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Witness to Murder

by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Poised for an interview, TV reporter Hallie Berglund walks into a murder scene instead. The victim’s boyfriend stands over the body, murder weapon in hand. Hallie couldn’t stop the crime, but as the star witness, she’ll see the man brought to justice . . . right? Not according to her colleague Brody Jordan, who is convinced the police—and Hallie—are targeting the wrong man. To prove it, he’ll need Hallie’s help. The victim was wearing a bracelet handcrafted by Hallie’s long-dead mother. Now Hallie is the only one who can unearth the secrets of the past—and bring the sinister truth to light.

Channel Six television news reporter Hallie Berglund put her right foot on the bottom step of the swaybacked porch, then stopped cold. The hairs on her arms prickled. What was that awful noise coming from inside the house? Some kind of music? This century-old Victorian was rented by four University of Minnesota coeds, but even if they liked punk rock they wouldn’t listen to this. And why was the front door several inches ajar?

Careful to keep the heels of her pumps from clacking against the wood, she walked up the remaining two steps, but angry creaks from the porch boards announced her arrival. Whoever—whatever—was inside gave no indication her approach had been heard. The noise progressed in decibels.

Hallie frowned. There had to be a logical explanation. On the telephone, Alicia Drayton had sounded eager, almost desperate, to do the interview as soon as possible. The part-time fashion model and full-time student had said her roommates would be out all afternoon—a perfect opportunity for the two of them to talk privately.

The sound continued—long, drawn out. Like something a person would hear on a dark and moonless night, not in the balmy afternoon of a cloudless June day. She doused the impulse to back away and wait for her cameraman to catch up with her. She was a reporter, and she needed to find out what was going on. Sooner rather than later

Her rap on the warped door panel widened the opening, revealing a foyer done in dark wood and last decade’s wallpaper. She stepped inside onto a scatter rug and was greeted by lingering scents of mingled women’s perfumes. To her left a set of stairs led upward. Ahead and to her right lay an opening framed in old-fashioned wide wood.

“Alicia?” Hallie’s voice sounded hollow in the open space.

The noise stopped, and silence fell like a skipped heartbeat. Then a loud sniffle announced a fresh round of wails, this time in words spoken in a masculine tenor. “No, no, no. This isn’t real. Allie, baby, wake uuuuuup!”

Hallie’s breath caught. Was Alicia hurt? Hallie hurried forward, heels tapping the faded floorboards. She stepped through the opening, and a squawk escaped her throat.

What whirlwind had trashed this living room? The couch was tipped onto its back, an easy chair lay on its side, and the entertainment center had fallen face down, scattering shattered electronic equipment. And who lay sprawled on the floor near the heavily curtained picture window? The head and torso were concealed from view by a lean man with spiked blond hair who crouched over the inert body. His bare, muscular shoulders quaked beneath a sweat-streaked tank top the same shade of tan as his running shorts.

“Who? Wh-what?” The words stuttered between Hallie’s lips. “Should we call 9-1-1?”

The man eased to his feet, all six feet six inches of him. He swiveled toward her like a man in a trance, slate-blue eyes staring blankly. Wetness glistened on drawn cheeks in a face all sharp planes and angles. In his fist he clutched a braided gold cord. “She’s… dead.”

Hallie’s gaze fell to the head and shoulders on the floor behind the man’s feet. She gulped. Whoever had trashed this room had also done a number on the woman’s face… and her neck. Raw cord marks dug into her pale throat.

Alicia? The glossy auburn hair splayed around her head matched the publicity photos that had been sent over to the station, but the facial features were too puffy to be identified.

The giveaway was the man with what appeared to be the murder weapon in his hand—Alicia’s boyfriend, Minnesota Golden Gophers’ bad boy, Damon Lange. The college basketball player’s famous temper had finally turned him into a killer.

Hallie’s gaze locked with his. Ice encased her muscles, and her heart slammed against her rib cage. A change melted over Lange’s face. Pinched sorrow fell away, relaxed into open-mouthed awareness, and then red-faced fear—and fury. Lange raised the fist that held the cord and charged toward Hallie.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Jill Elizabeth Nelson is an award-winning author of mystery and suspense. She writes what she likes to read—tales of adventure seasoned with romance, humor, and faith, earning her the tagline: Endless Adventure, Timeless Truth. Jill speaks at conferences, writer’s groups, library associations, and civic and church groups. She and her husband live in rural Minnesota where they raised four children and are currently enjoying their first grandchild.

Visit Jill Elizabeth Nelson’s website at http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com for excerpts, book giveaways, and contests.

You can order this book directly from your local bookstore, retail stores such as Walmart, or online here:  Amazon

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A Soldier’s Reunion

by Cheryl Wyatt

Despite a decade apart, this isn’t the reunion Mandy Manchester expected! She thought she’d put high school sweetheart Nolan Briggs behind her. Now he’s back…and the pararescue jumper literally sweeps her off her feet. He’s ready and willing to rekindle what they once shared. Mandy, though, isn’t prepared to put her heart at risk. He left her before—she won’t trust him again. Can Nolan teach this grounded girl to take a leap of faith?

Cheryl Wyatt

Born Valentine’s Day on a naval base, Cheryl Wyatt writes military romance. Her Steeple Hill debuts earned RT Top Picks plus #1 and #4 on eHarlequin’s Top 10 Most-Blogged- About-Books, lists including NYT Bestsellers.

To receive her quarterly newsletter for updates on new releases and contests with GREAT prizes, visit her Web site at http://www.cherylwyatt.com and sign up in the space provided. Cheryl respects your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with a third party.

To puchase through Amazon, click here.

 To puchase through Christianbook, click here.

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Shadows on the River

by Linda Hall

SHADOWS ON THE RIVER is the story of Ally Roarke. When she was a young teenager she saw her best friend pushed to her death. Here are Ally’s own words:

“I was only fourteen when I witnessed a murder on the riverbank. A murder that went unpunished. Unless you count what happened to my family. We were forced out of town by the teenage killer’s prominent parents. And the murder was forgotten—by everyone but me. Now, the killer is a respected businessman. I can’t let him get away with it. But I’m a single mother with a child to protect, what can I do? The new man in my life, Mark Bishop, warns me to be careful. For there’s already been another murder. Close to home.”

Linda Hall

Award winning and twice Christy-nominated author Linda Hall has written fifteen novels plus many short stories. She has also worked as a freelance writer, news reporter and feature writer for daily newspaper.

She grew up in New Jersey where her love of the ocean was nurtured. Most of her novels have something to do with the sea. When she’s not writing, Linda and her husband enjoy sailing the St. John River system and the coast of Maine. In the summer we basically move aboard their 34′ sailboat aptly named – Mystery.

Shadows on the River can be ordered from most online bookstores. Including Amazon or can be ordered from her website: http://writerhall.com

What others are saying:
- With a voice well suited to mystery and suspense, Hall creates an almost gothic atmosphere and a wonderfully satisfying conclusion in this final installment of her Shadows series. Romantic Times gave it 4 stars.

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Deadly Competition

by Roxanne Rustand

The single mother hasn’t been found. And all her daughter, Sarah, has is her uncle. Clueless at parenting, Clint Herald seeks a loving, responsible nanny. What he finds instead is a stranger as mysterious as his sister’s disappearance. Mandy Erick is secretive and seems scared, yet she’s so good with Sarah that Clint can’t help but trust her. In fact, he even enters Mandy in the town’s Mother of the Year contest. But attention is the last thing Mandy wants. Her time in the public eye may prove just as dangerous as she fears.

Excerpt

All rights reserved

Mandy Erick flinched as the door of the Greyhound slid shut behind her.

The bus lumbered away, taking with it her chance to reach Texas or California or Oregon anytime soon. Leaving her standing on the edge of Loomis, Louisiana, a backwater town in the middle of nowhere.

Though maybe the middle of nowhere was the safest place for someone who’d had to leave her old identity behind.

To purchase from Steeple Hill, click here.

For more about Roxanne Rustand, visit www.roxannerustand.com and her new blog “All Creatures Great and Small.”

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A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Who says a woman can’t do a man’s job?

    Put up or shut up! Complaining about Bethlehem Springs’ dissolute mayoral candidate, Gwen Arlington is challenged to take on the role herself. For seven years, she’s carved out an independent life in the bustling mountain town of Bethlehem Springs, Idaho, teaching piano and writing for the local newspaper. But now she’s a single woman running for mayor — and in 1915 this decision is bound to stir up trouble.

    Morgan McKinley is fed up with the delays that hinder the construction of New Hope Health Spa, a place where both rich and poor can come for rest and healing. New to the area, he has determined that serving as mayor would help him push through his agenda for progress.

    Gwen and Morgan each want to prove they are the most qualified candidate, not only to voters but to each other, and so sparks fly as the two campaign. Although Morgan has learned to guard his heart as fiercely as Gwen guards her independence, could they learn to be allies instead of adversaries?

    This first book in the Sisters of Bethlehem Springs Series provides intriguing insights into how women challenged convention and shaped America in the early twentieth century.

You Tube for A Vote of Confidence

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To purchase through Amazon, click here.

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To purchase through CBD, click here.

Robin Lee Hatcher

Robin Lee Hatcher is the best-selling author of over sixty books. Her well-drawn characters and heartwarming stories of faith, courage, and love have earned her both critical acclaim and the devotion of readers. Her numerous awards including the 2000 Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the 1999 and 2001 RITA Awards for Best Inspirational Romance, Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards for Americana Romance and for Inspirational Fiction, and the 2001 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. Catching Katie was named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin began her writing career in the general market, writing mass market romances for Leisure Books, HarperPaperbacks, Avon Books, and Silhouette. In 1997, after several years of heart preparation, Robin accepted God’s call to write stories of faith and hasn’t looked back since. She has written both contemporary women’s fiction and historical romances for CBA publishers, and in 2009 her 60th book, A Vote of Confidence, was released, launching a new series (The Sisters of Bethlehem Springs) that looks at the question, “Who says a woman can’t do a man’s job?” The setting is Idaho during the WWI era.

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A NOTE FROM ROBIN:

Ideas come to writers in lots of different ways. The idea for The Sisters of Bethlehem Springs series came to me back in 2003-2004 and had its genesis in a couple of other books. From Catching Katie had come a fascination with the decade leading up to the passing of the 19th Amendment that gave American women the right to vote. From a secondary character in Speak to Me of Love came a fondness for a woman in an unusual occupation. While those two things were rolling around in my head, up popped the final ingredient. A question: Who says a woman can’t do a man’s job? And the next thing I knew, I’d met Gwen and Cleo Arlington, the heroines of the first two books in the series. I had to wait to meet my third heroine until the hero of A Vote of Confidence walked into my imagination. Guess what, Morgan McKinley had a younger sister, Daphne. Each of these women have jobs that weren’t considered a woman’s domain in their time (1915-1918). I hope readers will become as fond of Gwen, Cleo, and Daphne — and the men with whom they fall in love — as I am.

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Nothing But Trouble!

(PJ Sugar – Trouble Collection)

ISBN 1414313128

Tyndale

Romantic Comedy/Suspense

 PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:

 After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that’s become her life, she needs a fresh start.

 The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister’s wedding is Boone—her former flame and the reason she left town.

 Her best friend’s husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg , Minnesota , has seen in more than a decade.

 What PJ doesn’t know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she’ll uncover much more than she bargained for—a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she’s been longing for.

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is the award-winning author of seventeen novels and novellas with Tyndale, Steeple Hill and Barbour Publishing. Her first book, Happily Ever After won the American Fiction Christian Writers Book of the Year in 2003, and was a 2003 Christy Award finalist. In Sheep’s Clothing, a thriller set in Russia , was a 2006 Christy Award finalist and won the 2006 Inspirational Reader’s Choice award. A former missionary to Russia , Susan May Warren now writes Suspense/Romance and Chick Lit full time from her home in northern Minnesota .

Also! It’s launch month for my new book, Nothing But Trouble, and I’m running a “sweet” contest when people go “Hunting for Trouble” in their local bookstore! Click HERE for the Contest details! 

Where did the idea for PJ Sugar come from? 

            Every author dreams of a moment where someone says something, or they see something on the news, or in a newspaper and it springs out at them, nearly shouting – STORY IDEA!  This happened to me a number of years ago while talking to friends about their daycare situation, and how one of the parents ended up being a murder suspect!  Scary!  But an interesting idea.   About that time, I was a mom who wore many hats – homeschooling mom, writing teacher, speaker, children’s church leader, — and it occurred to me that a mother really has to be a sort of PI.  Not only taking on different roles, but sleuthing out daily household mysteries like, who ate the last of the peanut butter (and put it back in the cupboard?) and whose socks are laying in the middle of the floor, and finally…(in our house), who let the dog (and her muddy feet!) in the house!  PJ is the alter-ego in every mom, that super-hero inside of us that allows us to have esp (I know you’re not really done with your homework!), or have “eyes in the back of our head,” (stop poking your sister!) or even figure out how to whip together an award-winning science project the night before the fair.  PJ just applies all those skills to bad guys and figuring out the truth. 

PJ Sugar is also a woman who wants to be all things to all people. She wants to be her nephew’s champion and her sister’s best friend, and her mother’s favorite daughter, and Boone’s special girl, and the  hero of her hometown.  That’s not too much to ask, is it?  Maybe…because God wants her to be His girl, and satisfied in who He made her to be.  And that is a journey for all of us PJ Sugars.

 A note from Susan May Warren

Sometimes, do you feel like you just don’t fit in?  You look around you and if anyone knew how difficult it was just to put yourself together, to smile when you feel completely overwhelmed, to even figure out what you were making for supper, they’d know what a mess you were.   Maybe you totally relate to those words in 1 Peter – God’s elect, strangers and aliens in the world.   Do you feel like when you look in the rear view mirror, all you see are your mistakes? 

            Maybe not.  But if so, then PJ is your gal.  I wanted to write a story about the person in so many of us who just wants to get it right…but can’t seem to stay out of trouble.  My friend and I have what we call the “stupid mouth” club…and we report our weekly foibles (usually on Monday, after Sunday church!).  PJ is our charter member.  She’s the girl that changes her mind, always hopes for the best, is always discovering that she is just a little different than everyone else.  PJ is us. 

            And that’s good news.  Because God loves PJ.  He loves her messiness, and her impulsiveness, her heart bent toward others, the hope that fuels her actions.  And He has a plan for PJ – one that includes her weaknesses as well as her strengths.

            Yep, I need to hear that – need to hear that I don’t have to be perfect for God to love me, use me, sing over me.  Need to hear that although I don’t fit in, well, I’m not supposed to…in fact, I’m supposed to be a little…alien.

            I wrote PJ for everyone who feels just a little messy, just a little like they can’t quite get it right.  And who needs to hear that God loves them.  Period.  Full stop.  Hallelujah.

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Enduring Justice:

ENDURING JUSTICE

To order online: Amazon  

Secrets Can’t Last Forever

 A PAINFUL PAST

Hanna Kessler’s childhood secret has remained buried for over two decades. But when the dark shadows of her past threaten to destroy those she loves, Hanna must face the summer that changed her life and the man who still haunts her memories.

 A RACIALLY-MOTIVATED KILLER

As a Crimes Against Children FBI Agent, Michael Parker knows what it means to get knocked down. Difficult cases and broken relationships have plagued his entire year. But when the system fails and a white supremacist is set free, Michael’s drive for retribution eclipses all else.

 A LIFE-ALTERING CHOICE

A racist’s well-planned assault forces Hanna and Michael to decide between executing vengeance and pursuing justice. The dividing line between the two is the choice to heal. But when the attack turns personal, is justice enough?

Amy Wallace

 Q.  Where did the idea for the stories in the DEFENDERS OF HOPE series come from?

A. The Defenders of Hope series started with a literal dream about an FBI agent with a wounded heart and a mom on a dangerous quest for answers. That dream became the book Ransomed Dreams. During the research for Ransomed Dreams, I met with a federal agent and asked the question—what would happen if an FBI agent found out he had cancer? His answer became the second book, Healing Promises. And the third book in the series, Enduring Justice, grew out of a secret one of the characters, Hanna Kessler, struggles to keep hidden.

 Q. Your current release is Enduring Justice, book 3 in the Defenders of Hope series. Is it necessary to read all the books in order?

 A. I’ve been told by many readers and read reviews that have said the Defenders of Hope books can be read in any order as stand-alones. The cases and suspense story-lines are self-contained, no cliffhanger endings until the next book. But the characters’ friendships and relationships grow and are challenged in each book, so I’d say it’s best but not necessary for the stories to be read in order.

 Q. You’ve said that Enduring Justice contains the shards of your once-broken heart. What do you mean by that?

A. Fifteen years ago, God placed me in a safe place and used my future husband’s hands to hold me together while my heart shattered. David was the first person to hear about my being date raped when I was a teen. For five years I’d denied what happened or blamed myself. So when my walls of secrecy started to crumble, I felt alone and terrified.

But God met me there. He covered my shame with His grace and we started down the painful path of healing. Even though this isn’t the same circumstances as what Hanna Kessler faces in Enduring Justice, a lot of my personal story went into the writing. And while this subject may qualify this story as “gritty,” the focus is not on the past experiences, but on the healing an adult woman finds as she opens up to her family and the man she loves.

 Q. One of the key themes running through Enduring Justice is racism, as Hanna’s love interest, FBI Agent Michael Parker, is investigating a white supremacist. Why is this topic near to your heart?

A. I grew up in the military and had friends of all skin colors and nationalities. One of my best friends was African American. We never talked about our skin color, but I remember one time she made a comment about how people treated her differently because of her skin. She wouldn’t explain. It wasn’t until years later after hearing some ugly words from extended family members about people of other skin colors that I started to understand racism still exists. And it breaks my heart.

Through Hanna and Eve and Michael and Lee, I wanted to highlight some of the challenges I’ve learned about from friends of other nationalities and also to show that it’s not skin color that matters, it’s who we are on the inside. We truly can be color-blind.

Q.  Where can readers learn more about you, Enduring Justice, and your other books?

A. I enjoy and value email from readers! So please visit me on the web at the Dark Chocolate Suspense site: www.amywallace. com and leave a note in the guestbook, drop me an email, or join the Dark Chocolate Suspense newsletter community: Amy’s Newsletter

 Readers can also check out a very cool book format and read the first two chapters of Enduring Justice online: Amy Wallace

Ruby’s Slippers:

Wizard of Oz meets Cinderella

When Dottie Meyers loses her ‘no place like home’ during a Kansas tornado, she wakes up to find a pair of ruby slippers left by her father who abandoned his family thirty years ago. With her sister hot on her trail to find the treasured ruby slippers, Dottie travels a yellow brick road with three friends to find her father. No wizard can solve her problems. Only the love of a heavenly father can heal her wounds and give her the desires of her heart.

There’s no place like … the heart for God’s healing touch.

 
Winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award, Leanna Ellis writes quirky women’s fiction. When she’s not busy writing, taxiing her kids to and from dance and fencing, or taking the dogs in and out, then she’s contemplating some new weird plot. Visit her website at http://www.leannaellis.com.

TOUR DE FORCE: A Love Story by Elizabeth White