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Showing posts with label Margo Hoornstra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Margo Hoornstra. Show all posts

Friday, November 2, 2018

GUEST: @MargoHoornstra #NewRelease

My friend and fellow Rose (the Roses of Prose blog) and Mid-Michigan RWA chaptermate, Margo Hoornstra is visiting with news about her newest release. Here's Margo to tell you about On The Force

Hello Everyone,

Thank you, Diane for hosting me to help get the word out about my latest romantic suspense release from the Crimson Rose line of The Wild Rose Press.

ON THE FORCE, Brothers in Blue Book 2 officially launched on October 29, 2018. I’m thrilled to be able to share some things here today such as where this book fits in the scheme of my writing feats, what this book is about and an introduction to the characters who are in it, and a little bit of insight into how this book came to be.

The Series:
Brothers in Blue. Four heroes who met at the police academy and became lifelong friends. The dropout, the straight arrow, the movie star and the maverick. All share a passion to serve and protect, each in their own unique way.

This Book:
ON THE FORCE, Brothers in Blue Book 2, highlights straight arrow Detective Vince Miller and recently unemployed CFO Sydney Raines.
Losing her job and reputation is nothing compared to the prospect of losing her life

The Blurb:
Top notch CFO Sydney Raines is devastated when her coveted job working for a high profile conglomerate is yanked out from under her. Determined to restore a mangled reputation, she finds her second chance when the owner of an upscale art gallery hires her as his personal assistant. Straight arrow cop Vince Miller is assigned to crack an international art theft ring. Working undercover, he never counted on meeting Sydney Raines, let alone falling in love with her. Then an unexpected twist in the case reveals the identity of a serial killer, along with the shattering realization that Sydney could be the psycho’s next victim.

The Why and the How:
What do you do with a husband who keeps coming up with interesting plotlines for books? Just when I was at the end of my writing rope one day, he came up with this. A recently unemployed woman, down on her luck. And a law enforcement officer who needs to run surveillance on some bad actors. Turns out her apartment is the perfect vantage point for him and he figures out a way to make good use of it. In doing so, he inadvertently puts her, an innocent civilian, in danger. Then, of course, he must do whatever it takes to save the day, all the while falling in love with the her.
And I was off…

Not that I’m about to give my husband all the credit. At the time, I had a simple short story turned sweet novella, turned full length romantic suspense in the works. What became ON THE SURFACE, Brothers in Blue Book 1 features, Brad Collins, a police officer turned bounty hunter. Originally, that book was a single title stand alone. Or so I thought. But, then again, what do I really know?

A character in ON THE SURFACE, Brad’s mentor, the aforementioned Vince Miller, was just itching for a book of his own.

Who was I to argue?

Except, my version turned out slightly different from my husband’s original vision. In my version, Sydney doesn’t know Vince is working undercover. She thinks he’s your everyday, harmless freelance writer looking for his latest breakout article. And she isn’t at all please with him when she eventually discovers the truth.

All of which takes place, of course, just before she lands smack dab in the middle of a serial killer’s crosshairs.

The Excerpt:
Vince pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal as he fought to block out everything but the highway in front of him. A simple survival tactic as blind faith propelled him on. If he let his mind go where it wanted, all thoughts of Sydney would be front and center. He didn’t want to deal with that much pain just now. To focus on the road was his best option. Straight, flat, predictable.
Until they got to the turn off to the hospital, more specifically, the morgue.
Terror and sadness, rage and impotence stabbed at him from all directions, tearing him up and threatening to destroy his heart.
Beside him, Andy Raines wasn’t faring much better. “It’s not supposed to be like this.” He blew his nose then used the same handkerchief to wipe the tears from red rimmed eyes.
“It’s a hazy connection at best, but right now it’s the only connection we’ve got.” Vince didn’t share the details of the other victims. Not yet anyway. “I just hope to hell I’m wrong.”
“Children bury their parents. Not the other way around.” He coughed into one elbow then dabbed at his eyes again.
Vince kept his lips tight and jaw clenched. The right thing to do was respond. Offer some words of…what? Wisdom? Sympathy? Commiseration?
Pity he had nothing to give as they traveled to possibly identify a Jane Doe dead body as someone they each loved more than life.

ON THE FORCE and ON THE SURFACE are now available in both print and e-book format, to be joined in the future by ON THE MAKE and ON THE MOVE. And, though each is one segment of a four-part series, each one can be read as a stand-alone book in its own right.




ON THE FORCE

Losing her job was nothing compared to the prospect of losing her life…

BROTHERS IN BLUE, BOOK 2

To serve and protect was never more personal

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense

Release Date: October 29, 2018

ASIN: B07H9PVLT6

Amazon Buy Links:




About Margo Hoornstra

Website Blog Twitter Facebook Google+ | Goodreads Amazon Author Page
Like many writers, it’s hard to determine exactly when my fiction writing career began. I remember composing a short story in grade school (I have no idea about what) which was chosen for publication in an all school anthology. A journalism class taken in junior high school led to a job on the school newspaper and a weekly column.

I always loved reading. I loved writing too. Someday, I thought, maybe when I grew up and received the right training, I could actually write a book. After all, I was often told, laughingly most times, I had an extremely vivid imagination.

Through the years, the desire to write was always there. I had so many ideas and characters roaming around in my head, so many stories. But the business of living—going to college, getting married then raising a family—took precedence over something as frivolous as writing a book.
Then one day out of the blue I was downsized—effective immediately—from a job I’d held for over thirty years. What seemed so unfair at the time, I now recognize the tremendous gift I was given that day. As I’m now able to spend more and more time doing what I love—writing romantic fiction—I find I really do have an abundance of stories to share. 



Thursday, August 17, 2017

ALL IN FOR LOVE with Kat Henry Doran


ALL IN FOR LOVE
An Inn Decent Proposal By Sharon Buchbinder
Perfect Odds By Lashanta Charles
A Ghost To Die For By Keta Diablo
Raising Kane By Kat Henry Doran
For Money Or Love By Margo Hoornstra

Take A Chance On Me By M.J. Schiller


Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense Anthology
Release Date: June 1, 2017
ASIN  B071V94BWM                                          
ALL IN FOR LOVE

Six award-winning authors bring you six *sweet to sensual* romances filled with suspense, thrills and maybe even a ghost or two—for less than the price of a cup of coffee—99 cents!

Welcome to La Bonne Chance Resort & Casino!

With thousands of people passing through the casino’s doors on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that a variety of lives and loves are on the line there. It’s said that you’re more likely to lose your heart at La Bonne Chance than a hand of poker. Whether you are the Director of Casino Operations or the guy who created its software, a jilted bride or a black jack dealer, a past guest’s ghost or a sous chef--when it comes to love, the stakes are high.

Thank goodness what happens at La Bonne Chance, doesn’t always stay at La Bonne Chance….

Ready to roll the dice?

An Inn Decent Proposal, Sharon Buchbinder
Can an hotelier with a past and a chef with a future revive the grand dame in a neglected old inn?

Perfect Odds, Lashanta Charles
When a jilted bride meets the man of her dreams, will she embrace the new plan, or cling stubbornly to the old one?

A Ghost To Die For, Keta Diablo
She didn't believe in ghosts...until one showed up in her room.

Raising Kane, Kat Henry Doran
Funny how a night in jail will change a woman's outlook on life.

For Money Or Love, Margo Hoornstra
She's the one woman he can't afford to lose.

Take A Chance On Me, M.J. Schiller
Who do you count on when the chips are down?

Giveaway
To add to the fun, we are giving away one gambling themed handmade item to ONE lucky commenter who will be selected by a Random Number Generator.

Links


* * *

Excerpt from Raising Kane by Kat Henry Doran
Lt. Kieran Pollack signs in to work and comes up against the woman of his dreams: Mallory Kane, ace investigative reporter. Unfortunately she's just spent the night in jail and is in no mood to speak with anyone--particularly a cop.

Anything I need to know before I head upstairs, Sarge?”

It’s all there.” The night duty man passed him the report from the previous platoon. “The usual pugs, thugs and mugs threw themselves a circus down at The Dirty Dawg last night.”

Kieran scrawled his name on the sign-in roster. “Again? Somebody ought to look into closing down that pest hole.”

I bet the Mayor is thinkin’ along those same lines. With the Chief on vacation and the Deputy Chief at a meeting out of town, as PIO it’s your job to handle the fallout. Lucky man.”

Fall-out? “What are you talking about?”

A woman with mile-long legs and hair the color of roasting chestnuts strode past the desk, heading in the direction of the revolving door.

Overnight guest,” the sergeant advised under his breath. “TV Reporter. I was you, I’d head that one off at the pass.”

In addition to a talent for scoping out shapely legs, Kieran possessed the good sense to act on sound advice. After shooting both cuffs and ensuring his tie hung straight, he glided up beside the woman. “Excuse me, miss?”

She stopped, threw back her shoulders, then turned. Yes?

In the shimmer of an early morning sun he saw a nasty bruise blossoming across one cheekbone and winced. 

Does that hurt as bad as it looks?

Who are you and what do you want?”

She possessed a voice designed to make a man think of hot nights and cool sheets. Extending a hand, he launched into his usual PIO song and dance. “Kieran Pollack, Public Information Officer for the Victory PD. What’s a pretty thing such as yourself doing in a joint like this?”

The screech of tires on the street outside obscured any response she might have made. Panel vans bearing the logos of the local TV affiliates disgorged reporters and camera-persons who wasted no time in storming the doors to the Public Safety Building.

Kieran attempted to head her off at the pass with a fast two-step and a faster line of bull. Look, can you help out this hard working public servant?

She raised one hand to shield her injured cheek. Not without my attorney.

Aw, now. Why do you want to go and do something like that? We don’t need no lousy lawyers to make things right, do we?”

I believe it’s somewhere in the Bill of Rights,” she murmured, eluding his out-stretched hand with a fast step to the left.
Please. Hear me out,” he pressed, one eye on the camera-persons now jockeying for position just inside the doors. “I can make this all disappear―if we could go someplace to talk. It would be to your advantage, I promise.”
A spark flared in those dull, pain-filled eyes. “I’d sooner walk barefoot through a nest of pit vipers than spend one second alone with any member of the Victory Police Department.”

About Kat Doran
There was the time I played private duty nurse for my uncle, after he underwent a resection of an aortic aneurysm. Very scary for a number of different reasons. It became my job to ensure Father Joe got sufficient rest which boiled down to playing traffic cop and time-keeper on visitors. On one afternoon, I could see Joe was fatigued and needed a nap. As I rounded up the crowd to send them out the door, one smirked at me. "Who's Nurse Ratched, Joe?" he asked.
I said, "Who are you, the Pope?"
He said, "Close to it, honey. I'm the Bishop."
Aw geez.

Follow Kat Henry Doran on social media.

Email:         WildWomenAuthors@yahoo.com

Blogs:              http://www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com
           
                        www.ApronsWithAttitude2.blogspot.com

                        www.LoneTreeEditing.blogspot.com

                        http://www.Goodreads.com/author/show/16883086.Kat_Henry_Doran



Pinterest:         http://www.Pinterest.com/KatHenryDoran




Monday, September 26, 2016

Our Big Adventure

On Friday, my cohort in crime, Margo Hoornstra, and I climbed into our trusty conveyance (Hubs’ Chevy) and set off for an adventure in the wilds of Northern Michigan. After six hours of battling obstacles along the route (weekend traffic), we arrived at a charming port city on Lake Huron (Alpena). There, we found a comfortable campsite for the night (Best Western).


Why did we embark on this adventure? The Alpena BookFestival. A gathering of authors and readers. On Saturday our hosts, volunteers at the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, greeted us with enthusiasm, happy to see us. We were guided us to local businesses where we participated in panel discussions on our favorite topics—books and writing. An independent bookstore carried our books and set up tables for us to greet readers and sign our books.


The best part was talking. Talking to readers. Talking to other authors. Talking to the gracious event volunteers. A lovely lady named Patti from Rogers City eagerly gave me ideas for a story that has been percolating in my mind for years and made me excited again about this project. I shared a panel on science fiction with two talented guys (Raymond Brege and John Garavaglia) who write sci-fi graphic novels. What amazing young men! A helpful YA author, Chanda Stafford, made a point of seeking me out to share a tip on self-publishing.

Margo and I participated in three panels together. My favorite was on being a Michigan author. We thoroughly agreed with the other five authors that Michigan is a terrific setting for our stories as well as being such a beautiful state. We aren’t prejudiced or anything. We both agreed the networking was the best part of the all-day event. We shared, we learned, we came away happy.

The organization of the festival was amazing. Margo and I are eager to go back next year.

Returning home, I wished we had one of those self-driving cars. Traffic was heavy, as usual on a Sunday with weekend vacationers returning home. With an easy-to-talk-to passenger, the trip went by quickly. Only after dropping off Margo did it become tiring. Stop-and-go through a lengthy stretch of construction forced me to stay focused but stretched the rest of the trip home by an hour and a half.

Still, I was grateful that I got home safely. Exhausted. So tired I slept twelve hours! And woke up this morning to 965 email messages.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.


Thursday, June 18, 2015

Dearly Beloved series by Margo Hoornstra Blog Tour & #Giveaway




Art Imitates Life; Or Is It The Other Way Around?
by Margo Hoornstra
In Only If You Dare, recently divorced Cynthia Buckingham has a one night stand with well- respected judge Jonah Colt. Except they soon discover life just simply isn’t that, well, that simple. As their story unfolds, all sorts of personal issues surface they have to deal with. Jonah is a military veteran suffering, and denying, PTSD. Cynthia happens to have just begun a psychological practice and helping those with PTSD is her specialty.  When they have their first fight and Jonah leaves Cynthia at the restaurant to ‘fend for herself’ she’s mugged and her purse is stolen.  Add to all of this, many of their clandestine times together are interrupted by face-time calls on the computer from Cynthia’s grown daughter with various crises she needs solved in the planning of her quickly approaching wedding.  Given that Cynthia’s goal is to keep Jonah’s presence in her life a secret, these calls pose a special, and physical, challenge.

Enter me, the author, to present all of these issues and make them believable. I’ve never been divorced, never indulged in a one night stand, never served in the military, never been a judge, never been a psychologist, never suffered from PTSD, never been mugged, though I once had my purse stolen, have face timed with my grandchildren, and helped two grown daughters plan their weddings. Out of ten things, I have, hands on, personal experience with three of them.

That’s where imagination comes in. I put myself in the shoes of my characters and try to envision how they would act, think and feel in various situations. I’m not trying to suggest that I’m an expert at any of it.

In my writing, I’m a true pantster from the word go. I come up with an idea--no let me rephrase that--an idea comes to me and I begin a mental game of what if. Sometimes--let me rephrase again--most times my characters surprise me. They will say or do something in a beginning chapter, and I won’t have a clue why. Then a few chapters down the road, whatever it was they said and did before makes perfect sense to me now.

I guess you could say I view writing as an adventure, a journey, a joy. Here’s hoping those who read my work agree.



Only If You Dare
by Margo Hoornstra
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Wild Rose Press
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 26, 2013
Length: 117 Pages

All the pleasures and none of the pain, that's what Cynthia Buckingham wants in a relationship these days. A one-night stand with Jonah Colt seems to fit that bill perfectly. Newly divorced, she's too busy planning her daughter's wedding for any serious involvement. Besides, her true passion is helping victims of PTSD reclaim their lives.

Waking up after spending the night with a woman he barely knows, Jonah is stunned to realize sex for the sake of sex isn't enough for him anymore. A veteran of more military battles than he cares to count, he wants to forget it all and focus on peaceful civilian life. Except flashbacks won't allow it.

Falling for Cynthia makes Jonah regret his weakened state, but he'd rather hide the truth than face it. When she sets aside everything she believes in to help him heal, can he accept her help--and her love?

REVIEW by Diane Burton

You can count on Margo Hoornstra to deliver an emotional story. She starts with two characters who are hurting—Cynthia, newly divorced; Jonah, suffering from PTSD. Neither wants a relationship. Fun and sex is fine. Only it isn’t enough. Their relationship is too new to trust each other, especially Jonah, who is in denial that his wartime service is a problem. Although I don’t know anyone personally who has PTSD, I imagine it would be very difficult for a man to admit he needs help. But when Cynthia, whose job is to help those with PTSD, tries to help him, Jonah rejects her. Double whammy for Cynthia whose husband rejected her and their marriage. Ms. Hoornstra provides good character analysis, the dialogue is realistic, and—since this is a romance—a happy-ever-after for Cynthia and Jonah.

 Night Stars and Mourning Doves
by Margo Hoornstra
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Wild Rose Press
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 22, 2013
Length: 90 Pages

Elyse Monroe may be her sister's maid of honor, but that doesn't mean she has to follow the bride's example and fall in love. Battle-scarred and weary from previous relationships, she has no desire to take a chance on another--no matter how many hints her little sister drops about the best man.

Devastating life events have taken a toll on Eric Matthews. After losing his wife and unborn daughter, he's come home to heal. Serving as best man at his kid brother's wedding is the only relationship he cares to contemplate--no matter how attractive the maid of honor.

Thrown together again and again by wedding duties, Elyse and Eric reluctantly agree to explore a possible relationship--only to have their casual date turn into a glorious night of passion. Can two hearts, convinced a happily ever after will never happen, recognize love when it finds them?

REVIEW by Diane Burton
I was only supposed to review ONLY IF YOU DARE, but I enjoyed both books so much I had to write about them.

Margo Hoornstra knows how to pluck the heartstrings. She tells a sensitive story of two people learning how to deal with tragedy in their lives. Eric lost his wife and baby daughter in a miscarriage; Elyse lost her innocence through sexual and physical abuse. Neither believes they will ever find true love. Though a quick read, the story is packed with emotion. I especially liked the explanation for the title. Very heart warming. The characters are well drawn, especially Eric. I have to add that the cover does not reflect the story. I know the author has no control over the design. I wish the publisher had given her a better cover.
About Margo Hoornstra
Website | Blog Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
 Like many writers, it’s hard to determine exactly when my fiction writing career began. I remember composing a short story in grade school (I have no idea about what) which was chosen for publication in an all school anthology. A journalism class taken in junior high school led to a job on the school newspaper and a weekly column.

I always loved reading. I loved writing too. Someday, I thought, maybe when I grew up and received the right training, I could actually write a book. After all, I was often told, laughingly most times, I had an extremely vivid imagination.

Through the years, the desire to write was always there. I had so many ideas and characters roaming around in my head, so many stories. But the business of living—going to college, getting married then raising a family—took precedence over something as frivolous as writing a book.

Then one day out of the blue I was downsized—effective immediately—from a job I’d held for over thirty years. What seemed so unfair at the time, I now recognize the tremendous gift I was given that day. As I’m now able to spend more and more time doing what I love—writing romantic fiction—I find I really do have an abundance of stories to share.