PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Release Blast: Before Daylight by Andie J. Christopher

Can perfect strangers turn an accidental marriage into a love that will last forever?

Out now! The hot new contemporary romance BEFORE DAYLIGHT by Andie J. Christopher

Follow the blast and enter to win an ebook of either Dusk Until Dawn or Break of Day

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Title: Before Daylight

Series: One Night in South Beach

Author: Andie J. Christopher

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 17, 2018

Word Count: 60,000

Perfect Strangers 

Ballerina Laura Delgado is just one solo away from a dream job with the New York City Ballet.  Then a drunken pas de deux at her cousin’s wedding results in the one thing she never wanted—a husband. TV producer Charlie Laughlin may be deliciously kissable, but she needs him offstage now, and out of her life.

 Perfect Disaster

Charlie’s ready for marriage and kids, and on the lookout for just the right woman. Laura doesn’t fit the bill at all—but Charlie can’t stop thinking about the sultry way they moved together. And he can’t help but wonder if he can change the gorgeous dancer’s mind about leaving Miami with heated kisses that promise as much as they demand . . .

Perfect Partners 

Annulling their sham marriage is all Laura wants—until she gets to New York and realizes that leaving Charlie behind is easier said than done. Can a relationship that began as a hot mistake become the kind of love that will last forever?

Available on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

 

Short Excerpt 1:
Stock still, Laura Delgado stared at her Grandpa Rogelio with her mouth open. All the oxygen and all good sense in the universe had been sucked out of the room. Her dressing room had turned into the upside-down. Then, her knees gave out, and she dropped to the couch without meaning to.

Married!? My what!? The word husband echoed over and over in Laura’s head. The two syllables sounded foreign and hostile. The disjointed—and altogether frightening—sounds reminded her of a Russian ballet master she’d once studied with. He’d thwacked her with a violin bow when she missed a step. The bow was less painful than the idea that she was actually married.

In her mind, marriage had always equaled death—a slow, painful, wasting disease suffered while handcuffed to the cause of death. And she’d just found out that she was terminal.

“Unless we get his signature, I can’t file your taxes.” Two days from the deadline. Her grandfather had the audacity to smirk at her as though he found this situation funny. He thought the fact that she was married and only found out about it…funny. If she didn’t love her Grandpa Rogelio so much, she would be tempted to punch him in his still-handsome face. But, given that he was her favorite relative and he’d done her taxes without incident since she got her first paycheck from the company at eighteen, she just clenched her jaw.

And to make things even worse than the mere fact that she was married was the guy she was married to. Charlie Fucking Laughlin. With his artfully scruffy beard, his too-long hair, and naughty-looking mouth. He was smooth-talking and smug. Everyone loved him because he was so nice, but no one was that nice. Laura didn’t like nice. Didn’t trust nice. And now, nice-Charlie Laughlin was allegedly her husband.

She’d never intended to get married, and she certainly didn’t picture ever ending up with someone like Charlie. He was too much everything—too handsome, too tall, and too sexy. By the time she was fourteen, right before she’d left home to join the ballet, she’d decided that she wanted nothing to do with marriage. Her parents had screwed it up enough to put her off the institution entirely.

There was no way she was going to end up tethered to someone like her father. Unlike her father, Charlie had a sense of humor, but he had the same charisma that her father used to try to control everyone around him. No way she was about to give herself no escape but the bottom of a pill bottle. Even though Charlie wasn’t an emotionally abusive dick bag, he would end up trying to control her—he would want more of her than she could give.

How many Mai Tais—and how much tequila—had she had to drink? The only way she would have gotten married was if she’d been bombed out of her mind—or if he’d tied her up and dragged her down the aisle. But that would have left a mark.

If she had been on her guard, acting like herself, this never would have happened.

Images of a pink beach and matching pink drinks flooded her consciousness. The soft caress of the Indonesian breeze, the fuzzy joy at seeing her cousin, Carla, joyfully happy on her wedding day, and her disquiet at how much she didn’t miss dancing during the three months she was out of commission from a groin injury slammed into her mind from the recesses of her memory. Since returning to the ballet, she’d stuffed thoughts of that night down so far that they exploded back like matter packed too densely in space.

But, every so often, her mind drifted to kissing Charlie at sunset, away from the crowd. It was the craziest thing she’d ever done—kissing a stranger. She couldn’t get the feeling of his lips on hers out of her head. It was as though he’d stamped an impression on her, an invisible tattoo of his effect on her. Her entire life up until that point had been about discipline, training, dieting, and taking in criticism. She’d been a changeling at the behest of everyone in her life, and she knew that she could never let anyone know what was underneath her exterior. But there was something about the way he’d looked at her that had penetrated the wall she’d built around herself to avoid the pain of feeling she was never quite good enough, never quite the best. The feeling of his gaze on her skin—the feeling of him really looking at her—lingered along with the imprint of his mouth.

More from One Night in South Beach 

Stroke of Midnight

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Dusk Until Dawn

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Break of Day

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

 

Author Bio:
USA Today Bestselling author Andie J. Christopher writes edgy, funny, sexy contemporary romance. She grew up in a family of voracious readers, and picked up her first Harlequin Romance novel at age twelve when she’d finished reading everything else in her grandmother’s house. It was love at first read. It wasn’t too long before she started writing her own stories — her first heroine drank Campari and wore a lot of Esprit.

Although, she set aside writing fiction for a while, her love of romance novels stayed with her through college, law school, and multiple cross-country moves. During one long East Coast winter, she decided writing a book would be a good excuse to avoid braving the elements. It was love at first write. Her heroes are dirty-talking alphas, and her heroines traded Esprit for Free People. (None of them would turn down a Campari, though.)

You can visit her online at the following places: Website Facebook | Twitter Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Instagram | Pinterest

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

Cover Reveal: The Alamist Queen by J.S. Jaeger

 

 

Parents to four wonderful children, Jerry and Stephanie Jaeger enjoy working together as J.S. Jaeger to write uplifting, entertaining stories. 

Jerry overcame bullying to earn his black belt in Kempo Karate. He served as a special agent for the FBI and currently works as a prosecutor. 

Stephanie ran her own accounting practice for several years before turning her focus to writing Scrolls of Zndaria with Jerry. 

Together, they are excited to bring readers of all ages into the magical world of Zndaria.

 

After tragedy strikes her kingdom, the king of Taycod welcomes Cenaya as one of his own. When she uncovers the secrets of her new family, her perceived perfect life begins to crumble. Now she must choose: ignore this new-found knowledge and continue living her spoiled existence or find the strength to become the leader her people need.
She must first decide who to trust. Can she rely on her mysterious father or the dazzling royal family? What of the alluring man who speaks of spreading peace across the land? And then there’s Nathanial McGray, a young man who appears out of nowhere. Her decision will determine freedom or bondage, for her and for the world of Zndaria.

 
First, let’s take a look inside the book 
with this Excerpt
 

Young Cenaya’s eyes flew open. A bulky swamp creature stood over her bed. Thick leather armor covered its frog-like body. Her scream stuck in her throat. Moonlight beaming through Cenaya’s open window shined off the grob’s bulging, bloodshot eyes.
Run! Cenaya’s mind screeched. Her five-year-old body didn’t move.

The grob’s forked tongue flicked through crooked, decaying teeth. Drool dripped past its thin, green lips onto Cenaya’s nose and rolled down her cheek. The putrid smell made her stomach churn. Grabbing her by the neck, the grob lifted her away from her silky bed sheets.

Cenaya pulled at its slimy fingers. She couldn’t breathe. Soft footsteps entered her room. 

With a shriek, the creature released its grip. Cenaya fell to the ground and rolled away. The grob toppled over.

Cenaya felt a rush of relief. She recognized the arrow sticking out from the back of the grob’s armor.

And now for the 
full front-to-back Cover
 
************
*******
****
**
*
*
*


To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

Ice by Lauren Carr

Book Review Graphic

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Ice by Lauren Carr was a book.  This is new series from this author and I think it is my favorite series that this author has.  This book has to do with a cold case and I loved that.  I love learning about cold cases, so this book was right up my alley and I really enjoyed it.  I love how this author writes her stories and can make me feel like I am there with the characters.  I loved that even though this book didn’t have Gnarly in it there was other dogs that made me laugh.  She does a great job making all her characters come to life even the animals and I love that.  She also has a list right at the start of the book explaining all the characters and how they are related or know each other.  I know you will love this book if you are a true crime lover like I am.  These books are super easy to read, and I can’t wait to read more in this series in the future.  Have you read any books by this author and if so what is your favorite?

About The Book

Book Title: ICE by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult fiction, 380 pages
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Cozy
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: February 26, 2018
Tour dates: April 2 to 30, 2018
Content Rating: PG (It’s a murder mystery and there is mild violence. Very mild swearing no F-bombs. No on-stage sex scenes.)

The clues for a close-to-the-heart missing person’s case heat up when Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on the cold case.

When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappear, the court of public opinion finds young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!

Watch The Book Trailer


About The Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries-over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Now, Lauren has added one more hit series to her list with the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries. Set in the quaint West Virginia town of Harpers Ferry, Ice introduces Chris Matheson, a retired FBI agent, who joins forces with other law enforcement retirees to heat up those cold cases that keep them up at night.
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram

Let’s Be Friends

Enter To Win

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

First Look: Fast Ride by Michelle Dayton

Get Your First Look at FAST RIDE by Michelle Dayton!

Here’s your FIRST LOOK at FAST RIDE by Michelle Dayton! Join us as we get our first peek at this spicy, surprisingly emotional, contemporary romance. Check out the excerpt and enter to win a $30 Amazon gift card!

FAST RIDE is a spicy, surprisingly emotional, contemporary romance, the first in a brand-new series by Michelle Dayton. Find out what happens when Jen Appleton says yes to a one-night stand in a roadside motel with the hot, hot, hot Garrett Tracy. Fans of NO MORE MR. NICE GUY by Amy Andrews and BEAUTIFUL SECRET by Christina Lauren will devour this friends-with-benefits, fake relationship romance.

Title:  Fast Ride

Author: Michelle Dayton

Published: April 30, 2018

Publisher: Crimson

Series: Tracy Brothers

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Word Count: 53K

 

Jen Appleton is the woman who always says yes. To her boss. To her employees. To charity. To everyone except herself. But when she rear-ends a red Porsche on her way home from a nasty day at work, and the man driving the midlife-crisis cliché turns out to be hot, hot, hot, Jen decides tonight’s the night to say yes to things she’s never said yes to before.

Yes, to a one-night stand in a motel.

Yes, to the hottest night on record.

Yes, to anything Garrett Tracy wants to do to her body.

Garrett knows the chemistry between them can only be described as extreme. But it’s just one night. And then he can get back to work convincing his ex-girlfriend to give him another shot.

When Jen approaches Garrett as the only person in Chicago who might solve her massive work problem, he agrees to help—on the condition that Jen will coach him in winning back his ex. As they work on their projects, Jen and Garrett can’t resist the incredible attraction sparking between them. It’s the perfect friends-with-benefits situation. Until Jen’s heart finally forces her to start saying no

Add to Goodreads Here!

FAST RIDE Excerpt

Copyright © 2018 Michelle Dayton

She fished in her purse for her insurance card and looked at the Porsche again. She’d definitely scratched its paint and dented its bumper.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” This time the curse did escape her usually prim lips, and she felt marginally better.

Ridiculous mid-life-crisis mobile. What kind of self-respecting adult male actually drove around in that kind of thing? Clearly a total cheeseball. He was probably five-foot-two with a bald head and a big belly. And had thick, black chest hair tangled with gold chains. She braced herself as the door opened.

Faded jeans molded muscled thighs and were topped by a U2 T-shirt that looked like it had been bought at a concert long ago, not recently at some trendy boutique. He pulled himself to his full height, and she had to tilt her head back to look at him.

Holy wow.

She cleared her throat. “I’m s-so sorry I h-hit you.”

She cringed at her stuttering. But it sure wasn’t every day she encountered such a specimen of pure male gorgeousness on her way home. Well over six feet tall with wavy, sandy hair, he was lean with broad shoulders and well-muscled in the way of a tennis player or surfer. He was maybe a bit older than she was, but nothing except the car screamed “mid-life crisis.” If his expression hadn’t been twisted in annoyance, he would have been perfect.

“Are you blind? Do you have any idea how much this car cost?”

Dick.

Enter to win a $30 Amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

About Michelle Dayton

There are only three things Michelle Dayton loves more than sexy and suspenseful novels: her family, the city of Chicago, and Mr. Darcy. Michelle dreams of a year of world travel – as long as the trip would include weeks and weeks of beach time. As a bourbon lover and unabashed wine snob, Michelle thinks heaven is discussing a good book over an adult beverage

Follow Michelle:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | BookBub

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

The Last King by Katee Robert

THE LAST KING

Beckett and Samara’s story is now available!

Ultra wealthy and super powerful, the King family is like royalty in Texas. But who will keep the throne? New York Times bestselling author Katee Robert introduces a red-hot new series.

Keep reading to get a sneak peek excerpt and enter the giveaway for one of ten (10) print copies of THE LAST KING!

Title: The Last King

Author: Katee Robert

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 3, 2018

Publisher: Forever

Series: The Kings

Page Count: 336 pages

Format: Digital

ASIN: B074M69QLF

ISBN: 978-1455597109

THE MAN SHE HATES TO LOVE

 

Beckett King just inherited his father’s fortune, his company-and all his enemies. If he’s going to stay on top, he needs someone he can trust beside him. And though they’ve been rivals for years, there’s no one he trusts more than Samara Mallick.

 

The rebel. That’s how Samara has always thought of Beckett. And he’s absolutely living up to his unpredictable ways when he strides into her office and asks for help. She can’t help wondering if it’s a legit request or just a ploy to get her into bed. Not that she’d mind either one. After all, she likes to live on the edge too.

 

But soon the threats to the King empire are mounting, and the two find family secrets darker than they ever imagined and dangerous enough to get them both killed.

 

Praise for The Last King:

 

“Top Pick! Beckett and Samara are a fantastic, modern couple. They clash in the boardroom and the bedroom, are total equals, and their bring-it-on spirit makes every interaction lively and exciting — whether clothes are on or off. … The heart of this romance is the development of trust between Beckett and Samara, and Robert expertly unfolds it, revealing the emotional connection on both sides under the flash and fire of their irresistible chemistry. 4 1/2 stars.”—RT Book Reviews

 

Available at: 

 

Amazon: http://bit.ly/TheLastKingAmazon

B&N: http://bit.ly/TheLastKingBN

iTunes: http://bit.ly/TheLastKingiTunes

Kobo: http://bit.ly/TheLastKingKobo

 

Enter to win one of ten (10) print copies of THE LAST KING!

 

ENTER HEREà http://bit.ly/2unJYbK

 

<a class=”rcptr” href=”http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b050ef29499/&#8221; rel=”nofollow” data-raflid=”b050ef29499″ data-theme=”classic” data-template=”” id=”rcwidget_qqftoq7v”>a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

<script src=”https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js”></script&gt;

 

 

The Last King Excerpt

Copyright © 2018 Katee Robert

Heaven was Samara in a little green dress.

Beckett watched her walk across the lobby, her mile-long legs eating up the distance with ease. That glimpse of wildness she’d given him last night was in full effect today, her hair a mass of black waves that seemed to curl and snap around her shoulders with each step. Her dress fitted her like a second skin, sloping down over her breasts, her stomach, to her hips and thighs.

But it was her dark eyes that drew and held him. Anger and desire and something like guilt lingered there, and she held his gaze as she stopped in front of him. “Do I meet your expectation?”

“You’re beautiful.”

She arched a single eyebrow. “I know.”

That surprised a laugh out of him. Beckett turned to the elevator bank and offered his elbow. The gentlemanly move was over-the-top for their current circumstances, but he couldn’t be this close to her without touching her. Kissing her now, here, was a terrible damn idea, so he’d settle for the small touch. “No false modesty. I like that.”

“I think we’ve established that I don’t operate based on what you like.” Despite her words, amusement pulled at the edges of her lips, and she set her hand carefully on his forearm. “Every time I think I have your number down, you surprise me. Most guys get pissy pants if a woman doesn’t fall at their feet when they call her beautiful.”

“I’m not most guys.” He waited for the elevator door to open and led her onto it. “You can’t fit me into a box and write me off, Samara.”

“I’m beginning to see that.” She shook her head, her hair brushing against his shoulder. “My life would be a whole lot easier if I could.”

He couldn’t argue that, so he didn’t bother. Beckett took them up to the executive level. He noted the way she studied everything, obviously filing away every bit of information she could lay her eyes on. “What does Lydia pay you these days?”

She dropped her arm and stepped back. “Oh no. I don’t think so.” She pointed at him. “We went over this last night. I’m not for sale.”

“It’s an innocent question.”

“It is most definitely not an innocent question.” She looked like she wanted to take off her shoe and throw it at his head. “I don’t care what issue you and your aunt have. I’m not part of it. You don’t get to use me as leverage. I’m not a pawn for either of you to sacrifice in this pissing match you have going on.”

Shame tried to take hold, but he wouldn’t let it. Samara knew the game, no matter how much it apparently offended her. “I’m the bad guy for trying to offer you a job, but I’m sure you agreed to show up here solely out of the goodness of your heart.” He pretended to think about it. “Wait, no you didn’t—which you already admitted. You’re here because Lydia wants to do whatever it takes to sink Morningstar. Full stop.” He motioned at the offices behind him. “Wake up, Samara. I’m only playing the game she made the rules for.”

She took in the empty COO office on the other side of the glass wall. “She poached your employees.”

“Convenient timing, don’t you think?”

“You’re not still harping on that paranoid talk about Lydia meeting Nathaniel.” Samara hesitated and then moved to stand in front of him. She pressed her lips together and then very gently said, “Do you think maybe it’s a good idea for you to talk to someone?”

Beckett jerked back. “What?”

There was nothing but sympathy in her dark eyes. “I’m serious, Beckett. I’ve known you a long time, at least by reputation, and this delusion you have going isn’t like you. Is it possible that Nathaniel’s death is hitting you harder than you realize? That you’re fixating on Lydia instead of your own grief because it’s easier to deal with an enemy than face the fact you can never make things right with your father?”

Every word flayed him, cutting to the quick. Beckett gritted his teeth against the need to tell Samara that she was the one who wasn’t thinking clearly. To yell. To expel some of the ugliness that had been brewing in him for a very, very long time. “I didn’t call you here to offer you a job, and I sure as hell don’t need a shrink.”

She stood her ground as he advanced. Her heels put them at the same height and she still managed to look down her nose at him. “Then why did you call me here?”

Because I can’t spend another moment alone without going out of my mind.

He didn’t say it. To admit how long it had been since he’d felt a connection with another person was to hand Samara—Lydia—a loaded gun and invite her to point it directly at him. He didn’t answer her verbally at all. Beckett cupped her waist and slowly pulled her against him, giving her plenty of time to register his intentions.

“Beckett.” Despair colored her tone and she gave a desperate laugh. “What are we doing?”

“I don’t know.” Using a hand on the small of her back, he pressed her firmly against him. “I don’t want to stop.”

Samara hesitated, but finally placed her hands gingerly against his chest. He waited, letting her decide. Yes or no. Push or pull. Stay or go. She hitched a breath. “I don’t want to stop, either.”

 

About Katee Robert

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension.”  When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

Act of Revenge by Dale Brown

Book Review Graphic

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Act of Revenge by Dale Brown was a book that I wasn’t sure if I was going to like, but I ended up loving the book.  I found it very ironic that I was reading this book Easter weekend because that is when this book starts.   I have never read any books by this author before, and I don’t know that I have read a book in this genre either and this one made me want to read more.  I loved that the author gave us a list of the characters and a little bit of the backstory for each of them.  I liked this because it meant he could jump in with the story and I didn’t feel lost or confused about who was who.  I also loved that I was able to go back and look at it again if I forgot how the characters were related to each other.  I can’t say enough good things about this book, and I can’t wait to read more books by this author in the future.  I think that anyone who loves thrillers would enjoy this book just as much as I did.

About The Book

Genre: Thriller
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: January 30th 2018
Number of Pages: 528
ISBN: 0062411322 (ISBN13: 9780062411327)
Series: Puppet Master #2

Grab Act of Revenge on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, HarperCollins, and add it to your Goodreads list!

When terrorists attack Boston, Louis Massina races against time to save the city with a high-tech counteroffensive . . .

On Easter Sunday morning, the city of Boston is struck by a widespread and coordinated series of terrorist attacks: an explosion in the T, a suicide bomber at Back Bay Police Station, and heavily armed gunmen taking hostages at the Patriot Hotel.

For robotics innovator Louis Massina, aka the Puppet Master, this is far more personal than a savage act of political terrorism. Boston is his city—and one of his employees, Chelsea Goodman, is among the hostages facing certain death. As Chelsea fights from the inside, Massina leads his team of tech geniuses at Smart Metal to deploy every bot, drone, and cyber weapon at their disposal to defeat the fanatics and save his city and friend.

That’s step one. Step two: Find the twisted mastermind behind the attacks and make him pay.

About The Author

Dale Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, from Flight of the Old Dog (1987) in 1987, to, most recently, Iron Wolf (2015). A former U.S. Air Force captain, he can often be found flying his own plane over the skies of Nevada. Jim DeFelice is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller American Sniper. DeFelice is the author of Omar Bradley: General at War, the first in-depth critical biography of America’s last five-star general. He also writes a number of acclaimed military thrillers, including the Rogue Warrior series from Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team 6, and the novels in the Dreamland series with Dale Brown.

Catch Up With Our Dale Brown On his Website, Goodreads Page, Twitter, & Facebook Page!

Let’s Be Friends

Read An Excerpt

Flash forward

Boston, Easter Sunday High noon

Louis Massina paced back and forth in the small high-security area, worried, anxious, and
angry. But most of all, impotent. Boston was under attack.

The lives of dozens, maybe hundreds, of his friends were directly threatened. One of his closest employees, a young woman with tremendous promise, was among the hostages. Maybe even dead.

And all he could do, for all his money, for all his inventions—his robots, his drones, his computers, his software—was walk back and forth, trying desperately to suppress what could not be suppressed.

Anger. Rage. The enemy of reason, yet the core of his being, at least at this moment. There were other alternatives. Prayer, for one. Prayer is impotence. Prayer is surrender.

The nuns who taught him would slap his face for thinking that. They held the exact opposite: Prayer was strength, tenfold. But while in many ways Massina was a man of faith, he had never been much given to prayer. In his mind, actions spoke more effectively than words.

Prayers were all well and good, but they worked—if they worked at all—on a realm other than human. And the action needed now was completely human. Not even the Devil himself could have concocted the evil his city faced.

Light flashed in the center of the far-right monitor.

“They’re going in,” said the operator watching the hotel where Massina’s employee had been taken hostage. The light had come from a small explosion at the side of the building. “They’re going in.”

Almost in spite of himself, Massina started to pray.

Two hours earlier

Boston, Massachusetts Easter Sunday morning

There were few better hotels in Boston than the Patriot Hotel if you wanted to soak up the city’s history: city hall was practically next door, Faneuil five minutes away. You could catch a trolley for the Old Town tour a block or two down the street. Bunker Hill was a hike, but then the British had found that out as well. The rooms were expensive—twice what they would go for at similarly appointed hotels nearby—but money had never been a major concern for Victoria Goodman, Chelsea Goodman’s favorite aunt. Victoria had gotten a job as a secretary for Microsoft very soon after it started, and when she cashed out her stock in the early 1990s, invested in real estate in and around San Francisco, most notably Palo Alto and Menlo Park—the future homes of Facebook and Google. Victoria had that kind of luck.

Despite her luck, and her money, Victoria was especially easygoing, self-assured yet casual. She met Chelsea in the hotel lobby wearing a blue-floral draped dress that showed off toned upper arms and legs that remained trim and shapely despite the fact that she had recently passed sixty.

“Just on time,” declared Victoria, folding Chelsea to her chest. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“I wouldn’t mind breakfast,” answered Chelsea.

“How far did you run this morning?”

“It’s not the distance, it’s the attitude,” replied Victoria. “Only five miles. But it felt wonderful. It’s so marvelous running through the city.”

“You’ll have to try for the Marathon.”

“Those days are gone, dear,” said Victoria lightly. “I’d never qualify. But thank you for the thought. You didn’t bring your young friend?”

“We’ll meet her at the Aquarium,” Chelsea said. “She had to go to church with her dad.”

“Well, it is Easter.”

“Actually, they’re Russian Orthodox, so it’s Palm Sunday. He’s a single father, and lately he’s been trying to instill religion in her.”

Chelsea followed Victoria across the paneled lobby to the restaurant entrance, where a maître d’ greeted them with a nod. He had a fresh white rose in his lapel and the manner of someone who’d been looking forward to this encounter the entire morning. He showed the two women to a seat at the far end of the room, then asked if they would care for something to drink while they looked at the menus.

“Mimosas,” said Victoria. “And coffee.”

“Mimosas?” asked Chelsea.

“Why not? You don’t have to work today, and champagne always puts me in the mood for sightseeing.”

Chelsea was just about to ask how exactly that worked when a loud crack shook the room. The metallic snap was followed by two more, each louder than the other. The noise was unfamiliar to most of the people in the restaurant, but Chelsea had lately had a singular experience that not only made the sound familiar, but warned her subconscious that there was great danger nearby.

She leaped up from her seat, and before her aunt could respond, had grabbed her and pushed her to the floor.

“Someone is shooting!” Chelsea told Victoria as the crack of a fresh round of bullets echoed against the deep wood panels of the room. “We have to get out of here!”

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret