Kacey Hammell's Illusions is out now!

ILLUSIONS 

By Kacey Hammell

Book 1: In the Arms of the Law

(also includes bonus short story, TIED DOWN) 

Genres: Contemporary, Suspense, Paranormal (Seer), Erotic, Romance

ISBN: 978-0-9877993-3-3

Word Count: 50,000

Release Date: January 20^th, 2016

Author’s Note: Illusions was previously released with another publisher. It has received minor revisions for reissue.

Also includes a bonus short story

Protection. Adventure. Love.

It's all found within The Arms of the Law...

Detective Isabella Knowles, a tough-as-nails cop, lives by the law, and knows what she wants out of life. And it doesn't include marriage or all that comes with it. Everything Isabella has ever known seems like an illusion when a new relationship makes her feel more alive than ever before.  She isn’t happy about it and fights it every step of the way.

Burned by his fiancée years ago, seer and P.I., Brady Jacobs never wants another commitment in his life.  But his bachelorhood and heart are threatened when he has one of his visions and see a killer striking too close to the woman he has recently come to love.

Danger lurks close to home and neither Brady nor Isabella like that they can’t control every situation…especially matters of the heart.

Order your copy!

All Amazon Stores ~~ http://authl.it/B01AMVXXDC

Smashwords ~~ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/607702

Kobo Store ~~ https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/illusions-in-the-arms-of-the-law-book-1

B&N (Nook) ~~ http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/illusions-kacey-hammell/1109677332
iTunes ~~ https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/illusions-in-arms-law-book/id1075278656
All Romance eBooks ~~ https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-illusionsinthearmsofthelawbook1-1969737-149.html

Excerpt, Kacey Hammell, © 2016

Replacing the receiver, she sighed, resigned to leave the comfort of her bed. “Got to go to work, Izzy?”

Brady’s voice came from behind her and not for the first time, Isabella wondered if he realized he used so many variants of her name. She had noticed it a lot in the last few weeks but didn’t think he did. Tonight, for some reason, it bothered her more than ever.

When he was driving into her or when they were warm and cozy, sharing a few quiet moments, he called her Bella. She found herself coming to enjoy every time the name rolled off his tongue. It was special to her but she didn’t want to dwell on why at the moment. Instead, she counted off in her head his use of Isabella.

When they were around others, coworkers or just talking in general, he used her full name. At times like this, when interrupted by her job, he used Izzy in a distant, unaffected tone. The tag was starting to grate on her nerves.

She twisted on an angle toward him, unable to keep from caressing his body with her gaze. The sheet only covered his hips and navel, leaving his abs and biceps exposed to her hungry eyes.

What I wouldn’t give for ten more minutes with him tonight.

“Umm, yeah. It was Connor. I have to go. A woman who’s been missing for thirty-six hours was found dead down by the docks.” She headed to her closet as Brady got off the bed.

“Damn. Connor suspects foul play?”

Pulling a denim shirt from her closet and a pair of jeans, Isabella turned to look at him as he grabbed his clothes. Her breath hitched as he covered his tight ass with his Jockeys and jeans. It was a shame to see such perfection hidden.

With a small shake of her head, Isabella pulled herself from her musings and reached into her top dresser drawer for panties and a bra. “Yeah. The woman’s been missing for over a day and from what he said, she’s naked.” Her hands shook as she put on her panties and willed herself to calm down and think it all through.

“Connor didn’t say much else.” Turning her back to Brady, she shook out her jeans, put both legs in and pulled them up. So lost in her thoughts and trying to get a grip on her emotions, she didn’t hear him come up behind her, until he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Do you want me to go with you, Izzy? I’ll assist in any way I can.”

Touched beyond means by his offer, she turned in his arms. “Thanks, but no.

You know I’ve been through it all before. Don’t make it a bigger deal than it has to be. I’ve seen this kind of thing many times, over and over.”

She sounded like a bitch but couldn’t let the fact they were having sex get in the way of her job. They had an unspoken agreement, no commitments, and let one another do what they had to do, never coddling each other or making bigger issues of anything.

“I know you have, Izzy, but sometimes…. Hell, never mind. It’s cool.” She could tell by the look in his eyes he was frustrated but didn’t want to show it.

Good, let him be pissed, irritated or anything other than caring. She understood he was a man used to taking care of others, but she’d be damned before she leaned on him.

After taking her gun from where it was locked up, she clipped the holster to the waistband of her slacks and adjusted it to where she liked it. Pulling her hair back into a scrunchie, she turned to face her lover, certain she had her emotions in check. “Thanks for coming over tonight. It was, as always, the exact thing I needed.”

For just a moment, she saw an emotion—maybe anger—cross his face, but it was gone so quickly she might have imagined it.

With what looked like a forced smile to her, Brady shrugged. “Always here for you, babe, whenever you have an itch.” His voice held the cold, detachment she was coming to dislike. He grabbed up his leather jacket near the door, but stopped before crossing the threshold. He turned to her, staring at her in a way she had never seen before. “I know you won’t—seriously know you won’t—but if you happen to need me, I’m only a phone call away.”

She couldn’t even ascertain what sensations spread through her body at his words. As she watched him walk out of her bedroom, she could identify only one emotion.

Loss.

Feeling like she was on a tightrope easily broken at any moment, she shook herself of her musings as she heard the front door close. She patted her pockets and sides. Keys, badge, gun. She was ready to face the night ahead. Detective Isabella Knowles, one of Trenton’s finest, was ready to catch the bad guys.

Too bad she couldn’t allow herself to be caught. Love and the badge didn’t mix. For a few short hours she could let her hair down, let her lover drive himself into her body and fill her thoughts.

But she’d never let a man drive himself into her heart. Never. 

Connect with Kacey…

Website / Newsletter / Facebook / Facebook Reader Group / Twitter / Amazon / Goodreads / Pinterest / Instagram

So I joined Kindlegraph

I did and why not? Go here: http://kindlegraph.com/authors/WendiZwaduk and you can see what I have listed. If you want your copy autographed, I'll be happy to! :-) I'm going to go back to writing, but I thought I'd pass along the news.

What the? Wednesday... Don't Blame Me!

I've got lots of friends, writers and non, and I was given a gigantic piece of advice. Don't whine on the blog. I'd like to think I don't. I'd like to think when I get frustrated and soap box that I'm...just voicing an opinion. Yanno?

Now I just talked to a friend who read my yesterday post. She loved the cover, didn't comment. She actually emailed me instead. Ok, so here's her issue, and I find lots of authors with this problem or this set of problems.

Authors take a lot of heat. A Lot. Her issue was a review. I haven't had any new reviews that I know of, so I can honestly say this isn't me talking about me in hypothetical. Her problem wasn't that the reviewer didn't like the book. Nope. Wasn't a spelling issue, editing issue, or even a gross cover. The person rated her a one star of five because the book wasn't on the format the person wanted.

I'm sorry?

Actually, I'm not. You see, writers have some control over what happens with their work. Some houses want the author to change the name of the work if it's too close to another published title in their arsenal, some even request the author change her name. Most are pretty okay with your name being your name. Authors get input on covers, but they don't always get the last say. Sometimes, you're stuck with what you've got. We usually don't get to say when the book will be released. It's the nature of the beast.

Sure we get say on the editing. A good editor will take the work and shape into something fantastic without changing the author's voice. There's also push/pull, give and take in editing.

What we cannot control is what format the book is on. Most publishers are great about making sure a book is on Nook, Kindle, the Sony version, pdf, HTML, etc. They want to make everyone happy and sell as many books as possible. I could be wrong, but I know with Kindle (I'm not sure about Nook) there is a conversion program that can be done, and most everyone can read pdf.

But to rate the book poorly for the simple reason that you couldn't get it on the format you wanted (this was a NY book, so really, it should've been in whatever format the bookstore sold but whatever), seems a little petty.

I've done reviews in my time. I still do. I like to tell the author what I liked/disliked/wanted more of in their work. I've written fan letters. But what seems to be lost here is what the point of a review is for.

Ok, this is my opinion so take it or leave it, get angry and tell me or not.

If you're going to review a work, don't give a huge synopsis--that's what reading the blurb is for.

Don't give spoilers, but if you must, MENTION that. Don't just plunk them in. Authors get snippy when a plot point that's supposed to be a surprise gets let out of the bag.

Tell what you LOVED about the book. Everyone loves praise. Authors just eat it up. Conversely, tell what you thought could've been improved--if there was anything--but do it in a positive fashion. I mean, if you said, the book was trash, well, how can an author improve on that? Toss the book in the garbage? Really? Probably not. But if you said, I liked the book because the hero has real stamina and he looks like Brad Pitt, but what pulled me from the scene was when he called the heroine by the wrong name. I realize editing mistakes happen because we're human, but a second or third look would've helped. See? That gets the point across without sounding mean and gives the author food for thought.

You can by all means say this book wasn't in the right format for me. But rate the book based on the work not the format. Chances are, the publisher goofed and is in the midst of fixing it.

What it all boils down to is this, if you're going to write a review, by all means do so. Make it intelligible. Get the point across. But give the author credit for things that are beyond their control. We grow from constructive criticism and wither from snark.

Just a thought. And since I know I'm going to make someone mad, feel free to comment. I'm open to changing my mind. Let me know.