by Larissa Ione
She huffed. “Why are you asking all of this? Why aren’t you coming home?”
“Dakota, honey,” he said through clenched teeth, his patience wearing thin, “tell me about your brother.”
She huffed again. “He’s fine. He’s working for the Johnsons, and he’s all happy because Ian’s here.”
“Ian?” He frowned. The name sounded familiar. “Who the hell is Ian?”
“He’s the guy Marcus worked for in Montana. He’s buying Marcus a ranch or something.”
Hector jerked like someone had jabbed him with a cattle prod, and the picture Marylee had sent popped into his mind. He’d bet his left nut that the guy in the photo was Ian. And wait, he was buying Marcus a ranch? What the hell for? Marcus couldn’t run a lawnmower without fucking up. How was he supposed to run a damned ranch?
“This Ian guy had better not be sniffing around your mother,” he growled. “Or you.”
“Gross.” She paused to take a drink of something. “He’s too old for me.”
“But Senator Rush wasn’t?”
Silenced settled over the airwaves. “Daddy,” she whispered. “I can explain.”
Good luck explaining the picture someone sent of you going down on the senator. Oh, the man in the picture wasn’t clear, and his head had been cut off so there would never be any solid proof, but Hector had known exactly whose expensive slacks had been bunched around Dakota’s not-so-innocent face.
Hector kept his tone civil. There would be plenty of time to right all the wrongs that had been done while he’d been away.
“And you will explain,” he said calmly. “But not now. Now...now I want you to promise you won’t tell anyone you’ve heard from me. I’ll be home soon, baby girl, and I want it to be a surprise.”
There would be a lot of surprises. He’d been gone for a while, but his time spent in Del Rio hadn’t been a total waste. He’d gotten in with a rough crowd, people who had sworn to help him hide bodies if he needed them to.
And he might. There were a whole lot of people who had better watch their backs, and he didn’t give a shit if they were sheriffs, senators, Montana ranchers...or his own bastard son.
* * * *
The story continues with Episode 3, Brave the Storm by Lisa Mondello. Click to here to purchase.
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Rising Storm story
Storm Season: Ginny & Jacob – the Prequel
by Dee Davis
Rising Storm
Storm, Texas.
Where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy…
Nestled among rolling hills and painted with vibrant wildflowers, the bucolic town of Storm, Texas, seems like nothing short of perfection.
But there are secrets beneath the facade. Dark secrets. Powerful secrets. The kind that can destroy lives and tear families apart. The kind that can cut through a town like a tempest, leaving jealousy and destruction in its wake, along with shattered hopes and broken dreams. All it takes is one little thing to shatter that polish.
Rising Storm is a series conceived by Julie Kenner and Dee Davis to read like an on-going drama. Set in a small Texas town, Rising Storm is full of scandal, deceit, romance, passion, and secrets. Lots of secrets.
Look for other Rising Storm Season 2 titles, now available! (And if you missed Season 1 and the midseason episodes, you can find those titles here!)
Click to purchase.
Rising Storm, Season Two
Against the Wind by Rebecca Zanetti
As Tate Johnson works to find a balance between his ambitions for political office and the fallout of his brother’s betrayal, Zeke is confronted with his brother Chase’s return home. And while Bryce and Tara Daniels try to hold onto their marriage, Kristin continues to entice Travis into breaking his vows…
Storm Warning by Larissa Ione
As Joanne Alvarez settles into life without Hector, her children still struggle with the fallout. Marcus confronts the differences between him and Brittany, while Dakota tries to find a new equilibrium. Meanwhile, the Johnson’s grapple with war between two sets of brothers, and Ian Briggs rides into town…
Brave the Storm by Lisa Mondello
As Senator Rush’s poll numbers free fall, Marylee tries to drive a wedge between Brittany and Marcus. Across town, Anna Mae and Chase dance toward reconciliation. Ginny longs for Logan, while he fights against Sebastian’s maneuvering. And Hector, newly freed from prison, heads back to Storm…
Lightning Strikes by Lexi Blake
As Ian Briggs begins to fall for Marisol, Joanne and Dillon also grow closer. Joanne’s new confidence spreads to Dakota but Hector’s return upends everything. A public confrontation between Marcus and Hector endangers his relationship with Brittany, and Dakota reverts to form. Meanwhile, the Senator threatens Ginny and the baby…
Fire and Rain by R.K. Lilley
As Celeste Salt continues to unravel in the wake of Jacob’s death, Travis grows closer with Kristin. Lacey realizes the error of her ways but is afraid it’s too late for reconciliation with her friends. Marcus and Brittany struggle with the continued fallout of Hector’s return, while Chase and Anna Mae face some hard truths about their past…
Quiet Storm by Julie Kenner
As Mallory Alvarez and Luis Moreno grow closer, Lacey longs for forgiveness. Brittany and Marcus have a true meeting of hearts. Meanwhile, Jeffry grapples with his father’s failures and finds solace in unexpected arms. When things take a dangerous turn, Jeffry’s mother and sister, as well as his friends, unite behind him as the Senator threatens his son…
Blinding Rain by Elisabeth Naughton
As Tate Johnson struggles to deal with his brother’s relationship with Hannah, hope asserts itself in an unexpected way. With the return of Delia Burke, Logan’s old flame, Brittany and Marcus see an opportunity to help their friend. But when the evening takes an unexpected turn, Brittany finds herself doing the last thing she expected—coming face to face with Ginny…
Blue Skies by Dee Davis
As Celeste Salt struggles to pull herself and her family together, Dillon is called to the scene of a domestic dispute where Dakota is forced to face the truth about her father. While the Johnson’s celebrate a big announcement, Ginny is rushed to the hospital where her baby’s father is finally revealed…
Rising Storm, Midseason
After the Storm by Lexi Blake
In the wake of Dakota’s revelations, the whole town is reeling. Ginny Moreno has lost everything. Logan Murphy is devastated by her lies. Brittany Rush sees her family in a horrifying new light. And nothing will ever be the same…
Distant Thunder by Larissa Ione
As Sebastian and Marylee plot to cover up Sebastian’s sexual escapade, Ginny and Dakota continue to reel from the fallout of Dakota’s announcement. But it is the Rush family that’s left to pick up the pieces as Payton, Brittany and Jeffry each cope with Sebastian’s betrayal in their own way…
Rising Storm, Season One
Tempest Rising by Julie Kenner
Ginny Moreno didn’t mean to do it, but when she came home to Storm, she brought the tempest with her. And now everyone will be caught in its fury…
White Lightning by Lexi Blake
As the citizens of Storm, Texas, sway in the wake of the death of one of their own, Daddy's girl Dakota Alvarez also reels from an unexpected family crisis ... and finds consolation in a most unexpected place.
Crosswinds by Elisabeth Naughton
Lacey Salt's world shattered with the death of her brother, and now the usually sweet-tempered girl is determined to take back some control—even if that means sabotaging her best friend, Mallory, and Mall
ory's new boyfriend, Luis.
Dance in the Wind by Jennifer Probst
During his time in Afghanistan, Logan Murphy has endured the unthinkable, but reentering civilian life in Storm is harder than he imagined. But when he is reacquainted with Ginny Moreno, a woman who has survived terrors of her own, he feels the first stirrings of hope.
Calm Before the Storm by Larissa Ione
Marcus Alvarez fled Storm when his father’s drinking drove him over the edge. With his mother and sisters in crisis, Marcus is forced to return to the town he thought he’d left behind. But it is his attraction to a very grown up Brittany Rush that just might be enough to guarantee that he stays.
Take the Storm by Rebecca Zanetti
Marisol Moreno has spent her youth taking care of her younger siblings. Now, with her sister, Ginny, in crisis, and her brother in the throes of his first real relationship, she doesn’t have time for anything else. Especially not the overtures of the incredibly compelling Patrick Murphy.
Weather the Storm by Lisa Mondello
Bryce Douglas faces a crisis of faith when his idyllic view of his family is challenged with his son’s diagnosis of autism. Instead of accepting his wife and her tight-knit family’s comfort, he pushes them away, fears from his past threatening to undo the happiness he’s found in his present.
Thunder Rolls by Dee Davis
In the season finale …
As Hannah Grossman grapples with the very real possibility that she is dating one Johnson brother while secretly in love with another, the entire town prepares for Founders Day. The building tempest threatens not just Hannah’s relationship with Tucker and Tate, but everyone in Storm as dire revelations threaten to tear the town apart.
Brave the Storm
Rising Storm, Season 2, Episode 3
By Lisa Mondello
Now Available
Click here to purchase.
Secrets, Sex and Scandals …
Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.
As Senator Rush’s poll numbers free fall, Marylee tries to drive a wedge between Brittany and Marcus. Across town, Anna Mae and Chase dance toward reconciliation. Ginny longs for Logan, while he fights against Sebastian’s maneuvering. And Hector, newly freed from prison, heads back to Storm…
* * * *
“Are you going to hang around this house brooding all day again?” Rita Mae asked, dropping the last of the morning dishes into the dishwasher.
Most of the guests they’d had overnight had either checked out or gone about their business of the day. The house was quiet and Anna Mae was ready to dive into a long list of tasks she’d written out on a notepad last night before bed.
“What are you talking about?” Anna Mae asked as she reviewed her list. She knew. She always knew. Anna Mae just wasn’t in the mood for another one of Rita Mae’s lectures.
Mary Louise came into the kitchen dressed more formally for the day than she normally did. “I’m not sure when I’ll be home tonight,” she said.
Rita Mae tilted a curious eyebrow. “Oh, no? Why not?”
“Why is she not sure or why won’t she be home?” Anna Mae asked.
“Both.”
“Leave the girl alone. She’s young. She’s probably got herself a hot date.” Anna Mae winked at her niece.
Mary Louise grabbed a glass from the cabinet and then went to the refrigerator and poured a glass of orange juice before answering. “I could say the same of you.”
“Me?” Anna Mae laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m too old for hot dates.”
“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that,” Mary Louise said. “I can’t bear the thought that romance dies and love goes stale as we get older. I haven’t even had a real turn at it.”
“Oh, so it is a hot date,” Rita Mae said. “I saw you talking with Tate Johnson at the barbeque yesterday. Are you seeing him?”
“It’s a meeting. That’s all. Tate and Hannah broke up and we’re…we’re just friends.”
“But you’d like it to be more?” Rita Mae asked.
Mary Louise shrugged as a blush crept up her cheeks. “Besides, now that Chase Johnson is back in town, why shouldn’t you have a hot date, Anna Mae?”
Anna Mae dropped the pencil she’d been using to add notes to her list as shock took hold.
“Why would you say something like that?” she said, feigning ignorance.
“Oh, come on. It may have been a long time ago but Dad told me you and Chase were once an item. I even saw an old picture of the two of you hugging.”
“You did?” Rita Mae asked.
“Yeah. Dad and Chase were both playing at some club. It didn’t look like much more than a rinky-dink honkytonk. That’s what my mother used to call them. Of course, Mom had a thing for hanging out with Dad at those honkytonks. Do you remember, Anna Mae?”
There were too many places like that to remember which one Mary Louise could be talking about. Too many late nights with too much drink and too many years that made it all fuzzy now.
And she could lie to herself about how much she remembered, but Anna Mae had made a career of silently cataloguing all those moments with Chase Johnson over the years. Perhaps that’s why her anger had grown exponentially over the years after she’d told him to leave. She could have stopped him. And he would have stayed. She was sure of that. They’d loved each other so very much.
But Anna Mae couldn’t bear the thought of the bitterness that would have grown inside of him for giving up his dream of playing music. Her brother had followed the same path, although he had tried for many years to make a go at family on the road.
Would it have been different if Anna Mae had followed Chase to Nashville? It was a question that she’d rolled over in her mind for many years on many nights while missing the feel of Chase’s arms around her.
1001 Dark Nights
Welcome to 1001 Dark Nights… a collection of novellas that are breathtakingly sexy and magically romantic. Some are paranormal, some are erotic. Each and every one is compelling and page turning.
Inspired by the exotic tales of The Arabian Nights, 1001 Dark Nights features New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors.
In the original, Scheherazade desperately attempts to entertain her husband, the King of Persia, with nightly stories so that he will postpone her execution.
In our version, month after month, each of our fabulous authors puts a unique spin on the premise and creates a tale that a new Scheherazade tells long into the dark, dark night.
For more information about 1001 Dark Nights, visit www.1001DarkNights.com.
On behalf of Rising Storm,
Liz Berry, M.J. Rose, Julie Kenner & Dee Davis would like to thank ~
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Melissa Rheinlander
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Asha Hossain
Chris Graham
Pamela Jamison
Fedora Chen
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
Richard Blake
The Dinner Party Show
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents
Book Description
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
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