Take advantage of a free read. My novella, Red Hot Rebound, is free for the next two days ONLY ON KINDLE. Download your copy….don’t forget to leave a review.
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Check Out My Latest Read: A Long Ride
Sooo, I had taken a year long writing hiatus…actually, it was probably longer than a year, going through some personal issues, working, raising kids…you know, LIFE! But, in an effort to ease my way back into writing, I recently published a short story, titled A Long Ride.
You know how Law & Order: SVU rips some of their episode inspirations from the news headlines? Well, this short story is ripped from the headlines and deals with a very real subject matter that has become an epidemic: human & sex trafficking. A teenage girl is missing, police have no leads, then one night, her father has an encounter with a man who knows what happened…
I took a break from writing romance and tried my hand at a different genre..and my readers love it. Grab your copy and tell me what you think.
Coming Soon To Audiobook: The Hookup
I’m excited to announce that my book, The Hookup, is currently in production, being turned into an audiobook. The narrator emailed me a few days ago that she’s putting finishing touches on the final few chapters, but from the sample that I’ve already heard, it’s coming along great.
In the meantime, check out either the Kindle or the paperback versions, both available on Amazon.
ATL Kickback Weekend
I finally decided to attend this author event in ATL this past weekend and I must say, I really enjoyed myself. meeting other authors, as well as readers. Here are a few of the photos from the event. 
Sample Sunday: Let Him Cheat In Peace
The following excerpt if from my upcoming book, Gossip Queens, which is scheduled for release December 2, 2017
**Explicit language**
“Yeah, I know Chyna lies a lot, but I don’t think she is about this. But at this point, I almost don’t even care anymore. But if I do find out he’s fucking some hoe up here, I’ma beat her ass.”
“If you don’t care, why you trying to fight her?” Shonda smirked.
“Because it’s trifling as hell, that’s why. Everybody up here knows I’m with Dre.”
Shonda gave another nonchalant shrug. “True, but if you ask me, it’s stupid fighting over a nigga who you already know is cheating on you every chance he gets. You let him do it, so why get mad? Let that man cheat in peace, hell.”
“Excuse me?! Cheat in peace? What you mean by that?” Brittany looked at Shonda as if she hadn’t heard her correctly.
“I was watching this reality show the other night and this group of ladies were talking about checking your man’s phone and all that if you think he’s cheating and one of them said something like ‘unless you’re going to kick his ass to the curb there’s no point in getting mad, because you’re apparently comfortable with being cheated on; so stop bothering him, checking his phone, and Facebook stalking and trying to fight other bitches over him, ‘cause you ain’t going no damn where anyway.’”
“I said I was getting tired of Dre cheating on me.”
“That’s what your mouth said, but what did you do when you walked in your apartment the other day and he was laid up with another chick? Or how about the time you caught him in bed with a bitch and he made you get in bed with them and have a threesome? You didn’t say a damn thing, so it doesn’t sound like you’re too tired,” Shonda said flippantly as she took another sip of Coke. She was sick and tired of listening to Brittany bitching about Dre.
“What’s with your attitude?” Brittany asked defensively. “You’re being extra rude right now.”
“I’m not being rude, I’m being real. Dre does that shit to you because he knows you’re weak and he can get over on you.”
“Oh so now I’m weak? You know what, I’m getting real sick and tired of you getting all slick out the mouth every time I talk to you about Dre. Hell, sometimes you act like you’re fucking him,” Brittany shot back.
“Girl, please,” Shonda scoffed. “You know what, since my mouth is so slick, how about you find someone else to cry to the next time Dre cheats on you, because I’m tired of hearing it,” Shonda said as she stood and gathered her belongings. “You really are a weak bitch,” she spat as she exited the break room.
***
Shonda
Shonda knew she was being unnecessarily rude to Brittany, but the girl got on her last damn nerve and hearing that Dre had been busted with another girl only made her attitude worse. She should have just went ahead and admitted to Brittany that she was fucking Dre, but Brittany just might have been crazy enough to try and fight her and she wasn’t trying to lose her job, especially over some dick.
And besides, Shonda wasn’t in any position to be fighting anyway. She had been throwing up a lot lately, having to use the bathroom a lot more frequently, and she’d been eating more than usual…all signs of pregnancy. It wasn’t until she missed her period a month ago that she decided to take a pregnancy test. As expected, the two lines that appeared on the stick confirmed that she was pregnant.
Shonda knew the baby was Dre’s because he was the only man she let hit it raw even though she’d been sleeping with two other guys on the regular. Hearing that Brittany was also pregnant bothered her at first until Brittany said she wasn’t planning on keeping the baby, and Shonda hoped she wouldn’t. If Brittany had Dre’s baby, Shonda would never get Dre to leave Brittany. Despite the fact that Dre cheated on Brittany and beat her ass on the regular, Shonda knew he had strong feelings for Brittany…he’d told her so last week when she demanded Dre leave Brittany for her for the twentieth time.
“Man, Brittany is good people, yo, and I can’t up and leave her,” Dre had said as they lay in her bed smoking a blunt after they’d finished fucking.
“Why not?” Shonda snapped.
“I just said she good people.”
“And?! That’s the only reason why you staying…because she good people?”
“Yeah. I mean, I know I ain’t got my shit together right now, but if I was ever going settle down, it would be with her. She’s my ride-or-die for real.”
“And what the fuck am I?”
“Yo, you better watch that mouth. And what’s up with the attitude?”
“You laying in my bed after you just finished getting your dick wet talking about settling down with another bitch, that’s why I got an attitude.”
Dre shrugged his shoulder’s. “You asked.”
“Well if she your ride-or-die, why you over here?”
“Cause I wanna be, now stop asking dumb questions and go get a nigga something to eat. I got the munchies like a mug.”
Shonda had started to tell him to go fuck himself, but she also didn’t want Dre to leave. It pissed her off to know that Dre really loved Brittany, but she was determined to change all that. Shonda had yet to tell Dre that she was pregnant but she was going to tell him soon. She only hoped Brittany went ahead and got rid of her baby like she said she would. Her and Dre’s future depended on it.
Bloody Mary
Sasha and her best friend, Michelle, sat on the couch watching movies and handing out candy to trick-or-treater’s until they finally ran out of candy around 10:00 on Halloween night.
“Well, another Halloween is in the bag,” Sasha said after she’d turned off the porch light and sat down on the couch.
The two friends got comfortable on Michelle’s chaise lounge and resumed watching, Urban Legends, the movie they had been watching in between passing out candy.
“I’ve never done the ‘Bloody Mary’ thing, have you?” Sasha asked Michelle while watching a scene in the movie of three girls standing in front of a mirror, chanting, “Bloody Mary.”
“Nope, me neither. I’ve never believed in that stuff though. It sounds bogus to me,” Michelle answered.
“Yeah, but haven’t you been a little curious as to what would happen? Wondered if it’s real?”
“I can’t lie, I have thought about doing it, but I chickened out,” Michelle admitted.
“Let’s do it now, while we’re both here; satisfy our curiosity,” Sasha said standing up.
“Umm, negative. I don’t want those evil spirits unleashed in my house. I have to live here.”
“I thought you said you didn’t believe in it anyway?” Sasha said, arching a brow at her friend.
“I don’t it’s just…oh what the hell,” Michelle said standing up. “I can’t take this peer pressure,” she joked.
Sasha followed Michelle into her bathroom and stood beside her. They looked at their reflections in the mirror.
“Bloody…” Michelle began.
Sasha cut her off. “We’re supposed to turn the lights off and do it in the dark,” she said.
“Well how are we supposed to see anything if it’s dark?”
“Good question. I know, let’s light one of these candles you have in here then turn off the lights.”
Michelle reached for one of the candles setting around her bathtub, which she used when she took a relaxing bubble bath, lit it, then set it on the sink.
“Perfect,” Sasha said as she flipped the light off.
The candlelight cast an eerie glow on the walls of the bathroom, setting the scene for the girl’s creepy adventure.
“On three,” Sasha said. “One, two, three.”
The girls began chanting, “Bloody Mary.”
“How many times are we supposed to say it?” Michelle asked.
“Three times.”
“Well, we’ve said it three times and I don’t see a thing.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Sasha agreed. “I guess Bloody Mary was a myth after all.”
Michelle blew out the candle and she and Sasha walked back to the living room.
“Well, I guess I’d better get going.”
“Aren’t you going to stay and watch the rest of the movie?”
“I would but I have to work in the morning.”
“Okay, well it was fun hanging out. You drive safe,” Michelle told her as she walked her friend to the door.
“I will. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
***
Sasha drove the couple of blocks to her house. It had started to rain and she could hear thunder and see lightning in the distance and she wanted to get home as soon as possible.
The car behind her was following too closely and the high beams of the driver’s headlights nearly blinded her. Sasha glanced in her rear view at the car in annoyance, silently cursing the rude tailgater, but something else caught her eye. An old woman with wild hair, chalky white skin and dark, black circles around her eyes was sitting in her back seat.
Thinking she must be seeing things, Sasha turned around to look, only to find the back seat empty.
“Get it together, Sasha,” she mumbled to herself.
She turned back around just in time to realize that she was about to run into the back of a log truck, which had appeared out of nowhere in front of her. She opened her mouth wide to scream, but it was too late. One of the logs shattered the windshield, causing glass to fly everywhere as it smashed into her face, killing her instantly.
***
While Sasha was taking her last breath, Michelle was preparing to take a shower. She removed a jar of Noxema from behind the bathroom mirror and rubbed the facial cleanser all over her face while the water got hot.
Once steam began filling the bathroom, she removed her bathrobe and stepped into the shower. She lathered body wash over her and rinsed, then repeated the process. After she was cleaned, she removed the towel hanging over the shower rod and wrapped it around her body.
She stepped in front of the mirror and turned the faucet on, then splashed lukewarm water in her face to rinse the cream off. As she was bent over the sink, she heard a noise in the living room, or at least she thought she did. She stood upright and reached for the face towel hanging on the towel rack. She quickly dried her face off so she could go see what the noise was.
“What the hell?” she gasped as she looked in the mirror, realizing that there was an old woman with chalky white skin, wild hair, and black circles around her eyes standing behind her. She turned around to look behind her, but no one was there.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let Sasha talk me into that stupid Bloody Mary crap,” she mumbled to herself.
No sooner than she uttered those words, the woman reappeared behind her. With long, withered fingers, the woman grabbed the back of Michelle’s head and slammed it into the mirror. The impact caused the mirror glass to shatter all over the floor.
The next day, the police found Michelle with her eyes gouged out and her throat slit. The bathroom looked like a bloody scene from a horror movie. Her death was written off as the result of a random attack and remains a cold case.
The Halloween Party
Curtis rang the doorbell and admired his neighbors elaborate Halloween decorations while he waited on someone to answer the door. He was new to the neighborhood, having just moved into town a few weeks ago, and his neighbors, The Martin’s, had welcomed him to the neighborhood by coming over to his house and bringing him a bottle of wine as they introduced themselves. Although The Martin’s were white, Curtis thought they were cool people, so he’d happily accepted their invite to their Halloween party.
“Hey, neighbor, come on in,” Thomas Martin said as he opened the door.
“Where’s your costume?” Curtis asked as he entered the home. He wasn’t big on dressing up in corny costumes, so he’d simply dressed in all black, threw on his leather jacket, and went as his television idol, Richard Roundtree, also known as Shaft.
“Oh, I don’t do the costume thing, I leave that to the wife. Now Sherry, she really gets into dressing up and all that.”
“Yeah, I feel you. Here, I brought you guys a bottle of wine for the festivities.”
“Thanks, that’s very nice of you,” Thomas said as they walked into the living room.
The party was actually a small get-together, about seven of The Martins’ close friends. For the next two hours, they ate, played games, and told ghost stories.
Around ten o’clock, all the guests except Curtis said their good-nights. Since he lived right next door and didn’t have to work the next morning, he wasn’t in a big rush to go home.
“Would you like some wine?” Sherry asked him.
“No thanks, I’m not much of a wine drinker.”
“How about some more punch then?”
“Sure, that will be fine.”
“Coming right up.”
Sherry disappeared into the kitchen while Curtis and Thomas sat in the living room and watched TV. A minute later, she came back into the room, carrying a pitcher of red punch and a glass. She poured Curtis a glass then went and sat beside her husband.
“So, how are you liking it here now that you’re all settled in?” Sherry asked Curtis as he sipped his drink.
“I love it here. Everyone I’ve met has been really nice, especially you guys.’
“That’s great,” Sherry said.
The three of them sat and talked and snacked on the rest of the party food for another hour. During that time, Curtis drank three more glasses of punch.
“Well, I’ve had a good time hanging out with you guy’s but I think I’d better head home.”
“What’s the rush?” Thomas asked.
“No rush, I’m just…not feeling well all of a sudden. My head is throbbing,” Curtis said as he massaged his temples. He attempted to stand, but his legs, suddenly weak and heavy, gave out from under him and he fell back down on the couch. His vision was blurry and the room seemed to be spinning.
“You alright, buddy?” Thomas asked him.
Curtis felt sleepy and could barely keep his eyes open.
“Just go to sleep, you’ll feel better when you wake up,” he heard Sherry say as his eyes closed.
***
Curtis opened his eyes and wished he’d stayed asleep. He had a migraine and he felt like he needed to vomit. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on his neighbor’s couch. He attempted to sit up, but his body was restrained. With his eyes barely open, he realized that he was no longer lying on the couch, instead he was on some kind of table and his arms and feet were tied down.
“What the hell?” he said.
“Oh look, he’s awake,” he heard Thomas say.
Curtis looked around the room. He wasn’t in Thomas and Sherry’s living room anymore, that was for sure. Unable to sit up, Curtis let his eyes peruse the dimly lit room. Was that a skull he was looking at? His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. He opened his eyes as wide as he could and not only was he looking at a skull, he saw other human bones piled in a corner of the room. The distinct smell of rotting meat assaulted his nostrils and only made the nauseous feeling worse.
“Where am I?” he said out loud.
“In our basement,” Thomas said matter-of-factly appearing to stand beside him.
“Why am I in your basement and why am I tied up and what the hell was in that punch, man?” Curtis asked.
“Ooh, honey, I can hardly wait to taste him. My mouth is watering,” Sherry said. “And I know just which part of him I plan on eating first,” she said as she ran her hand over Curtis’ crotch.”
What the fuck, Curtis wondered.
“You naughty little thing,” Thomas said winking at his wife.
“Yo, is this some kind of joke, cause I ain’t laughing,” Curtis said, attempting to sit up again. “Why the hell am I tied up?”
“He’s getting impatient, and so am I,” Sherry told Thomas.
“Yeah, I’m getting pretty hungry myself.”
Curtis watched as Thomas walked over to a wall that had an assortment of knives, axes, and other tools hanging on shelves. Thomas reached for an ax with a wooden handle and a shiny, silver blade.
“Oh honey, don’t forget the duct tape for his mouth. The last one screamed so loud, he gave me a headache and I couldn’t enjoy him like I wanted to.”
“Of course, dear.” Thomas removed a roll of duct tape from a drawer, then walked back over to the table Curtis was lying on. He tore off a piece of the tape and pressed it firmly over Curtis’ mouth.
“Now, I promise to make this quick so you won’t feel any pain, ok,” Thomas said.
Curtis, realizing what was about to happen, tried to scream, but the tape over his mouth muffled the sound. His eyes widened as Thomas raised the ax over his head and brought it down hard over his neck. Curtis was never seen or heard from again.
Strange Sex
It was the night before Halloween and Traci and her boyfriend, Eric, had planned to spend a quiet evening alone, snacking on junk food and watching scary movies.
Traci hurried around the kitchen, preparing chips and dip, baking peanut butter cookies- Eric’s favorite- and making finger sandwiches. Eric would be getting off work shortly and was coming straight to her house. As soon as Traci had all the snacks done and the cookies were in the oven, she went into the living room to watch tv and wait.
A little over ten minutes later, her cell phone rang to the familiar ring tone she had set especially for Eric.
“Hey, babe, are you on your way?” she asked.
“Uh, no, that’s why I’m calling. I have to work late tonight and probably won’t be able to make it over. I’m sorry.”
Traci pouted. “Ugh, I wish you’d called before I fixed all this food for nothing. Now what am I supposed to do here all alone by myself?”
“Call Kelly over.”
“What I had planned, I can’t do with Kelly.”
“I’m sorry babe, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“Yeah, yeah…you’d better.”
Traci ended the call just as the oven timer went off, indicating the cookies were done. She went into the kitchen and removed the cookies from the oven, then snacked on the chips and dip while she waited for the cookies to cool.
After eating and putting the food away, she decided to watch a movie until she fell asleep. She could have called her bestie, Kelly over, but she was hoping that Eric would still come over.
Thirty minutes into the movie, there was a knock at the door. Thinking Eric had gotten off work and came over after all, she happily skipped over to the door and swung it open.
“Hey ba…,” she started until she saw a man standing there in a creepy looking mask.
The man was the same height and had the same build as Eric and Traci assumed her boyfriend was playing a joke on her, so she decided to go along.
“Get in here, boy,” she said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him inside. “What’s up with the mask though, babe? It’s kind of creepy.”
The man said nothing.
“Oh, I know…is this what you meant when you said you wanted to incorporate role-playing into our bedroom activities?” Traci said with a sly grin.
Still, the man said nothing.
“Well, I’m down with it,” Traci said seductively.
She grabbed his hand and led him into her bedroom. Once inside, she made a show of slowly removing her jeans and t-shirt, as if she were performing a strip tease. Then, she went and laid down on her back on the bed.
“Well, your clothes aren’t going to take themselves off, or do you want me to do it?” she asking, noticing he still hadn’t taken his clothes off.
He stood there and stared down at her, so she hopped back out of the bed, walked over to him, and removed his leather jacket and button down shirt. Winking at him, she playfully pushed him on the bed, then climbed on top of him and reached for his belt buckle and unzipped his jeans.
After undressing him, she straddled his lap and stared down at his masked face.
“Can’t you at least take that thing off, it’s kind of ruining the vibe up in here,” she said, running her hand across the grotesque looking mask, which resembled the one in the Halloween movies.
He shook his head.
“Fine, leave it on. I said I would role-play, so what are we calling this, getting my freak on with the masked serial killer?” she joked.
He shook his head yes.
Traci leaned down and planted kisses on his chest and worked her way downwards. She licked her lips before she planted a kiss on the tip of his erection. This elicited a response from him, as he reached down and grabbed a handful of her box braids.
Traci, seeing that he was into it, worked her lips further down his shaft, preparing to pleasure him like never before. That is, until something happened that gave her pause. Right in the middle of their strange role-playing, she heard a familiar sound…the ring tone she had set especially for Eric when he called her. But how could Eric be calling her on the phone if he was lying there with a handful of her hair tightly in his grip?
Traci quickly jumped up and out of the bed. Her cell phone was in the living room on the coffee table where she’d left it. She grabbed her bathrobe from the chair beside her bed and put it on.
“Uh, I-I need to go get that,” she said nervously, not sure what was going on. She didn’t mind playing along, but the whole scene was making her a little uneasy.
Was Eric playing some kind of sick joke on her, she wondered as she walked to the living room? How was he calling her, yet lying in her bed at the same time?
By the time she made it to the living room, her phone had stopped ringing. She was about to call him back, but a loud knock on the door caused her to jump and she dropped the phone on the floor.
“Dammit,” she cursed as she picked up the phone and looked at the screen.
Dropping her phone, yet again, had caused the crack in the screen to spread a little more. She frowned, realizing she’d have no choice but to buy another phone soon. The knocking got louder and more persistent, so she ran over to the door. She opened it and was shocked to find her boyfriend, Eric standing on the other side of it. What the hell?
“Oh, thank God, you’re okay,” Eric said, pulling her into an embrace.
Now Traci was really confused. If her boyfriend was just making it to her house, then who had she just been in bed with? Who was the masked man lying naked in her bedroom?
“Eric…what? I thought…,” Traci couldn’t get the words to come out of her mouth.
“Haven’t you heard?” Eric asked as he walked into the living room?”
“Heard what?”
“There’s a masked killer going around the neighborhood, stalking women and killing them. He’s wearing some creepy mask and knocking on random doors and if a woman answers, he gets inside and kills them. There have been three murders already tonight. Luckily one woman managed to get away from him and she called the police. There are cops everywhere outside.”
Traci thought she was going to be sick.
“Once I heard the news, I told my boss I had to come make sure you were okay. I tried calling you on my way over and when you didn’t answer the phone, I was so worried something had happened. I thought…,” Eric let his words linger as he hugged his girlfriend again.
Traci was stunned. Speechless. And scared as hell because the masked killer the police were searching for was still in her bedroom.
“Oh my God,” she screamed as she pulled away from Eric and ran towards her room.
“What’s wrong?” Eric asked, going after her.
“He’s here,” Traci cried.
“Who’s here?” Eric asked.
However, once she made it into her room, with Eric in tow, she realized the killer was gone. The bedroom window was open and the nighttime breeze caused the curtains to blow softly in the wind. Traci felt a chill travel through her body, but it had nothing to do with the fact that it was cold outside. She ran over to the window and looked out into the darkness, wondering where the masked killer was. Was that a shadow she saw? Did she see movement in the bushes? Was he watching her…waiting? Would he come back?
“What do you see out there, babe?” Eric asked, coming up behind her. His presence caused her to nearly jump out of her skin.
How could she ever explain to her boyfriend that a serial killer had been in her house…in her bed, and that she’d been about to sleep with him? The thought of what she’d done before her phone rang made her nauseous.
“Nothing,” she said, turning to look back out the window.
Her eyes focused on something shiny lying on the ground. The streetlights made visible the long blade of a butcher knife. In his haste to get away, the killer had dropped it. He was never found.
Freebie Friday
If you’re looking for a quick and steamy beach/weekend read, head over to Amazon and get my summer romance novella, Red Hot Rebound while it’s #FREE. Synopsis and purchase link below. Happy Reading.
Synopsis:
Summer’s about to heat up in more ways than one…
Elementary school teacher, Summer Wallace, has been looking forward to summertime…her favorite time of the year. Not only does she get a break from her sometimes unruly students, she’s looking forward to letting her hair down when she and her best friend and cousin, Dionne take their annual summer trip, this year to sizzling Miami- the fun in the sun capital of the world.
However, Summer’s excitement is short-lived after her boyfriend suddenly dumps her. Humiliated after she catches him with another woman, she contemplates skipping the trip to Miami in favor or staying home to drown her sorrows in ice cream and romance novels, but Dionne is not even trying to hear that, so she packs her bags and heads to The Magic City.
What promises to be her most depressing summer vacation ever takes an interesting turn after she visit’s the hotel spa and is given a nearly orgasmic rub-down by smooth-talking massage therapist, Mekhi, who is the epitome of dark chocolate sexiness. While Mekhi relieves Summer of her built up tension and stress, an immediate, undeniable sexual chemistry permeates the air in the room around them. Will Summer resist temptation or give in to her desires by engaging in a fling on the rebound with this sexy stranger?
I.C.Y.M.I. KFC Published A Romance Novel
So, while scrolling on my Facebook timeline, I came across this gem. Apparently, the powers that be at KFC headquarters decided that just making finger-licking good chicken wasn’t enough of a challenge for them. They’ve decided to try their hand at writing and publishing a book, specifically, a novella.
Via The Grapevine:
Out of sheer curiosity, I just downloaded my copy. Hey, who can resist a free book? I took the liberty of reading some of the customer reviews of the 3.8 out of 5.00 stars rated book. Some were less than favorable. One negative reviewer wrote ‘…the writing was some of the worse she’s ever seen…,’ while another gave it a one star rating due to ‘the lack of the mention of fried chicken, herbs & spices anywhere...’ On the other hand, some readers were pleasantly pleased with the book. One positive reviewer wrote ‘…this novella is tenderly romantic, capable of inducing deep thighs, er sighs, and having a leg up on the competition by being FREE.’
But, just in case the customer reviews don’t convince you to read it yourself, @KFC took the liberty of providing us a promo video, to peak our curiosity. Watch the video below
I don’t know, this Fabio wannabe sure makes it sound interesting. Stay tuned, my review is coming soon.
J.L. SAPPHIRE 