Authorpreneur Dashboard – Jen Talty
In Two Weeks
Romance
Ryan O'Conner has the world at her fingertips. She's strong, feisty and has everything she's ever wanted, except the right man. Jared Blake represents everything Ryan doesn't want. He's controlling, overbearing and now he's moving. Having had a crush on him for years, Ryan decides to seduce Jared. A goodbye thing. However, her plans change when someone starts stalking her. With her life on the line, she turns to Jared for protection and finds the not so perfect man is the perfect man for her. Restless and bored, NY State Trooper Jared Blake accepts a transfer from his position in Lake George, NY. Jared craves the rush of adrenaline and his current post is too tame. As soon as he moves, his career will take off, but his plans are put on hold when a friend is threatened by a stalker. Jared has exactly two weeks to find out who is behind these treats. And in two weeks, Jared will lose is heart forever...
Book Bubbles from In Two Weeks
Love Conquers All
Jared thinks Ryan is safe. The bad guy taken care of. So off to Rochester he goes, except he realizes he loves Ryan, so he comes back...but he comes back to Ryan still being in danger. Can he get to her in time not only to save her? But to tell her how much he loves her?
Blending romance and suspense
Jared and Ryan have a routine about the way they interact and it is hard for both of them to change the way they see each other. Easier for Ryan, not so much for Jared. This scene shows that Jared actually is beginning to see her differently, but he's not ready to do anything about it. He actually believes she'll always be just his friend. One of the things I love to do when I write is write about couples who have a lot of history. It helps add tension, especially to scenes where someone is in danger. There are a lot of strong emotions coming from Ryan, that she's trying to ignore. She's trying to "wash that man right out of her hair" by having "one night". When you add the stalker, it heightens everyone's emotions and draws Jared even closer.
History and Suspense
This is from the first scene in the book. It shows the past history between Ryan and Jared and how things have changed. Jared feels protective of Ryan and struggles with his current "attraction" to someone he's know as his best friends kid sister his whole life. But now that her life is being threatened, things change very quickly.
Changing from friends to more
One thing I've always loved are relationships that are based on friendships. The question I always ask is how did they transition from friends from something more...and why? Who noticed who first? What was the trigger? With Jared and Ryan, Ryan has always had a crush and all she's trying to do is get him out of her system and let him go. He isn't so sure about why his feelings are changing, but he chalks it up to his move and the fact that she's being stalked. One fun thing I had with these two were the little mishaps like in this scene which is sort of replayed at the end.
Dark Water
Romance
Lacy DeGeorgio never imagined she'd have to be responsible for anyone but herself. She's strong, stubborn and fiercely independent. She needs no one. She's a woman determined to do things her way, on her own. But when a freak boating accident takes her sister Hannah's life, Lacy finds herself not only back in her hometown of Lake George, New York, but in a custody battle for her eleven-year-old nephew, Andy. Just when things couldn't get any worse, pesky State Trooper Frank Harmon starts showing up, tearing down all her defenses, making her want things she's never wanted before. She'll trust him with her nephew, but can she trust him with her heart? New York State Trooper Frank Harmon is a man of honor and duty. He's always done things by the book, believing the law always works in favor of those who uphold it. Until the day he took a domestic disturbance call at the DeGeorgio trailer, and even though he knew something bad was about to happen, he had to walk away. Two days later, he pulled Hannah DeGeorgio's body from the icy cold waters of Lake George, changing his life forever. He sets out to make sure Hannah's killer is brought to justice and in the process makes a home for a family he thought he never wanted.
Book Bubbles from Dark Water
Could Marriage Solve the Problems
Lacy doesn't have the money or the respectability her ex-brother-in-law has and she's fearful she will lose custody of her nephew. The worst part, Andy's father is the one who killed Hannah and she knows it, but she can't prove it and neither can Frank. Frank decides them getting married will make sure Lacy gets custody...it's the least he could do since he couldn't save Hannah...except love just might get in the way.
Andy has a secret
While Frank is keeping a secret from Lacy...Andy is keeping a bigger secret...one that could potentially save them...or it could destroy them all.
Little White Lies
There is this underlying theme in most of my books about secrets. Everyone has one. Frank's secret is he feels responsible for Lacy's sister's death. That if he had acted differently in a domestic call, Hannah would still be alive. He also believes that Hannah's killer will kill again and that Lacy and her nephew are high up on that list. Lacy Blames the police officer who didn't arrest her brother in law when he was beating her sister. Lacy doesn't know that police officer is Frank. She also doesn't know that Frank was the one who pulled Hannah's body from the Dark Water of Lake George. So when Andy tells a little white lie...
Sensitive Hunky Frank
After In Two Weeks was released I received fan mail asking when Frank's story was going to come out. I hadn't really thought too much about it, except Frank was a cute, young rookie and he added some lightness to the hero, Jared from In Two Weeks. The more fan mail I got, the more I realized Frank needed his own story...enter Lacy.
Jane Doe's Return
Romance
Imagine spending your entire career looking for the one person you believe will unlock the mystery of who killed your sister only to find her the most unlikely place; in your office, as your new partner. Special Agent Travis Brown has set his life up so he can have access to information that will lead him to the one woman he believes can tell him who killed his sister. But he’s not prepared for the drive and determination of his new partner; Special Agent Shauna Morgan. Her instincts are sharp and her beauty undeniable. His attraction to her is as strong as his need to find his sister’s killer. But Shauna has a secret. A secret that will ultimately put his heart on the line, along with her life. Jane Doe’s Return is a contemporary romantic suspense set between the city streets of Albany, New York and the scenic beauty of Lake George where I lived for many years. It is a tale of one woman who believes the only way to move beyond her past, is to shut the door on it, and the man who breaks it down. Jane Doe's Return is the recipient of The Molly and The Beacon Romance Writing Contests.
Book Bubbles from Jane Doe's Return
The Truth Always Comes Out
Shauna and Travis are in deep, both in the case and in each other. But Travis also knows who Shauna really is. He doesn't want to know. He doesn't want to admit that maybe he knew all along. He also needs her to admit it to him. Travis value honesty more than anything and the woman he loves isn't being honest. And she's being hunted, again, by a killer.
Bedroom Secrets
Things start to heat up between Travis and Shauna, but Shauna still hasn't told him the truth about who she is... This scene is where she realizes how important finding his sister's killer his, and she also realizes she can't tell him. Not yet. He won't understand, and she won't be taken off this case...even if the killer knows she there.
Family and Secrets
Travis is very connected to his family. Tragedy could have pulled them a part, but it has made the entire family closer. They all have very strong personalities, but they respect each other, as seen in this short excerpt. Travis has been looking for one woman his whole life. The one woman who survived the wrath of a serial rapist and killer. This woman, he believes, can unlock the mystery of who really killed his sister. What he doesn't know is his new partner is that woman. Shauna knows Travis is looking for her, but she's not willing to give up her secret to him, not yet. Not even when she comes face to face with Travis's family. Professionally, Shauna and Travis are looking for a killer. Personally, they are falling in love...but will Shauna's secret tear them a part?
Knicknames
Travis was a fun character write, in part because he is so different from my other male characters. I didn't want him to be a "typical" FBI agent, so I gave him some unique qualities, like he's the best cook ever. I also gave him a very unique family dynamic as he's the youngest boy, and built a little differently from his brothers. Where his brother's were on the Football team, Travis was on the Gymnastics team and he got teased a little in HS and everyone called him Travina. The knickname actually came from my brother because he had such long hair we called him Jeffrina.
The excerpt that was featured in the Beacon Contes
I submitted this novel to a couple of writing contests. It won The Molly and The Beacon contests, both pretty well known contests in the Romance Writing world. It came in first place in both contests. I was unable to go to the conferences to receive my award, but was tickled when the people from The Beacon contest sent me back the program with this excerpt featured. I love this excerpt because it really is my view of flying!
Rekindled
Romance
"Talty knows how to twist romance and mystery to make an excellent read" Long and Short Reviews For the last nine years, Kaylee Mead has been running from her past. Now she's running for her life. Her only chance at survival is to return home and patch things up with her father. When she returns to her home in Thief Lake, Minnesota, she finds her father dead and herself becoming the cop's best suspect for his murder. Assistant Police Chief Blaine Walker has been trying to put his ex-wife out of his mind for years, but when he finds her hovered over her father's body, he knows that battle is lost. She becomes his only suspect in a case that doesn't make sense. He vows to find the answers and then hopefully rekindle the flame that has never quite died out in his heart.
Book Bubbles from Rekindled
Building Tension and Suspense
I love writing a good reunion story, especially when I'm able to build current problems on top of two characters' past complications. When there is history between two characters, I get to play around with what they know about each other as well as what they don't. It makes for some fun writing! In the case of Kaylee and Blaine, not only do the sparks fly, but so do the secrets! Blaine is starting to uncover things about Kaylee, and beginning to understand why she's keeping them from him. He'll be damned if she's going to run out on him again, though. For her part, Kaylee is still living in the past, believing that Blaine never loved her. As her current problem comes crashing down on her, she starts to realize she need might need someone...and that someone might as well be her ex-husband.
Building Tension and Suspense
As the sparks fly between Kaylee and Blaine, so do the secrets. Blaine is starting to uncover all of Kaylee's and he's also understanding why she's keeping things from him, but he'll be damned if she's going to run out on him, again. Kaylee is still living in the past, believing that Blaine never loved her, but as her current problem comes crashing down on her, she starts to realize she needs someone and that someone might as well be her ex-husband. I love this part of a reunion story. Building current problems off of the past complications. There is so much history between these characters that i some ways, they know too much about each other, and in other ways, they don't know enough. It makes for some fun writing!
More Secrets, More Complications
Just like in the past, the people around Kaylee and Blaine are keeping secrets. Secrets that tore many lives a part. And now those secrets could put Kaylee behind bars for a crime she didn't commit. But that isn't Kaylee's only problem. She has her own secrets. And the secret she's keeping could destroy them all.
Mystery begins to Unravel
Rekindled is a Reunion story between two young lovers who were torn apart by tragedy and other people's inability to accept reality. They are brought together by murder. But it's not only the mystery of who killed Kaylee's father. There is the mystery of who is Kaylee's biological father? And why has it been covered up for so many years? This scene lays the foundation for why all of this is happening now and Kaylee must learn to trust the one man she ran from 10 years ago..the only man she's ever loved. The man she hurt the most. The question is, will he ever be able to forgive her.
Reunion
Imagine being called to a possible crime scene only to find your ex-wife hovered of her father's dead body? That's exactly what happens to Blane Walker, local cop. When he's called to his ex-father-in-law's house because of possible gun shots he's totally unprepared to see his ex-wife, a women he has not seen in ten years and now she's his best suspect in a murder that doesn't make sense.
