#RomanticIdea from
Mari Manning:
I had my first #romanticidea when I was four, and it’s still
a good one. I was lying in bed on a hot afternoon pretending to nap. A summer
shower pattered softly against the roof. I heard children’s voice and tip-toed
to the window so my mother wouldn’t hear my footsteps. Dressed in swimsuits and
boots, the neighbor kids were running in the rain, screaming like wild things
and jumping through puddles. I’d have given anything to be with them.
So … here’s my romantic idea. When a gentle summer shower
drifts over your neighborhood, you and your loved one(s) must put on your
swimsuits and rain boots and be wild things. If you are too dignified for this,
dig out an umbrella big enough for two and go for a romantic walk in the rain
with your honey.
Should your summer shower be accompanied by lightning, turn
off the lights, turn on Billie Holiday and daydream about the rain scene in The
Notebook.
About Stranger in My
House by Mari Manning
When Officer Kirby Swallow’s half-sister is
threatened, Kirby assumes her sister’s identity and journeys to the remote
Texas ranch her sister calls home to catch a killer. Kirby confronts a growing
list of suspects and a rising body count, not to mention the ranch manager,
Seth Maguire, who sees past the charade to the warm, generous girl beneath. But
can Kirby trust a man who rejects the one thing she holds dear: family? Her
love dares all, but as the killer closes in, will it also be blind?
Self-reliant
Seth Maguire is manager of the struggling Shaw Valley Ranch. His future appears
empty until the ranch’s wild, unpredictable heiress suddenly morphs into a very
hot lady cop. What starts out as just another seduction turns into something
deep and, for him, frightening. Then the killer is revealed and Seth is faced
with an impossible choice. Will his fragile, uncertain love be enough to save
Kirby?
Buy link to preorder Stranger in My House is here: http://amzn.to/1WOnFmx.
If you want to prepare yourself for the June 13 debut, pick up the first book
in the stand-alone series, Stranger at My Door. All the major electronic sites
are here: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/stranger-at-my-door/
An excerpt from
Stranger in My House
Seth
guided Darcy into the wide path of grass and clover between the lavender
fields. Frankie fell into step beside him, and a deeply irrational sense of
well-being washed over him. Miss Bea had skinned him alive twice in one
morning. A new record. A new low.
So why
the hell was he feeling so mellow?
The scent
of lavender floated in the warm air. The grayish-purple wands dipped and rolled
like waves. Frankie took a deep, noisy sniff. “Hmm. Smells good.”
“Sure.”
“Must
have been hard for you when my cousin sold the cattle and took up farming.”
He
glanced at her, expecting to see mocking, catlike eyes, but instead he was met
with curiosity. Or was it interest? “I guess. Not exactly what I expected when
I came here.”
“What did
you expect?”
He
shrugged. What did she think he’d expected? “A working ranch. A herd of steers
from here to the horizon. Beefsteak for dinner. Whiskey for dessert.”
She burst
out laughing, and he almost laughed, too. A comfortable silence settled over
them, and he slipped back a pace so he could study the new Frankie. Her cat
eyes didn’t seem so damned spooky this morning. His gaze lingered on strong
cheekbones, golden skin, the gentle puff of pink lips. A breeze lifted. Long,
black hair unfurled, gleaming like jet.
This girl
couldn’t be Frankie. It wasn’t just the horse business. It was the way she
acted, asking questions all the time and looking startled when Miss Bea went
off on her. Sure, she knew a lot about the house and him and the workings of
the ranch. And sometimes she’d tilt her head just like Frankie and do Frankie’s
Beyoncé strut, but not all the time.
So if she
looked like Frankie and talked like Frankie and knew about Frankie’s life, but
wasn’t Frankie, who the hell was she? Besides Frankie’s doppelgänger. He should
be alarmed, wary even. But instead he felt as if he’d finally turned a corner.
About Mari Manning
Let’s start with the fun stuff. I love small towns,
mysteries, quiet men, laughter, old-fashioned spaghetti dinners. I love boots
and shopping and jokes and Hershey’s dark chocolate and white wine. I love lots
of things. But my first love is reading.
I love to read. Just about anything, but it has to be
well-written. I go through periods where I am into historical novels or romance
or mystery or history or biography. I never know when my desires will suddenly
change.
Now for the writer-ish, official stuff: Mari Manning is the
author of several contemporary romances and three romantic suspense novels set
in the Texas Hill Country. Stranger at My Door is the first in her A Murder in
Teas series. The second, Stranger in My House will be released by Entangled on
June 13. The third book in the series is Stranger in My Bed. Currently Mari is
working on a series of cozy mysteries.
She and her husband live in Chicago.
Follow
me @mari_manning on Twitter
Thanks for sharing,
Tina
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