For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to read romantic suspense, so it made sense that I’d write similar stories, right?  Funny thing is, when I started out, that’s not what I wrote, and it was many years before I realised I’d made a fatal mistake – one that many new writers have also made.

Once realization dawned, I began penning romantic suspense stories.  My stories have a common theme – woman in jeopardy.  These are the stories I prefer to read, and they’re definitely the stories I love to right.

Mostly my heroines have witness a murder and are on the run – from the killers.  The great thing for me, is there is so much scope with this theme. The storylines are virtually endless, the characters can and will be different every time, and researching them can be as much fun as writing the book!

The excerpt today is for Running Scared, which was released by BooksWeLove in June.  I had so much fun writing this book, and the research took me to many places around Melbourne and other parts of Victoria (Australia) where I live.

Back of Book Blurb:

Emma Larkin is running for her life – nowhere is safe.

Stalked by her husband’s killers, and desperate to protect her young daughter, Emma must find what the killers are looking for before she becomes their next victim.

When undercover cop, Gary Bedford, planned a relaxing break, he hadn’t counted on bumping into Emma. Now he can’t resist the temptation to discover all her secrets.

But should Emma trust her life and heart to Gary Bedford?

Can they solve the mystery surrounding her husband’s death – and uncover his deadly secret?

I hope you enjoy this short excerpt:

Chapter 1

What did we do to deserve this? Emma Larkin sat on Sally’s bed assessing the damage. The padded bed head had been slashed, clothes were hanging out of drawers, even the toy box had been up-ended.

“I thought we’d get away from all this,” she said, to herself more than to her four-year-old daughter.

Tears slowly trickled down her face as she picked up Sally’s music box, trying to put the broken toy back together. What they’d do now, she had no idea.

The local police had been of no help. This was way out of their league.

She’d left what little family they had back in Melbourne. She had absolutely no one to turn to.

The move to the countryside was a last ditch effort to get their lives back on track. All this upheaval had achieved very little Emma decided.

“Don’t cry, Mummy,” the little girl told her, reaching out to give her mother a hug. “We can clean up the mess, and Uncle Coop will fix the music box if I ask him.”

Sally planted a big sloppy kiss on her mother’s cheek before settling herself comfortably on Emma’s lap.

“Four days in a new town, a new home, and already…” Emma quietly sobbed.

Life had changed dramatically since her husband’s murder two years ago.

* * *

            “But mummy, I liked that house,” Sally said, pouting. “Why did we have to move again?”

Emma sighed, but explained patiently, “The bad people found us again, Sally. We couldn’t stay there any longer.”

Sally thought about it for a moment. “So does that mean the bad people can’t find us now? Can we stay here forever?” Sally looked to her mother for reassurance. “I like this place. Please can we stay? Please?”

“Sure,” Emma answered. “We’ll stay. We’ll make it so they can’t find us again.” Emma smiled at Sally with renewed confidence.

This large country town was the answer to their prayers she was sure. She’d been so wrong in choosing small towns before. It was too hard to hide – everyone knew everyone. But Bairnsdale was large enough that they would blend in. Their arrival wouldn’t even be noticed.

The brown hair dye was a nice touch. There was nothing like flaming red hair to make a person stand out.

* * *

Taking a long drag on his cigarette, Gary Bedford sat on the steps of the Rotunda at the Main Street Gardens in Bairnsdale. Between assignments, his favorite past time was to come to these gardens and watch the local talent.

Women didn’t seem to go much for cops. And undercover cops? That was a whole different story. Gone for weeks on end depending on the assignment, finding yourself in dangerous or life threatening situations; chicks just don’t go for it.

Naturally there had been the occasional girlfriend, but they never seemed to work out. They just didn’t like his life-style. And when they found out his two brothers were private investigators, that was the absolute end.

A family fraught with danger—that’s what one girl told him—so at thirty-two, Gary was still single and not entirely unhappy about the situation.

Life as an undercover cop wasn’t easy.

________________________________

More information and a longer excerpt can be found here: 

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Thanks for looking!!