After a beautiful day and morning in Budapest, it was time to board our ship and head out for an overnight cruise to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It was so exciting to head down to the dock and board! We were greeted by a crew member who checked us in and directed us to our cabin, a lovely room with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that opened for us to be able to take in the river breeze and the sights. Here are some photos of our ship: the Avalon Artistry II.

Once we were settled, it was time to head up onto the sky deck and watch as we pulled out of Budapest. There were so many sights to see along the Danube as we started our cruise!

Once we were cruising, we had a safety lesson, a lovely champagne cocktail to toast to the cruise, an introduction to the crew, and then it was time to cruise for a little bit before our dinner! The meals on the ship were amazing and the staff was so pleasant. Our Cruise Director Helmut was exceptional! As night fell, hubby and I went up to the sky deck to watch nightfall and also to see another ship passing us in the night. Hubby was worried the captain might get lost, so he pointed out the way to him! LOL!

After all the excitement, it was time to head back to our cabin and get some rest! I have to confess I was a little freaked out about knowing that my bed was on a boat floating on a river. I had visions of something Titanic-like happening. LOL! Of course, very different since you can always see the shore from the boat which was very reassuring to me.

Here’s a little video of our departure from Budapest and two ships passing in the night on the Danube.

The romance in DECOY TRAINING builds slowly but leads to a big eruption of the need between Shane and Piper. In this scene, Shane has had a nightmare. It’s one that he’s had before only this time, something very important is different and makes him realize that he wants something different for his future: he wants Piper.

WARNING: Only for mature audiences!

Excerpt

PIPER BLOCKED HIS arm and took hold of his hand as he sat up in bed, bare-chested. His scars, both emotional and physical, revealed to her.

“You were having a nightmare,” she said and smoothed her hand across his chest. His skin was damp and chilled from the night air.

“I’m okay,” he said, but when his gaze focused and settled on her, he cupped her cheek, almost as if to confirm she was really there.

“You’re okay. Everything is okay,” she said, trying to reassure him.

Shane rubbed his head, as if trying to dispel the last remnants of the nightmare. He looked away for the briefest moment before settling his gaze on her once more.

“It was different this time,” he said and ran his thumb along her chin and the slight dimple there.

She squinted, trying to figure it out, but couldn’t. “How was it different?”

“You were in my nightmare,” he said, shocking her.

She laid a hand on her chest and squeaked out, “Me. I was in it?”

“You, Piper. You were there, trapped. I was trying to reach you, but I couldn’t,” he said.

“I’m here, Shane,” she said.

“You are,” he said and wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. As he lay down, he took her with him, and she ended up lying along his length.

His body was so hard beneath hers, calling to the woman who hadn’t experienced emotions like this since her husband’s death. But as she inched up to meet his lips with hers, she knew it was about more than physical longing. Shane had breached the walls of her heart and she could no longer deny what she was feeling.

She kissed him, moving her mouth along his. Taking in his breath as if she needed it to breathe. Dipping her tongue in to taste him because she wanted to know everything about this strong and caring man.

As he cupped her breast through the thin fabric of her nightshirt, her nipple beaded against his palm. Her breast heavy with need, she covered his hand and pressed it to her, moaned when he tweaked her hard nipple with his fingers.

*

HIS BREATH EXPLODED from his chest at the sound of her needy moan and the feel of her breast against his palm, beneath his fingers. The softness of her belly cradled his erection and he wanted nothing more than to strip off her thin cotton nightshirt and make love to her, but not like this.

Not when their emotions were running high from the danger threatening Piper’s life and his. He had no doubt that if the intruder needed to get to Piper, he’d kill Shane to do it.

“Shane?” Piper asked and leaned a hand on his chest to look at him in the dim light of the room.

“I… I care for you, Piper. I really do, but things are too unsettled now. We’re both not thinking straight.”
Her eyes widened at his words, and she scrambled off him, but stood by the bed for a halting second. “I care for you, too.”

Then she burst from the room, Chipper barking and hopping up and down as she chased after Piper.

Order

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ZohoXx
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3CNO4bl
Apple: https://apple.co/3o9usuh
BN E-book: http://bit.ly/BNDecoy
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/decoy-training
Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/DecoyTraining

You can read Deadly Chase for free at Harlequin.com. In Deadly Chase, a K-9 officer and a DEA agent join forces to combat a deadly enemy and confront their own complicated past. You’ll get to meet Alex and Miriam, the two law enforcement heroes in this story, but also a number of the other heroes in the K-9s on Patrol Series which begins with my book — Decoy Training — in April 2022.

I’m so excited to be in Colorado Rescue, the re-release of Ice Cold Killer by Cindy Myers and Cold Case Reopened by me! I loved my story of a twin sister Rhea who is out to find out the truth about her twin’s death. Through that special twin connection, Rhea doesn’t believe that her sister is gone despite all the evidence to the contrary. I also loved the hero of this book, Jackson Whitaker, who is willing to risk his career and possible position as Police Chief in order to find out the truth about what happened to Rhea’s sister. You can find out more about the stories in Colorado Rescue at https://amzn.to/3AWqJ6m.

Stress can have many bad effects on your health. According to the Mayo Clinic, stress can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. What can you do to relieve stress? Check out what some of my fellow Romantic Suspense authors and I do to help deal with the pressures of life and writing at this blog at Harlequin.com. If you’re looking for something to read, try out Deadly Chase, a free read at Harlequin.com and DECOY TRAINING, the first book in the K-9s on Patrol series.

With an upcoming birthday and a new release – The Family She Never Met – I’ve found myself in a reflective moment lately, especially since The Family She Never Met has so much of my real life in it. You can find out more about that novel at https://bit.ly/FamilySheNeverMet.

Is my life what I imagined it would be when I was a child? I had so many dreams back then and as I look back at those dreams and where I am today, I can find satisfaction about so many things and yet still wish for more for others.

How about you? What would your ten-year-old self think about where you are today?

Since The Family She Never Met includes many stories from my past woven into the fictional storyline, I wanted to pull out the threads of the real stories for my daughter so that she might understand her family’s history better. That meant highlighting those stories in the book and also providing additional backstory so she could better understand what had happened at the time and what I was feeling when some of those things happened.

So I sat down, pen, highlighter, and paper at hand to flesh out those parts of the book for my daughter and create a very special edition for her. I hope she will read it and appreciate the struggle that made me who I am today and also shaped who she is and what that means for the future.

P.S. – Thanks, to my good friend Jayne for the Cat Mom mug and my wonderful son-in-law Danny for the great typewriter pen holder.

I have to confess that my least favorite season is winter. I am not a fan of the cold and snow can look beautiful, but unless there’s a nice sledding hill nearby, you can keep it.

I normally survive winter by thinking of warmer climes and my late winter trip to the flower show. Unfortunately, they’ve moved the flower show to mid-June. Ugh.

But I guess I can still imagine being somewhere not as chilly by slipping into the pages of a romance novel set somewhere tropical. If you feel the same way, why not check out South Beach Love or The Family She Never Met (available on February 1!) You’ll be able to enjoy the Miami heat and the warmth of strong stories about family, friends, and romance.