The Power of Love and Murder by Brenda Whiteside

Hi Liz and readers! So happy to be here and introduce you to my latest release. Christmas and Politics. Joy and Jeopardy. Love and Murder. That’s how it all comes together in my latest release, The Power of Love and Murder, A Wild Horse Peaks Novel book 3.

The third book in the Wild Horse Peaks Novels released yesterday. Penny Sparks, nicknamed the Black Fairy because of her penchant for Goth dress and small stature, played a minor character in the first book of the series, The Art of Love and Murder. One of my critique partners suggested she needed her own book. When I opened to the idea, wow, did Penny lay a story on me. The Power of Love and Murder was off and running.

This book had double the villain fun with an FBI agent turned bad and a crooked politician willing to murder to get to the White House. I had a fair share of research to bring these two nasty characters onto the page.

More fun ensued when the hero of the book turned out to be a hot, but washed up, rock and roll star. Jake will steal your heart. And I finally got to use a scene from real-life, thanks to my brother who spent one awful night in a cheap motel years ago. I’d laughed so hard when he told the story, I knew I’d use it someday in one of my books.

Penny’s secrets can ruin the presidential contender who ordered her family’s murder

…and mark her as the next hit.

Penny Spark’s desire to reconnect with family this Christmas exposes her true identity—a secret she’s hidden for thirteen years from the political powers that murdered her family.

Jake Winters is out of rehab and coming to grips with his demons. When he meets Penny, he believes this holiday season could be the start of life after rock star status…until her secrets blow up his world.

With a government agent turned hit man closing in on her, Penny and Jake race to expose the presidential contender who targeted her family. Even if they win the race with death, the murder that stands between them could end their hopes for a new life…and love.

You can read the first chapter of The Power of Love and Murder here: https://brendawhiteside.com/the-power-of-chapter-one

You can purchase your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPVTDH7B

Wild Horse Peaks is the new and improved second edition originally titled The Love and Murder Series. The audio books, first editions, are still available. You can order it here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Power-of-Love-and-Murder-Audiobook/B086PML1ZF?

FYI, the fourth book in the series, The Deep Well of Love and Murder is on preorder and will release May 23rd. The sequel to book one, A Legacy of Love and Murder will release May 9th, but you can have it for free if you’re a member of BNG (Brenda’s Newsletter Group).

Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and romance. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have settled in Central Arizona. They admit to being gypsies at heart so won't discount the possibility of another move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.

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https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003V15WF8

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3972045.Brenda_Whiteside

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Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder by Brenda Whiteside and Joyce Proell

 

It’s a birthday weekend with the gift of murder.

Recently widowed, Emma Banefield looks forward to a getaway birthday weekend with her free-wheeling sister, Nicole Earp, sipping chocolate martinis at the peaceful, historic Dulce Inn. When a rude stranger, a nasty food critic, and a madhouse of temperamental artists greet them, all hope for a tranquil weekend evaporates faster than dew on a hot desert morning.

Overlooking the riotous atmosphere is doubly hard after Em discovers the body of a hotel guest, and a second murder affects Nic personally. Now, entrenched in a caper that pits them against a surly detective, they cozy up to a hotel staff hiding dangerous secrets to uncover clues to the killer.

Using their smarts and love of all-things mystery, will the Chocolate Martini Sisters solve the crime ahead of the obstinate Chief Detective or find themselves trapped in the middle of a third murder?

Sounds like a case for the Chocolate Martini Sisters. The silly moniker lifted the heavy weight on her chest, and she smiled. In spite of it all, life was good. With closed eyes, she breathed deeply what she’d expected to be fresh air. Instead, the stink of cigarette smoke made her noise twitch. What dummy had the gall to clog up paradise? One eye popped open in search of the culprit. 

The offender, a woman sporting bleached blonde hair with sprigs of azure and pink, propped against the hotel, one scuffed sneaker planted on the brick façade. A white apron, the sort preferred by cooking staff, wrapped about her slender waist. She sucked another puff. A cross tattoo on her wrist stained the pale skin blue. Acting as though she didn’t see her sitting there, she blew the offending smoke across her shoulder, away from her.   

Thanks loads. Lips pursed and her privacy interrupted, she sat upright and faced the hard-edged employee. The aroma of sautéed garlic and onions mingled with the smoke of her cigarette. “You must work in the kitchen,” Emma said by way of making conversation. A series of gold hoops pierced the rounded helix of the woman’s left ear. 

“Yup.” She crossed her arm over her waist, propping her elbow on her opposite hand and looked away, blowing more pollution into the air.  

“So, you work with the famous Chef Grayson.” 

The woman snorted. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.” 

Evidently, Miss Rainbow-Colored Hair didn’t think much of him. 

“Are you his assistant?”

“Sous-chef.”

So this was Charlotte Wilson. The very woman Joe had mentioned to Nic and who coveted Payne’s job. 

“Chef Payne has built up quite a prestigious reputation.”

“Oh, yeah,” she snarled. “He’s the best.” Her acid tone dripped with sarcasm. 

Emma chose to avoid further comment about their contentious work relationship 

“Are you familiar with the man who died?”

She grunted and picked tobacco from her tongue. “You mean who was murdered?”

“Shocking, isn’t it?” As suspected, word of the death had spread throughout the hotel. 

The sous-chef didn’t answer. Instead, she ground the last bit of her cigarette into the paver with her shoe, then flashed the most chilling smile. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” Without a parting word, she disappeared through the hotel door.

She reclined against the supportive lounge chair, not certain what to make of the woman. Hostile was a certainty, and the cold smile was downright creepy. Could Nic’s proposed theory at breakfast suggesting the sous-chef committed murder to frame Payne for personal advancement be viable? Could a person successfully lead a kitchen crew with so much anger licking at her heels? Was she driven enough to kill? 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN96RS4G/ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71969141-candy-cigarettes-and-murder https://www.bookbub.com/books/candy-cigarettes-and-murder-a-chocolate-martini-sisters-mystery-book-1-by-brenda-whiteside-and-joyce-proell

Joyce Proell is the award-winning author of Amaryllis, Eliza and the Cady Delafield mysteries: A Deadly Truth, A Burning Truth and A Wicked Truth. Along with her husband and little dog, Nellie, she lives in Minnesota in her very own little house on the prairie. She loves to hear from readers. 

Visit her website at www.joyceproell.com or at https://www.facebook.com/JoyceProellAuthor.

Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, romance, and cozy mystery. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have settled in Central Arizona. They admit to being gypsies at heart and won't discount the possibility of another move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.

Visit Brenda at https://www.brendawhiteside.com or

https://www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor

The MacKenzie Chronicles by Brenda Whiteside

Years ago, standing with other parents in the lobby of a hotel waiting to be assigned a young Austrian boy who we would house for a week during a hockey tournament, I glanced over the group. A blue-eyed cutie stared at me, and our gazes locked. I had the wildest sensation I knew this child for eons. When they drew names, he was assigned to our home. Coincidence? I think not. We’ve been close friends from afar for decades. We always have been and always will be. The universe tells me so.

I’ve always been captivated by what the sixties subculture tagged mind expansion. The concepts of déjà vu, aura reading, intuition, empathic visions or sensations, dream meanings, clairsentience, and other forms of communication—gaining knowledge outside common experience—fascinate me.

There are people who apparently possess a sixth sense. Ordinary people who don’t consider themselves particularly gifted have moments of empathic enlightenment. Decades ago, when I lived in Germany, I had to go to the hospital for minor surgery. My mother, in Arizona, knew without being told. She called my husband to find out what was wrong with me. 

The setting of my latest series is Joshua, Arizona, and is modeled after a real-life town called Jerome. This town hangs on the side of a mountain, roads stacked like stadium seating, with a view of the green valleys and red rock mesas miles away. I’ve been intrigued by this old mining town for decades. I combined that interest with my love of the mind-expanding concepts of the sixties to create The MacKenzie Chronicles.

Living in present-day Joshua, Arizona—an 1800s mining community-turned-ghost-town, reborn hippie haven, and now tourist town clinging to the side of Spirit Mountain, the MacKenzie family saga unfolds in each book. Although not the main theme of the series, their mystical tendencies and their openness to accept what can’t be explained helps to solve mysteries and adds to the suspense.

Have you had any other-worldly experiences? Have you experienced déjà vu? I’d love to hear your experiences.

Curse of Wolf Falls (The MacKenzie Chronicles Book 3)

Secrets can protect what the truth will destroy.

Elidor MacKenzie has a gift she can't return—the ability to absorb the joy, pain, and suffering of others. She's spent her life running from what she considers her curse. Now, her best friend is dead, and she alone holds the key to an archaeological discovery that could destroy a culture. With newfound inner peace, Elidor has returned home to make amends and guard the secret revelation. But greed-driven scavengers have followed her. Once again, the energies of Joshua will stir the hurricane, with her at the deadly center.

Jules never got over Elidor. Twenty years and a famous journalism career later, he's back in Joshua—and so is his first love. If his heart can stand the torture, he'll risk reviving their relationship. But saving Elidor from herself and the secret she won't give up may be the death of them both.

With Jules by her side, Elidor is determined to outrun the scavengers, guard the secret, and renew their love. But fate is coming after her, and there's nowhere the couple can hide.

BOOK LINKS

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B663MY1D

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B663MY1D

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Curse-Wolf-Falls-Brenda-Whiteside-ebook/dp/B0B663MY1D/

https://www.bookbub.com/books/curse-of-wolf-falls-by-brenda-whiteside

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61628189-curse-of-wolf-falls

BRENDA’S BIO

Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, romance, and cozy mystery books. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have settled in Central Arizona. They admit to being gypsies at heart so won't discount the possibility of another move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.

Visit Brenda:

https://www.brendawhiteside.com

Or on FaceBook:

https://www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/brendawhitesid2

Join her Newsletter Group here:

https://us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=4804e039587723cfe02e83f2c&id=5e4b22a4ac