HEARTBEAT-Coming Soon

Heartbeat is the story of two young lovers compelled by fate to live apart, yet destined to love each other forever. Moving from Pennsylvania to California and finally war-torn Lebanon, this is a genuine love story.

Anyone can enjoy this love story, especially young adults. But be warned, you will not find fairies, trolls, vampires, zombies or werewolves in this romance. They aren’t necessary to embrace this love story. You also won’t find the happily ever after fairytale ending as you turn to the last page of Heartbeat. Read the book and you will see the ending fits the story that was told.

From The Author

Heartbeat was written over twenty years ago after the tragic October 23, 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. My heart went out to all family members and friends to those servicemen who had lost their lives. In turn, the writer in me began thinking of the young widows left behind. They had barely begun their lives with their husbands when in an instant it was over. Each woman had a story to tell of how she had met and fallen in love with her husband, making it impossible for me not to want to write about one of those love stories I had imagined.

This young adult novel will be available for the Kindle and Nook early April. So mark your calendar.

Until Next Time...Debra

Dangerous Bedfellows-excerpt

Damaged goods. That's one way to describe Jackie Bertoni. Survivor is another after the traumatic childhood she endured at the hands of her father in Italy. With the help of the American filmmaker her boyfriend sold her to for a week of sexual pleasure, she is able to fulfill her lifelong dream to escape to America. Life is good to her in the land of the free. She becomes a successful movie producer. Sixteen years slip by before the big betrayal when Jackie knows she'll never be free-never whole-able to trust another man until she gets even with the three who shattered her heart.

Excerpt:

Jackie’s gaze wandered from headstones to somber faces. But not to the casket that held the body of her only true friend Desmond Sinclair. She recognized the people standing around her. Except for…

Now she knew she hadn’t worn the black net veil because it matched her black suit. She’d worn the veil to hide her eyes. She continued to stare at the man. The handsome stranger looked familiar even though she was positive she’d never met him. She searched her memory until it came to her. Andrew Michaels. His picture appeared in her Los Angeles newspaper a lot. The last time he’d posed on the courthouse steps, relief radiated from his eyes when he smiled for the cameras after achieving a guilty verdict on a high profile murder case.

How dare he show up here? Thanks to her Desmond couldn’t harm anyone anymore. A cold chill rolled through her. Perhaps the district attorney had come for her. Undecided if she should bolt or approach the man, Jackie was suddenly frozen in a time past when Marcus DeMario stepped into view.

The sight of him took her breath away just like the first time she saw him all those years ago. He stepped away from the limousine and weaved around headstones in her direction. As he neared, she saw his features had changed little. What had changed was the hardness in his composure, a coldness that sent another chill through her.

With her chin tucked into her chest, she watched him step up to the casket to pay last respects. Once or twice his steely eyes glanced her way. He showed no signs of recognizing her.

Of course he wouldn’t recognize you, she reminded herself. You were a disposable piece of property to the man.

But Marcus did recognize her. Not the first time he glanced in her direction. The second time his gaze traveled up her black nylons he knew of only one pair of legs so perfect. But what was Jackie Bertoni doing at Desmond Sinclair’s funeral? What was she doing in America?

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Until Next Time...Debra

Deadly Arrows (A Fay Cunningham Mystery-Book 2)-$2.99

Fay Cunningham, publisher of a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper, is in big trouble again. She's thrown into the investigation of an archery murder and must convince a young whippersnapper police officer the arrow that smacked into a tree next to her didn't come from a hunter who mistook her for a deer. Fay must prove it with lightning speed before the next arrow lands her six feet under.

Here's an excerpt:

The Kill

My boots dug into the crusted snow as I swung my bow forward. A twig snapped nearby and I jerked my head around fearing a hunter. I listened. Silence. I ordered myself to remain focused.
The postal truck rounded the curve and slid to a stop alongside a rotted two-by-four supporting the mailbox. The driver reached out the window and stuffed a bundle of envelopes into the rusty box. Then the vehicle’s rear tires spun on a patch of ice before it launched forward and disappeared around the bend in the road.
Just like clockwork, she appeared at the cabin door. Wearing only a tee shirt and jeans, she dashed for the mailbox. As she came around to the front of the box, I pulled back on the string, hesitated, then released.
The arrow hurtled between the trees. The direct hit sent a spine-tingling thud through the forest. I sucked in a breath of frigid air as I watched her crumple to the ground.
It was done. Time to go.


Chapter One


Something moved across my back.
Shoving the quilt off my head, I not only heard Kitty’s angry meow and hiss, but a persistent buzzing. When I reached for the alarm clock on the nightstand, my cherished calico sprang off the bed, obviously peeved. As my fingers fumbled for the off button, my eyes focused on the red glow of the numbers. It read a little after three in the morning. Then it dawned on me, the annoying buzz was coming from my front door.
Sliding out of bed, I shivered from the cold and shrugged into my furry robe and slid my feet into my slippers. I made my way out into the hallway and down the open staircase.
What sensible person calls at such an ungodly hour? It had to be Mitch.
I flipped on the porch light, but my fingers fumbled with the door lock.
“Open the door, Fay. It’s cold out here.”
When I swung the door open, Mitch, a gentleman when it suits him, took off his Stetson, exposing a mass of graying waves. However, the gentleman didn’t bother to wipe the snow from his cowboy boots before entering my house.
I followed him toward the kitchen, deciding which question to ask first. When he opened the upper cupboard door, where I keep the hard liquor, I gritted my teeth.
“Don’t do it, Mitch.”
An invisible line of tension stretched between us for a long minute. His fingers pressed into the cupboard door handle.
“I’ll make coffee.” I padded around him and my shoulder lightly brushed the arm of his sheepskin coat. “Take a load off till it’s ready.” While running water into the pot, I heard him scoot out a chair. As I turned around, he slumped in the seat. His hat fell from his fingers and landed on the floor under the table.
Our eyes met.
“I want you to stay out of this, Fay.”
I sat down at the table across from him. “So you got my message?”
“Climbed back into my truck as soon as I heard it on the answerin’ machine.” He stared into my eyes. “Fay, I’m serious. I don’t have a problem with you checkin’ with the police on the progress of the case for your newspaper. But that’s as far as it’s gonna go.”
Because I believed the man heartbroken by the news of his niece’s murder hours earlier, I nodded in agreement, closing my lips tightly so the words I wanted to say wouldn’t come barreling out.


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Enjoy...Debra

A Dangerous Woman (A Fay Cunningham Mystery- Book 1)99 cent sale

The 99 cent sale won't last long. Here's the story.

Fay Cunningham, publisher of a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper, is having a well-deserved midlife crisis. Both nicotine-and calorie-deprived, she stays busy delivering the paper she publishes in order to get closer to her customer base, craving inspiration, a smoke, and a cheeseburger. But she discovers something odd going on behind the closed doors of her trusted friend Joe Wise. Like, where is he and who is the mysterious blonde rudely blocking Fay’s entry to his house?

Adding to the puzzle, Fay learns that Joe’s brother and biggest rival, Thomas, has just died under strange circumstances. Joe was Fay’s professional benefactor and her journalistic instincts kick into overdrive. But first, she has to get past Angel, Joe’s hostile and secretive new companion. And when Fay’s questions get too personal, a killer makes lethal plans to send Fay into permanent retirement….

99 cents to Purchase for Kindle.

99 cents to Purchase for Nook.

99 cents to Purchase at Smashwords.

Enjoy the read. Debra

Taken-99 cent sale

Today the $2.99 price for Taken was reduced to 99 cents. This sale won't last long. Now is the time to get your copy. Here's a little description.

Welcome to the fictitious little town of Watery, Pennsylvania where the district attorney’s personal secretary, Mary Murray never planned to become a single mom or a suspect in her infant’s disappearance, but she plans to find Jena before she suffers the same fate Mary’s younger brother had when he was taken twelve years earlier.

Available for purchase at Amazon for Kindle.

Available for purchase at Barnes & Noble for the Nook.

Available for purchase at Smashwords.

Until Next Time...Debra

Redemption-Excerpt #2

The President and First Lady were having breakfast together on one of those rare occasions when their schedules had them at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at the same time.
Virginia Clark sipped sweetened hot tea as she read her favorite morning newspaper.
Paul opted to enjoy his breakfast before taking a look at what the journalists were saying about him today. He quickly polished off the bowl of fresh fruit and was about to dig into the good stuff spread out on the table in front of him, when his wife’s comment killed his appetite.
“It must be true what the Speaker has been quoted saying about Asa.”
Paul Clark would have preferred being thrown in front of the press corps without any preparation than to get into a conversation with his wife about the legendary book publisher, Asa King. He didn’t mind chatting with her about Cole Anderson, the conservative black man who was Speaker of the House and second in line for the Presidency. But Paul knew the discussion would then end up including Dane Williams, Paul’s vice-president, the man poised to take over his job as President. And Paul especially didn’t want to go there today. But Virginia was waiting for a response from him.
“Just what is it Cole was to have said about old Asa?”
Virginia gave Paul one of her mean looks she had used on their two daughters when they were small and had misbehaved. It had been difficult for Paul to keep a straight face back then when he saw the way his wife’s forehead wrinkled up and her pretty green eyes narrowed. But it was simply impossible now, after living with the woman all these years and seeing she didn’t have a mean bone in her petite body.
“Asa must have more money than brains,” Virginia said. Then her eyes returned to the newspaper, a signal to Paul she was letting him off the hook this time for playing dumb with her.
“I mean, why else would he give an unknown author an estimated five million dollars for a first book?”
“Her first published book after writing ten.” Before Paul finished his sentence, he realized the terrible mistake he had made.
“How do you know how many books she wrote? For that matter, how do you know anything about her when the paper only refers to her as the anonymous author?”
“Did I mention that Dane’s playing golf with Asa this afternoon?”
This time when Paul dared a glance across the table, he saw something in his wife’s eyes, in her entire expression, he had never seen before.
“What does their playing golf together have to do with this author, Paul?”
Paul had no idea where to begin. But he knew the time had come to tell Virginia. She deserved to know before the rest of the world. He just hoped he hadn’t misread her all these years in believing she didn’t have a nasty streak in her. If he had, her reaction could very well mean the end.

Want to read the whole novel?

99 cent special at Amazon for Kindle

99 cent special at Barnes & Noble for Nook

Until Next Time...Debra

Redemption-Excerpt

“Ouch!”
“You told me to pinch you.”
Kay Diggs rolled over in bed and went nose to nose with her husband. “I’m not dreaming, am I?” She giggled. “I really pulled it off this time, didn’t I?”
“You did. And probably broke the record for advances on a first book.”
Kay flung herself onto her back and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of another rush of adrenaline that made her tingle from head to toe.
Once the exhilarating sensation settled down, she flipped back toward her husband. “Just how many zeroes are behind that five?”
Bill Diggs chuckled. Then he wrapped his powerful arms around his wife and eased her close to him.
They cuddled and kissed for the next thirty seconds before the alarm clock buzzed and Bill reached over to the night stand and tapped the button to shut off the annoying sound.
“We can play hooky today,” Kay suggested.
Sky blue eyes looked down into darker ones. “You can. You deserve to. But this old man has a house to get under roof.”
A short kiss and Bill tossed back the sheet with the intention of getting up. That is until Kay’s fingers tiptoed along his firm, tanned chest, then downward, getting the response twenty-five years of marriage had taught her to expect.
This round of lovemaking was without the foreplay the earlier one had, but the result was just as sweet.
Kay lingered in bed, watching and admiring her husband as he pulled on faded jeans and a tee shirt. When he sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his work boots, she ran her hand up and down his spine.
Bill twisted around and gave her a quick kiss. “Gotta go, babe. We’ll celebrate some more tonight.”
Kay waited until he was through the bedroom doorway to call out to him. “One more thing.”
Bill poked his head inside. “I’m listening.”
“You’re not an old man, lover boy.” She winked and sent him off with a smile.
Once Kay heard Bill’s pickup engine groan before kicking on, she flung off the sheet and got to her feet.
If she was going to cram everything she wanted to accomplish into the day, there wasn’t time to lie around thinking about what she was going to do with all that money.
* * *
They were listening for the truck to start too, and watching. It wouldn’t be long now. After they saw the beat-up truck back out of the driveway and rattle down the street, they made contact.
* * *
Approximately ten miles northeast of their stake out, inside an unoccupied barn, their boss was getting things ready for her arrival when his cellular phone rang.
He waited for the third ring before unfolding the pocket-sized portable.
“She should be leaving the house in twenty minutes.”
“Bring her to me.”

99 cents gets you the full novel. Purchase Kindle edition.

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Until Next Time...Debra

Read an Ebook Week

My books, Deadly Arrows and Taken are 50% off March 6th through March 12th as part of Smashwords Read an Ebook Week. If you click here it will take you to my page at smashwords. Or you can just give a click on the titles.

Deadly Arrows (A Fay Cunningham Mystery-Book 2)


Taken

Dangerous Bedfellows-Updated Cover/Price

Dangerous Bedfellows has an updated cover and price. For a limited time the price has dropped to 99 cents. To purchase the Kindle edition CLICK HERE.

Should be available at Barnes and Noble for the Nook at the same price by tomorrow.

Until Next Time...Debra

Redemption-Kindle

Redemption went live on Amazon today for the Kindle at the incredibly low introductory price of 99 cents. Here's the book's description.

Kay Diggs thought selling her novel would make her life easier. She soon learns she couldn't have been more wrong when she is kidnapped, interrogated, and given a subtle threat about her daughter's life. All she has to do to keep her daughter safe is uncover what happened to the missing young girl during the President's college days in the town where Kay lives.

The Book's Opening

Over the years, that horrible vision of her, staring up at him from the freshly dug grave had faded. But in recent months, every time he closed his eyes to try and sleep, all he would see were those blue-green eyes of hers, staring up at him, like when he last saw her that night . . .

You can get your copy by Clicking Here. Love to hear your thoughts on the book.

Until Next Time...Debra