Friday, January 31, 2020

New Release: BLIND SIDE (Dangerous Ground 6)



cover by Ron Perry
Yes. FINALLY. The last chapter in the Dangerous Ground series is out!

As I posted elsewhere, winding up a series is kind of a mixed bag. In this case, there's a considerable sigh of relief. I DID IT! But it's also bittersweet because I love Will and Taylor and because Dangerous Ground was/is my second oldest series. The first book came out in 2008 through Loose Id. (Remember that one -- I think it was the first time we--YOU--crashed the LI site) :-D

There's also a fair bit of pressure in winding up a series. Especially such an old series where readers have had way too much time to think about the various final scenarios they want. Main plot lines have to be wound up, but yet there has to be a sense that life goes on for these people. You don't want that feeling of fictional characters who end when the final page of a book is turned. Even though, ahem, these are fictional characters who...well, I won't say end, but who are marking time until the next Christmas coda.

**NOTE: If you purchased through Amazon, but haven't authorized your account to automatically update, there's a possibility you don't have the latest updated version. The final version of the novella has an epilogue. So if you don't have an epilogue, you'll want to go into your kindle account and click the update button. 



BLURB:

It’s a good problem to have: more business than they can comfortably handle on their own.
But with resources already overstretched, the last thing former DSS agents and newbie security consultants Will Brandt and Taylor MacAllister need is another client—and the last thing Will needs is for that client to turn out to be an old boyfriend of Taylor’s.

Sure, Will has always known Taylor had a wild past, but he was kind of hoping he’d never have to sit down and have a beer with it. But golden boy Ashe Dekker believes someone is trying to kill him, and Taylor is determined to help, no matter the cost.

It’s a bit of a jolt to have Taylor for once totally disregard his feelings, but Will is equally determined that “the cost” won’t be their relationship—or Taylor’s life.



EXCERPT

They went through the reception area door, crossed the hall, navigating ladders and cans of paint, and stepped into the boudoir-pink room that would ultimately be Will’s office. Their building space had previously belonged to a bridal shop, and the walls were painted in delicate shades of peach and pink. Pastel wallpaper borders featured parasols (why parasols?) and wedding cakes and lovebirds nibbling gold bands. None of which projected the appropriate YOUR SAFETY IS IN OUR HANDS! vibe—or even, in Will’s view, a reassuring preview of marriage.

They were hoping to have the renovations finished before the end of the year, but the holidays turned out to be an unexpectedly busy time for contractors. Most of the work at American Eagle was having to be done after-hours—and at a premium price.

Will closed the door to his office. He kept his voice low. “Okay, listen. Dekker is a friend, and I understand that you want to help him, but this is clearly a case for the sheriffs.”

“Sure,” Taylor replied. “That doesn’t mean we can’t take a look around, ask a few questions.”

Will didn’t trust that reasonable tone. “Yes. If that’s all you’re talking about. Because we’ve got to be realistic. You know as well as I do, we’re not in a position to take on another client.”

Taylor shrugged dismissively. “If you don’t want to take Ashe on as a client, that’s okay with me. I wasn’t planning on billing him. I’ll handle this as a favor. In my spare time.”

This was exactly what Will had feared. Taylor had not only already made his mind up, he was busily working out the details before they could even finish identifying what those details might be.

He tried very hard to keep his exasperation from showing. “What spare time? You don’t have spare time. Neither of us do.”

“What’s your point, Will?” Taylor rested his hand on his canted hip, and studied him with cool, green eyes.

That—in fairness, unconsciously—cocky posture, that skeptical really? stare, were the reason so many people longed to punch Taylor five seconds after meeting him. It wasn’t really who Taylor was. Or rather, yeah, the confidence, the cynicism, were facets of his personality, but not the main facets, and not traits he typically turned on Will.

Obviously, this was a unique case, and Will needed to respect that. Which he was trying to do.
He said, “All I’m saying is, doesn’t it make more sense—isn’t it better for all of us—if we direct Dekker back to the sheriff’s department? And if you don’t feel like that’s enough, we can refer him to another—”

Taylor cut him off. “Uh-uh. We’re not referring him anywhere. Ashe came to me.”

“I know that. That’s why I’m saying—”

“I gave Ashe my word that if he ever needed help, I’d be there. I didn’t say, if you ever need help, I can refer you to someone. I promised I’d be there for him.”

“I get that.” Will did. It would be unreasonable to be irritated with Taylor for making those kinds of promises years before they’d ever met. He wasn’t irritated, and he definitely wasn’t jealous—he didn’t think—but Christ, Taylor could be so bullheaded.

“Do you?” There it was. That hint of cynical smile. “Because that’s not what I’m hearing.”

“What you’re hearing is me trying to work out what’s going to be best for all of us. We’re not bodyguards—”

“We’ve handled plenty of protection details, so don’t give me that. What’s your real beef?”

“My real beef is not two hours ago we landed the kind of job we’ve been hunting since we left the DS, and we both know we don’t actually have the manpower to carry it off.”

“So we’re going to be stretched thin. We should be used to that by now.”

So, taking on another job—one that’s liable to be as time-consuming and distracting as this one
original cover by LC Chase
sounds—is not smart.” He shook his head.

“It’ll take a day. Two at most.”

“You’re dreaming.”

“The hell. You think I can’t handle tracking down this Zamarion guy?”

“Of course I don’t think that. But come on, you know what this is going to be. Chasing smoke in the wind.”

“I know.”

“Then you admit it’s not an efficient use of our resources.”

Taylor opened his mouth, and Will added, “And while we’re on the topic of resources, I thought you were frantic to pay Richard back? Just this morning you said again how much you didn’t want to be in debt to him. Which is all the more reason not to take on a pro-bono gig that’s liable to jeopardize the first job we’ve had that might allow us to start paying off that debt.”

Everything Will was saying was true, so it was maddening to have Taylor keep looking at him with that skeptical expression like…what? What did think was really motivating Will?


“I see,” Taylor drawled. “If David Bradley came to us for help, you’d just give him the name of a good local firm and send him on his way?”


You can buy the book:


Amazon




iBooks (February 8)



18 comments:

  1. Bu... bu... but what about David?!

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  2. I finished Blind Side last night and loved it! I saw the authors note at the end and wondered what that meant. Glad I decided to check your blog. My copy was pre-ordered and my account is set for updates, but I checked and Blind Side is not showing an update. Just shows that it has been read. Any suggestions on what I should do?

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    Replies
    1. According to Amazon it can take 72 hours for the updates to show! :-O so they ought to be popping up by now! I would ordinarily say email me, but I'm in the process of packing for a flight and there's a good chance I won't get your email in time!

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  3. I loved it. You finally took care of David Bradley in a manner that I approve of. :-) I will miss Will and Taylor, but I'm happy with their story. It feels complete and I don't worry about them. I know they can make it. Fictional characters, you say? You jest, yes? But as much as I love the book, I have to say my favorite part is the dedication. <3

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    Replies
    1. Well, YOURS is the opinion that matters most on this one. <3 Thank you for being so patient, M.

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    2. You've made it practically painless wit Jason and Sam and Kit and JX and Cosmo and John and countless other wonderful stories.

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  4. I also pre ordered and do not have the epilogue but when I went to my account there is no update available to click on

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    Replies
    1. If you go to Amazon and click the LOOK INSIDE THIS BOOK button, you can see that the updates are there, so maybe they hadn't shown up at the point you checked? Or maybe there's an issue with your particular kindle account? If you still can't get the updates, drop me an email with your Amazon order number and I'll send you a copy to side load. :-)

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  5. Love Will and Taylor! Great book!

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  6. I pre ordered through Amazon and have updates turned on but, like the commenter above, don't have an epilogue. Ideas for how to fix?

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    Replies
    1. Yep.

      Go to Amazon.com (or go to your own country’s Amazon domain)

      Go to Manage Your Content and Devices

      Check your purchased Kindle books list.

      If any book has a newer version, you shall see the “Update Available” button at the right side.

      Click it you can replace the original book with a newer version.

      If that doesn't work, contact Amazon directly and tell them you're not able to access the updates. They can fix that instantly.

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  7. Love your books and I pre-ordered through Amazon but the epilogue is not showing up for me either -- even with automatic updates turned on :(

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sarah! Sorry for the inconvenience. The updates are there, but if your device is not set for automatic updates, it has to be done manually.


      Go to Amazon.com (or go to your own country’s Amazon domain)

      Go to Manage Your Content and Devices

      Check your purchased Kindle books list.

      If any book has a newer version, you shall see the “Update Available” button at the right side.

      Click it you can replace the original book with a newer version.

      If you're still having an issue, it's an Amazon glitch and you'll have to contact customer service directly.

      Delete
  8. I forgot to brief everyone on what the result was after contacting Amazon about pushing the updates to readers.

    In short, the answer was NO.

    But for a more detailed reply:

    Hello,

    I received your request to send updated content to customers who bought your book.

    Since book updates can make customers lose their highlights, bookmarks, and notes, we only send updates to fix serious issues like unreadable text or cut-off images. If your updates will fix serious issues like these, please send us details and specific examples.

    For more details on sending updated content to customers, please see our Help page:
    https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A1RGGPBKDR1BPZ

    Thanks for using Amazon KDP.




    Which...makes sense. EXCEPT they should be offering readers the choice of updating or not updating. They should be sending a notice--like they used to do!--that an update is available and let the reader decide.

    They don't do that anymore.

    You know who I don't want making that decision for me? AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICE. Yeesh. These are not book people. I don't mean that unkindly, I just...it's a fact. These are not people who care about books. CLEARLY.

    And to make the changes, you have to give them the locations within Kindle where the content has been updated.

    LOL

    Well, that's great if you work from a mobi file, but those of us who publish old school (wide, for starters) are working from Word docs or Scrivener or whatever. I have no idea what the kindle location would be on any given update--for one thing I'm not keeping a record of every correction. I press ACCEPT ALL at the end of the editing process because that's what authors do.

    (Well, barring authors whose only publishing experience is with Kindle. Maybe that's most authors now? Probably not. Probably not even close.)

    So I tried. I even tried reasoning with Amazon over a policy which does not best serve its customers. I suspect like so many of their policies, this was fueled by some irate reader screaming about lost highlights, followed by an over-reaction from Amazon's customer service.

    Most of us, authors and readers, are still under the mistaken impression that Amazon DOES push updates. They don't. Even when you ask them to push updates, they won't unless you can provide specific location numbers and a compelling reason.

    A compelling reason beyond the obvious fact that the majority of readers want the best possible version of a book they've invested in.

    They certainly want the CHOICE of having the best possible version.

    Personally, I think this is just another indicator that books are simply loss leaders for Amazon, and whatever makes them the least amount of trouble for customer service, the better.

    ReplyDelete