HelenKay Dimon

Today’s topic is about celebration. Since I have a book coming out on Monday and it’s a holiday romance, I have a lot to celebrate. In WE’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, Lila has moved to town and is refurbishing a run-down campground owned by her uncle. She’s never done construction work and Spence has stepped up to do most of the harder projects, but she’s not afraid of a little sweat. Spence thinks she’s overdoing it and is determined to come up with a more realistic list of tasks for her until he sees her the morning after Day One of work…

By the time Spence reached the door his unrealistic anger had downshifted into something else. He didn’t want to scare her, but he did want her to know that kiss was no fluke. The tie between them started in that hotel and knotted them together even now.

After a quick count to ten, he shoved the door open. It only took a second to find her. She stood bundled up in a ski jacket and gloves, trying to paint the inside window trim even though it was cold enough to see her breath.

With that the last of his frustration fell away. She wasn’t running from him. She was running to this.

Maybe it was the cheeks stung bright pink by the cool air or the fake fur earmuffs that made her look like some sort of ski bunny. And the way the excitement lit her eyes there was no way he could deny her the right to rush to the project each morning, even if he wanted her somewhere else with him.
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Today’s topic is “things that go bump in the night” which is probably appropriate for Halloween. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Halloween? Yeah, I know. People love it. Not me. Anyway…thought I’d give you another excerpt from SWITCHED. This one omes out the first week of November. The book mostly takes place at an office holiday party and, really, is there anything more scary than one of those?

“Stay here.” He eased away from her and slipped across the floor in soundless steps. “Royal?”

When Aaron didn’t get a reply, he tapped on the earpiece. He’d just reached the door when it slammed open and into him. The force shoved him back against the wall. His gun jerked from his fingers and clanked against the tile floor by his feet.

The doorknob jabbed into his midsection as he bit back a curse. One of the men he’d seen from the elevator shoved his weight against the door, banging on his thick body until Aaron thought his chest would cave in. The move stole his breath, trapping his hands in front of him and pinning his back to the wall.

He shifted and shoved, trying to get traction and a better grip, but the metal door clipped his gut, and his strength proved useless. Blackness raged through his veins as his gaze bounced between the vulnerable woman frozen in place in the middle of the room and the muscle trying to knock him unconscious with a door.

The sudden roar of Royal’s voice echoed in Aaron’s ears, but he couldn’t make out the words. All Aaron heard was the rush of his own breath as it moved through him. His brain scrambled for a back-up plan.

“Double up.” It was their code for assistance, but Aaron wasn’t even sure he said the words out loud. The doorknob connected with his gut once again and knocked the air right out of his lungs.

The attacker’s friend moved into the room, his shoes quiet against the floor but his shoulders knocking against the doorframe. Risa hadn’t exaggerated. He had a thick neck and biceps that kept his arms from lying close to his side. From this distance, it was clear the guy engaged in some serious training. The type that included flipping tractor tires. This guy obviously was in charge.

The man didn’t even spare Aaron a glance. He aimed the gun directly at Risa’s head. “Enough.”

Aaron blinked, knowing he was the intended recipient of that message. “What do you want?”

“Her.”

___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Rhian Cahill
Mari Carr
Shiloh Walker
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels
Jody Wallace

Today’s topic is an author’s choice. I’ve been talking a lot about my contemporary romance release next week, LEAN ON ME. I also have a romantic suspense release about 10 days later from Harlequin Intrigue, SWITCHED. The hero (Aaron) is working undercover security at an office holiday party at a resort not knowing the heroine (Risa) is in the same building to finalize details for her office party later that week. Aaron mentioned the place as a possible party location during their recent date…the one they went on then he never called her again. Aaron also lied to her about his real occupation – oops! When a shoot-em-up disaster unfolds at the resort, Aaron and Risa are thrown together, and she is not happy.

He had one last problem as he glanced up at Risa. “Any chance you have any rope?”

She lifted her arms. “Not on me.”

“Thought it was worth a shot.”

“There are cables and those sorts of things around as part of the construction.”

That meant a trip around the building looking for supplies. He doubted they had that sort of time. “We’ll block the door and trust they’ll be out long enough for us to get downstairs and out of the building.”

“And if not?”

He stood in front of her, his gaze locked on hers. “I can’t be that unlucky.”

“You’re saying that as a tax attorney, of course.”

He didn’t try to hide the wince. He’d hoped he’d have another few minutes before the need for an explanation caught up and smacked him in the face. “What makes you think I’m not a lawyer?”

She eyed his hand. “The gun.”

“I can explain.”

Her head dropped to the side. “Are you going to?”

“Not right now.”

“Normally I’d insist, but since I want to leave this place right now—ten minutes ago, actually—we can save the I-lied-to-you-about-everything conversation for later.”

Not exactly a bullet dodged. “I’m not really looking forward to that.”

“Imagine how I feel.”

___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Rhian Cahill
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
Shiloh Walker
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Lauren Dane
Shelli Stevens
Jody Wallace

Today’s topic is rain on me. I’m taking that to mean an emotional scene. Thought this might be a good time to give you an early look at NO TURNING BACK, the start of a new contemporary series that comes out in March 2013. This is an unedited excerpt. It drops you in on Declan, the son of a con man, and Leah, the daughter of a victim of one of dear old dad’s first cons. Needless to say Declan and Leah have some family baggage to wade through.

“Do you really not understand?” she asked. “There are people in this town who will make it impossible for you to stay.”

“You mean your father.”

“For one, but your dad screwed a lot of people here. He was the favored hometown boy who promised them a financial wonderland and then ripped them all off. He broke their trust in the most fundamental way.”

“I’m aware of his sins.”

“He came up with a scheme, got people to invest, got my father to invest town funds. Then Charlie took off.” She held up a finger as the words kept rolling out of her. “But not before cleaning up the tracks behind him. He destroyed people and some families lost everything.”

Declan’s blank expression never wavered. “Noted.”

“The police chief is itching to get his hands on you. I wouldn’t go even one mile per hour over the speed limit, if I were you.” Lounging against the bar with his ankles crossed and his lips flat, Declan refused to get it. No matter what argument she used, he discounted it and her fury spewed. “Wake up. You can’t be this nonchalant about all of this.”

“You know what I am, Leah?” His voice was so soft, so deadly flat as he pushed off from the bar and came to stand next to her. His hand rested inches from hers on the back of the chair. “Tired to being judged by Charlie’s actions.”
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In case you missed it, I have an excerpt of LEAN ON ME up at Genreality today. You can check it out HERE.

Less than two weeks to release!

Today’s topic is best friends. Seems like the perfect time to give you an early look at WE’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. This is part of my Holloway series. Spence and Austin are friends as well as brothers. Our hero Spence had a naughty weekend at a hotel outside of town and, for reasons that are explained later in the book, pretended he was Austin. That’s fine until his weekend fling shows up in town thinking Spence is Austin. Did I mention Austin is married? Yeah, he’s not pleased his brother used his name. This scene is right after Austin finds out.

“I’m off my game. I clearly wasn’t expecting the visit.” Reality sucker punched Spence. “I can explain.”

“You have a minute before I slam you through that window. People in town can call it The Scene or The Fight or whatever they want. I prefer to think of it as The Day I Kicked Your Ass.”
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Today’s topic is an author’s choice. I thought I’d go ahead and give you a peek of SWITCHED, my November Intrigue. This one takes place around Christmas and actually takes place at an office holiday party. It might just make you appreciate yours because I bet no one tries to kill you at your office party right? See.

Aaron stared at the woman he’d last seen across the table at an Italian restaurant. Same honey-brown hair. Pretty face, intelligent dark eyes. Only this time the smile had been replaced with flat-lined lips. Wariness and more than a touch of female indignation now played across her face.

Risa clearly thought their biggest problem was his late post-date call. Little did she know that was flowers and chocolates territory compared to what they were facing now.

He thought about reaching for her but decided to hold up his hands instead since she looked about two seconds away from hitting something, namely him. “Listen to me.”

She crossed her arms over her stomach until every muscle in her body practically dared him to make another mistake. “Go ahead.”
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Today’s topic is “Talk, Talk” – in other words, dialogue. Dialogue happens to be my favorite part to write. Seems like a perfect time to give you another little peek at LEAN ON ME. Cassidy left Holloway to climb mountains (literally) and while gone made a bad decision that insulted most of the folks in her hometown. Many still hold a grudge, except for Mitch, the guy who had a crush on her in high school and is pretty happy to see her come back:

They walked in silence to the informal gravesite. Mitch opened the gate and followed her into the small space. She wiped her hands on her jeans then folded her arms. A second later she unfolded them again. She couldn’t stop moving or catch her breath. Every part of her trembled as if on the verge of blowing apart.

Mitch crouched down. With a gentle hand, he skimmed his fingers over the raised writing on the grave marker. The move was so caring, so reverent, that her world centered again.

“I don’t think I realized she was buried here,” he said in a whisper, the type usually reserved for church or a solemn occasion.

“We had to get an exception to allow it.”

“We?”
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Today’s topic is an author’s choice. I decided it was a good time to introduce you to Declan Hanover, the middle son of con man Charlie Hanover and the hero of NO TURNING BACK, which comes out in March. He’s new to town and oveheard the heroine, Leah, and her friend talking about his family. This is meeting number 2:

Declan stood on the porch of the stone house, all three crumbling stories of it, and wondered what he’d ever done to piss off the universe. Four months ago he stepped out of the Army uniform that had defined him for ten years. Now he was unemployed and stuck with a one-third ownership interest in a property in Sweetwater, Oregon. The same property with a mortgage hovering on the brink of foreclosure.

Sucked to be him.
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Today’s topic is lean on me. Since I have a book coming out in October with that very title, I thought I’d give you a snippet from my LEAN ON ME. Just two folks running into each other ten years after high school…

“We didn’t go out.” She blurted out the words because, really, the conversation couldn’t go worse if she weighed them first.

“I tried.”

“You…” Somewhere near her an overhead sprinkler went off. She heard the spray and felt the mist. It took all the control she had not to flatten her hair with her palms. Then his words fully registered. “Wait, what?”

“We were supposed to meet at Schmidt’s Diner for breakfast the day before classes ended your senior year. You never showed.”

A memory tickled at the back of her mind. When he squeezed her hand then dropped it, the facts came rushing back. “But that was a joke.”

He tucked those mesmerizing fingers into the front pockets of his faded jeans and rocked back on his heels. “Um, no.”
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