At Midnight

by Lainee Cole, Lynn Crandall, and Rena Koontz

Publication Date: December 4, 2017

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Anthology

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

Three talented authors. Three love stories. Three approaching deadlines.

Midnight Casanova by Lainee Cole Stranded at midnight by a broken-down car, dog trainer Maddie Lockhart finds refuge in a deserted farmhouse. When the owner of the house, Chance Marlow, tries to oust her, Maddie uses the stray mutt he calls Casanova to convince him she can help with his collection of homeless animals. While their paths seem incompatible, working side-by-side to rescue animals, they discover otherwise.

Two Days Until Midnight by Lynn Crandall Time is running out for reclusive billionaire Tamier Rein to save himself from transforming into a cheetah, and bird-shifter Lark Ellis is his only hope for surviving past midnight.

Midnight Deadline for Love by Rena Koontz T.B. Amanscott is Harrison City’s wealthiest man and his kidnappers want one million dollars ransom by midnight or they will kill him. Every possible resource is available to Sergeant Ariana Jeanne Lozione, who is heading up the rescue attempt. There’s only one problem. A.J. wants him dead.

Midnight Casanove by Lainee Cole

Excerpt 1:

“Well, if it isn’t Sleeping Beauty.”

Maddie’s eyes flew open as the sarcastic tone of a deep drawl seeped into her consciousness. Ignoring her heart in her throat, she tried to focus on the sleep-blurred image of a tall man gazing down at her. Where had he come from?

He’d turned on the lights, temporarily blinding her, so she blinked a few times before she could see clearly. Waves of dark hair streaked with light blond strands curled slightly just above his shoulders, and a trim beard outlined his face. His hazel eyes, though. They snagged her and wouldn’t let go. Oddly, she didn’t feel afraid.

She lowered her lashes and looked him over from the ground up. He was dressed in jeans and a navy blue shirt with the sleeves scrunched to his elbows. Her gaze stalled on the dark hair peeking from his V-neck and she bit back a smile. Blinking again, she met his gaze. Maybe there was a prince after all, a farm prince.

He frowned and nodded toward her feet. “How’d you get him up there with you?”

She pushed the quilt down around her waist. No wonder she felt warm. A large dog was curled up on her feet, his hairy muzzle resting on her thigh. His brown eyes flickered between her and the man, but he didn’t move. Poor thing looked like a lost soul.

She’d been sleeping half-upright against the arm of the couch, so she eased herself up farther, managing not to dislodge her foot warmer in the process.

“I didn’t realize he was there.” She reached toward the dog. He sniffed before licking her fingers. “Who are you?”

He chuckled, shaking his head at the same time. The rich sound tickled her insides. “Don’t you think I should be asking that question, since you’ve been sleeping on my couch? Maybe I should call you Goldilocks,” he mused.

She decided to run with his humor. “I promise I haven’t eaten your porridge, and you didn’t have to kiss me to wake me up, so I’m hardly Sleeping Beauty.”

She slapped a hand over her mouth and opened her eyes wide. “I didn’t really say that.”

He grinned and his eyes twinkled. “You did. We can remedy that.” He took a step toward her.

Two Days Until Midnight by Lynn Crandall

Tamier closed his eyes, clinging to the sense of wonder and peace spreading through him, and trying to ignore his spontaneous impulses to reach for Lark. “I do know I don’t want this moment to end.” He stepped close to her, so close he felt her breath on his face. She didn’t move away, and he looped a lock of her hair behind her ear, sinking into the soft feel of it. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her lips, but he stood suspended in doubt nanomillimeters away.

“Tamier.” She stared at his mouth. “You don’t know everything about me.”

He pulled his eyes from her lips and looked into her eyes. “I don’t expect I do.”

“There are things I want to tell you, but I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be. If there are things I need to know, you’ll tell me or they will come up.” He nuzzled the soft spot under her ear and into her neck, all of his senses exploding with sensations.

“Tamier,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Remember later that I warned you.”

He closed his eyes and took her face between his hands. “Okay.”

Midnight Deadline for Love by Rena Koontz

Excerpt 1

The screen went black again. The captain’s barrel chest rose and fell with the deep breath he took. “Want to watch it again?”

Why was he showing this to her? He had a team of detectives and a missing person’s bureau to work this case. She shook her head.

“The mayor wants you to head up this rescue, A.J. You have every resource in the city available to you.” He touched his fingertips to his chest. “Including me.”

Cue the breakfast bar mutiny. A.J. dropped into the proffered chair. She wasn’t the one to handle a case of this magnitude. She’d only sewn on her sergeant’s stripes three months ago, climbing the ladder ahead of a handful of veteran cops who resented her for it. They couldn’t ask her to save Tobias Benjamin Amanscott. She wanted him dead.

About the Authors

Lainee Cole

Lainee Cole’s love affair with books began when she was young. By the time she was in seventh grade, Lainee was making up her own stories and poems, exploring various styles of writing. Reading voraciously and exploring different types of writing led her to romances. She loves the challenge of writing romance, developing characters and figuring out what makes them tick. They often take on a life of their own, surprising and annoying her. But they also give her hope and inspire her to follow her dreams. Lainee strives to write stories that will make readers laugh and cry, give them hope, and encourage them to believe in the power of love.

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Lynn Crandall

Lynn Crandall started spinning stories as a child when she tried to entertain her younger sister at night when they were supposed to be going to sleep. In the dark, her stories typically took on a scary or paranormal element — didn’t do much to put her and her sister to sleep. Today, she hopes here stories still fail to put readers to sleep, but rather take them on a journey. That’s what she’s been on since she decided to make writing her focus. As a reporter and magazine feature writer, she truly enjoys learning as she works on stories. As a romance writer, she enjoys following an evolving story of her characters. She loves to tell stories about characters who don’t back down and use their challenges to grow.

Rena Koontz

I’m a lifelong journalist and an award-winning author. My writing career has taken me into the sports arena, politics, feature writing, editorial writing, and, my favorite, cops and courts. I’ve chased fire trucks and police cars, covered all sorts of crimes, including murders, and reported criminal, civil, high profile and ordinary trials. And that’s what I write about. In my books, cops are the good guys and the good guys always win. I’m a Pittsburgh native and an avid sports fan. I work Pittsburgh connections into all of my stories and my characters often wear black and gold or reference the city’s outstanding sports teams — the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. My books are based on real incidents. Plus, I’m married to a retired FBI agent whose stellar career fuels my ideas and whose technical advice is invaluable. He also takes credit for the steamy scenes!

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