Who can you trust? This question rears its head throughout my “By Moonlight” shapeshifter series. No one is who/what they seem to be. Each has a dangerous agenda that weaves tensions and troubles from chapter to chapter, book to book. Family loyalty . . . or the lack thereof provides a dangerous undercurrent beneath seemingly harmless motives as a game of pretend and true purpose brings my characters together again for new alliances, deceptions, and treachery. The game is afoot in this scene from HUNTER OF SHADOWS, Book 5 in my “By Moonlight” series.

NANCY GIDEON RETURNS TO HER STEAMY NEW ORLEANS PRETERNATURAL WORLD WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE NEW SHAPE-SHIFTER ROMANCE.

The secrets he knows about her could get him killed.

Transferring to the New Orleans Police Department, Detective Silas MacCreedy has a hidden agenda: to secure his clan’s place once again in the Shifter hierarchy. What he didn’t count on was stumbling upon a sexy assassin who could shred his best intentions and lead him into a dangerous dance that threatens to engage his heart.

But the ones he doesn’t know . . .

Monica Fraser knows just how to make a man beg—for his life. But she has no clue how to fight her attraction to the fiercely intense detective who seems determined to get in her way, both professionally and intimately.

. . . could kill them both.

When emotional attachments to the past and an unexpected glimpse of a different future have her questioning her deadly purpose, Nica must discover the truth about her secret abilities in order to free herself from the forces that control her. But that freedom comes with a price—trusting those she’s been ordered to eliminate.

The Excerpt

As they left the sprawl of clustered communities behind for long stretches of tangled wilderness, Silas used all his concentration to control his breathing, his heartbeat, even his perspiration lest Savoie scent something was wrong. If the ruthless clan leader sensed the darkness swirling through his soul at being within reach of the cause of his ruin, Max would act without mercy. As his father had before him. So Silas calmed his respirations, quieted his fevered thirst for revenge, and played the role of cop and submissive rather than that of avenger, even as it beat savagely in his heart.
Wait. Patience would be rewarded.
He had to be very, very careful in his game of diplomacy. By making this offering to Savoie, he hoped to gain a level of trust that would give him access to other key opportunities. And if Nica became too great a danger, having Savoie as an ally wouldn’t be a bad thing. She wasn’t afraid to go boldly after him, but Savoie’s presence might give her pause. Silas didn’t want to be the one to take her life . . . and truth be told, he didn’t care to order it done.
(. . . and a bit more . . .)
If an alliance with Savoie could get her to stand down and give him room to finish his business, he would make it, temporarily. He would see to his family’s future first, then satisfy his own need for restitution. And maybe both he and Nica would walk out alive.
“Where do your loyalties lay, MacCreedy?”
Savoie’s question startled him. Had the mobster sensed the direction of this thoughts? “What do you mean?”
“Are you a cop or are you of the clans? Which comes first if you have to choose?”
“I enjoy being a detective, but it doesn’t define what I am inside.” He glanced next to him to find Savoie’s intent stare upon him. “Just like you’re a criminal but that’s not who you are down deep where it counts.”
A smile quirked Savoie’s lips at that cynical comparison. He gave a nod. “Then we are much the same. On the surface.”

I adore Silas MacCreedy. My publisher wanted more books in the series but after four revolving around Max and CeeCee, they didn’t want to continue with the same couple. So a seemingly harmless and heroic detective appears in New Orleans to help Charlotte Caissie with a new case. While complications abound and loyalties fray, he can’t seem to help himself around a particularly dangerous enemy.

I’m busy going through my original manuscript from 2011 that was purchased by Pocket Books and am surprised by how little was changed during the editing process of this tight, twisty-turny tale. I’ll be bringing it back to print and ebook this summer with a fresh cover around a tense, sexy PNR romance.

I’m also excited about a $0.99 S*A*L*E!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books

Published: May 27, 2014

Length: 190 Pages

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LOVE’S OWN REWARD, my first Dana Ransom contemporary to be re-released by Bell Bridge Books with a gorgeous new cover, is now on sale for just $0.99. More info to come next week . . .

So, how’s your almost summer going?

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