Diane Burton: Release Day

One Red Shoe is now available at Amazon for Kindle.

What a journey this book has had. From an idea sparked during a writing exercise several years ago to publication by The Wild Rose Press. Over the years, parts of the story changed but never the basic premise: a wannabe writer rescues a wounded spy. Another part never changed either: they meet in the women's restroom.

Meet Daria and Sam.

Daria Mason’s life is too predictable. Nothing ever happens in her small Iowa town where everybody knows everybody else. But when she travels to New York City looking for a little excitement, she never expects to bring home a wounded spy.

From the moment agent Sam Jozwiak steals intel vital to US security from a Russian Mafia kingpin, Murphy’s Law takes over. No matter how he covers his tracks, the kingpin’s assassins find him. What’s worse than getting shot in the butt? Accepting help from an Iowa tourist.

Sam and Daria flee cross country with the assassins right behind them. Sharing danger and excitement—and a few kisses—with Sam soon has Daria convinced he’s the man for her. He thinks she’ll be better off once he’s out of her life for good. With their lives on the line, can she convince him they belong together?

Here's the first peek at One Red Shoe.

Sam found a door with a push plate and faded square where a sign used to be. This had to be it. He carefully pushed open the door. No noise to attract Grashenko & Company if they came back. Good grief, the restroom was an explosion of pink. Pepto-Bismol pink with black trim. Sam didn’t have time to find the men’s room now. He would stop the bleeding and get out of this potential trap.

Skylights, dirty like the rest of the windows in the building, let in enough light to see. Good. He didn’t want to risk turning on a light that would shine under the door. Around a corner, hidden from the door, he found a long counter with a row of sinks and a mirror above. All the better to examine the damage done by that trigger-happy fool.

Sam unzipped his jeans and worked down his briefs to expose his hip. What a mess. Not for the first time, he cursed Grashenko for showing up in that hotel room in Smolensk. Sam’s hasty departure, with Yuri and Korioff on his tail, meant leaving behind his gear. His clothes, sunglasses, and emergency medical supplies would bring top dollar on the Russian black market. He would have to make do with what he had. Carefully, he turned a faucet to wet his handkerchief. He blew out a breath in relief the plumbing still worked and was used on a regular basis. No air hissed or sputtered, which would’ve brought Grashenko and Korioff back in a hurry.

With much twisting to see, Sam wiped away the worst of the blood. Amazed that there were paper towels in a dispenser, he folded several and stuffed them inside his briefs. He tried to zip his jeans but the bulge in back pressed on his raw flesh. Hell, he’d zip up when he was done.

When he bent to check his calf, he nearly keeled over from dizziness. He grabbed the counter. His shoe had absorbed the blood. None on the floor, thank God. No trail. Sam patted his shirt pocket and took out his agency cell phone. He needed to find out where the hell Teller was. That idiot better have a damn good reason for doing a no-show. Didn’t he realize the consequences? Didn’t he realize how little time they had to—

The air moved—his only warning that the door to the restroom had opened. A whirlwind in beige blasted past him. In that split second Sam instinctively cataloged the intruder. Female, five-ten, weight uncertain due to voluminous coat, late twenties, long dark single braid, penny loafers. And a large button clipped to her purse. Shit. More dangerous than a Russian Mafia hit man. A wide-eyed innocent. The kind he’d sworn to protect. And here he was bleeding like a stuck pig, so dizzy he was going to fall flat on his face.

I hope you'll enjoy my first romantic suspense. Like my science fiction romances, there's plenty of action, adventure, humor, and best of all romance.

I'm giving away a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card to a lucky commenter. Be sure to leave your email address with your comment so I can contact you. You'll have lots of chances to win if you follow the One Red Shoe Release Tour. At each stop, you'll find either the Rafflecopter or a link back here. Enter as many times as you wish.

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September 26: Patricia Kiyono's Creative Hodgepodge
September 27: Nancy Jardine's He Said, She Said
September 29: Alicia Dean's blog
September 30: Nancy Fraser's Notes from a Romantic's Heart
September 30: Veronica Lynch's Wild Women X2 blog
October 6: Jessica Subject's Mark of the Stars
October 15: Emma Lai's blog
October 9: MJ Schiller's blog
October 14: Kathy Wheeler's blog
October 22: Lisa Chalmer's blog

Hope to see you soon and often.