Now and Forever 2, The Book of Danny - Free for 5 Days!

 `

FREE FOR EVERYONE UNTIL MARCH 24!

My journey writing this book. 

I don't talk much about the Now and Forever series these days, though it's still one of my favorites. It was one of my first. I have re-edited it and put out second editions for all the books. Yes, I had visions of Mac Caldwell in my mind as I wrote his story, which is book 1. But during that book, and "Callie's Story", Danny Maine kept coming back demanding attention. 

When I finished writing book 1, Danny came to me and wanted his story told.  He wasn't my usual book boyfriend. Danny's scarred, inside and out. He's got PTSD, which gives him nightmares from time to time. In the Army, he was a killer, a sniper. He's having a hard time leaving it behind. 

What shone through for me was his strength, loyalty, and humanity. Danny is all in when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. So I had to tell his story. And I felt like he sat on my shoulder, dictating every word. He lived inside me while I wrote this emotional, suspenseful tale. 

This book took me on a journey. It was the first time a character took over, refusing to let me direct the story. He took it places I hadn't imagined. I couldn't wait to get my fingers on the keyboard each day to see where the story would go.

Danny took a journey. He came back to life. I was privileged to go along for the ride. Still one of my favorite books, I'm pleased to offer you, "Now and Forever 2, The Book of Danny" for free until March 24. I hope you download it, read it, and enjoy it...and fall in love with Danny, just the way I did. 

Here's a bit about the book:

Killer? Lover? Professor? Which one is Danny Maine? Leaving the Army to teach college didn't mean the war left him. Scars to his body, heart, and soul haunt him. Capt. Danny Maine seeks a normal life. He struggles to free himself from crippling war memories and dangerous men, hoping love and a new Glock will bring him peace.

 

   Eliza Baines, widowed dean at the university, finally has life exactly the way she wants it, doesn’t she? When Danny Maine blows into town, he fires up her hunger for love and affection. Can she throw aside convention to build a life with a much younger man?

 

An engrossing, tale of love, loss, mind-blowing surprises, and facing off against insurmountable obstacles, the Book of Danny will touch your heart.

   Caution: Occasional cursing and violence. 

 “...it was a wonderful read that tore me up in the middle, but left me satisfied in the end.”

HERE'S A TASTE OF THE BOOK:

“This way, Danny.” Cal motioned.

“No, don’t go that way…” Danny hollered.

Too late. The explosion might have deafened him, but Danny got lucky. Running away from a bomb one minute, the next, he woke up in an army hospital in Germany. Still, he was the charmed one—getting the Purple Heart and a trip home. Cal hadn’t been so blessed.

Danny had only been out of the hospital for three days when he hitched a ride on a military transport back to the United States. A long plane ride provided the chance to say goodbye to his buddies.

“Hey, Captain, ever get the guy in Iraq who killed your brother?” asked Sgt. Josh Benson.

“Sure, Benson. Him and the rest, too. All those bastards,” Danny replied.

“You got the highest score. How many killed?”

“Lost count.”

“More than me.”

“Everybody got more than you, Benson. Jenny behind the desk hit more than you.”

“Can’t see nothin’ on you. Looks like they never touched you.”

“Yeah, looks can be deceiving. How’s your leg doing?” Danny asked, moving away to make more room for Benson’s leg cast.

“Good,” he lied.

Danny saw the beads of sweat on Benson’s forehead, his pale face. Benson had always been a good liar.

“Glad to be delivering you back to your sister. Say what does she look like again?”

“Stay away from her, Captain. She’s got enough to do takin’ care of me. She can’t be cryin’ her eyes out over givin’ it up to you.” Benson chuckled.

“Too bad. But if she looks like you, maybe not!” Danny laughed.

“I’m not tellin’.” His brow furrowed, Benson asked, “Say Captain…you sleep good?”

“Okay, I guess,” he said, side-stepping the truth.

“I see things. I wake up. I don’t sleep all night,” Benson said quietly.

Danny nodded, looking away.

“Will those things go away? Will I always be seein’ Joe or Cal when I go to sleep?”

“I hope not,” Danny said, looking down at his hands.

“At least I’m still here. Thanks to you.”

“I told you, just shut up about what happened,” Danny snapped, making a fist.

“Why?”

“Everybody here does his bit. I did mine…with you. Don’t talk about it,” Danny said in a low voice.

“Okay, okay.”

“You’re one brother I’m returning home,” Danny said to himself.

“Hey, Maine, we’re coming down over Syracuse. This is your stop, right?” the pilot hollered. Danny moved up to the cockpit.

“Yeah. That’s me.”

“Where do you go from here?”

“I got a ride with Sgt. Marie Willis to Willow Falls,” Danny said.

“Some hick town?”

“College town.”

“You going to school?”

“Teaching.”

“Marie, huh?”

“Better warn her about the Captain,” Benson piped up from the back.

“Shut up Benson or I’ll have to break your arm, too,” Danny called.

“Ever see her, Benson? Don’t think the Captain’ll be interested.”

“She’s female, isn’t she?” Danny cocked an eyebrow.

“As far as I know.”

“I’m interested,” Danny said with a snicker.

“Your vitamin E pack, Captain.”

Accepting the pouch from Benson, he put it in his duffle bag. “Thanks.”

The plane landed. Danny parted from Benson and two other members of his squad. Marie Willis stood at the gate jingling car keys in her hand. Danny stored his gear in her trunk then got in next to her.

“How long a trip is this, Sergeant?” Danny asked the washed-out brunette.

“Call me Marie.”

“Okay, Marie. How long?”

“Maybe four hours?”

“Too bad. Thought we might need to stop for the night,” he said, looking her over.

“That could be arranged,” she said, smiling.

You'll find the ebook free only on Amazon here: 

AMAZONUS

AMAZON U.K.

 

AMAZON CANADA

 

AMAZON AUSTRALIA

AMAZON INDIA

 All of the Now and Forever series books are available in Kindle Unlimited.

And as a boxed set, too

Get the boxed set here:

AMAZON

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F46WY2Q

 

AMAZON U.K

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F46WY2Q

 

AMAZON CANADA

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07F46WY2Q

 

AMAZON AUSTRALIA

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07F46WY2Q

 

AMAZON INDIA

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07F46WY2Q

 

SNEAK PEEK! PREVIEWS OF "SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL" COMING MARCH 28!

Welcome! For the next few days, while my editing team gets this book ready to be published, I'll be posting excerpts. Feel free to stop by and get a taste of the story to come. Before you start, here's a bit about the book: 

Life sucks for Jeff Barrett. His girlfriend hates his hometown, and his mother hates his girlfriend. His alcoholic father dies and leaves his ramshackle bar to Jeff. He can’t even tear down the dilapidated building because it’s landmarked! He puts it on the market with one caveat – the buyer can’t make it a bar again.

 Jackie Stone’s life grinds to a halt when the IRS closes the restaurant she managed, and her boyfriend skips to Montana with another woman. While visiting tiny Pine Grove, looking for a bar to own and run herself, Jackie gets lost. She flags Jeff down to ask directions. The attraction is instantaneous.

It’s smooth sailing on the sea of relationships until Jackie makes an offer for his bar and Jeff refuses. The irresistible force meets the immoveable object. Who wins the tug-of-war? Will the winner find a tornado of trouble is just picking up steam? 

 

New York City

Jackie Stone narrowed her eyes to read the sign on the door of Chuck’s Wagon, the steakhouse where she worked as a manager.

SEIZED!

Big black letters on a bright orange piece of paper plastered on the inside of the glass door shouted out. A huge padlock secured the knob and prevented entry. Puzzled, Jackie tugged on it anyway. The door rattled but stayed shut. She shook her head. How stupid. Like the padlock is gonna fall off because you pull on it?

She whipped out her cell phone and dialed her boss, Chuck Gregory.

“Hey, Chuck. What’s going on? The door’s padlocked. There’s a sign saying ‘seized’ in the window. What the hell?”

“Tax man cut us off.”

“What do you mean, the tax man cut us off?”

“I’m a little behind in taxes. So, they took the restaurant.”

“A little behind?” She paced up and down on the sidewalk in front of the big plate glass windows of the empty eatery.

“Okay. Maybe a lot behind.”

“Chuck. You lost the restaurant?” She stopped, her mouth fell open.

“Yeah, so I’m going out west. Sindara’s got a house in Montana. I figure I’ll find a place out there and open another steakhouse.”

“You’re going where?”

“Montana. Is there something wrong with your hearing, Jackie?”

“Nothing wrong with my hearing. Just my choice of boyfriends.”

“You and I were never serious.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. How could you let this happen? I told you to put money in a separate account. And then when tax time came around, you’d have it.”

“Yeah, well, Sindara wanted to buy the house. She needed the down payment.”

“You gave your tax money to your other girlfriend?” She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand.

“It was a good move because now I have a place to go.”

“What about me? And our staff? Have you told anyone else?”

“Nope. They’ll find out soon enough. Like you did.”

“I can’t believe this.” She resumed pacing.

“Believe it. Have a good life, Jackie. I’m changing my number, so don’t try to get in touch with me.”

“What about my stuff?”

“What stuff?”

“Change of clothes, some baking stuff.”

“Sorry. Everything in there belongs to the taxman now. Gotta go. Good luck.” [KK3] [JJ4] 

Her phone went dead. Screwing her face up, her hand drew back as if to throw the phone, but stopped. Hell, it was her phone. She’d have to pay to replace it. Pay. Pay with what? She didn’t have any income, as of like ten minutes ago.

She sank down on a nearby stoop. Tears burst forth. Chuck—what a dirty, lowdown bastard. Two-timing her and squandering the restaurant’s money. Leaving her with nothing. Branded a failure. Thirty years old and no job, a small savings account, and no place to go.

But she did have a place to go, didn’t she? She pulled up the bottom of her T-shirt to blot her eyes. An older man walking by stopped.

“Keep going. Show’s over.” She shot him a cold stare, and he hurried away.

Opening her phone again, she scrolled through her contacts. When her father’s name came up, she hesitated for a moment before pressing the button.

“Jackie?” The familiar gruff voice set her on edge.

“Hi, Dad.”

“What’s up? Aren’t you working today?”

“That’s what I’m calling about.”

“Oh?” She could hear her father raise his eyebrows.

“Yeah. See, uh, Chuck, kinda didn’t pay his taxes.”

“What?”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“So the feds shut him down, right?”

Jackie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the giant “I told you so.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was almost a whisper. She drew her knees up and rested her forearms on them.

“So you’re out of a job?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then…”

“Aren’t you gonna say it?” Her head bowed.

In a soft tone she’d not heard since she was six, he said, “I’m not gonna say it. Why don’t you come home for a while? You could use a break.”

“Come home?”

“Yeah. I’ll fire up the grill. I’ve got some chops in the freezer.”

“Really?” She sat up straight.

“Sure. You work plenty hard. Take a couple of weeks off. Come out here. We’ll put our heads together and come up with something.”

“Really?”

“Are you hard of hearing or something, Jackie?”

She laughed. “Chuck asked me the same thing.”

“I hope that scoundrel is out of your life now.”

“Oh, he is. Count on it. We’re so done.”

“Every cloud has a silver lining. Hold on a sec.”

Jackie grinned. Could it be true old Cecil Stone would actually come through for her? And without a lecture? Maybe the lecture was yet to come? She’d deal with it.

“Okay. I’m back. The schedule says there’s a three thirty train. Can you be ready in time?”

“I can.”

“Good. I’ll pick you up at the station.”

Her tears returned. “Thanks, Dad. You’re the best. I didn’t think. I just.”

“Oh, hush. That’s what dads are for, see you at four fifteen.” He ended the conversation.

Sooo, what did you think? Does it make you want to read more? Your feedback is welcome. Please feel free to leave a comment.