Here’s Chapter 1 of The Key with Hearts, available now at online distributors everywhere: Amazon / Kobo / B & N & many more.

Chapter 1

Friday, 3 September 1813 ~ Myers Buckland manor and estate in Wiltshire, England

 

The little dog nosed along the edge of the bricked planters.  His white tail wagged, excitement quivering through his whole body.  He sniffed at every speck, whether dirt or leaf or twig.  Brightly colored ribbons, tied tightly together to create a long leash, trailed over his back and the terrace’s paving stones.

His sniffing increased.  He growled.  His short nose swept across the slate-colored pavers.  He retreated several steps as he tracked the scent, then followed it back to the grass.  The clipped grass tickled his nose.  He strained against the ribbon leash as he dug at the stones, as if the pavers were the edge of a cairn hiding a vicious rodent.  Then his head popped up.  Ears pricked forward.  Dark eyes stared at the high hedge with its thick branches of boxwoods.

He glanced behind him at the woman holding one end of his tether.  They had ended their walk by traversing the maze.  Throughout their tour of the garden, she seemed distracted, barely attending to his tugs on the leash.  Now her gaze focused on the drive that swept from the parkland.  The gravel turned into a gentle curve as it approached the manor’s forecourt.  The little terrier sniffed the air.  Then he lunged forward.

The leash held him back.  He strained against it then lunged again, but his paws didn’t find grass beneath him.  His claws scrabbled on the pavers.  He barked.

Continue reading “W.Ink Glimpse of The Key with Hearts”

Happy Birthday to these February Books,

All from M.A. Lee!

cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

The Dangers of Secrets

A baffling murder interrupts a charming romance in The Danger of Secrets.

Maddy Whittaker pursues a flirtation with Gordon, Lord Musgrove, as a pleasant distraction from daily concerns. Then she encounters secrets of family, secrets of the heart, and secrets of blood and pain, all served up for Valentine’s Day at a country manor in Regency England.

Too bad for Maddy and Gordon that secrets can kill.

More than charm will be needed for Maddy to overcome past secrets and present dangers to marry her perfect match in The Dangers of Secrets, a Regency mystery, Book 4 in the Hearts in Hazard series.

Choose one of these links to reach online bookstores:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X9137D9

https://books2read.com/u/boENK9

View the trailer https://youtu.be/1zZ_ZisDLLU

 

The Dark Lord

Everyone knows there’s no such thing as ghosts.

Tell that to the two ghosts haunting Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Fortescue comes to Feldstone Grange seeking the position of housekeeper. She expects the Baron Harcourt to claim she’s too

cover by Deranged Doctor Design

young and pretty for the position, even though she’s qualified and has excellent references.

Yet the baron is desperate to hire someone, having lost five housekeepers over the past six months. He doesn’t know what drove them away.

On her first night at the Grange, Elizabeth encounters two ghosts. One is the well-known Silent Lady; none of the servants know anything about the other ghost.

Over the next week, her connection with Lord Harcourt becomes more than servant to employer. She likes her position and her employer. He also appears to like her, wanting to meet with her daily.

One ghost, though, persists in its haunting of her, enticing her to follow it.

Is it a real ghost? Is a fellow servant attempting to terrify her? Or does someone have a wicked reason to haunt the new housekeeper?

Elizabeth doesn’t know the answer—but she has more incentive to stay than leave.

Will she remain at the Grange? Or will the second ghost’s increasing hauntings drive her away?

Or lead her into death?

The Dark Lord is the first in a series of paranormal novellas from M.A. Lee, who writes historical mysteries and suspense with a dash of romance. This novella is first in the Miss Beale Writes series. They are best described as vintage gothics.

Like M.A. Lee’s Hearts in Hazard 12-book series, set in Regency England, the six novellas will be loosely interconnected, but each is a stand-alone story.

Choose one of these links to reach online bookstores:

B&N, Kobo, and more:   https://books2read.com/u/38yprZ

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WJQHL2S

 

The Key with Hearts

Here’s the link to the Amazon sale page. All other online distributors, go to this link.  Available in ebook and paperback!

The Key with Hearts ~

Regency England.  Suspense.  Murder.  Two hearts at odds.

Married for money, not for love.

A convenient marriage inconveniently causes murder.

Six months ago, Liza Corbett married Greville Myers.  Her money saved his estate.  His nobility raised her station.  The couple have achieved an uneasy relationship, tepid and uncomfortable.

Then Liza is nearly killed in a failed attempt at murder.

Who wants her dead?

  • *The woman who had expected to marry Greville?
  • *The mother-in-law who hates her?
  • *Someone unknown?
  • *Or her husband, so he can keep her money and marry the woman he loves?

Who can Liza trust?

When the murderer strikes again and injures someone by mistake, how can Liza discover the truth?  Or will she be the next victim?

The Key with Hearts is set in Regency England.   At 59,000 words, the novel is Book 9 in the Hearts in Hazard series of romantic mystery and suspense by M. A. Lee.

Visit M.A. Lee’s author page on this website for a complete list of the Hearts in Hazard books.

………………………………………………………..

No ghostwriters, work-for-hire writers, artificial intelligence or other collaborators are used in the writing of Any book from Writers Ink Books. 😉

 

The Key for Spies ~ book 8 in the Hearts in Hazard series of historical mysteries/suspense.

Spies and traitors.  Lies and treachery.  Unexpected love where bullets fly.

One traitor destroys loyalty.  What will two traitors destroy?

The British spy Simon Pargeter scouts the terrain for Wellington’s army in French-controlled Spain.  Miriella de Teba ye Olivita, the famed Doñabella, wants to give him aid, but she must first find the traitor lurking in her band of guerillas.

Can Simon escape the French patrol hot on his trail?  With Major Pierre LeCuyer actively seeking Doñabella’s identity, can Miri hold her guerrillas together long enough to get the information Simon needs?  Can she locate the traitor before she is unmasked?

Or will the traitors reap the reward while Simon and Miri swing from a gallows?

https://books2read.com/u/3RKYpj

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTSQTY7

trailer https://youtu.be/Ehc7VxUxCp4

Hero and Villain

Meet the protagonist Simon and one of the antagonists for The Key for Spies, a January release by M.A. Lee in her historical mystery / suspense series Hearts in Hazard.

1st April 1813, Thursday

Thieves night.

That’s what his older brother called it, back when they’d run together.  They’d taken to the dark streets, smashed locks to steal pastries or sausages, pried open windows to climb into dark rooms, and stolen locked boxes with stashes of coins.  He never knew who Mattias worked for.  Belly stuffed with iced rolls or spiced sausage, he had trailed behind his brother.  Until the gendarmes caught Mat with a hand stuck in the alms box.

Hidden behind a dark column, he’d frozen when the gendarmes appeared.  Then black wings flapped before his face.  He ran until his sides hurt and his too-tight shoes split along the worn sides.  He’d abandoned his brother, a betrayal that had never left him.

The next day he ran on to Marseilles.  There, he re-invented himself as Pierre LeCuyer.

Continue reading “Key for Spies ~ Meet Hero & Villain”

Start January off Right!

Three Books to Enjoy!

From M.A. Lee, we have two Regency mysteries with a dash of suspense.

From Remi Black, we have the second novella in the Fae Mark’d World series, Spells of Air.

We also have the audio Podcast from The Write Focus.

 

Mysteries Fused with Romance

First up, we have two of the three Key titles in the Hearts in Hazard series. All three have strong male protagonists. With The Key for Spies, Lee also achieved 1.5 million published fiction words. With all the titles that she’s published since 2019, she’s over 2 million published words.

The third book in the subseries is The Key with Hearts. We’ll celebrate that novel in February.

On January 15, The Key for Spies.

Spies and traitors.  Lies and treachery.  Unexpected love where bullets fly.

One traitor destroys loyalty.  What will two traitors destroy?

Here are three links.

  • View the trailer for The Key for Spies: https://youtu.be/Ehc7VxUxCp4 

The ebook and paperback can be published at online distributors everywhere or ask for it at the library:

A Trio of Keys with Intriguing Men

On January 20

The Key to Secrets, book 7 in the Hearts in Hazard series, published in 2018 and featuring one of Lee’s recurring characters, Constable Hector Evans.

Dark Hearts and Sharp Knives.

Hector Evans has plenty of suspects for a bloody death—including the woman he once loved.

View the trailer at this link: https://youtu.be/1Sj7NfvxzXg

The ebook and paperback can be found at online distributors or ask for it your library.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795F86YW

B&N / Kobo and more: https://books2read.com/u/mZj0Ke

Fantasy Fused with Romance

On January 25 is Remi Black’s To Charm the Wind,  published in 2021 and now 2 years old!

To Charm the Wind has entered the terrible 2’s!

When Haven isn’t a Sanctuary—

When the untried wizard Orielle enters the Wilding on her journey to Iscleft Haven, she expects threats from bears and mountain lions, vipers and hornets.

Published January 31, 2021

She certainly doesn’t expect the creatures of legend: wraiths and gobbers, shape-shifting wyre, and the Dark Fae called the Kyrgy.

Grim, an outcast from Iscleft Haven, is the keen steel that stands with her against these dangers.

Yet when they reach the Haven, the elder arrests Grim. The Haveners aren’t interested in a renewed alliance with the Wizard Enclave.

Is her mission for the Enclave in vain?

Will she ever escape the Wilding?

 

For Writers, the January series of The Write Focus.

January starts with a free opening scene.

  • Last year was Remi Black’s short story, “Godriana’s Font”. You can get the entire story free with this Book Funnel link: click.
  • The year before was M.A. Lee’s “The Lion’s Den”, also available as a freebie through Book Funnel: here.
  • This year, things are little hectic. (Okay, a LOT hectic.) If we manage the recording, it will be the opening scene from “The Poisoner and the Faerie Huntsman”. You can access the story as a freebie through Book Funnel: also here.

The starting series for 2023, our fourth season, is Discovering Characters. Enjoy!

Visit The Write Focus website for more information and links to every episode.

Here’s the link to the blog site: https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/

Enjoy January and look forward to February.

The thaw is coming!

Two hearts with dangerous pasts are twisted up into complex schemes in this 10th book of the Hearts in Hazard series ~ The Hazard of Secrets.

The Hazard of Secrets

Can these two hearts keep their secrets, or will murder force them to reveal all?

Clarey Parton crosses the Atlantic to steal an inheritance. She hopes that no one discovers the rightful heir lies in a cold grave.

Jem Baxter returns to the England he fled three years before. He assumes the name James Axminster to conceal his past, one littered with misdeeds.

When a press gang sees two people traveling alone, they seize the opportunity for quick cash: they plan to sell Clarey to a brothel and impress Jem on a merchant ship. Fate brings these two lonely souls together. Chance helps them escape.

Yet escape traps them in another secret—one with murder as a bloody solution.

The Hazard of Secrets offers twists and turns as tight as knots.

Can Clarey and Jem keep their secrets, or will murder force them to reveal all?

  1. Read the first chapter at this link.
  2. Here’s the second chapter of the newest release by M. A. Lee, The Hazard of Secrets, historical mystery set in 1814 Liverpool, England, with just a dash of romance. Find it at this link.
  3. Writers will tell you that sometimes characters take control of a story, and writers are just along for the write. That’s the case with Vic, a boy on the streets of 1814 Liverpool in M.A. Lee’s newest historical mystery. I liked Vic so much I might even ask him to write another story with me. Find Vic’s introduction at this link.

And watch the trailer: 

 

This is the book that became ever-expanding, blowing past the original length of 55,000 words, climbing on to 78,000 words, and then achieving 109,000 words.

I kept thinking about dividing it out, but events at the beginning cause events in the middle and connect to events at the end.

And I hate to read cliff-hangers which require two separate books. Better to have the cliff-hangers at the end of chapters!

 

Available Worldwide as an ebook https://books2read.com/u/4DWRJr

 

Available ebook and paperback on Amazon