Cold Kisser

Sally Anne has a chilling gift that makes her kiss ice cold. Tommy ultimately discovers her big secret.

Sally Anne has a chilling gift that makes her kiss ice cold. Tommy ultimately discovers her big secret.

Paulette--the new wife, the mother, the grandmother--will call her daughter, Janita, and describe this beautiful moon witnessed on her honeymoon to Minnesota. Can an everyday moon really be that beautiful? It can if you are Paulette. It's almost ritual, the abuse Paulette had suffered at the hands of her mother's boyfriend, Harley Bull. What's a girl of six to do? She loved her daddy, Gustav Swenson, but was seeing him only on weekends enough? No. Abandoned by her mother, Gustav gains custody. Gustav and Paulette move from Washington State to farm half of his brother's homestead in Newfolden, Minnesota. She learns the meaning of love, the expected promise of forever. From her daddy? Yes. From her aunties Laura and Ulla? Yes. From her best friend, Mary? Yes. From Jacky Slogard? Absolutely. But sometimes love is not as comely and dependable as we might wish it to be, is it? The growth of overall peace and happiness--of contentment with our place in life--can very well come with a number of unpleasant circumstances during the living of that life. Will there be surprises in Paulette's life? Yes. Will there be miracles? Definitely: Life itself is a miracle. And within life, finding love and giving love are precious miracles. Paulette--all of us--must embrace those precious moments of loves worth.

Giving a ride to a snowbound stranger who offers them a lucrative sum in exchange, a recently engaged couple is thrown into a nightmarish situation when the stranger dies in their back seat with more than two million dollars in his possession.

From the author dubbed "a literary Lolita" by Vanity Fair comes the perfect portrait of a young actress caught in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Edgy and funny at the same time, Thin Skin provides a realistic glimpse into the dark and inviting world of fame from the writer who penned Namedropper when she was just twenty-one. Everyone thinks Ruby is beautiful except for Ruby, who is so hell-bent on being ugly that she's driven away the man who loves her, the agent who swears he could have made her a star, and the delectable male costar of her latest project, Mean People Suck. After all, Ruby believes that what's going on outside should reflect what's on the inside -- and inside she's a mess. Burned-out at the age of twenty, she's living alone in a world of hotels and fast food -- none of which she keeps down -- haunted by the memory of her childhood love, cutting herself, and tempted to repeat her mother's tragic fate. She needs to find a new way of being....and fast.

The son of a serial killer. A devil in the flesh. Midas Monroe knows that his big size intimidates plenty of people, and when they learn about his twisted past? Most folks go running. But he’s not like his dear old monster of a dad, despite the stories that still circulate in the press. He’s a bodyguard. Protecting and defending is his bit. No emotional attachments, ever. And no mistakes. His latest case isn’t the same old routine. It comes with a few twists…Twist one? The woman he’s protecting doesn’t know that he’s her bodyguard. Like that doesn’t make the job an extra pain in his— Ice. Alina Bellamy is the reigning queen of the ice. She’s an Olympic contender waiting for her moment to shine. And she’s also a woman falling hard and fast for the big, muscled, and gorgeous stranger who has just swept into her life. When they touch, she finally feels something other than the cold that has surrounded her forever. Taken. Terrified. Lost… Alina’s perfect world shatters when she’s abducted. Kidnapped in the middle of the night, she fears that she’ll never survive, until he rushes to the rescue. Her Midas. Big, bold, and dangerous. He spirits her away even as her abductors give chase. Alina isn’t the first victim to be taken, and her abductors aren’t just going to let her slip away. The abduction is just the start of the nightmare that waits for Alina. And as for Midas? Sometimes, it takes the son of a devil to fight the darkest monsters who like to hide in plain sight. Midas has never backed away from a fight. Mostly because he has a killer swing… The Ice Breakers are back! And Midas is about to find out that sometimes, a case can become very, very personal. Cold cases will collide with the firestorm surrounding Alina as Midas hunts for a killer and as he finds out that the old saying can be true…The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Because Midas may just be falling hard for a woman he will never, ever be able to truly have.

Life and death. But not as you know it. She saw Him in a dimly lit restaurant booth. Repellent, yet fascinating. Elbows on the table. Holding a glass of red wine. Watching her over the rim. When she looked again. He was gone. No sign He was ever there. She misses Him already. A speculative romantic fantasy of a love that lasts lifetimes.

The American City is the subject of the first section of this unusual collection an intense, meaningful combination of industry and emotion the commuters and the high-rise apartment dwellers have never seen. The poet goes to the heart of a great city, to the little people whose energy keeps it moving and alive. With tremendous force, with humor, with clarity and perception, he reveals the . . . Giant Man lined with copper nerves, Old Man river surges through his veins. His organs are volcanic pots cascading molten stew, Presses pounding utility, Registers ringing revenue. The poet turns with ease to a variety of moods and themes, from pure fantasy to melancholy reflection on the past to delightful humor. This is something in this collection for everyone, and not merely because of variety. Each poem has an emotional impact which cuts through superficiality and rationalization, leaving the reader with the universally understood essence of experience.