys, mystery, action, and romance. My heroine, Dominique Deveraux, is a rich kid who has decided to pull herself up by her own bootstraps and start work from the bottom instead of vaulting her way to the top on her silver spoon.  The hero, Maxwell Ames, is a US Marshall who truly wants to be worthy of the title hero.  It also features the complex relationships of the Deveraux family as they attempt to overcome their past, their relatives, and their own doubts about themselves and each other in their search to find happiness.

The Second Shot: A drunken mistake in college cost US Marshall Maxwell Ames the love of Dominique Deveraux. Six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up, but there’s just one tiny problem – someone wants the Deveraux family dead. Now Max must make sure that the only one getting a second shot at Dominique is him.

Join my mailing list to be alerted when additional platforms become available for pre-order or pre-order now on Apple!
**
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San
Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with
her on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Love and Murder

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by Sparkle Abbey


February, the month of love, brings thoughts of hearts and flowers, and (at least for those of us who write crime fiction) murder.

Love and murder go so well together. Why? Maybe because both
involve strong emotion. Let’s see, what do you suppose the main motives are for murder?
Thriller writer, John Lescroart lists on his website “14 Motives for Murder” but he summarizes them as love, lust, lucre, and loathing. We think
he’s onto something.


As
motive for a crime of passion, love and murder are clearly a great match. However, in addition, love also often becomes a part of the storyline for the characters solving the mystery. It’s no accident that popular crime shows, like Castle,
often feature a bit of romance. There’s been a lot of online discussion about
the Castle/Beckett pairing, and whether their upcoming wedding vows will ruin
the romantic tension in the show. Many fans of the 1980s private detective show Moonlighting felt getting
Maddie (Cybil Shepard) and David (Bruce Willis) together was responsible for
the demise of the popular show.

The idea of love and crime together has become so popular
over the years that there has become a whole sub-genre in movies and novels called
romantic suspense. These stories often have a central romantic theme as well as
the intrigue.
Lisa Gardner, a master of suspense
fiction, talks about the hazy definitions of the sub-genre and some of the
prejudices in her great series of lectures on the Secrets of Romantic Suspense. Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton’s, no-nonsense PI isn’t really the romantic type, but still there have
been a few men her in life from Dietz, a fellow PI, to longtime friend, Cheney. In some mysteries, there’s a full-blown love interest and in others there’s just a hint of romance.

In our Pampered Pets mystery series featuring former Texas beauty queen cousins,
Caro and Melinda, we truly had no plans to go there. But…well, the stories just
naturally evolved to encompass a bit of “love, lust, lucre and loathing.” And
no spoilers here, but we think you’ll like where the series is headed. 



So what do you think? Do you like a serving of love with
your mystery? Or would you rather keep the hearts and flowers far away from
your crime fiction? We’d love to hear what you think!
Coming soon: Our first short – “Project Dogway” (Out
February 24th) 

When Mystery Meets Romance

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I write traditional mysteries with a darker edge. I don’t
write romantic suspense, much as I enjoy reading it when done well. I write
mysteries with a strong female sleuth, Skeet Bannion, who has no time for men,
except as colleagues, friends, and relatives, who’s protective of her freedom
and doesn’t want to sort out the messy entanglements that romance and sex bring
with them. Skeet prides herself on not being a cowboy cop who’s always taking
stupid chances, so what’s she doing falling for a bad boy? Talk about taking
stupid chances!

What is all this romantic mess that walked in and tangled up
my current WIP? Skeet’s practical and sensible, and she learned a hard lesson
in the failure of her marriage to a charming, flirtatious hunk. She prefers to
keep her heart under lock and key. So how did this dangerous, probably criminal
mercenary slip into its inner recesses?

As a reader, I prefer my mystery straight. A little sexual
tension maybe, but let’s keep the focus on the important thing here, which is
finding the killer. As a writer, I prefer the same. Yet, in my last Skeet
Bannion book, Every Broken Trust, a minor
character walked in and decided he liked Skeet and would become a major
character—and to my shock, Skeet developed an attraction for him that she’s
done everything but drop a nuclear bomb on to destroy, all without effect. Now,
in the WIP, Every Hidden Fear, Skeet
is losing ground in this battle against this new guy who’s probably going to
rip her heart out. How did this happen?

Yes, there’s a murder to solve and a killer to catch. Yes, there
are innocent and not-so-innocent people to save. Yes, Skeet’s as busy as ever
with no time for silly attractions. Yet, there they are, staring into each
other’s eyes and breathing heavy. It’s enough to make anyone sick.

Like most authors, I have to stay true to my characters and
honor their choices. But honestly! Yes, he did look kind of hot when he showed
up in the last book, all kitted out like an assassin, ready to rescue Skeet
from danger. Of course, Skeet wasn’t having any of it, thank you very much. She’s
quite capable of rescuing herself and any number of others from danger and did.
So why didn’t he just go away?

Such are the dilemmas authors face.

Do you like romance mixed in with your mystery? Do you
prefer to keep them separate? What do you think of characters who take over and
grow beyond what they’re supposed to be? 
And would you fall for a dangerous guy
with a classified background and a nice sense of humor who looks kind of like
Johnny Depp?

I Never Fancied Myself a Romantic Suspense Author, by Misa Ramirez

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I started out writing middle grade fiction (the wonderful Ellis Island time travel story is tucked away somewhere in my study…perhaps to be resurrected one day) and moved on to children’s books. I was teaching at the time, so my head was in kid-land.


But after one fluke sale of a picture book story, I couldn’t sell another kids story to save my life.


Enter Lola.


Every Monday night, I’d been meeting with a friend at a coffee shop, as much to get out of the house and away from the kids (new baby and 4 others at home) as to write. My frustration at the pile of rejections was growing. I decided I needed a change. I decided to write something for adults. It would be fun and sassy, would have swearing and, egads!, sex.

Lola Cruz came to me just like that. It was like she was there all along, just waiting for me to call on her. I like to say she’s my alter-ego, if I were a smart, sexy, Latina detective. 😉 My husband is Mexican and I’ve always loved his culture. The food, the language, the community, the stories and legends, and more. So when I envisioned Lola, she represented my own children in a way.


After the first couple Lola books sold, I was at a crossroads. What to work on next?

I couldn’t imagine not incorporating some cultural element into whatever book I write (funny, since I’m a blonde-haired, green-eyed white girl!). The thing that popped into my mind was the story of la Llorona. La Llorona is kind of like the Bogey Man. It’s a story told to kids to keep them in bed.

That quintessential ghost story, Latino-style. My husband’s family would tell this story at camp outs, just as it had been told to them when they were kids.


I did a little research and learned the roots of the story. It dates back to the Aztecs, interestingly, and from there, four different versions evolved. The story in my head took roots and grew. But la Llorona is a ghost, and not a nice one, at that. My light, sassy voice had to adapt. The only way it would work was as a romantic suspense. I couldn’t see myself spending my entire writing career crafting suspense. There’s enough darkness in the world that I don’t want to write about it, too (light mysteries, like Lola Cruz, and my new cozy series don’t make me feel that darkness, interestingly).


But this story wouldn’t leave me alone. I wrote it. It became CURSED.

Buy Cursed for your Kindle!

Buy Cursed at The Reader Store!


The hero, Ray Vargas, had a brother, Vic. He needed his own story. The other thing that fascinates me is the curandera, a healer. Combine that with the urban legend of chupacabra (a vampire goat-like creature), and the makings of another story began. Same town. Another legend come to life. When I read a real-life account of a tree that had been saved from disease by the chain strung around it’s trunk, I knew I had stumbled upon a crucial and symbolic element.


That book became The Chain Tree.

Buy The Chain Tree for your Kindle!

Buy The Chain Tree at The Reader Store!

They’re out now in e-book form and I’m so excited! I wonder if others will find the legends of la Llorona and chupacabra as fascinating as I do. I hope so! If you have an e-reader, I hope you’ll give them a whirl and let me know your thoughts. I have a third story brewing based on yet another Mexican legend. Who knows, maybe two will become three: The Legends Trilogy.


Now, I have to go buy an e-reader so I can download my own books!


Happy e-reading!


~ MIsa

Straight to E-book

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A few years ago, I never thought I’d be part of the e-book revolution. I was so focused on my print books and publishing the traditional way, that it never occurred to me to go straight to e-book.


But then I wrote several romantic suspense novels that I thought were awesome. My agent thought they were awesome. My crit group thought they were awesome. Only thing was, they were not dark enough (not a good thing in serial killer romantic suspense world) to sell. My suspenses center around Mexican legends and specific motives, not sociopathic murderers. Wrong time, wrong place.


They never did sell.


I tucked them away (on my hard drive) and moved on.


Fast forward a few years. I moved wrote my Lola Cruz Mystery series, and am working on my NAL Dressmaker’s Mystery series. But those romantic suspenses have never let go of their grip on me.


See, I just love them.


Enter e-publishing. Diversion Books, to be exact. A chance for these books of mine to be published and find a potential readership. They’re going to be released in a few short weeks! If you have an e-reader, look for them! They take place in a small ranching town called San Julio along the San Julio River. The first is called Cursed and the second one is called The Chain Tree.


One problem I’m running into is how to promote these books on my own site, Books on the House. See, from what I understand, Amazon doesn’t allow gifting of books so I can’t give away copies of it! I can’t even buy copies and give them away by giving them to someone else to upload (a MAJOR flaw in their e-book selling division, if you ask me). I don’t know about Borders or Barnes & Noble’s e-book divisions. I think I can gift books with the Nook, but not having an e-reader myself, my knowledge is woefully deficient.


So, I need your help…desperately! What can I give away when I feature my new romantic suspense e-books on Books on the House that people will want? And can I gift e-books? Maybe I’m wrong.


Help!!