THE DAY BEFORE...

What do you think an author does the day before a release? Chill the champagne? Make sure there are still chocolate bonbons in the freezer? Check to be sure the fireworks are ready for the big day? Or perhaps light candles around the whirlpool tub for a nice, relaxing soak.

That sounds really nice. I think I've been doing this release celebration thing wrong. Hmm…

Since I do most of my own promotion, I'm going through my promotion To Do list. Double-checking paid ads to be sure they have been placed. Scrambling to finish my own tasks. Rearranging things I simply don't have time to do right now and strategizing how I can use them for later promotion. 

Knowing there's something I've forgotten that will surely occur to me in the middle of the night. 

However, amid all this preparation, I want to take time to celebrate the story. I want to remember why I love the characters in my Halo Legacy Series. I want to reread their stories that unfolded as I wrote. Sometimes I struggled to hear their voices and other times they talked so quickly I could hardly keep up. However, they always surprised and intrigued me. I've spent more time with my legendary O'Shea family these past few years than with my real life family, and I think I know them better. Because there are pieces of me in each of these characters as well as traits I don't have much of, but admire. 

I am very grateful for the kind words of readers as these books have been released, and I hope many more people choose to enjoy these stories. Now, I'm going to offer you an excerpt from LEGACY REBORN, which will be released July 1.

***EXCERPT***

After dinner with an effusively charming Portia who clearly intended to impress the board members, CJ and Phoenix returned to their room. 

"Ahh..." CJ landed spread-eagled on the muted gold of the duvet. "Come try this out. Like lying on a cloud." 

Phoenix stared at CJ lying on the bed and mentally loosened his tie, stripped off his shirt, unzipped his pants--"I'm sure the other bed is just as comfortable." 

"Suit yourself." CJ stripped down to his boxer shorts and crawled under the blanket. 

Soon Phoenix heard his rhythmic breathing, while she lay staring at the swirls of plaster on the ceiling. Warm shades of gold and cream bathed the entire room with comforting ambience. If the room itself wasn't relaxing enough, the soothing ebb and flow of the ocean lay a short distance from the doors leading onto a tiled patio. 

Instead of giving in, Phoenix fought the tropical magic. What if someone else was able to enter through the locked doors? What if CJ decided to visit her bed during the night? They were pretending to be married and the man was sexy as sin. Any normal woman would laugh at her for refusing him. Hell, any sane woman would think she was crazy for sleeping in a separate bed. 

However, she had made a vow not to allow herself pleasure while other women were being abused. Was she throwing away her life for a cause that wasn't attainable? Sure, there were abused women who changed their lives for the better. But so many stayed in the same gutter no matter how many chances they had to live a different way. 

What were domestic violence experts missing that would help break the cycle of violence? Did someone have to die before a victim would step into their power and move out of their situation? 

Are you afraid you'll go back or afraid to move forward? Mitch had asked. 

Or perhaps just afraid, Phoenix thought. If anyone knew guilt and the difficulty of moving forward after Charlene died, Mitch would. As a bodyguard and her husband, he felt he should have been able to save her. And Phoenix felt the guilt of making the phone call that led to Charlene's death. 

Exhaustion finally claimed her a short time before dawn. She had barely fallen asleep when she heard the snick of the patio door. Instantly she awoke, heart pounding. Another intruder? 

Cautiously, she peeked out from under the blanket. No bump in the other bed and no one else in the room. Where was CJ? 

She pushed aside the cover and walked to the glass doors facing the beach. A look outside brought his sleekly muscled body into view. He waded into the surf out to waist depth, then dove into the waters. 

Her heart took a dive also as Phoenix realized she was doomed. Her body and her neglected libido were teaming up to overcome her resistance. 

She watched CJ dive and swim and play in the water as sleek as a sea god, intending to move away from the doors and recover her aloof manner before he caught her staring. 

However, the sight of him emerging from the waves and shaking back his hair as water sluiced down the muscled ridges of his body left her mouth gaping and her knees weak. 

By the time the survivalist part of her brain surfaced from the fog of desire, CJ was turning the door handle. 

"Is everything okay?" CJ stepped inside. 

Phoenix drew in a deep breath. Of man and sea and desire. 

His fingertips traced a path along her jaw before he cupped her face in both hands and settled his mouth against hers. 

(EXCERPT copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel.)