With one week left until The Lost Heir is released, I find myself excited and nervous to hear reader reactions. The novella is a prequel to the first two book in the Deveraux Legacy series – The Second Shot and The Cinderella Secret. Each book of the series focuses on one of the Deveraux cousins and that works great for each individual story. The Second Shot is about the youngest cousin Dominique as she investigates the mysterious attacks on her wealthy family and discovers that maybe the jerk from college isn’t quite what she thought he was and might be the only one who can help. The Cinderella Secret features Dominique’s brother Aiden as he searches for the mysterious girl who stole his heart and a murderer who’s set to strike again. And in 2021 we’ll see The Hardest Hit with older cousin Evan Deveraux as he tries to solve a decades old mystery and hang on to the girl who loves him in spite of being a Deveraux. And last, but not least, The Fallen Man will showcase Jackson Deveraux as he discovers that while he’s spent years saving his family, they may be the only ones who can save him. But The Lost Heir is about the family as a whole and it’s the first time that all of the cousins are featured equally AND we get to hear from the Deveraux matriarch, Eleanor. But it’s also the first time that there isn’t a central adventure or mystery to be solved. I love the Deveraux family and I love spending time with them, so I’m hoping that readers do too. Fingers crossed!
Pre-Order: https://books2read.com/Lost-Heir
***THE LOST HEIR TEASER***
“He is your cousin,” said Eleanor and the walls stopped moving, along with Evan’s heart. “His name is Jackson Zane and you are going to get him out of prison.”
Evan looked at Aiden and then at Dominique, trying to make sure he’d heard their grandmother correctly.
“Uh,” said Aiden. “That’s not… I don’t… I just got out of law school. I haven’t even gotten my bar exam results back yet for here. I’d have to pass the bar in Illinois.”
Evan knew he was still mostly high, but he could tell by the flat look in their grandmother’s eyes that the decision had been made. Which meant that Aiden should probably start studying up on Illinois State law. Dominique was frowning and he realized that her eyes had been resting on him for an extended period of time. How much had she noticed? She was never as unaware as she pretended to be. Fuck.
“What do you think, Evan?” Dominique asked. He tried to remember the last time she’d spoken directly to him.
“It doesn’t matter what Evan thinks,” said Eleanor. “This is what we’re doing. It’s been decided.”
“And I would like to hear what Evan thinks about that decision,” snapped Dominique. Aiden and Eleanor blinked at Dominique’s tone, but Evan was still trying to figure out the content. Why the hell would she care what he thought?
Dominique turned back to Evan, her blonde hair swinging, and fixed him with a glare. “Well?”
His palms were sweating on his cutlery. He wanted to wipe his hands on his pants, but didn’t dare.
“I think Aiden should get him out of jail,” said Evan. “If he’s ours then we should bring him home.”
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LostHeirGraphics-04.jpg10811081Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2020-12-01 07:15:182020-11-30 21:51:54Countdown to The Lost Heir
As many of you know, I’m a mom with a full time job as well as an author. And while all of that is challenging enough, the pandemic has brought many fresh and special new problems. To free up some of my time I’m relinquishing one of my Stiletto Gang posting days to the fantastic Lois Winston. Lois is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author who writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Lois will be posting on the second Wednesday of the month and I thought I’d sit down and find out a little more about her as she comes on board.
Lois Winston
Me – drinking
Q: What do you write?
I started out writing romance and romantic suspense and was first published in chick lit with Talk Gertie to Me in 2006. However, back in 2003, while waiting for that first sale, my agent suggested I try writing a crafting mystery. She knew an editor looking for one. With my background as a crafts designer, my agent thought I’d be the perfect person to write such a series, even though I’d never written a mystery. I gave it a try, and in the process discovered my true literary calling. My Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series sold in 2009. Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, came out in 2011. I’ve since published nine books and three novellas in the series, plus two books in my Empty Nest Mystery Series.
Q: What got you excited and started you on your writing journey?
I’m not someone who always knew she wanted to be an author. In the mid-90’s I was going through an extremely stressful period, taking on as much freelance design work as I could because my husband was out of work for an extended period of time. One night I fell into an exhaustive sleep and had a very strange dream—strange for me because I usually don’t remember my dreams. Also, the people in the dream were all strangers. Weirdly, the dream kept unfolding night after night like chapters in a book. Finally, I decided to write it down. When I finished, I had a 50,000 word romance that spanned thirty-five years!
The writing bug had bitten me. Long story short, I joined some writing organizations, learned what I was doing wrong, honed my craft, and signed with an agent. After many years of rewrites, that totally unpublishable romance transformed into a 90,000 word romantic suspense and became Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception, the second book I sold.
Q: Do you solve the mysteries in novels & movies or do you sit back and enjoy the ride?
I should have had an inkling that I’d eventually wind up writing mysteries because I have an uncanny knack for figuring out whodunit early into most books, movies, or TV episodes. I love when I’m wrong and fall for a red herring, but it doesn’t happen often. My grandfather was the captain of a large county police force and responsible for the apprehension of many gangsters and other bad actors back in the day. I figure I inherited a large dose of his detecting DNA.
Q: And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask… what are your favorite shoes?
At this point, any that are comfortable! I’m afraid my sexy heels days are over, thanks to foot surgery a few years ago after an injury and arthritis that developed in that foot as a result. So now my shoe closet contains mostly Sketchers with cushioning inner soles.
It’s release day for The Cinderella Secret and my latest book baby is already racking up some stellar reviews!
5.0 out of 5 stars Aiden and Ella kick ass together!
Fast paced, super enjoyable romantic thriller. I love these characters!
5.0 out of 5 stars I NEED the next book
I fell in love with these characters while reading the first book. Now I get to come back and fall in love with them all over again. One of the things I liked best about this book was that we got to peel back even more layers of the masks these Deveraux youngsters shield themselves with.
5.0 out of 5 stars Don’t miss a word!
I am so enjoying this series as the author’s style of writing makes you not want to miss even one word. The humorous and sarcastic interaction between this blended family highlights their closeness.
The Cinderella Secret is book 2 of the Deveraux Legacy series and I have loved every second with my characters. I’m so excited to see that readers are too! In celebration of its release week, The Cinderella Secret and book 1, The Second Shot are both ¢.99 through 10/23!
I once had a cousin/uncle/grandparent-ish person (he was my second cousin once-removed if you want to get technical here, but the point is that he was in his eighties and I was around ten, you get the idea) who once posed the question that I probably wasn’t supposed to hear – what’s the difference between naked and nekkid? Naked is simply having no clothes on. Nekkid is naked, but with intent. In other words, the difference is subtle and mostly to do with what you intend to do about it. Which is how I feel about old and vintage.
My general preference, when given a choice, is for old things. Which is to say I like old books, old furniture, old clothes and my grumpy old dog. Although, usually I say vintage, which is the same as old, but with character. I don’t want new things (unless they’re electronics and sometimes not even then). I want the things I’ve become accustomed to and work for me. Which is why sometimes, even when something gets actually too old to use, I still hang on to it. Recently, my favorite skull-n-crossbones mug developed an unfortunate hairline crack that resulted in it weeping tea over everything. It was unusable but I hung on to it for two weeks. What was I planning on doing with this mug? It wasn’t fixable. It wasn’t art. Did I think it would magically heal itself? It wasn’t until I had resigned myself to it’s passing that I was able to let it depart into the recycling bin.
I don’t think my preference for the old and familiar is particularly unusual. I think most of us are little grumpy about being forced into new things. We’re uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. On the other hand, studies seem to indicate that actively being in a place of uncertainty and learning keeps Alzheimer’s at bay. Being used to a little discomfort makes us appreciate what we have and have grace for those who also in discomfort. And I think that if a few more people were used to being told no and being a little more uncomfortable then they wouldn’t lose their cool and have public temper-tantrums in the middle of Target (why is it always Target?). Perhaps we need new things periodically just to remind us that sometimes we don’t always get to keep our favorite mug. And sometimes we need a new mug to tell us that everything will be OK. As long as it looks vintage.
And Now…. Book News!
The Cinderella Secret is coming 10.19.20 and there are gifts, prizes, and sneak peeks for you to delve into! The Cinderella Secret is a romantic thriller that continues the Deveraux family saga, this time with Aiden Deveraux, the handsome lawyer going up against Ella Zhao who blames the Deveraux family for her father’s death. With family secrets and thrills at every turn, The Cinderella Secret delivers a one-two punch of passion and action that will keep readers turning the pages.
The Lost Heir, a Deveraux Legacy prequel novella, will be released in December, but members of the Blue Zephyr Press / Bethany Maines newsletter will receive it on October 19 with the release of The Cinderella Secret! Join here:https://bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/
So, I forgot that I was supposed to blog today and instead used my few minutes of writing time to write a scene where two of my characters go to a Waffle House. But as a west coast resident, I’ve never actually been to a Waffle House. As a result, I spent way too much time looking at the Waffle House menu on line and now I want hashbrowns and waffles. Sometimes we hear authors say that their characters speak to them. My characters wouldn’t deign to do that. They’re too busy talking to each other. And honestly, if I left them to their own devices they would talk until my fingers cramped up from trying to transcribe. I frequently have to cut off the conversations so that the story goes somewhere. That’s part of the editing process, but these conversations are excellent at helping me understand the characters. When I discover what they find funny, what they hate, what annoys them, and what their hard line stance is on Christmas decorations after New Years, I can plunk them down in any situation and know how they’ll react. Which is how I know that Jackson Deveraux would be quite happy at the Waffle House, but that he would be shocked that his hoity toity grandmother Eleanor Deveraux knows to order Waffle House hashbrowns scattered, smothered, and covered, but not chunked. The Deveraux family is full of secrets and surprises, but when I started writing about them I never would have thought that hashbrowns would be one of the surprises. The Deveraux family, from my Deveraux Legacy, has become one of my favorite group of characters. They’re a very fractured family that is struggling toward reconciliation while attempting to overcome the periodic interruption of mercenaries, bank robbers, and greedy CEOs.
If you want to find out what the Deveraux family thinks about Christmas décor you can check out book 1, The Second Shot, and pre-order book 2, The Cinderella Secret (both currently ¢.99). Or you can…
Enter to win a paperback copy of The Cinderella Secret on Goodreads!
Countdown to The Lost Heir
/in The DeverauxPre-Order: https://books2read.com/Lost-Heir
***THE LOST HEIR TEASER***
“He is your cousin,” said Eleanor and the walls stopped moving, along with Evan’s heart. “His name is Jackson Zane and you are going to get him out of prison.”
Evan looked at Aiden and then at Dominique, trying to make sure he’d heard their grandmother correctly.
“Uh,” said Aiden. “That’s not… I don’t… I just got out of law school. I haven’t even gotten my bar exam results back yet for here. I’d have to pass the bar in Illinois.”
Evan knew he was still mostly high, but he could tell by the flat look in their grandmother’s eyes that the decision had been made. Which meant that Aiden should probably start studying up on Illinois State law. Dominique was frowning and he realized that her eyes had been resting on him for an extended period of time. How much had she noticed? She was never as unaware as she pretended to be. Fuck.
“What do you think, Evan?” Dominique asked. He tried to remember the last time she’d spoken directly to him.
“It doesn’t matter what Evan thinks,” said Eleanor. “This is what we’re doing. It’s been decided.”
“And I would like to hear what Evan thinks about that decision,” snapped Dominique. Aiden and Eleanor blinked at Dominique’s tone, but Evan was still trying to figure out the content. Why the hell would she care what he thought?
Dominique turned back to Evan, her blonde hair swinging, and fixed him with a glare. “Well?”
His palms were sweating on his cutlery. He wanted to wipe his hands on his pants, but didn’t dare.
“I think Aiden should get him out of jail,” said Evan. “If he’s ours then we should bring him home.”
Meet Lois Winston!
/in General Writing, The Stiletto GangAs many of you know, I’m a mom with a full time job as well as an author. And while all of that is challenging enough, the pandemic has brought many fresh and special new problems. To free up some of my time I’m relinquishing one of my Stiletto Gang posting days to the fantastic Lois Winston. Lois is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author who writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Lois will be posting on the second Wednesday of the month and I thought I’d sit down and find out a little more about her as she comes on board.
Lois Winston
Me – drinking
Q: What do you write?
I started out writing romance and romantic suspense and was first published in chick lit with Talk Gertie to Me in 2006. However, back in 2003, while waiting for that first sale, my agent suggested I try writing a crafting mystery. She knew an editor looking for one. With my background as a crafts designer, my agent thought I’d be the perfect person to write such a series, even though I’d never written a mystery. I gave it a try, and in the process discovered my true literary calling. My Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series sold in 2009. Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, came out in 2011. I’ve since published nine books and three novellas in the series, plus two books in my Empty Nest Mystery Series.
Q: What got you excited and started you on your writing journey?
I’m not someone who always knew she wanted to be an author. In the mid-90’s I was going through an extremely stressful period, taking on as much freelance design work as I could because my husband was out of work for an extended period of time. One night I fell into an exhaustive sleep and had a very strange dream—strange for me because I usually don’t remember my dreams. Also, the people in the dream were all strangers. Weirdly, the dream kept unfolding night after night like chapters in a book. Finally, I decided to write it down. When I finished, I had a 50,000 word romance that spanned thirty-five years!
The writing bug had bitten me. Long story short, I joined some writing organizations, learned what I was doing wrong, honed my craft, and signed with an agent. After many years of rewrites, that totally unpublishable romance transformed into a 90,000 word romantic suspense and became Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception, the second book I sold.
Q: Do you solve the mysteries in novels & movies or do you sit back and enjoy the ride?
I should have had an inkling that I’d eventually wind up writing mysteries because I have an uncanny knack for figuring out whodunit early into most books, movies, or TV episodes. I love when I’m wrong and fall for a red herring, but it doesn’t happen often. My grandfather was the captain of a large county police force and responsible for the apprehension of many gangsters and other bad actors back in the day. I figure I inherited a large dose of his detecting DNA.
Q: And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask… what are your favorite shoes?
At this point, any that are comfortable! I’m afraid my sexy heels days are over, thanks to foot surgery a few years ago after an injury and arthritis that developed in that foot as a result. So now my shoe closet contains mostly Sketchers with cushioning inner soles.
Connect with Lois!
Release Day!
/in General Writing5.0 out of 5 stars Aiden and Ella kick ass together!
Fast paced, super enjoyable romantic thriller. I love these characters!
5.0 out of 5 stars I NEED the next book
I fell in love with these characters while reading the first book. Now I get to come back and fall in love with them all over again. One of the things I liked best about this book was that we got to peel back even more layers of the masks these Deveraux youngsters shield themselves with.
5.0 out of 5 stars Don’t miss a word!
I am so enjoying this series as the author’s style of writing makes you not want to miss even one word. The humorous and sarcastic interaction between this blended family highlights their closeness.
The Cinderella Secret is book 2 of the Deveraux Legacy series and I have loved every second with my characters. I’m so excited to see that readers are too! In celebration of its release week, The Cinderella Secret and book 1, The Second Shot are both ¢.99 through 10/23!
Want to read now? Buy it here>>https://books2read.com/Cinderella-Secret
Want to learn more about the series? Read more here>> https://bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/
Want a chance to celebrate and get free books? Join me in these Facebook Groups!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/wegiveahoot
10/20 – 1pm – 5pm PST / 4pm – 8pm EST
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DirtyBadBoomBoomRoom
Comfortable Discomfort
/in Free Book, General Writing, Life, The Deveraux, The Stiletto GangI once had a cousin/uncle/grandparent-ish person (he was my second cousin once-removed if you want to get technical here, but the point is that he was in his eighties and I was around ten, you get the idea) who once posed the question that I probably wasn’t supposed to hear – what’s the difference between naked and nekkid? Naked is simply having no clothes on. Nekkid is naked, but with intent. In other words, the difference is subtle and mostly to do with what you intend to do about it. Which is how I feel about old and vintage.
My general preference, when given a choice, is for old things. Which is to say I like old books, old furniture, old clothes and my grumpy old dog. Although, usually I say vintage, which is the same as old, but with character. I don’t want new things (unless they’re electronics and sometimes not even then). I want the things I’ve become accustomed to and work for me. Which is why sometimes, even when something gets actually too old to use, I still hang on to it. Recently, my favorite skull-n-crossbones mug developed an unfortunate hairline crack that resulted in it weeping tea over everything. It was unusable but I hung on to it for two weeks. What was I planning on doing with this mug? It wasn’t fixable. It wasn’t art. Did I think it would magically heal itself? It wasn’t until I had resigned myself to it’s passing that I was able to let it depart into the recycling bin.
And Now…. Book News!
Pre-Order The Cinderella Secret on all ebook platforms: https://books2read.com/Cinderella-Secret
Bonus Gift (but just for my friends)
The Lost Heir, a Deveraux Legacy prequel novella, will be released in December, but members of the Blue Zephyr Press / Bethany Maines newsletter will receive it on October 19 with the release of The Cinderella Secret!
Join here: https://bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/
Giveaway
Want a chance to win a free copy of The Cinderella Secret? One lucky winner will also get a copy of Book 1 – The Second Shot. Giveaway ends 10.17, so snag your entry now!
Enter at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54817893-the-cinderella-secret
Try Before You Buy
Read Chapter 1 of The Cinderella Secret!
Read here: bethanymaines.com/cinderella-secret-chapter-1/
The Waffle House
/in General Writing, The Deveraux, The Stiletto GangSo, I forgot that I was supposed to blog today and instead used my few minutes of writing time to write a scene where two of my characters go to a Waffle House. But as a west coast resident, I’ve never actually been to a Waffle House. As a result, I spent way too much time looking at the Waffle House menu on line and now I want hashbrowns and waffles. Sometimes we hear authors say that their characters speak to them. My characters wouldn’t deign to do that. They’re too busy talking to each other. And honestly, if I left them to their own devices they would talk until my fingers cramped up from trying to transcribe. I frequently have to cut off the conversations so that the story goes somewhere. That’s part of the editing process, but these conversations are excellent at helping me understand the characters. When I discover what they find funny, what they hate, what annoys them, and what their hard line stance is on Christmas decorations after New Years, I can plunk them down in any situation and know how they’ll react. Which is how I know that Jackson Deveraux would be quite happy at the Waffle House, but that he would be shocked that his hoity toity grandmother Eleanor Deveraux knows to order Waffle House hashbrowns scattered, smothered, and covered, but not chunked. The Deveraux family is full of secrets and surprises, but when I started writing about them I never would have thought that hashbrowns would be one of the surprises. The Deveraux family, from my Deveraux Legacy, has become one of my favorite group of characters. They’re a very fractured family that is struggling toward reconciliation while attempting to overcome the periodic interruption of mercenaries, bank robbers, and greedy CEOs.
If you want to find out what the Deveraux family thinks about Christmas décor you can check out book 1, The Second Shot, and pre-order book 2, The Cinderella Secret (both currently ¢.99). Or you can…
Enter to win a paperback copy of The Cinderella Secret on Goodreads!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Cinderella Secret
by Bethany Maines
Giveaway ends October 17, 2020.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
Or you can join the Bethany Maines / Blue Zephyr Press Newsletter mailing list and get a free copy of the prequel novella, The Lost Heir in October!