Updated: Feb 18
I can't wait for all of you to read my newest release, The Daring Author, the first book in Secrets of Shadow Cove. This book is fun, romantic, and suspenseful. I love it and this new island I've created. Escape to Shadow Cove with Davin and Chloe!
Sneak Peek: Chatper One of The Daring Author:
Chloe Vance flung a hand over her eyes, shielding them from the bright light trying to probe into her soul. Her stomach churned and her head throbbed.
“She’s coming back to us now,” a calm male voice said from far too close. He smelled like antiseptic cleaner.
“Shut it off,” she begged. “Unless you want me to mess up all the money your mother wasted at the dentist on your behalf.”
A deep chuckle came from behind the speaker. That laugh was familiar and exciting, but her mind was too befuddled to riddle out why.
“Miss Vance,” the calm man tried again. “How are you feeling?”
“How am I feeling?” She shook her head and then wished she hadn’t. Blinking furiously, she strained to see past the light. “It’s just a joke a second with you, huh? I’m feeling like my head is three times its normal size and I want to puke. Wait a minute … who the heck are you two?”
Rational thought was slow to return, but trepidation filled her when it did. Darkness and fear lurked in the corners of her mind. Someone had hurt her, but she couldn’t recall what the injury was or who had inflicted it.
Who was this dude with the bright light? He might be the guy who had hurt her. Otherwise, why would he be in her bedroom with a flashlight, waking her up in the middle of the night?
Back up—something else was registering. She wasn’t in her bedroom. This rock-hard bed, lumpy pillow, and scratchy sheets felt nothing like the Dream Cloud mattress she’d scrimped and saved to purchase, the Malouf pillow her mom had gifted her for Christmas, and the satin sheets that were an absolute necessity for smooth hair and maximum REM sleep, in her unprofessional but highly researched opinion.
What could she say? She owned a bookshop on a small island. When things were slow, she read everything from fiction to cookbooks to Christian theology and a lot in between.
If she wasn’t in her bedroom, but with two men, one of whom was definitely a stranger, in nothing but a thin gown with a heavy weight on her finger, probes sticking to her chest, cool liquid oozing into her blood from the back of her hand, a machine beeping annoyingly …
None of this made sense to her befuddled mind.
“Help,” she squeaked out. It wasn’t even a scream that would bring the good guys running. It was nothing but a pathetic peep.
“Chloe, it’s all right. You’re safe,” the other voice said. The second man’s voice was reassuring and exhilarating. Why?
“Forgive me.” The first man blessedly shut off the light and peered at her. He was wearing a white lab coat and had a stethoscope around his neck.
“You’re a doctor?” she asked, relieved but feeling twenty steps behind.
She wasn’t in danger. She was in a hospital bed.
This wasn’t a doctor she recognized, and she knew the one doctor and three nurses on her small island of Shadow Cove, off the coast of Northern California. There wasn’t an actual hospital on Shadow Cove Island. Was she in Eureka?
Glancing around past the doctor, she saw white sterile walls, medical equipment, and …
Oh, no. Not him.
Anyone else to view me splayed out in a hospital bed in nothing but a washed-too-many-times gown. Please?
Ever patient with me, good Lord above, please not him. Not when I’m at my weakest and most vulnerable. I’ll let down my guard, beg him to like me and not Robinette, and regret such impetuous words for the rest of my lonely life.
Her heart beat too quick in her chest, and a nearby machine beeped in response.
“What is that?” she asked, yanking her gaze from the handsome face of her secret longing.
“Your heart rate monitor. For some reason, your pulse is skyrocketing,” the doctor said.
Chloe closed her eyes but didn’t miss the quick smile that crossed the handsome and familiar face. She changed her prayers, asking that she could disappear instead.
“Miss Vance, I’m Dr. Palmer. It’s nice to officially meet you. Can you please answer a few questions for me?”
Chloe could not respond. She didn’t think anyone would expect her to. None of her friends would, at least. Not when she told them who was in the room with her. Maybe she was a little slow in the head right now, but she couldn’t think of any plausible reason for him to be here.
Sadly, it was true. Shadowing the good doc was none other than Davin Ambrose, well-known action adventure novelist and her very secret crush.
Davin wasn’t an overly large man, maybe a few inches taller than her five-seven. He was lean and fit. He loved to rock climb, hike, run, and bike. She liked to tease that he was ‘training for his spot on the Olympic biathlon team’. He’d fire back that he didn’t even own a weapon, so he couldn’t possibly be on the biathlon team.
He’d been coming to her bookstore every afternoon for the past few months. Eighty-seven days, to be exact. Yes, she had been counting the days since she’d met this glorious man.
Davin initially explained he was an author of adventure novels and would be setting an entire series on the island. Hiking, rock climbing, surfing, exploring the mountains and the sea, and interacting with locals were all part of his ‘deep-dive research’.
With her permission, he would spend his afternoons writing with ‘ink and parchment’, or rather his favorite MacBook Pro, at her bookstore. There was a zing of connection when he quoted Geoffrey Chaucer, the writer from A Knight’s Tale.
She’d responded that he could have her permission if ‘for a penny he’d scribble her anything she wanted’. He’d laughed and they had become instant friends, though there was an underlying current of attraction she’d never felt with any friend.
If there’d ever been a ‘hot professor’ look to die for, Davin Ambrose wore it as his first skin. She’d looked up each of his names online and found that Davin meant ‘beloved’ and Ambrose meant ‘divine’. She wouldn’t complain if he was her divine beloved.
Well, originally she wouldn’t. Now … it was a no.
She’d learned recently that Davin Ambrose was not the man for her.
The doctor turned to follow the direction of Chloe’s gaze.
“Oh, yes. Mr. Ambrose brought you in to the emergency room. With a police escort.”
Why did she need a police escort? Her insides pitched with fear. Was it simply the police escort or the memory of why she was hurt? The two policemen on the island, Jaxon and Adam, were both friends so she doubted that was her issue. There was something she couldn’t dredge up, no matter how hard she tried. And why the heck was Davin the one who had brought her in? Maybe because he spent almost as much time at her bookshop, Tome Raider, as she did.
“Chloe.” Davin tipped his head to her, a more serious than usual look on his face. As if he was worried about her.
“What are you doing here?” She clutched the thin blanket covering her and prayed with every piece of her soul that Davin hadn’t been present when they stripped her clothes off and put her in this gown.
Had he been? She searched her memory but found nothing. No memory of coming to the hospital or why Davin would be in the room and not her sister or parents, any of her friends, or one of the other regulars at the shop. Pretty much anyone from the island, besides his new girlfriend Robinette Valentine, would be the preferred choice.
His eyes were more gray than blue at the moment. “When I came in this afternoon to write, unfortunately later than usual, you were nowhere around.” He shifted his weight and studied her monitors, as if feeling guilty about something, before focusing back on her. “I searched and found you in your back room, insensate, with a nasty bump on your forehead and another on the back of your head. I picked you up and put you in my car, dialing 911 as I started for the ferry. Sheriff Bradley rushed to meet me at the dock. He explained you could have a spinal injury and I shouldn’t have moved you.” He winced. “I pray you don’t, and forgive me if I reacted incorrectly. There was a copious amount of blood and I was agonized.”
Agonized? No way was he that concerned about her, but he was an author and sometimes used unique words like ‘insensate’. She wasn’t even sure what that meant.
She wiggled her toes and fingers. “Everything still functions.”
He gave her a brief smile.
“The sheriff said we could call Life Flight, but your breathing and heartbeat were strong and the ferry was loading. He gave me a police escort and we got you to the emergency room here in Eureka. Sheriff Bradley allowed me to come in the room with you. Well, truthfully, I insisted.” He brushed at his unruly brown hair as he often did, an endearing move that usually meant he was uncomfortable.
How did she know that about Davin, but she couldn’t remember falling or coming to the hospital? Usually she remembered every moment spent in Davin’s presence. He was magnetic to her, and she had a hard time looking away.
“Thankfully, he agreed. He’s in the waiting room now.” Davin studied her intensely, as if she had answers for him. “Did you fall?”
She stared at him, straining for any memory of her injury. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
The doctor stepped in closer, peering deeply into her eyes. “Dilated pupils,” he murmured.
“What does that mean?”
“Possible concussion. Which would make sense given the head trauma and the prolonged state of unconsciousness.” He scrutinized her. “Can you recall anything about what happened before you fell or what caused you to fall, Miss Vance?”
“I don’t remember anything about falling,” she admitted.
“What do you remember about today?”
“Um …” She bit at her lip. “It’s Tuesday, so the shop is pretty quiet.”
The doctor looked over his shoulder, exchanging a look with Davin.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s Wednesday evening, ma’am,” the doctor said.
Unease traced through her, and she clasped suddenly clammy palms together.
The doctor pulled off his stethoscope, had her inhale and exhale, and listened to her heart and lungs. He ran fingers down her neck and spine, told her to squeeze his fingers and to move her fingers and toes. He nodded toward some monitors. “Your oxygen levels, heart rate, and lungs all sound good, and I don’t see any other injury. I’m going to have my nurse draw blood, collect a urine sample, and we’ll get you in for a CT scan as soon as the machine is available.”
At the mention of a urine sample, she instantly needed to use the bathroom.
“You just sit tight.” The doctor patted her arm reassuringly, then looked back at Davin. “Will you be staying with Miss Vance?”
“Yes.” Davin’s voice was firm.
Her pulse skyrocketed again and the heart rate monitor reflected what she couldn’t hide … how this man affected her.
“Deep breaths, Miss Vance. It’ll all be all right,” the doctor reassured her.
Davin looked to be hiding a smile. Despite her best efforts, he obviously knew she was interested in him.
Chloe pushed back against the hard bed and pillow. She was stuck with Davin, the man she had an unfortunate crush on. Now he was dating the gorgeous Robinette Valentine, the woman who had stolen every boyfriend Chloe, her sister Cassie, and most of the women their age on the island had ever had.
Even with that unfortunate bit of truth, she couldn’t hide how he affected her. She blamed the heart rate monitor.
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