Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Featured Ebook : Life Lessons from the Heart by Teresa Morrow

Ebook : LIFE LESSONS FROM THE HEART

Genre : Non Fiction-Inspirational/motivational/personal development 

Author : Teresa Morrow

Author's Website :  http://bookblogs.ning.com/profile/TeresaMorrow

Goodreads Author Page : http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6447422.Teresa_Morrow

Booktrailer Link :  http://youtu.be/EWKhs3kNoTY

ISBN : 9781476264196 (digital)

Ebook Formats : PDF, mobi, epub 

Smashwords Store : http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/204829

Blurb : At times life is filled with disappointment, hardship and overwhelm. However, you also know life is a precious gift you have been given. It is in the times of hardship, disappointment and overwhelm, life lessons are offered and given to learn and grow from.

In this book, Life Lessons from the Heart, the author shares her experiences of hard times and how she was able to work through them. She tells how she became appreciative of even the toughest of times such as the death of her mom, a divorce with the father of her child,  getting disowned by her father for dating a man of a different race,  and her
husband’s heart attack.


The author reveals how she finds life’s beauty even when life throws in scary, sad or unfortunate events.  She shares how she discovered that life is rich in community and saturated in love. She offers ways where you can go on to live a richer, happier and more fulfilled life that breeds from your true authentic self.


This book shares stories and insight on how to:
~realize the importance of celebrating who you are (just as you are now)
~release the grip of having to be right and in control
~end the feeling of self doubt
~embrace and find time to do the things you love to do
~and much more… 


Review at Novel Tales blog 

Review at George Angus' s Blog Tumblemoose 
 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Featured Ebook : Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart by Mitchell Waldman

Ebook : PETTY OFFENSES & CRIMES OF THE HEART

Genre : Literary Fiction , Short Stories, Crime

Author : Mitchell Waldman

Author's Website : http://mitchwaldman.homestead.com

Author's Blog : http://mitchwaldman.homesead.com/pettyoffenses.html




Goodreads Author Page :  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/587343.Mitchell_Waldman

Amazon Stores : Paperback and Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Petty-Offenses-Crimes-Mitchell-Waldman/dp/1936138360 

ISBN : 978-1936138364 (Print) 

Barnes and Noble : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/petty-offenses-and-crimes-of-the-heart-mitchell-waldman/1104429226

Reviews : 4.5-5stars 

Blurb : The crimes involved in the stories in PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART may sometimes be petty – a man who leaves a bag of cat droppings on his neighbor’s doorstep after learning about his past – and sometimes involve criminal types (the career criminals in “My Life of Crime” and “Missing Pieces”). But more often the offenses involved are committed by and against ordinary people (the man in “The Nazi Next Door” who learns one evening, over a fence, that his neighbor’s father collaborated with the Nazis during World War II). And there are the mysterious offenders, such as the ambiguous interviewer in “Catching Up with Cartucci,” who unbeknownst to the interviewee, seems to have special knowledge and opinions about the latter.

Some of the “crimes” in these stories run much deeper, are of a much more emotional nature. The offenders and victims in these tales have been much more tortured than by any run of the mill crime. Such as the mother in "Fortunate Son," whose son goes missing in action while on duty in Iraq, and the father in  “The Duke of Broad Street” (nominated for a 2013 Pushcart Prize), who, twenty years after abandoning his daughter, shows up on her doorstep harboring a deep secret. Or the man in “A Ghost in Manhattan” who, during a lunch break, believes he sees his dead girlfriend in a crowd, walking the streets of Manhattan.


Amazon Reviews- View here

Editorial Reviews- view here 

 
These stories startle with sudden, uncompromising insight. They seem ordinary people engaged in ordinary lives until betrayals, accidents and misfortune put the puzzles of their weak choices and unfair chance into stark relief when they are left with a kind of clarity they might have been happier not to have. -- Perry Glasser, author of Dangerous Places

Faulkner said that an author's job is to make the extraordinary seem ordinary and to make the ordinary seem extraordinary, and in Petty Offenses this is what Waldman accomplishes. While reading the stories you may wonder "Is there any place safe to go?," but you will be glad that you spent time in Waldman's world. -- Cybersoleil Journal

The stories in Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart leave the reader wondering who is the real criminal. . . .These characters have something to share -- something profound, something personal, and something that reveals a little about ourselves. -- TCM Reviews

Beautifully crafted stories .... "Missing Pieces"...is an example of Waldman's versatility as a writer. . .Each of these stories can be read as self-contained compositions but I would recommend you read them in sequence to experience the themes to unfold as most satisfyingly do. -- Dean Cowan for Bookpleasures.com 

In [his] collection of short fiction...Mitchell Waldman talks on many topics throughout recent history and the struggles to understand an impossible to understand world. With poignancy and wisdom peppered throughout, Petty Offenses & Crimes of the Heart is a read that is well worth considering, highly recommended. -- Midwest Book Review

Friday, September 7, 2012

Book Spotlight : The Sloane Monroe Series (Mysteries) by Best-Selling author Cheryl Bradshaw

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is an Amazon Bestseller Mystery series with intriguing, fast-paced and a thrilling read brilliantly created by Amazon Best-Selling author Cheryl Bradshaw -  SLOANE MONROE SERIES (Boxed Set)

The Best-Seller Sloane Monroe Series (Boxed Set) featured today - Read a blurb from each book (3 mystery-thriller books in the Boxed Set) posted in this blog along with links to the author's website, purchase links to the bookstore, links to First Chapters and links to multiple star reviews that this best-selling book series has received.



AUTHOR LINKS : Connect with author Cheryl Bradshaw

Cheryl Bradshaw is an Amazon Kindle Best-Selling Author in Mystery: Hard-Boiled and Thriller: Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue.

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Cheryl-Bradshaw/e/B004RIU5OW

Author Blog : http://cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com/p/read-my-first-chapters.html
  
Twitter handle: @cherylbradshaw

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/#!/CherylBradshawBooks

THE SLOANE MONROE SERIES BOXED SET - Book Spotlight 

Ebook: SLOANE MONROE SERIES BOXED SET

Genre :  Mystery/Thriller

Author : Cheryl Bradshaw 

Amazon :  http://www.amazon.com/Sloane-Monroe-Series-Boxed-ebook/dp/B0080I5GTY





Digital ASIN: B0080I5GTY

Reviews : Multiple 4.5-5 stars (48 Amazon Reviews) 

Blurb :  Cheryl Bradshaw's library of the Sloane Monroe Series, Books 1-3 (three complete novels):

BLACK DIAMOND DEATH 

Enter the world of Sloane Monroe in Black Diamond Death... 
On the slopes of Park City, Utah’s newest ski resort a woman is found dead. At first glance, it has all the makings of an accident. But what if she was murdered? Although skeptical, PI Sloane Monroe takes the case and learns not everyone is who they seem, and some will go to any lengths to protect their identity.

SINNERMAN 

PI Sloane Monroe has solved every case that’s come across her desk with the exception of one—the brutal murder of her sister Gabrielle. Three years have passed without a trace of the serial killer until today, when a young woman’s body is discovered on a patch of dirt in front of the local supermarket. Will Sloane exact her revenge before Sinnerman slays his next victim, or will she be too late?


I HAVE A SECRET

It’s been twenty years since PI Sloane Monroe has returned to her hometown of Tehachapi, California, but when a former classmate is stabbed and tossed overboard during the high school reunion cruise, Sloane isn’t about to allow a murderer to run free in her own backyard. But in a town where everyone is harboring secrets, how many more men will die before she discovers the truth?

First Chapters: http://cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com/p/read-my-first-chapters.html

48 Amazon Reviews- View Sloane Monroe Series Boxed Set



Featured Ebook : The Deep Dark Well by Doug Dandridge

Ebook : THE DEEP DARK WELL

Genre : Science Fiction, Action-Adventure

Author : Doug Dandridge

Author Page :  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006S69CTU

BookTrailer :  http://youtu.be/UhzXuqsLuvs

Amazon Stores :  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006S3GOKS

Reviews : Multiple 4.3-5stars

Blurb : In the year 2089 Pandora Latham is working to tag comets.  Kuiper miner Niven comes across a derelict of far superior technology, an English name on the hull.  As Pandi and crew explore the ship, space distorts around them, the Universe getting rid of the paradox.  While the ships break apart Pandi jumps into an active wormhole.  Pandi comes out in an advanced space station 46,000 years in the future that appears deserted.  

Pandora finds herself in a fight against the cybernetic defenders of the station.  Watcher, a genetically engineered super being, observes the fight.  His curiosity and loneliness get the better of him and he allows Pandi to survive.  He sends his own robots to gather her up, while watching other developments in the Supersystem, a group of eight star systems in orbit around the black hole.

A task force from the newly risen xenophobic Nation of Humanity has entered the system, to capture technology from  the station.  The Nation sees all alien life as evil.  It wishes to increase its tech to aid it in its war against the evil.  Traveling from their home system using their space destroying drives, they will not be dissuaded.  Pandi is captured by Watcher and taken to his quarters.  Her emotional stress and his loneliness draw them together.  Watcher disappears and is replaced by his paranoid brother, Vengeance, who captures and tortures Pandi, taking sadistic pleasure in her agony.


The Nation of Humanity ships probe the station.  Vengeance uses the graviton beam projectors in orbit around the hole to destroy two ships.  The rest pull back and continue to probe the station.  Meanwhile new visitors have entered the system in a different kind of ship, deploying a more advanced drive than the Nation.  The newcomers, from the Kingdom of Surya, have been at war with the Nation for generations.


Pandi fights her way free from Vengeance.  She gains access to the control center in another section of the station.  The Nation of Humanity force strikes, using pseudo FTL drives to get in under the defenses, escaping with much of the tech they were after.  Pandi, using a shielded system, delves into the mystery of Watcher/Vengeance.  She finds that Vengeance destroyed civilization at the behest of the station computer, thousands of years prior.  

The computer has been switching out the personalities of the “brothers” while they sleep, using Watcher as a companion, and Vengeance the sadistic defender of the station.  Pandi entices Watcher to her area and induces the change to Vengeance by telling Watcher the truth.  Pandi captures Vengeance and reawakens Watcher, who is horrified to learn that his other self was responsible for the deaths of trillions.  The station computer was afraid it was going to be disconnected in favor of another, more advanced computer.


Watcher and Pandi decide to take out the central computer.  Watcher uses wormholes to flood each target area with radiation while Pandi strikes.  The last, primary, core does not have a working demolition charge, and Pandi brings the mouth of a wormhole with her in the assault.  The computer is destroyed as the black hole sucks it out the station.  Pandi makes a last second escape and finds herself plummeting into the black hole.  

She barely avoids the event horizon and just generates enough vector to just miss the station.  Watcher picks Pandi up from space and the pair plan to revive Galactic Civilization.  In the tradition of Ringworld, THE DEEP DARK WELL is of course written with the possibility of sequels as Pandi and Watcher explore the Galaxy.

Amazon Reviews (View all reviews) 



 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Book Spotlight Part I : The Brett Cornell Mystery Series by David D. D'Aguanno

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is a popular detective series with humor and comedy thrown into this interesting mix concoted and created by author David D. D'Aguanno -- The Brett Cornell Mystery Series.

The 5 popular Brett Cornell Mysteries featured today - Read an excerpt from each book posted in this blog along with links to the author's website, purchase links to the bookstore and links to multiple star reviews that the Brett Cornell Series has received.






AUTHOR LINKS : Connect with author David D. D'Aguanno




Twitter handle: @DaveDAguanno




THE BRETT CORNELL MYSTERY SERIES- book features and excerpts

Ebook : BRETT AEROBICIZES (Brett Cornell Mystery#2)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1470005375

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback


CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3786598



Reviews : 4-5stars

Blurb : A man is found dead with a bullet hole in his chest, and private detective Brett Cornell is the #1 suspect.

It might have something to do with the fact that there were witnesses who had seen him punching the guy around only a few days earlier. Or -- more likely -- it might be because the police have discovered that the fatal bullet had been fired from HIS gun!

In the second novel of this detective series set in the late 1980s, self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell has to figure out who's trying to set him up:Could it be his lovely but meek new client? Or perhaps her equally lovely but far from meek room-mate? Or might it actually be the beautiful and dynamic aerobics instructor he's recently taken up with?

In the meantime, Brett's legendary Adonis-like features get severely damaged when he ends up catching the beating of his life -- emotionally as well as physically -- before he finally nails the identity of the real killer!


Excerpt from BRETT AEROBICIZES (Brett Cornell Mystery#2):

   
There was a kind of wheezing sound as Ginger let out some air through her nostrils, and then she followed me as far as the bedroom, where I stopped and turned around towards her when she reached out and touched my arm.
     “Hands off, babe,” I said to her in a tight-sounding voice, and after backing off from me, she told me that if I should happen to bring Marilyn into “our” bed, it would constitute the end of our entire relationship.
     “When you move out,” I replied, walking the rest of the way on into the bathroom,” do like Karen did, and clear all of your feminine paraphernalia out of here before Marilyn moves in and takes over.”
     By the time I finished that sentence, I was already in the bathroom, leaning in a trifle towards the mirror as I thought I saw a couple of hairs of my mustache slightly out of alignment with all the others. I expected Ginger to dart right in there after me, but she took me a little by surprise because it was almost a full sixty seconds before she came in, and even then, she only leaned against the door-frame and crossed her arms in front of her to put her hands on opposite shoulders.
     I’d been concentrating just then on the important task of straightening out the old mustache, but for one moment, when I took a real quick glance at her reflection standing behind me, I said to myself,” God! Is she beautiful!” – But it was just that one moment, and then reality came rushing back into my brain as I heard her begin to speak, looking down at the floor as she did so.
     “When you asked me to move in with you last Friday, I didn’t realize that you were intent upon inflicting all sorts of mental punishment upon me – but I made up my mind that I would put up with it as long as I possibly could, because I – Well, never mind that.” She paused to lower her head even more, and then she went on,” I have never been treated so horribly by a man, and yet, I don’t know what to do – to please you, Brett –“
     Feeling restless, and instinctively telling myself that I needed to escape the discomfort I was beginning to feel, I walked on past her, and her body made room for me to get through the doorway as I did so. Then I retrieved my pack of Marlboros from the top of my bureau and put it in the front pocket of my shirt. Seeing that she continued to face into the interior of the bathroom, with her hands still grasping her two arms, I said to the back of her,
     “Don’t even try it.”
     “Try what?” she immediately asked me, still without turning around and facing me.
     “You know what you’re trying to do to me, and I’m telling you to knock it off.” Then I deliberately paused, just to give her enough time to respond to what I’d just said if she felt so inclined, but since she didn’t, I went ahead and told her,” You know why I asked you to move in. It was to spite Karen. That’s all. So, just ‘cause I’ve been letting you sleep here for the past week, don’t get any stupid ideas in your head about – Just don’t, O.K.? Things are the way they are – ‘cause that’s the way they are.” And then, cursing at myself for talking gibberish, I set my jaw more firmly and continued relentlessly,” You know as well as I do that all I have to do is say the word, and Marilyn will move right in and take your place, and then, for all I care, you can go soak your sad self in a hot basin somewhere on Skid Row.”



Ebook : BRETT ALWAYS WINS (Brett Cornell Mystery#3)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1470098346

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback


CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3801789 


 Reviews : Multiple 5stars

Blurb : According to the police report, the attractive, blue-eyed blonde had been shot to death in her apartment at around 7:30 p.m. Then how was it possible that nearly 50 people saw her dining and dancing at a nearby club over 3 hours later?

Set in the late 1980s, the third Brett Cornell novel finds the studly private detective surrounded by the usual bevy of beautiful women, as well as a few seedy characters who foolishly decide to butt heads with the supreme unscrupulous bastard himself.

But Brett's road to victory isn't easy, especially when he receives a frantic call for help which leads to his being severely beaten right outside his office building and, later, being held and threatened at gunpoint.

Soon, bullets start flying, fists start flying -- and even a sledgehammer is used -- in one of the most violent cases of his career, before Brett finally wins!



Cute little Paula Marshall came walking towards me in the parking lot, and she offered me a feeble smile when she came close enough to touch.
    “Well, it’s done, I’ve got the money,” she announced, although she didn’t look any too happy about it. For my own part, I wasn’t exactly ready to bust out singing the Star-Spanish Banner either. For one thing, I didn’t even know the words, and for another thing, my singing voice ain’t exactly at the same level as Burt Baccarat’s or that Deaf Leopard guy, to name just two of the best country-and-western singers you’d ever care to listen to! But I did manage to put a big smile on my face upon hearing the great news about the money finally being just a little itty-bit closer to being put in my own bank account.
    “Make sure it’s all there before we drive out of the parking lot,” I advised her.
    “Do you think somebody might try to rob us?” she asked me, suddenly all a-tremble.
    “Nah, I just wanna make sure you’re not trying to rip me off, that’s all,” I said to her, then I chuckled good-naturedly and told her,” What I meant to say was, ’We wanna make sure Donna Ruby don’t think we’re trying to rip her off, that’s all.’”
    Whether she believed me or not didn’t really matter a whole lot, as far as I was concerned, so we got back in the car, and Paula proceeded to direct me to the address she had found out on her own as being that of the woman named Donna Ruby who she had every reason to believe was ruining her pathetic little life. And so, just to convince me one more time that she was one totally mixed-up gal, the first thing she said to me when we stepped out of the car upon our arrival at Donna Ruby’s apartment building was: “Do I look all right?”
    “Not bad, considering you’re about to make an ass of yourself,” I told her, then hurriedly corrected myself since I was probably pushing my luck to its absolute limit,” That is to say, ‘Not bad, you can pass yourself off as a highly respectable woman who sincerely wants to save her marriage at any cost.”
    “Why, thank you, Brett,” Little Miss Clueless replied, smiling faintly. “It was very nice of you to say that.”
    Yup, I told myself. She definitely wants me to make mad and passionate love to her. They all do.





Ebook : BRETT GETS HAMMERED (Brett Cornell Mystery#5)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1475097184

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback


CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3834938


Reviews :  Multiple 4.5-5stars

Blurb : The beautiful and alluring Tammy Rankin and her brother Andy were positively grief-stricken when their well-to-do father died of a fatal heart attack.

In fact, their grief was intensified when they realized that their young stepmother stood to inherit his vast fortune -- that is, unless they could somehow suggest foul play and pin a murder rap on the woman, notwithstanding her probable innocence.

They obviously needed to enlist the services of someone who was totally devoid of any amount of scruples whatsoever.

A perfect cue, then, for the entrance of self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell who -- as expected -- is instantly attracted to the prospect of getting his own greedy hands on a portion of the Rankin inheritance -- and on the lovely Tammy Rankin herself!

However, will his unscrupulous nature alone, coupled with his stunning Adonis-like features, be enough for him to pull it off? -- especially when he's been spending the last few months of his life in a state of almost constant inebriation?
 



The man gave out a short laugh, and then he looked down briefly at the floor beneath where he was standing, before looking back up at me and saying,
     “You certainly seem in better spirits than you were in the last time I spoke with you – and I’m glad of that. But I don’t know, Brett. I keep thinking and keep hoping that someday real soon you’ll trust me enough – maybe even like me enough – to open up and tell me why you had that falling out with that beautiful young woman you were seeing at the time of your bout against Gil Bailey – if only to make me understand how you could throw away something so precious –“
     “Stop right there, Joe!” I told him, holding my right hand straight out in his direction, palm facing out. “You don’t know what I know – or what I think I know – which I know don’t make no sense, but –“ and I had to stop myself as the realization came upon me that I was entering the kind of emotional territory that I’d always found to be completely alien and even hostile to my basically unscrupulous nature. Luckily, however, Raff didn’t give me any more time to stumble all over myself as I was starting to do just then, as he came to the rescue (so to speak) by saying to me,
     “You’re right, of course. There’s a lot I don’t know about this situation, and about what you were led to believe or suspect or whatever – but what I do know is this: There’s a young woman involved here who’s wasting away emotionally, who’s confused and scared and just about ready to give up, and I would consider it a horrible sin if I didn’t at least make an attempt to remedy the situation for her – and for you, too, of course -- in any way that I could.”
     I had originally planned on taking a nice brisk shower and then high-tailing it on over to Miss Lola Buchanan’s where I was fairly certain I’d be greeted warmly and tenderly. She, so far, had impressed me as being a really sweet and gentle young thing –
     But she wasn’t Ginger.
     Then, while I simply sat down on the wooden bench that ran parallel to the row of lockers I’d just been standing in front of, I kept my lips closed and looked down at my feet.
     And Joe Raff placed a hand on one of my shoulders and told me,
     “All I can tell you is this, Brett: I could be wrong, but -- I’ve always believed that the sincere and passionate love of a beautiful woman can transform a man’s life and his soul in a truly miraculous way.  Just give that some thought, would you please?”
    He didn’t say anything else after that, and he increased the pressure of his hand upon my shoulder – just a tad – without me even shaking it off me as I normally reacted whenever a man put his hands upon me, uninvited.
     And so, I just sat there for several minutes, even after Joe had left, and I can’t even recall exactly what it was I was either thinking or feeling at that time. But I can state with absolute certainty that I was NOT thinking about Lola Buchanan – and our date that evening never did take place.
     And I can’t even offer a rational explanation as to why it happened that way. 


Book Spotlight Part II : The Brett Cornell Mystery Series by David D. D'Aguanno

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is a popular detective series with humor and comedy thrown into this interesting mix concoted and created by author David D. D'Aguanno -- The Brett Cornell Mystery Series.

The 2 popular Brett Cornell Mysteries featured today - Read an excerpt from each book posted in this blog along with links to the author's website, purchase links to the bookstore and links to multiple star reviews that the Brett Cornell Series has received.

AUTHOR LINKS : Connect with author David D. D'Aguanno




Twitter handle: @DaveDAguanno




THE BRETT CORNELL MYSTERY SERIES- book features and excerpts



Ebook : IT'S ALL BRETT'S FAULT (Brett Cornell Mystery#7)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1477631218




CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3904102

Barnes and Noble :  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/its-all-bretts-fault-david-daguanno/1111971619


Blurb :  Marcus Wade was a man who wasn't easily intimidated -- that is, until he had reason to believe that someone was trying to kill him.

Upon talking the matter over with his wife Sybil, he decided to hire someone who would not only protect him, but who would also scare off any potential murderers. In other words, he needed a man who was tough, dangerous -- and more than a little unscrupulous.
 
Enter private detective Brett Cornell who jumps at the chance to push his weight around on the man's behalf, but is even MORE anxious to get it on with the lovely Sybil Wade as well as her younger and even more voluptuous sister Nora -- for starters! The fun and games come to an abrupt end, however, when someone really ends up dead, and everyone involved agrees: It's all Brett's fault!


Excerpt from It's all Brett's Fault (Brett Cornell Mystery#7)


 A little while later, when I was getting back inside after having stashed all that brew in the trunk of my car parked right outside, I thought the jig was up for sure when a fairly cute brunette, decked out in a little waitress outfit, suddenly materialized behind the counter and, looking around in some confusion, finally squinted her eyes in my direction as I approached.

     “Did you see where Al went?” she asked me, then her confused look turned into one of sheer pleasure, probably on account of she could see me more clearly when I stepped in closer to her, and the sight of my incredible mustache and my beautiful curly blond hair had obviously bedazzled her to the max.

     “What do you need Al for? I’m here right now, and Al ain’t,” and all I had to do just then was to continue to enchant her by giving her a brief sample of the devastating Brett Cornell smile, and then I topped it off by circling an arm about her waist and bringing her in closer to me.

     “I -- I wish I had time to get better acquainted with you,” she replied, summoning all the inner strength available to her in an effort to prevent herself from melting away completely. “But I am on duty right now. Maybe later?”

     Hearing that, I kept my smile going strong as I calmly reached over and extracted her little waitress’s pad from out of the back pocket of her skirt, along with the pen that was attached to it, and held it in front of her a moment before handing it over to her and telling her,

    “Name and number.”
    Then I slowly let go of her, but remained standing pretty close as I watched her write down the info I’d asked for. Then I shoved my hands in my pockets, looked around idly, and remarked,

     “As a matter of fact, honey -- I kinda wish Al was here right now. I loaned him fifty bucks last week, and he told me I’d get it back this afternoon. Now, the lousy bum’s nowhere to be found, and it’s my nephew’s birthday – the little tadpole’s just turned six -- and I really need that fifty to buy him a nice present, you know?” I was gonna add a few words to the effect that I needed to get him something that wouldn’t put too much of a strain on the poor, sickly little tadpole, seeing as he’d recently had an operation, and golly, he was just a helpless little tadpole, too, and he didn’t deserve all the unhappiness he’d had recently, which was quite a lot, considering he was just a little tadpole, right? And in so saying this, I think I’ve just exceeded the world’s record for the number of times the word “tadpole” has ever appeared in print in a single paragraph!

    But the truth of the matter is I didn’t actually say anything like that, but instead, I merely clamped my mouth shut and cast pleading eyes across the short space that separated my face from hers and sniffed a little, as if to hold back a few tears.

     Then the girl sighed and said,

     “I guess I’m just a sucker for sensitive guys like you. Listen, darling -- I’ll just take fifty dollars out of the register, and when Al gets back, I’ll just tell him I paid you, and he can just put the fifty bucks back in the register out of his own pocket.”

     “Gee,” I said to her in an awe-struck voice, and my smile got even wider than before. “You are not only beautiful, but you’ve got a real kind heart. I like that in a woman -- even more than good looks, you know?”

     “No problem at all, sweetie,” she said on her way back from the cash register, and she handed me two crisp twenty-dollar bills and a handsome ten-spot, accompanying the act with a cheery smile that I was rapidly falling in love with -- sort of. “Now -- just in case he asks, who should I say I gave the money to?”

     With a big smile, I folded the bills, dropped them into the front pocket of my shirt where I kept my smokes, and said,” Henry Lawton,” three seconds before I was out the door. 



Ebook : BEACH BUM BRETT (Brett Cornell Mystery#8)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

Facebook Page :  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beach-Bum-Brett

ISBN (print format): 978-1478122500

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback




Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Brett-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008RLB1IO

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3918340

Barnes and Noble :  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beach-bum-brett-david-daguanno/1112229469

Reviews : 5stars 

Blurb : Private detective Brett Cornell decides to go on vacation, and hits the sunny, golden shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, where he quickly captures the 3 A's (the attention, admiration, & affections) of as many of the lovely young bikini-clad beauties as he could ever desire!

So, what could possibly go wrong?

Well -- as Brett himself would say -- as sure as rain is wet and water is...well...wet, Brett's self-appointed reign as King of the Beach is soon threatened when a few of the local tough guys decide to engage him in a bit of fisticuffs so that it doesn't take long before the unscrupulous bastard himself begins to catch a whiff of MURDER in the salty sea air.

Only, this time he himself may very well be the intended victim!



“On an individual basis,” I said to the company at large,” you guys are totally useless. Is that why you always got to fight in packs?”

     “We don’t fight,” somebody said. It was a new voice -- or, at least, a voice I hadn’t heard in a while -- and I then noticed that Norman character coming forward a few steps away from the railing. With his piercing pretty eyes blazing away at me, he proceeded to inform me that he himself was not in the habit of driving into strange towns and punching out innocent people the way I apparently was. “And just because some of those innocent people want to strike back,” he continued,” you seem to think you’re being ganged up on.”

     With a laugh that had the word “scorn” written all over it, I stepped in towards the sucker, hands on my hips, and said to him,
    “Don’t be such a two-faced clown. Be honest for once in your life, and admit you’re the one who put Craig and his pals up to that stunt on the beach the other day.”

     “What stunt on the beach?” he asked with a kind of self-righteous attitude, and just because he seemed to think he was above a common piece of peasant trash like me and -- mainly -- just because I felt like it, I reached out, took him by the throat, and shoved him back up against the railing, and without letting go of his throat while I did that, too.

     “Jeez!” Konrad cried out, and noticing out of the corner of my eye that Craig was about to start towards me, I shot back at him,

     “Just try it, and I’ll break his neck with my bare hands.”

     And then, aside from some sputtering from Norman, there was silence. Craig dropped his arms loosely by his sides and stepped back to stand next to the lifeguard buddy of his that I hadn’t knocked out -- yet. Even Konrad shut his stupid baby-mouth and stood quietly, a look of pained intensity on his face the whole time I kept my hand around Norman’s throat. Finally, a scruple I didn’t know I even had persuaded me to ease up, so I let go of the hold I had on his neck, and as soon as I released him, he went stumbling back against the railing again, choking and putting on an Academy Award-winning performance like he was Marlo Thomas in “A Streetcar Named Denial” – or was it that other old movie that took place on a Southern plantation in Minneapolis, and starred Clark Kent and Betty Grable?
      Anyways, watching him carry on like that, I had some difficulty in stifling the urge to simply step over to him and nail him a good solid punch on the jaw, just to shut him up. Pretty boys like him turned my stomach, if you know what I mean, especially the ones who put on airs like they were better than everybody else, as if their descendants had all come over to this country on the Titanic, or something -- and from where I was standing, this Norman character fit that description to a Tee. Turning to the others, I told them that, as far as I was concerned, the party was over and they could all go take a flying leap off the Himalayas, assuming they knew what they were and where to find them (which I didn’t, incidentally).


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