Sneak Peek at The Sweet Madness of Honeysuckle

I'm finally able to give my readers a peek at the cover for the last book in the River Road set of the Haunted Heart Series, The Sweet Madness of Honeysuckle. So here's the cover:

Here's a sneak peek from the book:

It was almost time to open, and R.J. hadn’t shown up yet. Tricia leaned on the bar and shut down the string of curse words she had been about to utter. She straightened and rubbed the back of her aching neck. The bed in the spare bedroom was uncomfortable, and she had woke up with a crick in her neck.

She considered her options. If she didn’t open on time, the only people she’d be pissing off where the regulars who showed up right at four come rain or come shine.

Nope. R.J. wasn’t going to do her like this. She grabbed her cell phone out of her bag, intending to call him, but the call wouldn’t go through. She glared at the phone as if it could feel the mean thoughts she was hurling at an inanimate object. Hadn’t she charged the thing before she’d left the house? Why was the battery already drained again? Was she going to have to get a new phone?

Aggravation. That’s all it was. Just another freaking aggravation to deal with.

The overhead lights blinked. She listened for the rumble of distant thunder. The lights went out every time it stormed. But as she had come into work, it had been a clear day. No sound of thunder. She went into the back office to use the house phone, but strangely enough, the line was dead. What the hell was going on?

As she turned to leave the office, the clank and rattle of metal on metal came from the storage room. She eased along the bar and grabbed the baseball bat from under the counter. With it over her shoulder, she inched toward the open door of the storage room. She flipped the light on.

“Who’s there?”

No one. The room was empty of humans. Plenty of cases of liquor and bottled beer. But no humans.

“Must have been something shifting.” She reasoned with herself, but she wasn’t convinced.

Behind her, something crashed. She twisted on her heel. A stack of glasses had tumbled off the back bar and landed on the floor.

The dead phones. The strange noises. The flickering lights. The crashing glassware. Everything was combining into one massive case of freak out.

She shook off her paranoia. “It’s all just a coincidence. Get a grip.”

Tricia leaned the bat in the corner, pulled the broom and dustpan out of the storage room, and began to sweep up the broken glass. That’s when the house phone and her cell phone started ringing in unison. She froze with the dustpan in her hand. A crash came from the storage room.The broom and the pan fell out of her grip. She rushed through the back room and flung the back door open. R.J. had his key out to let himself in.

“Whoa. What’s wrong?” He glanced over her shoulder. “Is he here?”

She shook her head, but she couldn’t make any words come out of her mouth.

“Tricia, talk to me. What’s going on?”

She stared at the barroom behind her. “The lights... and the phones... and the glasses... Something really strange is going on in there.”

When she turned to face R.J. again, he had a skeptical expression on his face. His eyes reflected a bit of amusement but mostly concern.

“It’s probably just you’re imagination, Tricia. You’ve got to be exhausted. I’m sure you didn’t get much sleep. I didn’t.”

“I’m telling you that the lights flickered and... and...” She grabbed his hand. “Come and see for yourself.”

She dragged him behind the bar. The glassware was still shattered on the floor. Then, she pulled him into the storage room. A shelving unit had toppled over and broken liquor bottles littered the floor. The stench of spilled alcohol filled her nose, and she pulled the tail of her shirt over her face.

R.J pulled her out of the storage room. She stalled outside the door, immobile.

He nudged her upper arm. “Are you okay?”

Of course, she wasn’t okay.

She allowed herself a moment to force a bit of calm. “First, I couldn’t get my cell phone to work. It was like the battery had run down, but I charged it this morning. Then, I tried the landline because I was pissed at you for not showing up on time again—”

“So really this is just you being pissed at me?”

“No. Listen to me. The landline was dead. It was dead, R.J. Just like my cell phone. Then, I heard some strange noises in the storage room, but when I turned on the light in there, nothing was out of place. No one was there. But while I was in there, that stack of glasses on the back bar fell off and broke. I got the broom and the dustpan to clean it up, but the house phone and my cell phone started ringing at the same time. Then I heard a crash in the storage room. It freaked me out.” She grabbed him by the shirt collar. “This is not my imagination.”

He studied her face a long time. “Do you believe in ghosts, Tricia?”

She cackled. Yeah, that’s exactly what her derisive laughter sounded like. “Ghosts? Are you freaking kidding me? No.” She leaned into him. “Someone is playing tricks on me. Is it you?”

“Me?” He croaked a bit. “Why would I do something like that to you? I’m trying to help you.”

She released his collar and backed away from him. “Right? That’s what you say.”

R.J. held her gaze, steady and calm. “Yeah. That’s what I’m trying to do. Actually... I talked to a friend of mine about putting an alarm system in your house.”

“Really?” Why would he do that for her? “I can’t afford an alarm system.”

“I didn’t think so, but Craig said he’d install the system for free. It won’t be monitored, so there won’t be a monthly fee. But maybe an alarm going off would be enough to discourage an intruder from coming inside.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

Her question seemed to stump him. A puzzled frown formed on his mouth. “I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t want you to be afraid.”

“It’s not your concern whether I’m not afraid or not.” She wasn’t trying to be harsh.

“Maybe there’s enough cop left in me... I don’t know.”

He wasn’t telling her the whole truth. She could see the flickers of guilt in his eyes.

“There’s another reason you’re trying to help me, isn’t there?”

He leaned on the bar and released a long sigh. “I don’t want you to leave.”

As if someone had shoved her in the back, she fell forward against him. Her head popped up to look him in the eyes. She tried to push off him, but his arms wrapped around her.

“I didn’t do that on purpose, R.J.”

“I know. I saw. It was like someone pushed you.” He smiled. “I think I like this ghost.”

She shoved and stepped back from him. “That...” She waved her hand between them. “That ain’t happening.”

The pounding of a pissed off customer at the door to the parking lot interrupted them. She rushed to unlock the door, thankful that she didn’t have to finish the conversation they’d started.

For the rest of the evening, every time she glanced toward R.J., he was staring at her with a strange expression on his face. If she didn’t know better, she would have called the look mushy.

Maybe he didn’t want her to leave, but she wasn’t sure she should stay. Pulling him into her mess wasn’t fair to him. She didn’t want to lead him on just to run away. Running again was inevitable.

The Haunted Hearts Series Books 1 - 5 Now Available In a Bundle

The first five books in the Haunted Hearts Series are now available in a five book bundle for $9.99. Separately, the five books cost $12.95. So that's a pretty nice bargain, right?

Very soon, I'll be releasing book 6 in the series, the first book in the next five-book set. The setting moves to locations along the River Road in south Louisiana. I'm excited to keep the series going.

Now, you can get caught up with the first five books before book number six comes out. Click on the image above to go to purchase the bundle.

Cranking Up the Creepy

CHELSEA LANE IS HERE! The final book in the Haunted Hearts Series: Arkansas Hauntings, Chelsea Lane, has just been released. Here's the books description: Searching for a reason to go on living… All her life, Chelsea has suffered feelings of worthlessness from being abandoned—time after time—causing a huge pile of hurt to reside in the deeper recesses of her heart. When James Standridge kidnaps her, he gives her a new name and a new reason to exist. The will to survive keeps her going from one day to the next until his death changes everything. Fearing freedom after living so long in the shadows… After years of being a missing person, Chelsea is suddenly free to reclaim her lost identity, but she doesn’t know where to start rebuilding her interrupted life. Hovering around the fringes of her former existence seems easier than facing the dangers of becoming Cherish Duncan again. Finding that hope happens when you least expect it… When Chelsea begs him to help her, Jordan Clark can’t resist being Chelsea’s knight in shining armor. After all, hefeelsdeeply the need to make up for the mistakes he’s made in the past. Living with Chelsea in the house she shared with James Standridge ignites more than the promise of romance. Jordan’s presence energizes restless spirits who would prefer their secrets remain buried for eternity. Can love conquer fear and free the ghosts haunting the house on Chelsea Lane? I'm excited about this book because it completes the story arc that began in book one. Do you want to know what happened to all your favorite characters? Did the bad guys get what they deserved? Will the paranormal activity in Hill County finally settle down to a somewhat tolerable level? You can find out by purchasing the book at this link.  http://www.amazon.com/Chelsea-Lane-Haunted-Hearts-Book-ebook/dp/B017MZBS4C Finishing a series like this is kind of like saying goodbye to close friends. But this isn't the final farewell. No way! I've already begun the outlines for the next five book set in the Haunted Hearts Series entitled River Road Hauntings. In book one, coming early 2016, Jordan and Chelsea move to south Louisiana to start their lives over, and of course, they discover the River Road is haunted with the ghosts of the mysterious Wakefield family. Can Jordan help his old friend Dylan with his ghost problem? Will Jordan have to call on some old friends to help him with another ghost eviction? Are you ready to get acquainted with a whole new cast of characters to follow from book to book? The books in this series are tentatively titled: Book #6: The Unmistakable Scent of Gardenias Book #7: The Curse of a Single Red Rose Book #8: The Wind Through the Magnolias Book #9: The Trail of Crushed Azaleas Book #10: The Sweet Madness of Honeysuckle I've already started writing Book #6. Here's the book's description: Content with the direction her life takes… The temptation to earn a sweet payday and collect enough money to start her own interior design business is too much opportunity for Sophia Cannon to ignore. Working for her new client, Les Wakefield, is like working for a creepy stalker. He seems to be everywhere she goes. Until trouble walks around the corner and into her life again… Dylan Hunter almost turns down the Wakefield Manor restoration job until Les Wakefield tells him Sophia is the interior designer hired to oversee furnishing the old plantation house. Sophia has been the ghost in his life since the day she left him, haunting his heart with her memory every day and every night. Stirring up more than just the spirits of the dead… Sophia and Dylan fight with each other until a much bigger threat puts both their lives in danger. Discovering that generations of Wakefields have restored the plantation only to disappear months after moving into the manor house stirs up spirits that would rather remain undisturbed. Can love survive the long nights at Wakefield Manor with the unmistakable scent of gardenias hanging so heavily in the air? Okay, come on! Doesn't that sound just a little bit...creepy? In this new set, I'm cranking up the creepy. Check out Chapter One of The Unmistakable Scent of Gardenias at this link.  http://denisemoncrief.blogspot.com/p/chapter-one-sneak-peeks.html

Sunday Snippet - 06.07.15 Shaw's Landing

This week's snippet comes from my upcoming paranormal romantic suspense release, Shaw's Landing, the fourth book in the Haunted Hearts Series.

Here's the book's description:

Tired of keeping secrets that could get her killed…

As long as Courtney lived with Jared Crenshaw, she was able to keep his secrets and stay alive, but now that he’s dead, what she knows could get her killed. Hiding from the good guys can be just as dangerous as running from the bad guys.

Protected by a man who seems too good to be true…

Just when she thinks she has nowhere left to run, an investigator with the Arkansas State Police helps her find a new place to hide. Shaw Bennett seems to be everything Jared wasn’t, but can she trust him? He is, after all, just another cop.

Her life threatened by the father she never knew…

Shaw’s Landing seems a great place to disappear for a while until the night terrors begin. Are the visions she sees her imagination, the product of her increasing fear, or something more sinister? Has the curse of Haskins blood followed her?

Can the promise of love overcome the ghosts of the past at Shaw’s Landing?

Here's the Snippet:

Courtney Crenshaw’s eyes popped open when the squeak of rusty hinges woke her from a restless sleep. She rolled off her makeshift bed, scrambled to find a place to hide, and managed to wedge into a tight recess in the wall. Across the dimly lit room, Lucy Kimbrough backed through the door to the tunnel.

To Courtney’s horror, Lucy was dragging a body. A limp body.

A thin red line sliced across Caroline Grayson’s throat and splotches of crimson decorated Lucy’s shirt. Caroline’s long blonde hair dragged the ground, picking up debris from the dirty floor. When Lucy shifted her weight, Caroline’s head flopped to the other side, and it seemed her glassy eyes stared straight at Courtney.

A scream lodged in her throat and stuck there. Witnessing Lucy doing something insanely criminal was the worst place in the whole world to be. If Lucy caught her watching, Courtney was a dead woman. Actually, she might be a dead woman anyway. Courtney was probably the only person in Hill County that could link Lucy to Jared Crenshaw’s murder and now it appeared Lucy had murdered Caroline Grayson as well.

Courtney froze, barely inhaling shallow gulps of oxygen. The heavy air in the underground room made it difficult to breathe even when she wasn’t freaking out and afraid for her life. She glanced toward the door and calculated her chances of making a break for it without Lucy catching her. No, Courtney had to wait her out and hide in the shadows. Thankfully, Lucy seemed oblivious to anything except dragging Caroline. If Courtney waited long enough, maybe Lucy would leave and never know she had been there.

She pressed her hand to her chest and tried hard not to move even one twitch. Across the semi-dark room, Lucy popped a latch and a door swung open. Courtney had only been on the other side of the door once. Behind it was a set of stairs that by-passed the first floor and climbed two flights to the second floor of Victoria House. A system of hidden passageways began at the top of the stairs. Someone who knew how to navigate them could watch undetected whatever was going on in any bedroom of the house.

Alfred Hamilton had obviously built the house in such a way that he could spy on his guests. Courtney had heard stories all her life about the Baron of Hill County. He had been the crime boss of his day and had controlled liquor distribution and gambling in northern Arkansas during the days of prohibition, and someone had hated him enough to kill him in his sleep. The story went that he and his wife were murdered in the 1920’s. Some said his ghost haunted the halls of Victoria House. Some said his wife haunted her bedroom. Others claimed that Victoria Hamilton strolls along the edge of Lake Jefferson looking for a lover that never appears.

Courtney shivered when she considered all the ghost stories she’d heard about the house over the years, then wrapped her arms around her middle, and rubbed her skin where chill bumps had formed.

Across the room, Lucy tugged Caroline toward the open doorway to the enclosed stairwell. Dragging Caroline’s body upstairs seemed like a lot of hard work. Wouldn’t it have been easier to dig a hole and drop her into the ground somewhere in the unfinished portion of the basement or to dig a shallow grave out in the brushy woods that covered most of the grounds around the house?

Lucy stopped, jerked once, and turned to scan the basement room as if she’d sensed another presence. Courtney wedged further into the recess in the wall. Her hiding spot was too small for her to fit comfortably. Actually, it was a thin crawlspace between two walls that hadn’t been sealed off properly rather than an intentional recess in the wall. If she tilted her head at just the right angle, she could observe what Lucy was doing and possibly go unnoticed.

She swatted at the back of her head as if something was messing with her hair, but no one was in the room with her except Courtney and the dead woman. Lucy’s actions weren’t making much sense, but then, she often acted psycho.

Lucy dropped Caroline’s feet and knelt beside her. “We’re almost there, Caroline. You wanna sleep in Victoria Hamilton’s bed, don’t you?” Lucy leaned closer to the dead woman, her lips near Caroline’s ear, which seemed kind of ridiculous since Lucy wasn’t whispering. “How much you wanna bet that Tori Downing has done it with your husband in that big ole bed?” Lucy let loose vicious cackles that could have brought a corpse back from the dead.

But Caroline was good and dead. The woman wasn’t going to resurrect.

“I didn’t do this for them, you know. I did this for Josh. It’s my gift to him.” The woman shook her head at Caroline as if outdone with a misbehaving child. “You should have never come back to town. Everyone tries to take him away, but he belongs to me.”

It was sick enough the woman was having a one-sided conversation with a corpse, but she was also saying stuff about Josh that wasn’t true. Josh would never belong to Lucy. Josh didn’t belong to anyone.

Lucy hooked her arms around Caroline’s ankles, rose to her feet, and began dragging the dead weight behind her again. “When I’m done here, I have one more thing I need to do.” Lucy huffed as she and Caroline disappeared through the door.

The clunk clunk of Caroline’s head hitting each tread of the stairs as Lucy made her way higher and higher caused every one of Courtney’s taut nerves to jump. She moved to the open door and listened.

Lucy’s deranged voice filtered down to her from the landing above. “I’m gonna find Josh, and I’m gonna make him tell Courtney the truth.”

What truth? Josh had never lied to her. Not about anything that mattered.

I hope you enjoyed this snippet of Shaw's Landing. The book will be released mid-July and available for pre-sale soon. Sign up for my newsletter to find out when the book goes on pre-sale. The subscription form is at the top left corner of this blog.

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