B - Beth Kennedy + 3 Excerpts

Beth Kennedy is the heroine of the Disaster Crimes series (Hurricane Crimes and soon-to-be published Seismic Crimes). She is smart, tough, and romantic; what every good heroine should be.

Character Profile:

Name – Bethany Grace Kennedy

Occupation – Self-Defense Instructor

Location – Central Florida

Doppelganger – Kate Beckinsale

Love Interest – Donovan Goldwyn

Likes – Canoeing, boxing, writing poetry, poker, the beach

Dislikes – Snakes, hurricanes, cheating ex-fiancés, car troubles

Here are some special never-before-shared teasers from Seismic Crimes to illustrate just how smart, tough and romantic Beth really is.

Smart Teaser:

“Chewy, one of the cops…” She stopped suddenly, her face burning as she looked at the four officers in front of her. What if one of them is in league with Chewy? What if they all are? They could kill me and then kill Donovan.

“It’s okay, Ms. Kennedy,” Officer Burnett said. “Please go on.” His gentle smile and sincere, brown eyes calmed her, and she found the courage to tell the truth.

“Chewy was in the house when Donovan went in to retrieve the footage. I heard a gunshot, and I got out of the canoe to help him.”

“And all you had was a shovel?”

“That’s right.” Beth explained how she saw Chewy hit Donovan and hold him under the water in Ryan’s living room. “I hit Chewy in the back with the shovel so he’d release Donovan. He fired a shot at me and told me to drop the shovel. I did and that was when I stepped on another gun under the water. It’s in the canoe outside. I’m sure if you checked it, you’d find it’s registered to Chewy.”

“We’ll check,” Burnett reassured her.

“I told Chewy I had Ryan’s journal in the canoe because I knew he wouldn’t want any evidence out there for someone to use against him. Chewy held the gun to Donovan’s head and told me to back out of the house. I dragged the gun under my shoe down the driveway to the canoe and slowly reached inside. I brought out a journal, but it wasn’t Ryan’s. It was mine. When I saw Ryan’s journal was identical to the one I wrote poetry in, I thought we could replace Ryan’s with it. Before Chewy could take my journal, though, I threw it. He went after it, and I went for the gun. When I came back up out of the water, Chewy had his gun pointed at me. I fired before I could even think. The bullet hit him in the head.”

Tough Teaser:

“Empty out your pockets. Now!”

“All right.” She slowly dipped her hands into her pockets and pulled them inside out to show she didn’t even have a gum wrapper. Lint occupied the deepest recesses of the cotton squares. “See,” she said, forcing calm. “I don’t have any money. Now let me go.”

“Turn around.”

“What?”

“I said, turn around. I want to see your back pockets.”

Beth glared at him as annoyance washed over her. I don’t have time for this. I have to get back to Donovan. She grabbed his wrist, stepped around him, and wrenched his arm behind his back, forcing his hand toward his head while twisting his wrist at an awkward angle. He let out a growl and released the blade. It clattered to the asphalt at her feet. She didn’t waste a second to peer down at it. She kicked the back of his knee with the side of her foot as hard as she could. He crumbled and she let him fall. When he was on the ground, she gathered a fistful of his dark hair and slammed his forehead into the ground, knocking him unconscious. Then she launched into an all-out sprint.

Romantic Teaser:

She helped him back into bed and even stretched out beside him. Her fingers stroked his temple and combed through his hair. It wasn’t long before his breathing became deep with sleep.

Mid-day, she peeled the gauze off his burn to clean it and reapply salve. Removing tape from skin and hair—not to mention from an irritated wound—always hurt, so she barred her teeth and lifted the strips centimeter-by-centimeter. Donovan’s eyelids fluttered open when she was half-way through the task. Her fingers stilled.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Your burn needs to be cleaned.”

He made a soft humming sound from deep in his throat before his lids lowered, curtaining his worn-out eyes. Stroking his brow, she murmured endearments to him even though she figured her words wouldn’t have enough power to penetrate his subconscious. Regardless, she hoped he could hear them in his dreams.

To read more of these scenes, pre-order Seismic Crimes on Amazon.

QUESTION: Which teaser did you like more? The smart teaser, tough teaser, or romantic teaser?