Happy Friday, everyone!

If you have a minute, check out the review Michelle Buonfiglio's feature of my Mirabelle series at Heart to Heart. Sure looks purdy having all three covers up like that!

Thanks Michelle!

Helen

NEXT COMES LOVE - Release Day!

One cop wants her heart.
The other one wants her dead.

Street-smart city girl Erica Corelli spent the three best days of her childhood on Mirabelle Island. Now her sister has disappeared and Erica’s on the run with her six-year-old nephew. The boy’s father, an abusive Chicago cop, will stop at nothing to get his son back. Erica can only hope this unforgettable island is a safe place to hide.

Garrett Taylor, the island’s chief of police, takes one look at Erica and thinks, trouble. The mysterious, sexy kind that disturbs a man’s peace and instantly complicates the simple life Garrett came to Mirabelle to find. But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t keep his mind—or his hands—off Ms. Couldn’t Be More Wrong for Him.

That's the back cover copy for my new Superromance, Next Comes Love, the 2nd in my Mirabelle Island series. It's a suspense-filled book that's a bit sexier than I normally write. I was all set to blog about the chemistry that developed between Erica and Garrett. It's hot. In fact the scene depicted on the cover was one of those that came about completely unexpectedly, flew off my fingertips as if it had a life of its own and is, I think, one of the hottest scenes I've ever written with fully clothed characters.

But the fact is, hot or not, this story deals with a serious topic. Something fun and flippant doesn't seem appropriate this morning. Next Comes Love is about physical abuse.

Erica fears that her sister has been in an abusive relationship for years and is on the run with her nephew. And Garrett, the tough, strong, cop hero in the story was a victim of abuse as a child. He fears the cycle will repeat itself and moves to Mirabelle to remake himself.

I could get into statistics about how much abuse there is in this world, but we all know it's there. It's tragic, heart-wrenching and sickening on so many levels. And it touches all of us, if one way or another. Many of us know people who've been victims of abuse, and some of us have even been victims ourselves.

I wish I had some answers. I don't. I am, though, proud to have written a story not simply about abuse, but about breaking its vicious cycle. Next Comes Love is, ultimately, about hope.

If you know someone who may be a victim of abuse, please keep him or her in your prayers today. And if the opportunity presents itself -
The national child abuse hotline is 1-800-4-A-CHILD
And the national domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE

So on a lighter note, today I'm giving away one copy of Next Comes Love and five of my handy-dandy bookmarks (with pretty tassel and beading). So if you have something you'd like to share, go for it. If you just want to be including in the drawing, that's cool too!

Helen