In honor of Father’s Day, the Bachelors & Babies series is on sale for a limited time.
Find the titles on the Amazon series page here.
Tag Archives: multi-author series
Guest release–Blood and Breakfast by Alicia Dean
Myself and twelve other authors (13 total, get it? đ) each wrote a spooky, suspenseful story in the âA Friday the 13th Storyâ series. They are stand-alone but have recurring threads and they were all released on Friday, November 13th.
My contribution to the series is titled Blood and Breakfast. Check it out below. And be sure to check out my contest where you can win an Amazon gift card! Find details here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCUDvF4YrTa1YzADCvrQIWbK8Q6Ro7Gnb0yRxxl3Kg2Fkd-Q/viewform?usp=sf_link (Contest ends Dec 15, 2020)
Determined to boost the sagging ratings of her internet radio show, âA Dark Place,â murder junkie Sasha Gillette checks into the Talley House Bed and Breakfast in North Kingston, Rhode Island. She and her co-host plan to broadcast an episode about the murders that took place there thirteen years earlier on a Friday the 13th, when a man butchered his entire family.
Not long after Sasha arrives, the other guests begin to disappear. Has a killer from the past resurfaced or is there a copycat on the loose?
One of the lone survivors, Sasha finds herself trapped with a sadistic killer and, suddenly, murder isnât as much fun as she thought.
Excerpt
âIâm going to look for her. Itâs not okay that sheâs been gone for hours when she said sheâd be back in thirty minutes. Do you know where she was taking her walk?â
âI-in the woods.â
âWell, of course she was,â I muttered. âAgnes, do you have a flashlight I can borrow? And maybe something I can use for a weapon?â
Agnes nodded. âIâll get you a flashlight. I have a hammer.â
Dorset rose as well. âIâll go with you.â He cut his gaze to Bradley, but the dufus just sat there without volunteering to help. âNothing, old chap? Not going to offer to come along?â
âI should stay here in case she comes back,â Bradley murmured but he didnât look at them. Was he afraidâŚor feeling guilty?
I shivered when we stepped outside, drawing my hoodie tighter around my body. The nearly half full moon hovered in the cloudy sky behind the branches of a Tulip tree. Lightning flashed, illuminating the back yard. The icy air held the scent of rain. âWe need to hurry,â I told Dorset. âIt looks like it might storm.â
He nodded. âIâd say letâs split up to cover more ground, but with one flashlight and hammer, and with the odd happenings lately, maybe we should stick together.â
âAgreed.â My teeth chattered, though it wasnât all that cold.
We walked along the wood line, shouting for Macy, shining the flashlight between the trees. Nothing. As if by mutual agreement, we entered the woods. I shuddered, not only concerned about a potential maniac, but also leery of whatever creatures might be scurrying around at my feet. I was a city girl and didnât even own a pet. I was not okay with encountering an animal, of any kind.
We searched for another half hour with no sign of Macy. We were deep into the woods when the sky opened up and doused us with buckets of rain. Thunder rumbled and more lightning flashed. We gave up and hurried back to the house.
The others were waiting for us.
âAnything?â Bradley asked, his voice high-pitched with anxiety. He seemed much more concerned about Macy than he had been about his wife.
âNot a sign,â I said. âWe need to call the police.â
âI did.â Agnes was seated in the forest green wing chair in the corner of the library. âThey took the information but said sheâs an adult and can leave any time she wants.â She rose. âWe waited dinner for you. Letâs eat.â
A pall hung over the room as we ate in silence, the air thick with fear and confusion.
Afterward, I excused myself and headed upstairs, anxiety weighing on me. I had an overwhelming feeling that I wouldnât sleep a wink. Nor would anyone else.
Please like Facebook page:Â https://www.facebook.com/Fri13thShortStories
Fun Fact:
I was plotting my story and trying to figure out why a normal family man would suddenly snap and murder his family. I realized that hallucinations could cause people to do crazy things, so I researched what could make people hallucinate. I discovered that the plant, jimson weed, can cause serious hallucinations. I also wanted to incorporate some kind of an authentic local legend in my story, so I researched legends in various states and came across the Devilâs Footrock in Rhode Island. I was able to mesh the twoâjimson weed and the Devilâs Footrockâto come up with how the husband/father in my story lost his mind and killed his family. Itâs so much fun when ideas click and make a story come together. Hereâs a photo of Devilâs Foot Rock:
All stories in the Friday the 13th series:
Links to Evil by Rolynn Anderson
Till Death by Maureen Bonatch
Blood and Breakfast by Alicia Dean
Retribution by D.J. FitzSimons
Shattered Reflections by Tamrie Foxtail
A Deadly Game by Jannine Gallant
Dead to Rights by Margo Hoornstra
In the Still of the Night by Callie Hutton
Glimpse, the Dinner Guest by Stephen B. King
Scorned by Anna Kittrell
Vanity Kills by Dianne McCartney
Fatal Legacy by Krysta Scott
Azraelâs Chosen by Leah St. James
Alicia Dean began writing stories as a child. At age 10, she wrote her first ever romance (featuring a hero who looked just like Elvis Presley, and who shared the name of Elvisâ character in the movie, Tickle Me), and she still has the tattered, pencil-written copy. Alicia is from Moore, Oklahoma and now lives in Edmond. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal, but has also written in other genres, including a few vintage historicals.
Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley (she almost always works in a mention of him into her stories) and watching (and rewatching) her favorite televisions shows like Ozark, Dexter, Justified, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, and Vampire Diaries. Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Stephen King, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Ridley Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan KellermanâŚto name a few.
Web Contracts
Website: http://aliciadean.com/
Blog: http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAliciaDean/
Twitter: @Alicia_Dean_
Instagram: AliciaDeanAuthor
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alicia-dean
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/aliciamdean/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468339.Alicia_Dean
Release day for The Suffragette’s Vow
Today is release day for The Suffragetteâs Vow, book 8 in the Keepers of the Light series, which is set in a fictional Oregon coastal town called Spruce Hill.
Michael Hamlin has always been fascinated by the ocean but lived his whole life on a northern Oregon dairy farm. Following his fatherâs death, he assumed heâd run the dairy but his headstrong mother has other ideas. Two years of having his suggested changes to benefit the business ignored is bad enough. But when his mother and sisters start matchmaking attempts, he follows his passion, ending up in Spruce Hill on the Pacific Ocean coast as a lighthouse keeper. The chance to do something heroic is just what he needs, even if life on the oceanâs edge is a bit mundaneâŚand lonely.
Novice reporter Nadina Cutler is bent on proving her worth to the editor of The New Northwest, a suffragette newspaper. Her prominent Portland, Oregon, real estate family indulges her wish to pursue journalism but only until her upcoming twenty-second birthday. Unless she can prove her earnings amount to more than her trust fund income, sheâs expected to return to Portland and marry to benefit the familyâs social status. After interviewing the manager of a dairy farm, Nadina then travels to Spruce Hill to do a follow-up with the wayward son.
But nothing goes right. Their personalities clash. Nadina pushes for answers and Michael clams up. Heâs not interested in reconnecting with the family that rejected him and Nadina has to find a big story to secure her freedom. Then an ocean tragedy forces them to work together and they see each other in a new light. Will their temporary partnership grow into something more?
FREE in Kindle Unlimited
Amazon buy link
Keepers of the Light series page
New Titles in Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series
Although the mail-order bride series set in a Colorado mining town started in June of 2017, the multi-author series is still going strong.
I bundled my three novellas–Perfectly Mismatched, Perfectly Unscripted, and Perfectly Unacceptable–into Miners’ Mail-Order Brides which released in ebook format today. (the print edition is coming soon) FREE in Kindle Unlimited
Perfectly Mismatched (tied for first place in novella category of 2018 Book Buyers Best contest)
Escaping from the past to a new home and name, Aurelia runs into a man who follows the rules to the letter.
Perfectly Unscripted
Is the shared danger the lure between these individuals, or did Rilleta and Wit discover they have much more to offer one another?
Perfectly Unacceptable
Jaredâs been turned down twice and is taking no chances. Losing her job forces Dina West to become a mail-order bride.
~oOo~
Two offerings are also available from Zina Abbott.
Two Sisters and a Christmas Groom
Two Flanagan sisters need to escape the overcrowded family apartment back East and set their sights on Jubilee Springs. Anna secures work as a housekeeper and Kate corresponds with two potential grooms. Who will walk down the aisle?
The opportunity to be a mail-order bride and escape from her sister-in-law’s clutches suits Dahlia Greenleaf just fine. Marrying the miner she’s corresponded with is the perfect solution for this lonely spinster–until she must marry via proxy and then tend her badly injured fiance. Do Dahlia and Nathan truly have a future?
Happy New Decade and a new release
Happy New Year. May the coming year be one of health, prosperity, and happiness, and may we all strive to practice small but personal acts of kindness.
~~**~~
Today is release day for Grayson, Book 8 in the Bachelors and Babies multi-author series.
A year ago, lawyer Grayson Wainwright’s brother was killed due to faulty metal bridge braces. When Grayson files a wrongful death case against a company accused of supplying shoddy materials to the Transcontinental Railroad, he relishes his chance to achieve justice. Graysonâs two witnesses intimately know the accused, Leary Riddock–one is his wife, Loraine, and the other is his secretary, Catalina del Mar.
Catalina and her husband, Joaquin, moved west from Omaha, working at various jobs for the Union Pacific. But when their infant son died, Joaquin abandoned her in Cheyenne, and Catalina was forced to support herself. She became a bookkeeper in Riddockâs construction company and soon learned her boss was not a legitimate businessman. As soon as the facts are revealed about Learyâs embezzlement, she agrees to serve as a key witness.
Then Loraine is killed right before she is scheduled to testify, and threats prove Catalina is next. Now with an orphaned infant on his hands, Grayson must move heaven and earth to protect his beautiful remaining witnessâŚand his heart.
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Other titles in the series are:
Trace by Pam Crooks
Logan by Margaret Tanner
Carter by Cynthia Woolf
Barclay by Charlene Raddon
Dallas by Cyndi Ray
Sawyer by Winnie Griggs
Jared by Charlene Raddon
Kendrick by Zina Abbott
Series Sale on The Widows of Wildcat Ridge
Here’s your chance to grab this entire exciting, multi-author series for only 99 cents each book.
Titles listed below in the order of release or search on The Widows of Wildcat Ridge series.
Priscilla by Charlene Raddon
Blessing by Caroline Clemmons
Nissa by Zina Abbott
Gwenyth by Christine Sterling
Dulcina by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Josephine by Kit Morgan
Thalia by Charlene Raddon
Eleanora by Pam Crooks
Garnet by Caroline Clemmons
Grace by Tracy Garrett
Rosemary By Kristy McCaffrey
Claire by Kit Morgan
Cadence by Charlene Raddon
Diantha by Zina Abbott
Hazelanne by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Ophelia by Charlene Raddon
Today’s Facebook event for launch of series
Today and tomorrow, ten authors with new books in the ongoing Lockets and Lace historical romance series will introduce their books. Time is 3-6PM PDT.
Grand prize is a Kindle and each author hostessing a 30-minute time slot will have individual prizes.
My time slot is today at 3:30-4:00PM PDTÂ where I’ll be introducing details about Taming A Scandal currently up as preorder and will release on April 5th.
Facebook Party for Lockets and Lace series
To celebrate the upcoming releases of this multi-author sweet historical series, a Facebook party hosted by five of the authors is being held Thursday, January 18th, from 4 to 6:30 CST. Stop by and chat with Zina Abbott, Sandra E. Sinclair, Angela Raines, Sophie Dawson and me for a chance to meet the authors, learn about their stories, and win prizes. My time slot is 4:30-5PM. A $20 Amazon gift card will be awarded in a random draw to a lucky attendee who leaves a comment.
To join this Facebook event, click here https://www.facebook.com/events/1616879025098920
My novel in the series is titled Tending Troubles (also book 7 in my “Dorado, Texas” series) and releases January 29th. Preorder price and through the day of release is 99 cents ($2.99 thereafter)
BLURB:Â Newly graduated from medical college, earnest Reggie Othmann is headed back to his hometown to open a doctorâs office. After two weeks pass and not a single patient appears in to his office, he doubts his choice in professions. Then an unknown illness sweeps through the town, and he panics as heâs thrown back to the original disaster that sparks his wish to become a doctor.
Brash Bostonian Imogene Franklin traveled west to Dorado, thinking sheâd found her mail-order match. A gross misunderstanding left her on her own for the first time and forced her into the only job she could find as a waitress. After raising her six siblings, she vowed never again to cater to someone elseâs needs. But when the handsome doctor is overwhelmed by sick patients, she wrestles with breaking that vow.
Preorder link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078SLPGHZ
~**~
Also, for the month of January, Laced by Love, Book 1 in my Entertainers of the West series is on sale for 99 cents. (free in KU) This Montana Sky Kindle World novel poses the question,
Will vaudeville performer Cinnia find the home sheâs always wanted in the shop next door to a leather craftsman in tiny Morganâs Crossing, Montana Territory?
Release Day for Perfectly Unacceptable, Book 13 in Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs
Today Iâm proud to announce the release of my third novella in the Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series, a multi-author sweet historical series. Perfectly Unacceptable shares the story of the cousin of Aurelia and Rilleta, the heroines of my first two titles.
An interesting fact about the story. I always look for a topical event from history to include in my stories. As I built the hero, I realized he was pragmatic, quoted Benjamin Franklin often, and lived by selected precepts of Franklinâs writing. When I discovered that womenâs equality advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton had publicly decried Franklin, so of course my heroine had to be a Stanton devotee. I had such fun searching out meaningful quotes.
BLURB: Jared Manning was left wanting on two prior marriage attempts, and this time he wants to be assured of a bride. So he commits to a correspondence courtship with only one potential mail-order bride and anticipates the arrival of Dina Valdis, a retiring schoolteacher, in time for the townâs Harvest Dance. He knows just how he wants his picture-perfect married life to be and assumes heâs found the perfect woman to fulfill the role.
Dina is passionate about being a schoolteacher who sparks the love of learning in young minds. An incident in her hometown of Kingston, New York forces her from her job, and her reputation is smeared. Not wanting to become a hermit, Dina is reminded how her cousins, Aurelia and Rilleta, found happiness with their husbands in Jubilee Springs. Thinking this is her only option, Dina heads west as a mail-order bride. Seeing the size of the tiny town almost sets Dina running, but an attraction for this handsome miner keeps her there. When she learns the townâs children have no teacher, she starts a campaign to educate the townspeople. Soon, sheâll have to decide if the attraction she feels for Jared is stronger than her passion for teaching.
Release Day–Perfectly Unscripted
BLURBÂ Rilleta Northcliffeâs world has already been turned upside-down with her fatherâs arrest. While traveling to Colorado as a mail-order bride, she is traumatized by a gang of thieves. Only the steady green gaze of a stranger keeps her sane. Dairy farmer Wit Vanderveer wished he could have done more to prevent the blondeâs involvement with the gang. Safely in Jubilee Springs, neither can stop thinking of the other. Is the shared danger the lure between these individuals, or did Rilleta and Wit discover they have much more to offer one another?
This story is book 9 in the multi-author Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series and features the younger sister of the heroine from book 1, Perfectly Mismatched. Readers who enjoy clean romance set from 1820-1929 might be interested in the Sweet Americana Book Club on Facebook.
EXCERPT
Where is the southbound train? He had to get back to Jubilee Springs to handle the evening milking. Straightening to his full height, he looked over the majority of the heads of the milling crowd. The lines of passengers at the ticket windows were three or four people deep. He added himself to the back of the closest one and bit back a groan. Inactivity never sat well. Nor did time away from the land heâd worked so hard to improve and nurture. While he waited, he glanced around, interested at the travelers who appeared to come from all walks of life.
Outside, a black carriage with gold filigree accenting the doors drove up to the front curb of Union Station and stopped. The driver hopped down and jogged around the back of the carriage.
The matched pair of chestnut horses caught Witâs eye. Nice form and confirmation, well muscled with luxuriant manes and tails. Someday, heâd add a matched pair for pleasure riding to his stable of Belgian draft horses. Someday.
The driver pulled open the side carriage door, and three well-dressed ladies stepped out in quick successionâa blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. They moved toward the entrance with the driver bringing up the rear as he juggled several satchels and valises.
His gaze was caught by the slender blonde lady with ringlets that swayed and bounced with each step. Wide-eyed, she glanced in all directions, like sheâd not traveled much and the comings and goings of the depot were as entertaining as a circus. For a moment, he lost sight of her through the narrow arched windows as she ascended the steps, even though he rose onto the balls of his feet. Then he spotted her silhouetted in the doorway and couldnât break his stare. A small straw hat with a white ribbon perched on her head. The cut of her blue dress fit her figure well, and the full skirt swished along the polished parquetry floor.
A throat clearing from behind snapped his attention to where he stood. The line had progressed while heâd been occupiedâmore like gawkingâwith the lovely stranger. With one long stride, he closed the gap.
A hiss of brakes sounded followed by three sharp blares of a whistle.
Finally. Wit stepped out of line to check on the engineâs number. As he moved toward the conductor calling passengers for points south, he collided with someone who stepped into his path. The heady scent of lavender tickled his nose, and he reached out his free hand to steady her. âPardon me.â
âOh, Iâm so sorry, sir.â A giggle sounded. âI wasnât watching where I was going. Iâm anxious to find my train.â
The sweet sound, light and airy, rang like a tiny bell in his head. Wit wrapped his hand around a feminine elbow, thin enough his fingertips touched his thumb. Vaguely, he registered this woman was the same young one whose arrival heâd been watching. He looked down into a pair of bluish-purple eyes the color of a Rocky Mountain columbine that grew at the highest elevations of his meadows. When he finally registered the ladyâs expression had changed from wide-eyed surprise to frowning concern, he released his grip and gestured his abdication of the right of way. âPlease, proceed.â
The woman dipped a curtsey. âIâm obliged. Would you know if thatâs the train to Jubilee Springs?â A hand covered in a lace glove waved toward the train. But her gaze roved his face, eyebrows winged high.
His heart stuttered in his chest. This lady is traveling to my town? Not used to being the object of female scrutiny, Wit shuffled his boots and nodded. âThat it is, miss.â
âThank you.â Then she turned and waved a hand. âMissus Millard? This train is the one.â She scurried to rejoin the other two ladies.
Within a few seconds, Wit lost sight of her in the passengers gathering around the conductor. Then he shook his head. Just as well. All his energy should be focused on streamlining the dairy procedures for optimal output. After moving through one car with no aisle seats, he claimed one in the next passenger car. A quick glance at the other passengers located the group of three ladies sitting together at the far end. All he saw of the blonde were the ringlets dangling below her hat. Again, not his business.