This Time Always by Suzette D. Harrison

She’s 53. He’s 46. Your point is?

Vivacious Niyana Nichols isn’t looking for love. Between the demands of work as a Wellness Clinic Administrator, recent widowhood, and being there for her two beautiful daughters, love has taken a back seat for the fifty-three-year-old. To complicate matters, she’s also suffering from Alopecia. Yet, when Niyana meets her daughter’s handsome professor, she is faced with emotions she thought she’d buried with her husband.

Divorced single father and African-American Studies professor, Omari Josef, is devoted to his career. When the forty-six-year-old grandfather meets the gorgeous and spirited Niyana, he’s forced to rethink his own happiness. Their age difference doesn’t matter to him. What does is making sure she realizes that she’s a woman worth cherishing. Will the sudden reappearance of Omari’s ex-wife wreak havoc in his life? Or will their undeniable attraction grow into something solid and abiding?

SNEAK PEEK INTO THIS TIME ALWAYS
Hey Readers, meet Niyana & Omari from the new novel This Time Always by Suzette D. Harrison!

Lifting his head out of the water, he glanced in her direction. “Niy.”

“Hmm?”

“If you fall asleep I’m not carrying you. I will leave you there.”

Her drowsy smile was her only response.

He flicked water at her. “‘Ey, wake up.”

“No, and leave me alone.”

Scooping a handful of water, he mischievously tossed it.

“God of Zion, please get this man.”

He repeated the torment.

“Sir, I’ma need you to quit.”

“Not until you dip a toe in.” True to his threat, he played the role of pest, splashing her and smack-talking until she finally vacated the chaise and stomped towards him.

Lifting the hem of the spaghetti strap maxi dress flowing about her sensuous frame, she grudgingly complied with his wishes. “There. Happy?”

“Maybe.” Standing in the shallows, he grabbed her ankle before she could turn away.

“Omari…stop misbehaving.”

“Come on, baby, sit with me.”

She stood a moment faux-glaring before advising, “Five seconds and I’m finished.”

“Fair.” He offered a stabilizing hand as she lowered herself to the pool’s edge. “How’d you get wet?” He feigned innocence.

She tucked her dress about her thighs with a smile. “This pool has obviously gotten to you.”

“Maybe it’s you.” Hands at her waist, he granted her a kiss that was sweet, quick before latching his legs about her and floating onto his back again, keeping his ears above water in order to hear. “Enjoy the day?”

“The day. Tonight. Dinner. Maestro Marsalis and that jazz. Absolutely, and yes. But I’m especially appreciating my Dr. Delicious in these swim trunks.”

His laugh caught in his throat, his abdominal muscles quivered as she slowly ran pedicured and polished toes up and down his naked torso.

“I’ll like these trunks even more when they’re off.”

He lifted his head and stared long and hard, finding nothing but pure desire in her eyes. Still, he was disinterested in a replay of last night. “Woman, don’t play with me.” His voice was gruff, unintentionally.

“I never play this way, Omari.”

THIS TIME ALWAYS by Suzette D. Harrison
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To Catch A Raven by Yasmina Iro

To Catch A Raven by Yasmina Iro

She needed to catch a Killer, She never thought she’d find Love instead.

Yasmina Iro is proud to debut her latest trilogy Dark Goddess and its first book To Catch A Raven.

Yasmina Iro has been praised for her first work, “Shroud” for her unique voice and style and be ready to see even more of that in her latest work!

To Catch a Raven is a paranormal romance set in the fictional future and the first book in Yasmina Iro’s new Dark Goddess Trilogy. It will appeal to readers of Jeaniene Frost’s “Night Huntress” series and Laurel K Hamilton’s “Anita Blake”, while exploring a new, futuristic take on paranormal romance. To Catch a Raven will astound readers with its relatable characters, unique setting and deep, erotic narrative. The story features characters from all walks of life and sexual orientations, helping to bring more representation into the paranormal genre.

To Catch a Raven follows the story of Raiven, an immortal with a twisted past and a dark future as she works to solve the case of a Supernatural serial killer. The case comes a little too close for comfort when her best friend Justina is injured and Raiven finds the withdrawn local Alpha Kisten assigned to protect her. The only problem is Raiven wants Kisten, and she’s not allowed to have him.

Dark Goddess Trilogy – Book 1, To Catch A Raven
To Catch a Raven is the first in the Dark Goddess Trilogy. The novel follows the story of Raiven and Kisten as they fight for their future together while navigating the ghosts from the past and along the way, discover the truth about Raiven and what she is. That truth and what it means for the world as they know it, will be the ultimate challenge for this unlikely pair.

What Others are Saying:

“There are several big reveals that continue to shift the storyline in unexpected ways, something that even a jaded reader like myself can fully appreciate and still be surprised by.”

“I was in no way prepared for how totally addicting this novel would be, and the sheer magnitude of the new world, the compelling characters, the multi plots that break the mold… I was really impressed.”

About the Author
When it comes to travelling, Yasmina Iro knows a thing or two about putting on the mileage. They can often be found exploring the world, travelling to learn about new cultures and experience our beautiful planet. From their home base in the United States, they enjoy creating new worlds and cultures for their readers to explore with them. When not exploring, Yasmina can be found decorating beautiful cakes in their kitchen while caring for their blooming family or sneaking some work on their webcomics. There’s also something new going on with them and that’s the way they like it.

If you would like to connect with her, you can visit her website at http://www.yasminairo.com or follow her on Twitter @murosakiiro.

Twitter: @Murosakiiro
Website: http://www.yasminairo.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/murosakiiro

 

Allegra’s Shadow by Dana Sanders Hill

Allegra’s Shadow by Dana Sanders Hill

When Mariah St. Cloud becomes a full-fledged member of the walking wounded, she shuts down. She’s learned that men are born heartbreakers, so work becomes her lover. It’s dependable and won’t leave the toilet seat up. But the untimely death of her beautiful, estranged sister Allegra kicks her predictable life to the curb and brings ex-cop Anthony Caine into her everyday existence-intense, protective, and far too handsome for her self-imposed celibacy.

Conflict is inevitable. Anthony wants to tumble Mariah’s reserve like the walls of Jericho and keep her safe. Mariah just wants him out of her hair–even as she stands in the deadly shadow of Allegra’s secrets.

About the Author
Dana Sanders Hill has spent most of her life reading and writing romance that focus on family dynamics. Her current romantic suspense, Allegra’s Shadow, is no different. After years of dealing with New York winters that made her bones rattle like dice, Dana moved south. She lives and works out of her home in North Carolina with her family and hopes to get a female Shiba Inu soon, because it’s hard being the only female in the house.

Her first romantic suspense novel ALLEGRA’S SHADOW was nominated for an African-American Literary Award.

You can visit Dana’s webpage, https://danasandershill.wixsite.com/dana, for updates. You can also connect with Dana on Twitter @danasandershill or on Facebook at facebook.com/DanaSandersHillFanSite.

Purchase Allegra’s Shadow by Dana Sanders Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Dana-Sanders-Hill/e/B07NNYYVWW

Seducing the Pen: Behind the Scenes in creating Allegra’s Shadow

Allegra’s Shadow is a romantic suspense set in Raleigh, North Carolina and Hackensack, New Jersey and targets African American women ages 18 to 50. It follows Mariah St. Cloud, who’s estranged, older sister Allegra dies in her North Carolina home. Allegra’s Shadow shows how family dynamics affect other relationships, especially romantic ones.

One central issue is the relationship between fathers and daughters and how they impact a girl’s self-esteem into adulthood. Mariah felt unpretty and unworthy because her father didn’t love her, and because Allegra was his favorite. The page before Chapter One is a dedication which reads, “To all the women and girls who feel unpretty, this is for you.”

The title of the book refers to Mariah growing up in the shadow of Allegra’s beauty, confidence and charisma while Allegra was alive and being surrounded by Allegra’s shadow after death, because of Allegra’s secrets and lies. Although Allegra’s death is ruled an accident, Mariah feels that something is wrong in Denmark.

As Mariah delves beneath the surface of Allegra’s life, she finds herself battling facing multiple issues: her painful past with Allegra; present danger; and unexpected love.

What’s Next in the Series
I’m finishing up a prequel to Allegra’s Shadow, which delves into Mariah and Allegra’s childhood and shows why they never had a close sisterly bond. It’s entitled Prelude to a Shadow.

Allegra’s Shadow is the first in a related series of romantic suspense. I’m almost finished with the second book in the series entitled What Lies Beneath, which is set in the fictional town of Bowman Point, North Carolina. It’s somewhat different and darker than Allegra’s Shadow. The hero and heroine know each other. Back in high school, easy-going lawyer Max Bowman and Trina Carter, a feisty forensic pathologist, used to be secret first loves, until he dumped her without warning and left town for fourteen years. The only reason he returned is because his domineering father had a stroke.

In What Lies Beneath, Trina learns that her entire life is a lie. She always believed Cyrus, who just died, was her father. But after his funeral, she discovers that her parents’ blood types cannot produce a child with Type AB blood. All her life, Trina faced ridicule because she has a high IQ and her mother Sara, who suffered from postpartum depression and tended to wander, abandoned her.

Then, Max finds Sara’s remains in plastic and buried on abandoned land that he just purchased. Soon, Trina starts to suspect that her mother’s murder and her biological father’s identity are linked, and she searches for the truth. She doesn’t want Max’s help, but he wants to get justice for Sara and to make amends for reluctantly breaking Trina’s heart.

What Lies Beneath deals with feelings of abandonment and feeling alone because one is different. It also touches on the issue of mental illness, how people who suffer from it are perceived, and how it affects family members, too. I was compelled to include mental illness in this story, because I had the Baby Blues after my son was born, and even though it only lasted a few days, it was a powerful feeling.

Until recently, mental illness is a subject that was taboo in the Black community. I included the condition in What Lies Beneath as a way of doing my part to start discussions about it.

The third book in the series will also be in another fictional town in North Carolina. This book centers around the heroine and the murder of her baby sister. The heroine has lived with guilt, because she was supposed to pick her sister up from school and ended up in detention. The tentative title is Closer Than You Know.

Romance and romantic suspense are my first loves, but I’m also interested in learning how to write screenplays for TV and movies. I also want to start my own production company, because I want to see work by other marginalized authors on screen.