Good Morning, Booklovers!
Today we have writer Kassandra Lamb's alter ego with us. Jessica Dale writes the romantic mystery series, Unintended Consequences.
Welcome, Jessica. How do you take your coffee?
JD: Kassandra drinks tea; she’s allergic to something in coffee. But I sneak a mocha latte past her now and then.
Ally: Mocha latte it is then while we sit back and take a look at your romantic trilogy.
Today we have writer Kassandra Lamb's alter ego with us. Jessica Dale writes the romantic mystery series, Unintended Consequences.
Welcome, Jessica. How do you take your coffee?
JD: Kassandra drinks tea; she’s allergic to something in coffee. But I sneak a mocha latte past her now and then.
Ally: Mocha latte it is then while we sit back and take a look at your romantic trilogy.
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SERIES BLURB:
One autumn afternoon changed everything!
Payback ~ James Fitzgerald is looking forward to a relaxing weekend with friends. Instead he walks into a blood bath, and a cryptic message points to him as the killer. As he attempts to both clear his name and resist his attraction to his lovely neighbor Carrie, he discovers some shocking truths about his family...and wonders if he should’ve let sleeping ghosts lie.
Backlash ~ Taking it slow is no longer an option for James and Carrie’s new relationship when her teenage son appears at her door, leading her abusive estranged husband right to her. But the batterer brings more baggage to the Virginia woods than just his rage at the wife who ran away.
Backfire ~ James’s divorced friend Mary finally goes on a date, which culminates in a hope-inspiring kiss. Until the middle of the night when a rapist breaks into her apartment—a masked man who smells like her date’s aftershave. Frantic, she flees to James’s secluded house in Virginia. But no place is safe, for her rapist is determined to possess her...and even the ghost of her murdered friend may not be able to protect her.
Links to purchase the trilogy can be found at:
Payback: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/payback/
Backlash: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/backlash/
Backfire: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/backfire/
One autumn afternoon changed everything!
Payback ~ James Fitzgerald is looking forward to a relaxing weekend with friends. Instead he walks into a blood bath, and a cryptic message points to him as the killer. As he attempts to both clear his name and resist his attraction to his lovely neighbor Carrie, he discovers some shocking truths about his family...and wonders if he should’ve let sleeping ghosts lie.
Backlash ~ Taking it slow is no longer an option for James and Carrie’s new relationship when her teenage son appears at her door, leading her abusive estranged husband right to her. But the batterer brings more baggage to the Virginia woods than just his rage at the wife who ran away.
Backfire ~ James’s divorced friend Mary finally goes on a date, which culminates in a hope-inspiring kiss. Until the middle of the night when a rapist breaks into her apartment—a masked man who smells like her date’s aftershave. Frantic, she flees to James’s secluded house in Virginia. But no place is safe, for her rapist is determined to possess her...and even the ghost of her murdered friend may not be able to protect her.
Links to purchase the trilogy can be found at:
Payback: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/payback/
Backlash: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/backlash/
Backfire: https://misteriopress.com/bookstore/backfire/
EXCERPT from Backlash, Book 2 in the Unintended Consequences Romantic Suspense Trilogy
CHAPTER ONE
Carrie
For the half-second before the dog reacted, I assumed the person ringing the doorbell was James, arriving for dinner.
Then Ginger went ballistic.
Heart pounding, I power-walked into the living room, trying to convince myself that Greg hadn’t found me, that it wasn’t him at the door.
I really had to get a handle on my fear. This was no way to live.
The doorbell rang again and Ginger raced ahead of me to sniff the crack at the bottom of the door. Another burst of ear-splitting barks bounced off the walls.
Definitely not James. He only rang the bell once before using his own key.
My chest so tight I could hardly breathe, I looked through the door’s peephole. My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a scream.
Wait! Greg’s features, yes, and brown hair like his, but… The face was younger, with dark stubble on boyish cheeks and wide eyes staring back at me—the same sky blue as my own.
I fumbled with the locks and threw the door open. “Philly!”
He grinned, then ducked his head a little. “Hi, Mom.”
***
James
My mind was elsewhere, on the auditions I had lined up over the next week. It was always nerve-racking to be between plays. I rounded the front corner of the old farmhouse and stopped cold, trying to process the scene before me.
Carrie didn’t know any local men well enough to be hugging them. Therefore, this man was from her past, which did not bode well, despite the hug.
My stomach hollowed out.
Was this Greg? Was she the type of woman who ran back into her ex’s arms the minute he was kind to her?
I felt nauseous.
Ginger shoved past Carrie’s leg and trotted over to me. I absently patted the golden retriever’s head as I watched Carrie and the man step apart.
No, more a boy. My insides unknotted some, but my heart hammered harder. Not Greg, but still not good.
“Look at you,” Carrie said to the boy, a big smile on her face.
I stepped up onto the end of the long front porch, my footsteps dull thuds on the wooden floorboards.
The kid startled and pivoted to put himself between me and Carrie, a reflexive move that should not be instinctive in a teenage boy.
He was almost as tall as me, already five-ten, but slender. His blue eyes, so like Carrie’s, were wide in a boy-man face.
Carrie waved for me to approach. “James, this is my son. Phillip, this is my neighbor and friend, James Fitzgerald.”
The son, at this point, didn’t surprise me, but the friend did a little. We were a hell of a lot more than friends.
But hey, it’s her kid. I’ll follow her lead. I stuck out my hand. “Pleased to meet you, Phillip.”
I used the handshake to turn him toward the open front door and began herding them inside. “Best not to be standing around out here,” I said without thinking.
Carrie’s delighted expression deflated like a popped balloon, and I felt like a heel. I could’ve let her enjoy her reunion with her son a few minutes longer before reminding her of the threat that reunion represented.
Once we were all inside, Carrie laid a palm against Phillip’s cheek. “I can’t believe it. You’re shaving.”
His cheeks turned pink under the smattering of dark hairs. “This started a few weeks ago…” He trailed off, his expression part pleased, part sheepish.
“Hey,” I said, “you two catch up for a few minutes.” I slipped back outside, locking the door behind me.
I scanned the stretches of grass on either side of the gravel lane leading down to Carrie’s and my houses. They were beginning to green up after a long winter.
Then I moved my gaze to the woods up by the main road. No signs of movement and no sounds that didn’t belong. A cool breeze carried the scent of damp earth. I headed across our lawns to my own front porch.
A few minutes later, carrying a small paper bag of shaving supplies, I let myself in Carrie’s door with my key.
She and Phillip were sitting in the middle of the living room sofa, their heads bent together. The boy was chattering away—something about school—his voice cracking a bit.
She looked so damned happy that I couldn’t help smiling, even though the implications of his presence were terrifying.
About the Author:
Jessica Dale is the alter ego of retired psychotherapist turned mystery writer, Kassandra Lamb. She has been a human resources administrator, counselor, business owner and college professor. Now she enjoys writing romantic suspense stories with a psychological twist (and the occasional ghost). She is the author of the Unintended Consequences trilogy, the Binding Love duet, and the romantic thriller, Bartered Innocence.
You can connect with Jessica/Kassandra at:
WEBSITE: https://kassandralamb.com/jessica-dales-books/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kassandralambauthor~ https://www.facebook.com/JessicaDaleAuthor/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kasslamb/
BOOKBUB PROFILE: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kassandra-lamb ~ https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jessica-dale
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Kassandra-Lamb/e/B006NB5WAI/ ~ https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Dale/author/B071HTX5S9/
Jessica Dale is the alter ego of retired psychotherapist turned mystery writer, Kassandra Lamb. She has been a human resources administrator, counselor, business owner and college professor. Now she enjoys writing romantic suspense stories with a psychological twist (and the occasional ghost). She is the author of the Unintended Consequences trilogy, the Binding Love duet, and the romantic thriller, Bartered Innocence.
You can connect with Jessica/Kassandra at:
WEBSITE: https://kassandralamb.com/jessica-dales-books/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kassandralambauthor~ https://www.facebook.com/JessicaDaleAuthor/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kasslamb/
BOOKBUB PROFILE: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kassandra-lamb ~ https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jessica-dale
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Kassandra-Lamb/e/B006NB5WAI/ ~ https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Dale/author/B071HTX5S9/
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