Trust in Me is a Golden Heart-finaling, multiple contest-winning contemporary romance novel.

Widowed, single mother Natalia Jimenez flees Tampa, Florida, determined to leave her past and her power-hungry, controlling in-laws behind. Halfway to DC, she forgoes her plan to get lost in the big city, hedging her bets that no one will think to look for her in small town South Carolina. Bent on keeping her five-year old son safe, she'll do whatever she has to in order to protect her family. What she didn't count on is the sexy town police chief deciding to do the same. Jackson Roberts is certain his parents are too kind for their own good. When they take in a secretive newcomer and her son, Jackson decides to find out for himself if she's on the up and up, so he offers her the apartment above his garage. Neither of them anticipated on the attraction they find hard to deny, and when Jackson's daughter must come live with him, Natalia and Jackson find themselves relying on each other for parental support, adult conversation, and soon, heated kisses in the dark.

Click here to read the opening pages of Trust in Me.

 

Cradle of Love is a Golden Heart-finaling, multiple contest- winning contemporary romance novel. It is a reunion story about two former high school sweethearts, torn apart by insecurities, family, cultural pressures and the loss of their unborn child.

Years ago, Raquel Sanchez fled her home town of Bueno, Texas, with a shattered heart, convinced her marriage couldn't survive the death of her unborn child. Three years later her father's death has forced her to return. Time, distance and maturity have strengthened her resolve to face the mistakes of her the past and her community's disdain over her actions. Tony Sanchez has stayed the course, helping with the family business, maintaining his "older son" responsibilities, even taking care of the in-laws his wayward wife left behind. Now that Raquel is back, Tony is intent on making her face the consequences of her decision to leave him with nothing more than a Dear John letter on their bed. But despite the pain and disillusion both have felt, their love defies all odds, compelling them to look within themselves and each other to find love, forgiveness and a way to move forward, together.

Click here to read the opening pages of Cradle of Love.

Dance into My Heart is my current work in progress, aka WIP. So far it was a finalist in the 2010 Gateway to the Best contest organized by the Missouri Romance Writers (www.morwa.org) .

This manuscript features Yazmine Fernandez, a professional dancer who put her Broadway goals aside to come home and care for her father when he was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago. Yaz is going through an identity crisis—fighting the need to succeed in a career her parents sacrificed much for her to pursue, yet one in which she's uncertain she belongs. Enter Tomás Garcia, a single father on the fast track to VP in a large Chicago advertising firm. Jaded by a broken marriage, Tomás is intent on providing his daughter with a stable, loving home life like the one he grew up in, but without the financial insecurity and stigma he experienced.

Tomás is searching for the American suburban dream—job and financial security, comfortable home and neighborhoods, simple family life style. Yazmine is convinced her future must contain bright lights and big city. When circumstances beyond their control push these two together, they find out that life and love aren't always predictable.

Despite their stubbornness at denying their attraction, Yazmine and Tomás discover that their supposedly different paths in life are ultimately connected and intertwined by their love and respect for each other.

For now, there isn't a link to the opening pages of Dance. I'm keeping the opening to myself, my agent, any contest judges to whom I submit, and the publisher who will hopefully buy it soon. So, no opening pages for Dance on my website. But hopefully, some day soon you'll be able to buy the book in print on a bookshelf near you.