Welcome Fall! Although North Texas can’t compete with New England for colorful leaves, our trees are showing varying shades of gold and orange. Mixed in with our native dark green Live Oaks, these present a pleasant delight for the eyes. The Mountain Cedars—not so much! They’re green, but they bear powerfully irritating pollen that has many of us sniffing, sneezing, coughing, and rubbing our reddened eyes.
In spite of
that, I love the Fall season. We get cooler temperatures, a little rain, and
the building anticipation of the coming holidays through the end of the year. I’m not particularly
a Halloween fan, that is, except for the candy. I do love the treats available
this time of year. Hero and I deliberately buy things we don’t love to prepare
for the trick-or-treaters we anticipate. Otherwise, we’d have to go buy more
as the day came closer. Not that that has ever happened….
To celebrate
the spirit of the spooky season, I have lowered the price of my romantic
suspense and time travel combines, OUT
OF THE BLUE, to 99¢ for the entire month of October. Caveat: When I
checked, Amazon had not yet lowered the price. Please don’t give up—they’ll get
around to it soon.
The fault
for the delay is mine. You see, Hero and I are downsizing, and I mean really,
really downsizing! We are so involved in sorting, packing, and donating that
each of us has threatened to go to bed and pull the covers over our head. Life has
been so hectic that I let my blog time slip up on me.
Here’s the
description for OUT OF THE BLUE:
1845 Ireland: Herbal healer Deirdre Dougherty never cursed at anyone, much
less put a curse on the potato crop of her remote Irish village.
She’d rather take her chances with the Atlantic lapping at the bottom of the
cliff than the mob intent on burning her as they have her cottage. Deirdre
leaps . . . and plops down over 175 years later in a Texas lake. She doesn’t
understand how she’s ended up with the man from her recent visions or why he
has the same name as the saint to whom she prayed. She’s in danger of falling
for the handsome policeman who rescued her, in spite of the fact that he thinks
she’s lying to him. How can she convince him her story is true when she’s
finding it difficult to believe the tale herself?
Texas Today: Police Detective Brendan Hunter wants answers. Who shot him and killed his partner? Why? And why does Deirdre know details of the event? Her story has to be a colossal fabrication or else she’s a beautiful psycho. Either way, he wants her gone before he becomes even more fascinated with her. But he can’t let her out of his sight until she confesses to how she learned details no one but he and his late partner knew.
You
can grab an e-book of OUT OF THE BLUE
here:
https://www.amazon.com/OUT-BLUE-Caroline-Clemmons-ebook/dp/B008ULBEK6/
Enjoy an excerpt from OUT
OF THE BLUE:
A huge black
car apparently had been parked at the back of the lot by the Dumpster and
pulled alongside her. Deirdre saw the dented fender before the door opened.
Then she realized the two scary guys from the bar were inside, partially
obscured from view by the tinted windows. The blond stepped out and reached for
her.
She
understood his intent so she screamed for help and ran away from him. People
came to the store window.
Polly rushed
to the door. “Blossom’s calling the police. Hold on, Deirdre, we’re coming.”
But no one
rushed to her aid. What could a few ladies do against these two frightening
men? She’d have to save herself, so she screamed again.
The blond
caught up with her and grabbed her arm. “No use screaming, lady. You’re coming
with us.” He dragged her toward the car.
She kicked
him and screamed again, clawing at him with her free hand. She drew blood along
his arm and scratched his face.
He jerked
her and grabbed both her hands. “You’re gonna be sorry you made me mad. I have
lots of ways to get even.” He told her what he planned as he yanked her toward
the car’s back seat.
Strong as an
ox, the man held her in an iron grasp so her feet barely touched the ground. He
heaved her toward the open door. Suspended above the ground, she braced a foot
against the car’s body. With her other, she kicked him between the legs, just
as Ma had taught her.
He turned
red and released her as he doubled over and dropped to his knees. Without him
supporting her, she hit the pavement hard. Her back took the force of her fall
and the air whooshed from her. She couldn’t stand but she rolled away.
The driver
pointed a gun at her. “Get in or you die right here, right now.”
What had
Brendan said about this situation when they watched television? “Never get in the car with anyone.” But
how could she resist without him shooting her? She recalled the blonde’s
threats. If she had to die, she’d rather it be here quickly than at the hands
of these two later. She made the sign of the cross and prepared herself for
death.
A horn
honked and tires squealed. Brendan yelled. “Deirdre, I’m coming.”
Blossom and
Polly hurried toward her, each carrying a broom and wielding it as if they
intended to beat on the blond man. Several associates came with them and lobbed
jars of something at the car. In the heat, the jars exploded like small bombs.
After one loud crack, red oozed along the spider-webbed glass windshield.
“What the
hell?” The scary man in black turned back toward the steering wheel. “Damn it,
Rod, with or without her, get the hell in here.”
She
struggled to her knees then stood, backing away.
Apparently
unable to straighten, the guy she’d kicked hoisted himself back into the car.
He yelled, “I’ll get you for this, bitch. When I do, you’re gonna beg me to
kill you before I’m through.”
The black
car took off with a squeal from smoking tires, dripping red salsa and leaving
glass shards in its wake. The driver had his head stuck halfway out the side
window, his front windshield obviously too damaged and dirty for the wipers to
clear. Aromas from the salsa’s spicy contents filled the air—cilantro,
tomatoes, chili peppers. Deirdre fell in love with those scents.
As with most of my other books, OUT OF THE BLUE is also available in paperback and is free in
Kindle Unlimited. If you haven’t yet read this fast-paced story, I hope you’ll
take advantage of the October price to grab your copy.
What’s your
favorite part of Fall?
No comments:
Post a Comment