Jake Is Back, One More Time #NewRelease

So much for retirement

For 22 years, semi-retired jewel thief Jake Hennessey honored his promise to stay away from Harmony Duprie. He has no plans to change that… until Special Agent Doan Houck saunters into Jake’s bar, claiming Harmony’s life is in danger.

She’s not the only one in jeopardy. Jake is run over by a motorcycle and is the target of a drive-by shooting. He doesn’t know who to trust. Not the feds Not the local cops.

Not even Harmony.

But Jake will do anything to protect his ex-lover. Even if it means matching wits with an FBI agent, revealing old secrets, or ending up in prison. Again.

If it comes down to saving his life or Harmony’s, there is no choice at all.

 

It’s been a decade since Jake Hennessey first appeared. He was supposed to be a background character, but he defied expectations and hung around through all of Harmony Duprie’s adventures. Then, of course, he wanted to tell his own story. I hope I’ve done him justice.

Here’s an excerpt:

Cloaked by the musty curtains of his third hotel room, Jake studied the traffic on the street below. He knew every unmarked car owned by the Oak Grove police, and two of them patrolled the neighborhood. Despite their presence, he’d been unable to determine their encrypted channel on the hacker’s scanner.

He turned away from the window, walked to the bedside table, and poured a second drink from the bottle Danny had left at the front desk. Doc Gabe would be upset with him, but Jake figured he deserved the break from abstinence. The doc had sighed while he studied the damage to Jake’s cast, and muttered something about sending him to a nursing home in Pittsburgh. It had been an empty threat.

Even flirting with Trina and Belinda at the clinic hadn’t eased his restlessness, and Jake paced as he sipped his whiskey. He planned meticulously for his heists, analyzing every contingency, leaving room for changing circumstances. It offered him a sense of control. He craved control. The current situation offered none.

He drained the glass and tilted his head up, letting the harsh liquid burn the back of his throat. A small, black spider wove a web where the wall and ceiling met. Jake had heard rumors about the Feds developing the technology to use robotic insects to bug a room, but not that they could spin silk. It seemed safe to ignore the spider.



You can buy the book at these on-line stores

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C59KDNNW

Nook (B&N) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143484076?ean=2940161154397

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-rise-of-jake-hennessey

applw https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6449169609

Apple is taking a bit to take the book live, but you can get it on pre-order.

 


Jake is Back! Cover Reveal

Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for Jake Hennessey.

For 22 years, semi-retired jewel thief Jake Hennessey honored his promise to stay away from Harmony Duprie. He has no plans to change that… until Special Agent Doan Houck saunters into Jake’s bar, claiming Harmony’s life is in danger.

She’s not the only one in jeopardy. Jake is run over by a motorcycle and is the target of a drive-by shooting. He doesn’t know who to trust. Not the feds Not the local cops.

Not even Harmony.

But Jake will do anything to protect his ex-lover. Even if it means matching wits with an FBI agent, revealing old secrets, or ending up in prison. Again.

If it comes down to saving his life or Harmony’s, there is no choice at all.

This book has been a long time in the making. Between retiring and moving, Jake had to be patient with me while I ignored him as I took care of my life. He deserved my full attention as he told me his story. It didn’t go as I expected, but it went the way it needed to. (Jake working with the FBI? Who would have expected that?) I believe that the Jake books bring a additional richness to the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. With this book completed, I finally am able to move on to something new.

And here’s the cover, thanks to K.M. Guth

The release date for the Rise of Jake Hennessey is May 17th.

All The Genres And I Have To Pick One? #OpenBook Blog hop

April 11, 2022

What is your favorite genre to read/watch (movies/tv)? Any book recommendations?

We’ve had this discussion before. But for those of you who don’t follow this blog, I’ll tell you now. I don’t watch TV, and I don’t remember that last movie I watched, and that was a couple of years ago. It might have been one of the Star Wars movies. Don’t worry, I won’t review it. Let’s just say it wasn’t one of my favorites. 

I enjoy a good sci-fi movie, although I won’t claim it as my favorite genres. In books, that honor goes to the sword and sorcery genre, (which used to be part of science fiction!) especially with female main characters. That may be where I learned my love of strong women characters who can hold their own and aren’t dependent on men as protectors. The Mercedes Lackey “Vows and Honor” series is an example.

But truthfully, I have a weakness for a well-written book of any genre, everything from a good romance to an engaging biography. I’ve even read Stephen Hawking, although that was a bit of a struggle. However, my definition of well-written has gotten more stringent over the years. That’s made it harder to find books I really love. Which is sad, really.

I considered skipping the next part of the question – any recommendations? – because the temptation is too great. But heck, I’ll do it, anyway.

You know I have a new book out, right? The Fall of Jake Hennessey. If you haven’t read it yet, you should pick up a copy. It features Jake Hennessey, the ‘bad boy’ of the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, at his best- and his worst. You can check it out HERE

Sales pitch over. Let’s go check out what the other authors’ favorite genres are. Just check out the links below. And, until next time we get together, please stay safe!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

April 11, 2022

What is your favorite genre to read/watch (movies/tv)? Any book recommendations?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.


The Next Five Seconds #OpenBook Blog Hop

Jan 3, 2022

It’s your book. The next five seconds are the most important. What happens?

First, I hope your new year hast started out well! Next, let’s talk about which book.

I thought I was done with the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. Well, I am done. But Jake, my anti-hero bad boy, decided it was time for him to reveal his secrets.

I’ve tried to get him to talk to me before, with no luck. Either he didn’t want to influence my perception of him, or he didn’t want me to reveal his secrets to Harmony. See, he’s not a good guy, but he plays one around Harmony. I’m currently planning to classify the story as either suspense or crime.

I haven’t finalized a name for this book yet, although I’ve played with several titles. Here’s my current one. I’d love to hear what you think of it. It may be too long.

The Thief and The Angel: The Fall of Jake Hennessey

Here’s the action leading up to the next five seconds:

She undid the buckle, then reached up and started tracing the same path from his forehead. “Tell me, Jake.”

“No.”

She stopped, leaving her finger on the tip of his nose. “Last chance.”

He didn’t dare break the spell by wiping the sweat beads from his forehead. “Or what?”

She placed her lips on his, then pulled his shirt together and started the slow process of fastening each button.

Jake broke. He grabbed her hands and pulled them behind his back. “It’s a way to turn around quickly. You start by going fast in reverse, brake, clutch and turn the steering wheel at the same time. You end up heading in the opposite direction.” He lowered his head and smashed his lips into hers. She didn’t object.

He reached to slide the pins out of her bun, but she pulled away.

“I accept the challenge,” she said. “But the coffee is probably cold by now. Do you want me to make more?”

“Where the hell did you learn to do that?” he asked, trying to catch his breath.

She grinned. “I read it in a book. Although the heroine took it further. She got the guy’s pants off.”

“What happened next?”

“If I remember correctly, she put a sleeping potion in the spy’s coffee and slipped away.”

And now, what happens in the next five seconds? 

.

.

.

Jake gulped, picked up his cup, and swirled the liquid in it, searching for traces of something that didn’t belong.

Harmony winked, took the coffee from his hands, sipped it, frowned, and wrinkled her nose. “Yep, cold.”

What happens next? I’m not telling. Before you ask, I haven’t determined a release date because I want to fix a problem in Chapter 19 first.

With the variety of authors we have on this hop, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in their 5 seconds. Just follow the links below. (And if you are an author with a blog, and would like to contribute to this topic, it’s easy. We’d be glad to hear from you.)

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Jan 3, 2022

It’s your book. The next five seconds are the most important. What happens?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 


The Ranger’s Dog Tags is Live!

 

The Ranger’s Dog Tags is finally here!

It isn’t the first time Eli Hennessey has disappeared. Is it the last?

In this, the sixth book of the Harmony Duprie series, Harmony faces her greatest challenge yet. And she has to do it without the normal support from her friends and the Oak Grove Police Department. Join her on her adventure in the search for Eli.

Book Description:

Eli Hennessey has vanished.

His house in Oak Grove is in flames, his cell phone is out of commission, and friends in Florida can’t find him. It’s up to Harmony Duprie to track down her missing lover before her life shatters and his ends.

Harmony’s first discovery: Eli tricked her into signing paperwork putting her in charge of his company. Had he planned his disappearance?

The answers won’t be found in Oak Grove. Harmony hightails it to Florida in search of Eli and the truth.

Here’s a short excerpt:

I’d reached cruising speed when I spotted them. Vanessa saw them, too. On the opposite side of the road. Two black sedans.
“Shit,” she said.
“Who are they?”
She bit her bottom lip.
“So, who am I going to piss off when I remove their tracker?” I asked.
“You won’t find a bug.” Her mouth quirked. “No matter how hard you look.”
The mile markers showed our progress, but my mind was going nowhere. The GPS wasn’t attached to Dolores, or on me. I’d been extra careful with my purse and checking my clothes each morning. Unless Vanessa sneaked into my room when I wasn’t paying attention?
Or…
“It’s you, isn’t it? You’re wired. You’ve been pretending to protect me when what you’re doing is trying to find evidence against me.” A sudden rage engulfed me. “I’ll move out tonight. Unless you plan to arrest me on some bogus charge first. You can keep the rent.”
I adjusted the rearview mirror to get a better long-range view of the cars behind us. She’d betrayed me when I thought we’d had a chance of being real friends. And she’d done it when I needed a friend the most. “Who are you answering to, Special Agent Salters?”

To join Harmony on her quest to find Eli, you can find the ebook at these retailers:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092YTWBX1

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1563561154

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940162511434

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-ranger-s-dog-tags

Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/3R85NL