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Published: Sun, 06/27/21

 
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Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy

Lindsay’s only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by people with deadly secrets. Suddenly she finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a psycho stalker, and a dead man who seems awfully active for a corpse. She will need more than a chocolate fix to survive…but that’s always a good start.

She gets help from her mysterious neighbor, Fred, an OCD computer nerd. Fred also has secrets. In spite of his mundane existence, he possesses tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns, the inside of maximum security prisons and how to take someone down with a well-aimed kick to the chin.

Come for the Cookie Chip Cookies, stay for the murder, mayhem and fun!


Targeted Age Group:: All audiences
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 2 – PG

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
“Write what you know,” they said. I’d been married three times. I wrote romances.
Fast forward ten years.
“Write what you know,” they said. I’d been divorced three times and fantasized about murdering my ex. Only massive doses of chocolate kept my finger off the trigger.
Now I write about murder and chocolate.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
My heroine, Lindsay, loves to make chocolate desserts, an evil ex, and a snarky sense of humor. There are those who say she sounds a lot like me. Well, I do write her dialogue. Fred is loosely based on a friend I went to high school with. It occurred to me one day that I'd known him for most of my life but didn't really know a lot about him. What secrets was he hiding? Fred gets his own fan mail, which I forward to my friend. King Henry, Lindsay's cat, is my cat, Leo, who now lives only in my books. He came up one day and announced he was living with me, just as King Henry does to Lindsay. Fred and Henry are my favorite characters.


Book Sample
Seated on Paula’s sofa, drinking Cokes and eating chocolate chip cookies, Paula, Zach and I laughed. I’m sure Zach didn’t know what he was laughing at, but his mommy and his Aunt Lindsay were laughing, and that made him happy.
A knock on the front door stopped the laughter.
Paula’s eyes went wide, and the blood drained from her face. Total terror. She used to do that regularly at work, freak out every time somebody came into our shop. Fortunately for our profit margin, many people come in every day, and she finally got used to it, but visitors at home were apparently still scary. Of course, she didn’t normally have visitors at home except for the postman and me.
I was sitting on the sofa and the mail didn’t come on Sunday.
She set her cup on the table, her hand shaking so badly the coffee sloshed onto her fingers.
“I’ll get it.” I bounced up, handed Zach to her and was at the door before she could protest.
Not that I think she was capable of speech at that moment.
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.
The Suit flashed his badge. “Police,” he said, as if I couldn’t recognize the uniforms—both of them.
I lifted my chin and looked down my nose at him. “Chocolatier.” 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.
He looked me over from my messy hair to my bare feet, so I did the same to him—not that I could tell much from the blue suit, sedate tie and white shirt. Well, the tie was knotted a little crooked and the white shirt was kind of rumpled. Add all that to the way he’d almost smiled at my joke, and I was prepared to like him…unless he wanted to write me a speeding ticket.
“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 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.
“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.


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The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages by Geoff Waugh

The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages by Geoff Waugh

Queen Elizabeth II describes the significance of Christmas and Easter. A double-page for every annual broadcast during Her Majesty’s long reign. Gift edition available in colour.


Targeted Age Group:: All ages
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 1 – G Rated Clean Read

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Queen Elizabeth II consistently gave inspiring descriptions in her annual, personal Christmas broadcasts. I was inspired to highlight key statements and excerpts.


Book Sample
To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example. (2000)

God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general … but a Saviour, with the power to forgive. Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. … It is my prayer that … we all might find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord. (2011) 

The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. We know that Coronavirus will not overcome us. As dark as death can be — particularly for those suffering with grief — light and life are greater.  May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future.  (Easter 2020)


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Whispered Wishes by Sue Lilley

Whispered Wishes by Sue Lilley

Three people are hiding secrets. Time is running out. Secrets can’t stay buried forever…

The reclusive millionaire is protecting his motherless young daughter. The last thing he needs is a romantic distraction. His new neighbour is an intrusion. Yet he can’t get her out of his head…

The ruthless celebrity photographer will stop at nothing and never looks back. He’s the fame-hungry darling of reality TV. But past demons are catching up with him and he’s clinging too close to the edge…

The woman has sworn off men forever. Duped and humiliated, she seeks refuge in her dream cottage in the middle of nowhere. But it’s almost derelict, far from the rural idyll she craves. The guy next door is maddening. A single dad, as hostile as he’s hot…

Then tragedy comes snapping at their heels…

The child goes missing. She’s alone in the depths of winter and the three are intent on blaming each other. After all that’s occurred, old hurts run deep and trust is not on the agenda. But they must team up to find her before it’s too late. Unless they bury their toxic past, they’ll squander all hope of a happy-ever-after.

If you like your relationships fiery and unpredictable, you won’t want to miss this suspenseful romance. Get right to the heart of this sizzling love triangle. An intriguing tale of bad choices and second chances.


Targeted Age Group:: adult
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 4 – R Rated

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
It was inspired by a real life encounter I witnessed on a train. He was a total surf-dude and she was a young executive lawyer type. They started off bickering but after three hours on the train, they were all over each other, clearly heading for a hotel. I was intrigued and desperate to follow them. But I reined in my stalker tendencies and wrote it down instead.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I start with a situation between two people. I know why they’re there and where they’re trying to get to and then I develop them scene by scene. It’s like when you meet a new person. Only the external characteristics are visible at first then as you spend more time with them, you find out more about their background and personality. It’s their story I’m writing so for me that’s the best part of it and I have been known to walk around the house talking to them when I’m working through some dialogue. I particularly love a misunderstood rebel character, the bad boy with a soft centre. Who would love him enough to put up with that behaviour and still believe in him?


Book Sample
Olivia crushed every image of poor lost Katie, alone outside in the driving snow. She’d convinced herself the wind had sent her imagination wild. How would she bear it if she’d ignored the little girl tapping at her door?

Nathan was beating himself up. He stalked around her lounge, frantic hands tearing at his hair. Desperate to keep busy, she tidied the room. Her phone was under a magazine she hadn’t bothered to open. It was dead as a dodo again. What was wrong with the thing? She stuck it on charge in the kitchen, guilty that she could feel such relief to be out of the room.

Nathan wrenched the front door open. A blast of sleet spewed over him. She tried to pull him back but he swiped her hand away.

“I can’t sit here doing nothing. I need to be out there, searching for my daughter.”

“You’ve been out already. The police said wait.”

“So where are they?” He yanked up the zip on his battered green parka. The terror in his eyes challenged her to stop him. “This damn snow will cover every last footprint. When did it get this heavy?”

Then Bob appeared, hunched against the blizzard. He had Rufus with him. The dog struggled in the snow, deeper than its legs where it had drifted. What did that mean for Katie if she’d fallen and couldn’t get up? Olivia felt sick.

Bob closed the door behind him. Beneath the wind-burn on his cheeks, his pallor was ashen. “How far have you been? Down as far as the beck?”

“Why would she go down there?” Nathan growled, knuckles bloodless as he worried at his zip. “She’s terrified of the beck. Oh God! You think she fell in? This is your fault,” he lashed at Olivia. “If you’d bothered to put that fence up, this wouldn’t be happening.”

Tears stung her eyes. There was nothing she could say in her own defence.

“No need for that,” Bob said. “Far as I know, that land’s never been fenced.” He thumped a torch into Nathan’s palm. “She’ll be home before you know it. But let’s look anyway. Put your mind at rest.”

Olivia dreaded being alone with her morbid thoughts. But someone had to stay and wait for the police. The empty house echoed with Katie’s infectious chuckle. What if they never heard it again?

Nathan’s wishing well sat on its shelf, the hopeful gift neglected in the gloom of their falling-out. She stroked the inscription and made a wish, whispering in the shadows for Katie to be found unscathed…


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