Are you ready
for VOODOO DREAMS?
Linda Jennings here for KDKA-2 in Pittsburgh,
sitting with two local lawyers, Brianna Ward and Evan Farrell, who have
recently returned from a visit to New Orleans—I’d say vacation, but it sounds
like more of a nightmare! Isn’t that
right, Brianna?
Brianna: I don’t know if I’d say it was a nightmare,
exactly, but—”
Evan, breaking in: I sure as hell would. Have you
ever been in a swamp? I don’t mean a soaked back yard out in Indiana Township,
I mean a swamp, with mosquitos the
size of hummingbirds and long, twisty vines hanging everywhere. And gators…”
Brianna, in an odd voice: Yeah. Gators. *she takes a deep breath*
Linda: But I
thought you went to go to Mardi Gras. You know, Bourbon Street, parades, bling,
parties, that kind of thing. Worst you can get from all that is a hangover.
Sometimes a really bad, bad painful hangover. *rueful grin* No swamps in town.
So, how did that come about?
Evan *looks at Brianna* : Because some people are
stubborn as a big old rock.
Brianna: It’s
true we went to enjoy Mardi Gras. Well, we weren’t even “we” then. I went down
and he went down, but we weren’t together.
Evan: Not till we got to the bed and breakfast.
Brianna: Right. The last person I wanted to see.
Linda: I understand you’d just lost a big case to
Evan’s law firm, isn’t that right, Brianna?
Brianna *glares*: Thanks so much for announcing that
to the general public.
Linda: Sorry.
Just looking for context. But Evan, you ran into her at the B&B and thought
she needed a date?
Evan: What? No! She just kept getting herself in
trouble! First she met this sleazy guy at the airport—”
Brianna: Copper wasn’t sleazy!
Evan: Yeah? Fine. He was worse. He was a voodoo
priest.
Linda *with a disbelieving laugh* Voodoo. Really? In
the 21st century? Surely that doesn’t exist any more. If it ever
did.
Evan: They’ve got a whole museum
there all about it, with snakes and stuffed dead animals and zombis and
everything. Check it out if you don’t believe it. And this Copper Delacroix was
one hundred percent for real. *eyes
Brianna* He caught her with a riddle and dragged her in.
Linda: And
you had to follow her. A real knight in shining armor. *wide smile*
Brianna:
*rolls her eyes* He’s a meddling fool, you mean. Just because he used to
be a cop…
Evan: Oh, really? That’s what you think? Next time
I’ll let the gator eat you.
Linda: *completely oblivious to the undercurrent*
Next time? Well that’s great that you’re planning a return visit to the
Crescent City. I remember the year I went there for Mardi Gras…well, now that I
think of it, there’s a lot I don’t remember about that visit. I had a couple of
those Vieux Carre cocktails,
and then suddenly it was Monday. Huh. *gets
control of her little memorial walkabout there* Right, but we’re here now. No
one died, right?
*neither one of them reply*
Linda *a little surprised* : Oh. Well. Moving on. Lawyers in love? Who’d
believe they even have hearts? Am I right?
Evan *getting up* We’re done here.
Brianna: So done. Come on. *they walk off the set*
Linda: *fumbling a little* Well, wasn’t that
special? Traveling anywhere to get away from the Pittsburgh winter is something
on many people’s to-do list—stay tuned for a round up of quick weekend getaways
with Barbi St. James. Back in five!”
***
VOODOO DREAMS by Alana Lorens
When her big trial goes bad,
corporate attorney Brianna Ward can’t wait to get out of Pittsburgh. The Big
Easy seems like the perfect place to rest, relax, and forget about the legal
business. Too bad an obnoxious—but handsome—lawyer from a rival firm is
checking into the same bed and breakfast.
Attorney Evan Farrell has
Mardi Gras vacation plans too. When he encounters fiery and attractive Brianna,
however, he puts the Bourbon Street party on hold. He’d much rather devote
himself to her—especially when a mysterious riddle appears in her bag, seeming
to threaten danger.
Strangely compelled to follow the
riddle’s clues, Brianna is pulled deeper into the twisted schemes of a voodoo
priest bent on revenge. To escape his poisonous web, she must work with Evan to
solve the curse. But is the growing love they feel for each other real? Or just
a voodoo dream?
Excerpt:
Brianna
snatched a triangle-folded paper from her bag and dropped it onto the table
between them. It sat there, looking fairly harmless. Evan studied it from the
top, from the side, not seeing any sort of wire or other device that could
cause a shock.
“It
stung me. Like a jolt of electricity.”
“You said you ‘saw’ something. Was that when
you touched it?”
“Look, it clearly wasn’t real. I don’t want to
think about it.”
Frustrated,
he took matters into his own hands, literally. He reached for it, ready to draw
back when it zapped him. But it didn’t. He cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Just throw it in the trash,” she
said.
In the
trash? I don’t think so. Not after this whole scene. Something’s going on here.
If there’s a threat or danger of some kind, we’ll report it to the police and
move on. He spread the
white sheet flat.
Thickly-inked
black letters jumped out at him.
WHAT
YOU SEEK IS WITHIN YOUR GRASP.
YOU
MUST PASS THROUGH DANGER
WHERE
SAND BECOMES WATER
AND
THE GREATEST PERIL IS TO BE ALONE.
THE
PRIZED POSSESSION OF YOUR ENEMY
IS
YOUR KEY TO THE CITIES OF THE DEAD.
FIND
THERE THE BLOOD-RED FLOWER.
MAKE
YOUR SACRIFICE
TO
SHOW YOUR PURITY OF HEART.
THEN
WILL YOUR DEBT BE SATISFIED.
“What
the hell kind of crap is this? Where did you get it?” Mystified, he read it
again. But the words
didn’t make any more sense the second time. Or the third.
VOODOO
DREAMS is FREE!!! December 17-21
Alana Lorens dreamed for many years of being a
spaceship captain, but settled instead for inspired excursions into fictional
places with fascinating companions from her imagination that she likes to share
with others. She has been a published writer for over thirty years, including
seven years as a reporter and editor at a newspaper in Homestead, Florida, with
a list of eclectic publications from horror to tech reporting to television
reviews. She writes urban fantasy and science fiction under the name of Lyndi
Alexander. The Elf Queen, her first
novel, was released by Dragonfly Publishing in July 2010; the series continued
with The Elf Child, The Elf Mage and The Elf Guardian. She’s
now working on the space opera Horizon Crossover series, and a YA trilogy, The
Color of Fear—the first book, WINDMILLS, was published by Zumaya Publications
this summer. Writing as Alana Lorens,
she produces romance and romantic suspense, including the Pittsburgh Lady
Lawyer series, CONVICTION OF THE HEART, SECOND CHANCES, and the latest, VOODOO
DREAMS, released by The Wild Rose Press in October 2013.
She is a single mother of seven, with two special
needs children at home with her in Pennsylvania, and she volunteers at her
local shelter for domestic violence victims, believing in every person’s right
to be safe.
For more information, see Alana’s website
and check out her Facebook page
to become a friend! Happy holidays to
you and enjoy!
Thanks for hosting us, Liza! Happy holidays to you and your readers. :)
ReplyDeleteThese two sound like they would be great friends with your characters from Worst Week Ever! :) I picked up a copy for myself!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous cover and now I must go get a copy of the book.
ReplyDeleteThanks all!
ReplyDelete