Official Website of USA Today bestselling author Tawdra Kandle
This week’s Pinterest Pick topic for Death A La Mode is Folk Music! Crissy Darwin, local folk music rising star, is at the center of a series of troubling deaths. Can Jackie and Lucas help her out of this mess before the curtain falls?
Pin this image to your own Pinterest boards–and stop by my Pinterest page to repin other fun stuff. Don’t forget to nab the Death A La Mode cover, too!
Eight paranormal short stories by the fabulous authors of Romantic Edge Books! Supernatural and sizzling, this is one set you don’t want to miss.
Masked (A Gwen Sparks short story) by Stephanie Nelson
When Gregory Arthur—a tiger shifter—hires Gwen for Halloween night, she and Dorian must figure out why Gregory’s daughter is haunting his house before the suspected murderer figures them out. But like everything in Gwen’s life, not everything is as it seems. If she’s not careful, she may be the killer’s next victim.
Temporal Tango (Miss Series Short) by C.G. Powell
Since Tango’s birth as a human, his mind has been charmed to forget most of his past. What secrets will be reviled when the spell is broken at midnight on the eve of Veronica’s eighteenth birthday? Immortal life as a cat was not all that it was cracked up to be, and somethings are better left forgotten.
Fire&Ice (A Little Flame Short, #7.5) by Melissa Lummis
Fiamette Jurato isn’t your everyday healer, but even she’s never seen this particular problem before. And it doesn’t help that her patient is a stubborn jackass of a troll. Seriously. A real troll. A spoonful of sugar can’t make the medicine go down when the patient would rather die than swallow his pride.
Moon Dust (The Werevamp Diaries-1) by Olivia Hardin
When Magical And Undead Creatures cross paths with humans, sometimes they get hurt. That’s when Rhiannon, doctor to the paranormal world, steps into action. What she doesn’t expect is to get an urgent call from her secret crush. Risking her life to grant him a favor might not be the smartest decision she’s ever made, but sometimes love means taking chances.
Unforgettable (A Serendipity/Recipe for Death Short) by Tawdra Kandle
When seers at Carruthers Institute sense impending world doom, Cathryn Whitmore sends for her top agents. Their mission could help battle the forces of evil, but it’s also going to sorely test their love for each other–especially when someone from the past makes a surprise appearance.
Curse of the Tolomato Cemetery (Olde City Angels) by Mandie Stevens
Eva and Thomas are used to dealing with things that go bump in the night, but on an unexpected day off, the last thing they expect to encounter are vampire pirates–and Thomas’ old flame.
When the vampires capture that ex-lover, the two must brave a haunted cemetery to stop the quest and save the day.
Disguise (Secrets of the Succubus) by Amanda Latzel
Gisele Green’s lifestyle comes with nice perks–hello, unlimited orgasms–-but on All Hallows’ Eve not even expensive cosmetics can hide the succubus inside. Usually she’d stay hidden from public view, but this year she’s blackmailed into being part of the festivities. With all eyes on her, she must maintain her disguise, or lose the life she loves in the human world.
Knead to Know by Liz Schulte
Maggie Edwards can’t sleep, eat, or die—but she can bake. However, just before the Halloween grand opening of her bakery, a pesky reporter witnesses an accident in her kitchen and gets a little too close to the truth. If she can’t convince him to keep quiet, not only will she lose her chance at happiness, but they both could lose their lives.
And since it’s #TeaserTuesday, here’s a tiny sneak peek at Unforgettable, the Serendipity/Recipe for Death short in It’s A Ghoul Thing. This segment is from Rafe’s point of view.
We were both quiet as I unlocked our front door. It was always a relief to me to come home, to this place that Nell and I had made our own sanctuary. It was usually bright, with loads of natural light, and even now, as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, its last beams shot through the skylights.
Nell stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the lake. I came up behind her, sliding my arms beneath hers and pulling her body up against me.
“Beautiful sunset.”
“Hmmm.”
“You’re far away from me.” I eased her black hair out of my way and kissed the white column of her neck.
“I’m thinking.”
“Care to tell me about it?”
“I was wondering about Joss. About what would have happened if she hadn’t died in the forest that day. What if I’d been sent to rescue both of you? What if it’d been three of us in that cabin in the woods?”
“What if I’d never come to King when I was in high school? What if my father had lived? Nell, life is a series of choices mixed in with random shit that happens. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you keep thinking like that.”
“And God knows I’ve already been there.” She meant it as a joke, I knew, but I heard the thread of despondency in her voice.
“You were strong enough to get past what happened in King. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, Nell. And I love you.”
“You loved Joss, too.” It was that same careful tone, no accusation. Just a matter-of-fact statement.
“I did.” We’d been through this before. I never denied what I’d felt for Joss. “But what I had with her isn’t what you and I share. We’ve built a life. We’ve made a home.” I turned her around to face me and tipped up her chin with my finger. Storms raged in those ice blue eyes. “Hey. Nell Massler, you are it for me, now and tomorrow and all of my days. If you’d ever say yes, I’d make it official and tell the world that I belong to you.”
“I don’t need a piece of paper to define how I feel.”
“I don’t, either. All I need is you.” I lowered my mouth to cover hers, kissing her with all the depth of passion I felt. When I opened my eyes, hers had quieted into a measure of tranquility, nearly as calm as the still lake outside our windows. “You’re my home. You’re my world. You’re why I’ll do whatever we need to do in order to stop Mallory Jones.”
She buried her face against my chest and nodded. When she spoke, her voice was muffled.
“We’ll stop her together. Whatever it takes.”
“We will.” I rubbed my hand down her back, letting it graze her ass. “But for the rest of tonight, let’s not talk about her, or tomorrow, or anything to do with Carruthers. I’ll order a pizza, we’ll take it to bed, and then I’ll do my damnedest to keep your mind off anything the least bit upsetting.”
Nell sagged against me. “I don’t know. I’m pretty tense. It’d take quite the man to make me forget my problems tonight.”
I kissed her again, my fingers gripped her backside.
“Challenge accepted.”
Chicago had it exactly right.
One of my goals as an author this year was using this gorgeous website, posting daily in the various categories and keeping everything updated. And for quite a long time, I was good about it. Having the categories to keep me on the straight and narrow really helped.
And then June came.
June meant finishing writing The Plan. Gearing up for the release of the box set. Working on book-related business, including Indie BookFest, and attending two book events. Whew!
I’m happy to say that I’m back, but I’m also glad I gave myself that break when things got crazy.
But enough about that. Today I want to share with you a little about the thin and hazy line between real life and fiction.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00020]](https://i0.wp.com/tawdrakandle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Posse-ebook-new.jpg)
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that The Posse was my first non-YA, non-paranormal novel. I never intended to write it; once I’d finished with The King Series, I fully intended to write Rafe’s book and then Nell’s. Contemporary romance was never part of the plan. Then one day, I was driving home from New Smyrna Beach, a small beach town on Florida’s east coast. We’d just begun going there, since we’d moved over to the east side of the greater Orlando area; prior to that, most of our beaching had been done on the Gulf coast. But after a few visits to NSB, I fell in love with the quaint little town. It felt very much like home.
On this day, I hadn’t been thinking about books or stories, but something must’ve been lurking in the back of my head, because as I drove home, most of the plot for The Posse fell into my lap. I knew Jude’s name. I knew her late husband’s name. I knew how many kids she had, all about her friends . . . and about her family restaurant. Suddenly, it seemed, I was writing a contemporary romance novel for adults, since there was nary a paranormal element and the leads were most definitely grown-up.
I returned to NSB often during the process of writing The Posse, and slowly parts of the town made it into the story. One was a sweet B & B that was being rebuilt and restored. In the book, this bed and breakfast was the last planned project for Jude’s late husband Daniel and his best friend Logan. Jude’s involved in the final stages and the opening of the Hawthorne House during the course of the story.
For the last two years, I’ve walked past the Hawthorne House–or the Inn on the Avenue, as it’s known in so-called real life–watching its growth and evolution. We stay in NSB fairly frequently, but it never worked out to stay at the B & B until last night.
As I type this post, I’m actually still in bed in the beautiful Starfish Room at the Inn. It’s a lovely spot, welcoming and 
friendly, and I’m thrilled that we actually were able to do this. But I’d be lying if I said there hadn’t been a surreal aspect to being here.
As a writer, my characters are very real to me. I can tell you all about the house where Tasmyn Vaughn lived in King. I can describe the dorm where Julia and Ava lived at Birch College. I could walk you all around the Reynolds’ family farm in Burton, Georgia. And I’ve definitely pictured The Hawthorne House Bed and Breakfast in Crystal Cove. So walking into the Inn on the Avenue, my brain was reeling, trying to reconcile how I’d seen the house with reality. To be honest, it wasn’t really that different. There are a few minor changes, sure, but overall . . . being here as been oddly like stepping into one of my make-believe worlds.
I half-expect to see Abby come around the corner and ask me if I like my room. Maybe Emmy will stop in to deliver some pies or breakfast pastries. Jude could pop over from the Tide to say hello before Logan comes in to pick her up. And there are a few other characters you’ll meet or get to know better during The Path who might wander in.
Will some of the ‘real’ Inn and New Smyrna creep into the Crystal Cove romances a little more? Perhaps. But in most ways, Crystal Cove will continue to be its own lovely, enchanted spot, a place where families grow and men and women live and love.
And that’s this author’s life today.
Author Patrick Friar will be joining us at Indie BookFest this summer! Check out his book and his interview.
Q: Wine or beer?
A: Wine. Moscato.
Q: Think of your favorite of your own characters. What attribute, physical or otherwise, would you most like to have yourself?
A: Damon’s guts to wrestle with two tensions that many shirk the courage to do with honest soul scouring intensity; religious faith and human sexuality .
Q: A famous producer appears on your doorstep and offers to turn any book you like (by any author) into a Broadway play. Which novel would you choose?
A: One of Anne Tyler’s brilliant people portrait writings either A Beginner’s Goodbye, or St Maybe , or Breathing Lessons.
Q: It’s a gorgeous Saturday morning in early June. How will you spend the day, assuming time and money are both limitless?
A: How about on one of those ivory sandy beaches with aquamarine surf next to me . Not very much attire… a great book say from a fellow or maiden Indie author, and a stocked cooler.
Q: Brownies or chocolate chip cookies?
A: My mom baked the best. Won the hearts of all my high school friends on bus trips many years ago . Have to go with Moms famous chocolate chip cookies
***
Damon is faced with a trial that shakes the depths of his soul. His spirituality is tested as he encounters the unyielding pull of 
sexual desires. Controversial and absorbing, Stained Glassis the story of a man whose own passions tear him apart with indecision.
Patrick Friar has had many years of experience in ministry. While becoming familiar with the inner workings of different smaller and larger church congregations, he finished work with a doctorate. Friar operates regularly as a therapist working with couples, individuals, and groups. He calls North Carolina home. He enjoys being a family man and is well-traveled. Friar enjoys a good steak, watching sports, playing golf, listening to music, and spending time with his family.
This teaser #Tuesday is brought to you by the extraordinarily beautiful trailer for The Only One, made by Olivia Hardin. I am totally and completely in love with these piece. . .the music, the images, the words. . .it’s all perfect.
If you haven’t read The One Trilogy yet, you’re missing out on some smokin’ hot couples, some sweet love and some funny characters, all living in the small town of Burton, Georgia. And you don’t want to miss all that.