Author Spotlight week - Excerpt from Lawbreakers and Love Makers

Enjoy an excerpt from Toni's book, "Lawbreakers and Love Makers, today. In this scene, Zoe and the deputy, Jon, are just finishing a meal:

"Why don't you load those in the dishwasher while I dish up dessert?" Zoe said, moving a step further away.

Jon's eyes lit with anticipation. "Dessert?"

"Blackberry cobbler. I found a container of berries in the freezer and decided to put them to good use." From Jon's grin, he really liked dessert.

"When I was a kid we'd pick berries walking home from Lindo Lake, then talk Mom into making pie," he said.

Zoe dished up the treat, topped Jon's with a big scoop of ice cream, hers with a lot less, and filled two coffee cups. She followed Jon and the tempting aroma of fresh coffee outside, carrying the filled bowls.

"Dig in," she invited, serving him.

He did.

She adored watching a man enjoy something she'd cooked.

Jon said not one word until he'd scraped the last of the creamy syrup from his bowl, then looked up and grinned. "Unbelievable. If I come back, will there be enough left for tomorrow night?"

As if her heart had kicked its heels, Zoe's blood began surging through her veins. Was this Jon's way of making a date with her? Or just his way of assuring himself another serving of cobbler?

Either way, it was working. She gave him a quick nod.

"I can always make another. Dinner, too."

His eyes lit. "Don't go to any trouble..."

"I won't. I enjoy cooking."

"I'll get these," he said, and gathered the dessert bowls in his hands. "A woman who cooks as good as you do shouldn't be expected to clean up, too."

Yeah. His mother raised him right.

He loaded the dishwasher, filled both dispensers with detergent and turned it on, then dried his hands with a brisk air of finality that plainly said he was getting ready to leave. Suddenly, Zoe couldn't abide the thought of spending another long evening alone, even if Jon kicked her in the teeth again. She'd take the risk. She really needed company tonight.

"Want to watch a movie? Dad has On Demand."

"Mind if I take a rain-check? There's still all that--"

"Paper work. Yeah, I know."

"Oh, I almost forgot." He pulled a new looking lock from his pocket. "This is keyed like the Patricks' old lock. Here's your key back."

Warmed by his body, the key heated the palm of her hand.

Not a good idea, Zoe, letting your mind dwell on the contents of those pockets.

Author Spotlight Week -Toni Noel shares her passion for Romantic Suspense

For me reading a novel without a romance in it is like eating toast without jam. Just as the bread tastes flat, the book seems boring. I like to wonder will she get her man? And will they live long enough to catch the bad guys? For me, a good romance with a mysterious twist is like the icing on the cake. My two hours must be up. I'm hypoglycemic and have to eat every two hours, so it seems that at present all I can think about is food. But just let me get deeply involved in writing, whether the romance part or the suspense part, and I forget to eat. When my children were young, I stayed away from adult section of the library because I feared I'd get involved in a who-dun-it and burn the house down.

I never was a good cook, and the oft-repeated story of boiling eggs forgotten on my stove and exploding is not an exaggeration, but I diverse.

I once read about a well-known author who writes the necessary chapters of his mysteries, then shuffles the chapters around until he finds the best placement to tell the story. I don't think that's possible when a romance is part of the story. Writing romance requires a natural progression of events -- first look, first touch, hand to the head, etc, until the couple is fully and irrevocably involved, so writing a suspenseful story with a satisfying romance requires careful thought and planning. At least it does for me, but the resolution is so satisfying it is worth all the effort required.

Author Spotlight Week - Q&A with Toni Noel

I'd like to welcome Author Toni Noel to the blog this week for the spotlight. Toni's latest release is called "Law Breakers and Love Makers." Enjoy! Steph

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STEPH: I don't know much about Law Breakers and Love Makers. Can you tell us a little about the book?

TONI:
Here's a blurb:

Take one resolute wisp of a woman, one conscientious deputy, add some single-minded pets and a few crimes-in-progress and you have a situation that would be funny if the couple falling back in love was not so darn scared. Law Breakers and Love Makers takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride that starts when a house sitter accidentally sets off a silent alarm.

STEPH: What was the inspiration behind the book?

TONI: A lovely, rambling house in a secluded rural neighborhood inspired this novel. I visualized bad guys climbing the lower wall and approaching the house unobserved and when I got home from the party at that house started plotting a romantic suspense.

STEPH: I see that it's a romantic suspense. What attracts you to that genre?

TONI: I'm more of a suspense fan than mystery fan. I enjoy figuring out who-dun-it and sometimes being right. I guess you could say I like light mysteries, so that is what I write about, characters with a problem to solve, and very little violence.

STEPH: Do you have a series planned? What's next on the horizon for you?

TONI: No, so far I have no series planned, although the friends of the sexy business owner in Temp to Permanent, my June 1, 2011 release from Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc., would lend themselves nicely to a series. Who knows? There just might be a series in the works.

I've just signed another contract with Desert Breeze for the release of Decisive Moments, a dark romance, in time for Halloween, 2011. I don't usually write about dark heroes, but I frequently write about ghosts, and as long my hero and heroine find a safe haven for their hearts in the end I'm pleased, and in this novel they do.

STEPH: Do you have a certain process to develop your characters? Do you cast your characters? If so who are the leads?

TONI: Not always with movie stars, but yes, I do cast the characters for my novels because I like to have a firm image of each one in my mind. Michelle Piper and a younger George Clooney were the models for Zoe and Jon. Her sweetly innocent look was exactly the image I wanted for my quirky heroine.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write Law Breakers and Love Makers?

TONI: Six weeks. Once the writing started, the words just came pouring out because my characters took over the writing and I had no choice but to go along for the ride. As for Boomer and Pete, the friendly dog and talkative parrot, I had no idea they were going to show up on about page eleven and steal the scene. I'd stop writing each night, exhausted, but anxious to see what the next day would bring.

I did lots of revision once I'd typed "The End," but I didn't change much in their scenes, since those pets hadn't tried to take over my love scenes.

STEPH: Do you have any hobbies you'd like to share with us?

TONI: I did a lot of gardening before promoting my books took over my life, but I don't want to change a thing, unless it's to have my gardener come more often. I hired him and a cleaning woman when I developed that deep vein thrombosis and had to keep my leg elevated for the better part of a year.

We like to camp, and I knit while watching football more than I should. And you say one of my hobbies is avoiding the kitchen until after we eat. Since his first retirement, my husband has become a very good gourmet cook. Not me. Our now-deceased dog used to hide when my husband went out of town and left me to cook.

STEPH: It's paranormal month. What are you going to be for Halloween?

TONI: The door-opener for the trick-or-treaters who ring our bell. I have a "wrong-way-witch on my security door and hide behind it to pass out treats. My pleasure comes from seeing the imaginative costumes of the little ones. Even the babies in strollers are in costume, and parents bring children in cars to scare the residents of my street.

Featured October Release - Love Breakers and Love Makers by Toni Noel

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Deputy Sheriff Jon Sutherland reunites with his high school sweetheart when he responds to a silent alarm she sets off while house sitting. This chance meeting sends the sheriff and Zoe Westmoreland on a roller coaster run for their lives.

Burglars escaping from her parents’ home, send her sprawling. Twice. Then she finds the gardener floating face down in the family pool and interrupts a burglary-in-progress next door. When the gardener's death is ruled a homicide Jon moves in to keep Zoe safe. Not all that easy.

Two men try to force their vehicles off the road, and the one time Jon leaves Zoe alone those really bad guys show up again. Thanks to Zoe's quick thinking and resourcefulness, the crooks get a free ride to the hospital and she winds up in Jon’s arms for keeps.

EXCERPT:
Zoe turned toward the large panel of blinking lights beside the front door. All right, time to learn to disarm Dad's alarm.

She pulled her father's instruction from her jeans pocket. Just like the retired Superior Court judge -- always thinking every one needed constant instructions, and always judgmental.

At least he'd made this list as simple as possible.

Still thought of her as a little girl, she saw. Some things never changed.

Use the remote clipped to the Volvo's sun visor to open the garage door.

Now, drive in. Always enter the house through the garage.

Oops. First mistake. She'd parked in the driveway and come in through the front door.

May as well read the rest of his instructions and hope she hadn't made another wrong move.

Disarming the panel at the front entrance takes too long. If you're slow, it activates a silent alarm.

Zoe risked another glance at the now fully lit panel near the entrance.

Busted. Two mistakes already and all she'd done was walk right by the panel and out onto the deck, too awed by the idea of lolling beside her parents' pool for a whole month to note those flashing lights.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Since the day my mother started reading The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew to the four of us books have been an important part of my life. As a small child I couldn¿t wait to learn to read, and in school I devoured every printed page I could get my hands on. Summers in Birmingham I rode my bicycle three miles to the local drug store to check out Zane Grey novels which I shared with my father, a tireless breadwinner and avid reader. As a young wife and mother I started church libraries in two small Tennessee towns. Later, when the Bookmobile no longer satisfied the needs of my growing daughters, with the encouragement of my husband, I appeared before the San Diego City Council and City Planning Commission, urging them to purchase property for a library in our fast-growing subdivision before the preferred sites were snapped up by service stations. I bugged city officials so much I was later invited to assist the Mayor at the ground-breaking ceremony for the promised library. Although that library now needs expansion, it is my fondest dream that they¿ll save room on those crowded shelves for the romance novels I write.