"I have a surprise for you," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "I want you to meet Blaze Marino. He saved me, and he cleared my name . . . but not only that, Mama, I'm in love with him, and he loves me too. I want you to know that I did what you said, Mama, I trusted my heart.” She paused and Blaze heard her taking several deep breaths. “Keep watching over us, Momma. We're going to be very happy together and give you lots of grandbabies."
Blaze felt the tears in his own eyes. They hadn't talked about babies, but he most certainly wanted to have children with Bella.
A warm end of summer breeze came in through the mausoleum and floated around them. It was like a sign from Bella's mom that she approved.
Blaze spoke up for the first time. "I do love your daughter ma’am, and I promise I'll take care of her and love her forever."
Bella turned into Blaze’s open arms. It is where she belonged after all. And all was finally right with their world.
From Beautiful Regret (Book 3 in The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.)
Gio Marino walked steadily into the very familiar prison. He'd been here many times before when he'd been a detective for the Manhattan Police Department. Too numerous to count. The last time was three years ago. It seemed like a lifetime.
Then, he'd been here to question criminals, but this time it was different. Very different. Not only was he no longer a detective, this time he was here to bail someone out. Well, listen to someone who wanted to be bailed out first. He still wasn't sure if he would be helping this person.
Even though a lot of years, eight of them, had passed since he'd seen Mrs. Lisa Rasmussen, there was still a lot of bad blood between them as far as he was concerned. The incident that caused the bad blood had happened ten years ago, so even longer. Even a decade later, he knew he couldn't forgive this woman for what she'd done to him. She’d nearly destroyed him.
Lisa had left him high and dry. She’d broken his heart by eloping with another man, a very rich man. A hard working policeman, on his way to being a detective, hadn't been good enough for her apparently. That and the fact that he wasn't Jewish, he supposed. Her family had never approved of him, had wanted her to marry within their faith even though they had been neighbors and childhood sweethearts. At sixteen he'd finally worked up the courage to take her to the junior prom, and afterwards it had been a rocky tumultuous whirlwind romance. They'd weathered high school drama, her parents objections, him going to the police academy, she college, and just when it seemed they could start a life together, she'd gone away on a family trip and come back Mrs. Lisa Rasmussen, married to one Albert Rasmussen, heir to the Rasmussen antique car dealership empire. The richest family in their zip code.
There had been no warning. He'd showed up at her house, and Albert stood behind her gloating and asking for his congratulations on their nuptials. He'd turned and walked away without a word, expecting to never see her again.
But he had. She showed up at his parents’ funeral two years later. When she tried to express her condolences to him for his loss, saying she loved them too, he'd walked out of the funeral parlor and waited in the parking lot until she left.
Now eight years later, she calls him out of the blue. She tells him she's in Rikers, accused of trying to kill Albert. She didn't do it, she says. Please come listen to her, hear her out. She's got no one else to help her.
He wanted to let her rot in jail. Burn. But he couldn't. He knew she had a kid. A boy. He'd heard about it through the neighborhood grapevine at a block party. Normally people didn't mention Lisa when he was around, but he'd overheard, left the party, and drank himself into a stupor imagining her swollen with someone else’s child when it should have been his.
But even though he despised her, he also knew she wasn't a killer. At least he thought he knew that about her. But, he'd been wrong about her before.
"She's in there, Gio," the guard pointed to her through the glass window. She sat in the visitor’s room where other inmates in prison garb talked with family or their attorneys.
"Thanks, Sammy," Gio remarked. Sammy was a guard who'd worked at Riker’s all his life. Gio had known him since his early years as detective.
"Nice seeing you, Gio. Tell Andy I said hello."
"Will do," he nodded as Sammy tapped the glass and the guard on the inside pushed the button to let him into the entryway.
Gio stepped inside. This guard he didn't recognize. He signed in, and the guard nodded to where Lisa sat by a small high window. She was slumped over, pale cheek pressed against one hand. He couldn't see her face, but her hair, the palest of oranges could not be mistaken. She was a true ginger. When she was a child he'd teased her about her freckles and made her cry, but he'd dreamt about kissing them when he was fifteen, each and every one, amongst other things.
Despite the fact that he thought he hated her, he felt something painful twist his heart seeing her like this. She'd gone from the sweet, funny tom-girl next door who would follow him and Andreas around, to the first girl in the neighborhood with boobs, to the cheerleader with the long legs that never ended, then his girl. But then she became Mrs. Rasmussen. Untouchable high society lady who did volunteer work leaving behind her job as a kindergarten teacher to live in the lap of luxury.
When she fell from grace, she fell hard.
The guard waved his wand up and down Gio, and Gio instinctively raised his arms. This had been the third and final security check. Another door opened and then he was in the same room with her, but she still didn't turn and look his way. He was forty five minutes late. She'd probably given up looking for him awhile back. Inmates were allowed to wait an entire hour for their visitors.
He cleared his throat, and took two steps toward her when she finally turned from looking up at the cloudless sky. Her tawny eyes, like a cat, spotted him right away. Those eyes had haunted him. Those eyes hadn't changed. She attempted to get up, but could not. She was chained to the table, and sat back down.
When he was just a few feet away, she spoke. "Thank you for coming, Gio. I know you didn't have to, and probably didn’t want to, but I'm glad you did."
He slid onto the seat across from her. "Yes. I'm here." It was all he could manage to get out.
"I have a lot to atone for, Gio. I hope you'll listen. And if you don't want to help me when I'm done, I'll understand." Her eyes didn’t waver. She watched for signs.
"Fine," was his monosyllabic response.
Lisa understood completely. She hated having to call him. She had destroyed this man’s life once. There was no way she could ever rectify or make up for the past, but she needed him now. She had to tell him everything, her secrets, and she had plenty of them in her closet. For her son, for Johnny she would beg, plead, and kill if she had to. She desperately needed to be out on bond and to get her son out of the clutches of a monster, to get him away from her husband, Albert. The man who’d accused her of trying to kill him. She was in prison for his attempted murder, but she swore she was innocent. It was imperative she got Johnny away from that man. There was no one to protect him from Albert’s temper and cruelty. She needed to get him away from Albert. She needed to protect her son . . . and Gio’s.
Her erotic romance series, Secrets & Seduction, is the tale of three different couples with secrets that may destroy their chances of finding their happily ever after. These books are definitely books you will NOT want to read in public. Check them out. They are available on Amazon for your kindle and Barnes & Noble for your nook.
Ex-army buck, Victor, teaches innocent sexy school teacher, Monica, all about sex, and not the old-fashioned variety your grandmother was used to either. Filled with gut wrenching emotional turmoil due to Victor’s secrets, you can be sure one of them will melt and the other will burn.
Teddy is not your average bartender by any means. A cop on the mend from 9/11, he wants nothing but good times and to live each day to the fullest. When it comes to the bedroom, well, hmm, let’s just say he is not your average Joe. Then, he meets a fie
ry red-head named Ana, and she can teach him a thing or two in the bedroom. He falls for her, but she pushes him away. Why? Because she has so many secrets, and they make her Afraid to Love.
Jay and Louisa are both battle scarred, but ready to start anew. His scars are not just from the war in Iraq, and hers are not just from a teenage pregnancy that resulted in raising a child alone. The scars in them run deep, and they both have secrets. Can two people so deeply wounded learn to trust each other enough to share those secrets? And if they do, will those secrets make or break them?
All three of MJ’s books in the Secrets & Seduction Series will have you turning pages, reading in the dark, and wanting more. Will her characters find their happily ever after? You’ll have to read to find that out. But one thing, I can tell you is that they are hot, hot, hot!
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Ronnie Sears has a college degree, a promising future, a boyfriend, and a plan. But, her perfect life comes crashing down around her in the blink of an eye. Arrested, framed for drug smuggling, and facing years behind bars, Ronnie sees no choice but to run. Only she can prove her innocence.
Nikko Marino is a sexy, devastatingly charming bounty hunter. His job, as told to him by his older brothers, is to keep an eye on the curvaceous blonde. Make sure she doesn't run. But what his brothers don't know is that he and Ronnie have a past. He and the Ice Princess are more than mere passing acquaintances. She makes his blood burn, and he knows how to warm up this woman.
Nikko wants to prove himself, but this beauty might just take him down. With his reputation on the line, will Nikko, the hot-blooded youngest Marino, fall for this temptress? Will he be able to protect this beautiful bounty from herself, from the man who framed her, but most importantly can he protect his heart?
Beautiful Bounty is the first book in The Bounty Hunters - The Marino Bros.
Suspenseful, erotic, and romantic, these books are packed with passion, sex and characters you will love. What more could you want?
(Book 2 in The Bounty Hunters – The Marino Bros.) Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Bella Chase led a simple life. She was a good girl who worked hard at a job she loved, had good friends, and enjoyed her life. She just fell for the wrong guy. A bad boy with a bad reputation. When he maliciously involves her in a crime that goes awry, and someone is killed, it is her life on the line. She has no choice, but to flee. She not only faces life in prison, she faces a death sentence if she talks.
Blaze Marino is done with women. They can’t be trusted. Period. Not even the good girls. When his next case lures him to the hills of Tennessee, hunting down another “good girl”, Blaze is torn between taking down this natural beauty, and losing himself inside of her. He, who has vowed to never love, or need again, is drawn to Bella and he just can’t help himself.
Terrified, Bella doesn’t know which way to turn. She doesn’t know who to trust.
Jaded, Blaze can’t fight the pull of attraction. He doesn’t know if he can trust her.
He has to chase her for his job. Or so he keeps trying to tell himself that.
Beautiful Chase is the second book in The Bounty Hunters - The Marino Bros.
Suspenseful, erotic, and romantic, these books are packed with passion, sex and characters you will love. What more could you want?
Coming Soon!
Lisa Rasmussen, formerly Lisa Raphael, has had enough of her manipulative abusive husband. He has forced her to his will, tortured her both physically and psychologically, and she wants out. Her sham of a marriage to Albert, son of the blue blooded Rasmussen’s of Manhattan, has to end. But, Albert has vowed to never give Lisa her freedom. He owns her. Body and soul. Her plans to blackmail him to get out, will not go unpunished. Albert will strike first.
Gio Marino knows Lisa. He knows of Albert. After all, Lisa left him to marry the son of the luxury classic car dynasty. So when Lisa calls him begging for help, he is floored. Not only because she called him, but because of what she has been accused of. Attempted murder! She had meant everything to him, but after what she did nearly a decade ago, he knows not to trust her, but the temptation to see her in an orange jumpsuit is just too hard to resist.
Lisa is full of regret. She has a lot to feel guilty about. But, she doesn’t have any one else to turn to. She needs Gio. He is the only one she can trust even though he might never be able to trust her again.
The minute he walks into Riker’s and sees her, he knows he has made a big mistake. The emerald eyes, the flawless skin, the fiery hair, bring it all back. Especially the regret. Can he help her? Does he want to? And why, after all these years, does he find her beauty so hard to resist?
Beautiful Regret is the third book in The Bounty Hunters - The Marino Bros.
Suspenseful, erotic, and romantic, these books are packed with passion, sex and characters you will love. What more could you want?
Coming in the summer of 2015.
Catarina Stone is a woman of mystery, and she likes to keep it that way. But she is thrust into the limelight when two of her “girls” are slain by a serial killer. The Tampa Madame, as she has been dubbed by the press, is being hounded by the media who want to find a connection between the killer and her. She reaches out to Andreas Marino of The Marino Bros.
Cat has done her research, and knows she needs a professional, a person experienced in catching psychopaths. She needs Andreas. The police are baffled, and the killer must be caught before another one of her girls is mutilated, then murdered.
Andreas Marino, the striking eldest Marino, does know serial killers. It used to be his job. But not anymore. Not since one of those sick bastards claimed his parent’s lives, and destroyed his own. He doesn’t want this case, not at all. Not until he sees her.
The strikingly elegant Madame intrigues him. She is an enigma. And, Andreas can’t get her out of his head . . . and the need to have her in his bed. When she shows him copies of the note left by the killer, signed “Beautiful No More,” the thought of her exquisiteness destroyed reignite a flame in him he thought long dead. He must catch a killer. He must save the girl. If he doesn’t, Andreas will be lost this time . . . forever.
Beautiful No More is the final book in The Bounty Hunters - The Marino Bros.
Suspenseful, erotic, and romantic, these books are packed with passion, sex and characters you will love. What more could you want?
Writing is a journey you can’t take alone. The people in your life that support you and cheer you on through the struggles of publishing make it possible. This book like the others before it was only possible because of them.
My husband, thank-you for understanding what this means to me. When the muse hit, and you gave me the time I needed to work on this story, well it spoke volumes of your love and support.
My mom was there as well on this journey. I don’t know what I would do without you. You are an amazing woman and an inspiration to me every day.
My friends, the other authors, whom I have met on this journey, I really could not be doing this without your support. You cheer me on, and keep me going. Thank-you.
Lacy, Ronda, Shannon, Dina, and MaryAnn. I love you for all you have done.
Melissa, again, thank-you for the amazing book covers you have created for this series.
Brenda, I don’t know where I would be without your technical assistance. You are truly a gift.
Keriann, you are without a doubt, making me a better writer. You did an amazing job with this book. Your suggestions, your advice, being hard on me when I needed it, are much appreciated. Thank-you for keeping me honest, and keeping it real.
To my readers, keep reading, and keep telling people about my books. To those that have left reviews, know that I read them, and appreciate each and every comment, and suggestion. You’ll see I took a few of them in this book . . . epilogue lady! And for the readers that don’t leave reviews, I wish you would. I would to love to hear from you all. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy li
ves and spending it lost in one of my books. I hope they not only entertained you, but allowed you to escape for just a bit before you had to go back to your lives. That is what these books are for me.
MJ Nightingale has been a teacher for over two decades. Writing is her new career, and something she has wanted to do for a very long time. But reading has been a part of her life since she was a child. She has been an avid lover of romance novels, and they have always held a special place in her heart. When not working, or writing, or spending time with her children, she devours books all summer long, and any type of fiction; thrillers, crime, suspense, contemporary, and drama.
She has published five novels, all contemporary romance, and her new series, The Bounty Hunters, will add an element of suspense to her already complicated character portrayals. Fans of MJ will not be disappointed.
She currently lives in Florida with her wonderful husband, and sons. And, she loves to hear from her readers.
You can contact her on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram, or visit her website.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MJ-Nightingale/185806224943537?ref=hl
Website: http://mjnightingale.weebly.com/contact.html
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue – The Nightmare
Chapter 2 – Falling Apart at the Seams
Chapter 3 – And So It Begins
Chapter 4 – Lucky Breaks
Chapter 5 – Good Deeds
Chapter 6 – Chasing His Tail
Chapter 7 – Car Trouble
Chapter 8 – A Helping Hand
Chapter 9 – Night Terrors
Chapter 10 – A New Day
Chapter 11 – Fall From Grace
Chapter 12 – Run For the Hills
Beautiful Chase Page 22
