Good Morning, Joanne C. Berroa

Joanne C. Berroa dropped by Sports Romance to promoter her latest book, The Diamond Cross.

Here's the info about her book:

BLURB:

THE DIAMOND CROSS

The Diamond Cross is a sweeping historical romance/saga that exemplifies love, hope, fortitude and personal triumph in a spectacular, hedonistic era. Siblings János and Eva Imre emigrate from Budapest to New York in 1873 in pursuit of elusive Bart Karolyi, a wolf in sheep’s clothing who has stolen Eva’s heart, her virginity and the entire Imre family’s savings. János and pregnant Eva face incredible odds after being processed through Castle Garden--the gateway to America. Will the family heirloom, a fabulously stunning diamond cross, help sustain them and guarantee a future for Eva’s bastard child? Or will it prove to be their undoing? Can Janós rise above adversity to gain revenge on the man who destroyed the simplicity and sanity of their lives?

Even in the midst of personal chaos, hope shines through as Janós and his son Brenton discover the presence of a striking thirteen year old girl in the lobby of their hotel in Saratoga Springs. Who is this young beauty and why was she abandoned upon their doorstep? Does she have the power to rearrange their lives, to forever imprint herself upon them? Heather Hatfield captures the hearts of the Imre men folk, maturing into a breathtaking young woman with a keen business sense. Neither János nor Brenton can get enough of her. But whose heart does she hold dear? Can she love both father and son equally? Is her presence in their lives a good thing, or will it destroy them?

EXCERPT:

Heather sang while bathing later that morning. She was still singing when she appeared in the lobby dressed in lilac and smelling of it, too. János spent the night in his office and looked weary, but she didn’t notice as she danced around the lobby, greeting the guests with a cheerful, “Good morning. Nice day, isn’t it?”

She was on her way to see Artemus when she heard Brenton’s voice coming from a room next to János’ office. It was a smaller office and Brenton was using it as his own until a larger one could be outfitted for his needs. Heather knocked once. Without waiting, she opened the door. What she saw curdled her blood. Veronica Farmingdale and Brenton sat face to face across a wide table and there were what looked like wedding invitations strewn upon it. Veronica had just addressed a white parchment envelope when Heather barged in.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Veronica said.

Brenton looked like Veronica’s cat had gotten the best of him as he said, “Hello, Heather.”

“Hello?” Heather mouthed in astonishment. “What’s going on here, Brenton?”

“We’re writing wedding invites,” Veronica said snottily. “I don’t believe I saw your name on our list.”

Heather grimaced. “Brenton, may I see you alone for a moment?”

Brenton’s brows furrowed, but he stood and followed her into the hallway. She led him inside the now empty dining room and stood looking at him for a long moment. When he said nothing, she tapped the toe of her shoe on the floor and said, “I believe an explanation’s in order.”

“Veronica picked our wedding date. It’ll be just before Christmas. We were just…”

“Addressing the invitations. I know. Brenton, after last night…”

“Last night was special, but it doesn’t change anything,” he said softly. “I’m still marrying Veronica.”

Heather’s heart went limp and she fought back tears of hurt and outrage. “How can you say that? How can you do that? You told me you loved me, Brenton.”

“I do,” he said sadly. “But Veronica’s good marriage material. I need to marry into money the way my father did. A match between Veronica and myself would cement our families and be a good investment for the Meredith Arms. With my education and her money, we could build this hotel into a palace and her father could help us secure even more properties.”

“That’s it?” she said incredulously. “A business investment? She’s marriage material and I’m not?” Heather felt herself fill with rage.

“We can still be friends,” he said. “We’ll see each other every day and…”

Heather slapped him, a swift palm slap to the side of his mouth which resounded in the otherwise quiet room and bounced off the walls. “You’re a bastard,” she shouted. “Go to hell.” She turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.

****

Joanne C. Berroa is the author of “My Life, My Heart”, “On Angels’ Wings”, and “Love’s Sweet Vengeance.” All are available on Amazon in print and eBook formats, and eBook on Barnes & Noble.com.

Buy links: Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sabc?url=search-alias%3Daps&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1382890249306#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joanne%20c.%20berroa&sprefix=joann%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ajoanne%20c.%20berroa   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/joanne-c-berroa?store=allproducts&keyword=joanne+c.+berroa

CELEBRATING HOLIDAYS, CAJUN-STYLED!

October 31 officially starts the three-month run of my favorite holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
With that in mind, my Cajun Heat series at Red Rose Publishing proudly reflects those holidays. I'm one of those who maintains the holiday spirit a little while longer.
I'll be having a contest in the near future to celebrate my Cajun Heat series. The lucky winner will receive a book of my choosing.

A Top five landing

I've been on a roll lately.

Last week, I introduced my 13 E-books that made the best-selling list at Red Rose Publishing.

Today, I'll showcase my eight E-books that found its way into the Top five.

Picking Cotton, How to Cure A Cajun Cold, Catching A Cuban Curveball, Curling Up, Back in Love Again, Listen to your heart, A Christmas Reunion and Christmas Blues all made the top five of RRP's prestigous hot seller list.

Picking Cotton peaked out at No. 2 in 2009 and remains my highest rated ebook ever.


I have a unique way to measure my success as a best-seller E-Book author.

Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the 1970's and 1980's, I rooted for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and watched professional wrestling on weekends.

Another thing that occupied my time was listening to Casey Kasem's American's Top 40 and R&B Top 20 countdown. The weekly music charts came to mind when I began to compile my impressive list of best-sellers.

In my eyes, Red Rose's best-selling list is equal to the R&B charts. The Soul charts was created in 1942 with the purpose of giving African-American artists their own spotlight, for those who didn't make the Popular brand.

Hey, Grammys and American Music Awards are given annually to top R&B groups and artists.

Some of my favorite artists- Ready for the World, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Starpoint- never won awards, but that didn't stop them from being legendary.

My ultimate dream is like every author-- making the New York Times' Best-seller list. That's the Pop charts and would be cool to reach!

Bookstrand.com and AllRomanceebooks.com are also impressive lists to make.

At ARE, I became a crossover author and one-hit wonder. Classified Love, formerly at Rebel Ink Press, was ranked seventh on it's best seller list.

Five years ago, I only wanted to get published. I recall pimping Picking Cotton on Gracen Miller's blogsite. Today. I want to make sales and have numerous best-sellers.

Until next time.....

Reaching The Top 10

It's been awhile since my last appearance.

During the time away, I've managed to place three books onto the Top 10 best seller list at Red Rose Publishing.
The Sweetest love became my 13th book to make the best seller list at Red Rose.

Other books to make the best-seller list at Red Rose: Picking Cotton, How to Cure a Cajun Cold,  A Taste of Italy, Catching a Cuban Curveball, Curling Up, Back in Love Again, Listen to your heart, Christmas Blues, A Christmas Reunion, Starting Over, End of the Rainbow and Cotton Patch.

A Christmas Reunion, Christmas Blues and Cotton Patch all had the distinction of making the Top 10 twice.

Next weekend, I'll have a discussion about my books that cracked the Top five.

To those who bought my books, thank you for your support. I'll continue to write exciting Sports Romance stories.

WELCOME.... KHARISMA RHAYNE

Author Kharisma Rhayne dropped by to promote her Bound by Seduction Anthology.

From Kharisma: We’re at day 3 of the Bound tour. YAY! I absolutely love hearing form everyone during these tours and have a blast with the extra interaction and chatting I get to do. Today, since you met Jared & Bekka yesterday, I thought I’d share a little excerpt of their part of the anthology.


I felt strange. Was it excitement? Fear? Embarrassment?

"Take off your shirt, Bekka." His calming voice convinced me to do it.

Damn, does he ever blink?

"Now your bra, babe. No. Don't turn your back to me. I want to see you. Can you remember the word Eeyore?" Again, more slowly this time because my nerves had me almost visibly shaking, I listened and removed my bra.

The room was cool, but not cold.

Jared looked hungry and I would be the first meal he'd seen in three months. My nipples were so hard.

"Lay on the bed on your stomach. Put both arms over your head and cross them at your wrists."

I hesitated, but listened. No sooner had I done as asked and Jared was over me. His shirt off, jeans still on. He had one hand on the side of my ass, the other holding my wrists together above my head.

"Just relax, baby. You said you wanted to give this a try. You'll be fine. And it'll be great. I promise. Sometimes you just have to think outside of the box," Jared told me. He could tell I was tense. Tense, but so willing. We'd hardly done anything yet, but I could feel my wetness soaking through my panties.

He smacked my ass with his hand. I gasped, maybe because I wasn’t expecting it. It did sting a little, but oddly enough, I'd swear that smack directly tied to my crotch because I began to tingle there.

Jared grabbed a scarf from the bedside table and tied it around my wrists, not too tight, but definitely tight enough that I wasn't wiggling free.

"What's the stop word, babe? You remember it?"

In a voice that barely sounded like my own, I managed to say Eeyore. Funny, I know. But he insisted that we had to choose something we'd never say during sex. Even if I begged for things to stop but still secretly enjoying it and wanting to continue, we would keep going unless I said Eeyore.

I was dying for him to touch me. As if he heard me, he reached around, placed his hands on my breasts, lifted me slightly from the bed, and began playing with my nipples between his fingers.

He laid me back down on the bed and took one of his knees that had been on the outside of my legs and used it to part mine. He then placed the other one there, too.

"Lift your right leg up so it's at your side and bent at the knee." Jesus, he was opening me up. Thank God I still had my jeans on.

He took a few fingers and tapped, yes tapped me, between my legs. He proceeded to lightly, almost not even touching; brush his fingertips against my crotch. He was going to drive me nuts. I needed a firm touch. Better yet, I was more than ready for him to just take me.

"Tell me what you want, Bekka."

"What?"

"Tell me what you want me to do to you. What do you need?"
Here's the Blurbs to each books:

PART 1: JARED & BEKKA


Jared and Bekka, two people with a huge conflict. He's FBI, she's the prosecuting attorney. Him in his high class suits with attitude to match, her with an uptight personality and a virgin to boot. Watch the sparks fly from the office to the bedroom as these two go head to head and flesh to flesh.


PART 2: JARVICK & ARABELLE

Arabelle finds herself at the gym on a Friday night and ends up working on more than her cardio with oh so hot stranger, Jarvick when he guides her to his truck for some cuffed experimentation. Just how well will these two fit together?


PART 3 MYKAL & KRISTYNA

The third installment in the Bound by Seduction series finds that Mykal has admired Kristyna for quite some time. He knows there are dangers with bringing her into his world. After a time, he decides to try to become friends, leading them right into relationship territory and landing them right into his bed. But what price will she pay to be his forever?


PART 4: SHANE & KASEY

Shane has a special surprise for Kasey on their date. He's been out of town for a while and wants to show her how much he's missed her and push their boundaries.

Kasey is surprised when she opens her door and sees a dozen roses outside. She's even more surprised to see that they're bound together with rope. The note attached to it has her anticipation rising.

Will Shane's planned evening go off without a hitch? Or will the tables get turned?


PART 5: JACOB & ISA

Jacob liked Isa, maybe even loved her, but if she couldn’t accept everything, it was time for them to both move on. Would she accept what he was about to tell her?
Buy Links: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-boundbyseductionthefirstanthology-1148424-144.html;

 http://www.amazon.com/Bound-Seduction-First-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00C2BSNQS/ref=la_B005KMUSL4_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1364989603&sr=1-8 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bound-by-seduction-kharisma-rhayne/1114928048?ean=2940016248004
I’d love to hang out with everyone. You can find me at: www.kharismarhayne.com
www.kharismarhaynebooks.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/KharismaRhayne

To enter the tour wide giveaway, enter here: http://www.kharismarhayne.com/2013/04/bound-by-seduction-tour-wide-gveaway.html

Please be sure to stop in and visit all the blogs on this tour (also, there should be daily direct links posted) http://www.kharismarhayne.com/2013/03/full-april-1-20-for-bound-by-seduction.html

Magnet Giveaway Rafflecopter Widget:  a Rafflecopter giveaway rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Introducing.... Vivian Proud

For the first time, fellow Rebel Ink Press author Vivian Proud stops by the Sports Romance to promote her latest book, Anna and Don.

 Blurb:
       Anna and Don choose to have dinner together for Valentine’s Day on a lark given neither has a date and soon discover they have more in common as the sparks fly. This touching love story spans their travels to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco for a sizzling dinner and dessert; Sedona & Cave Creek, AZ, for spiritual vortexes and horseback riding; Las Vegas, NV, to live out one of Don’s life-long fantasies; Kona, HI for a trip to the Big Island Volcano; and Napa Valley, CA to visit wineries.
       Soon Anna and Don become ensconced in a courtship that breeds passion, lust, sex and love. Don struggles with expressing his love as he deals with the aftermath of a difficult divorce while Anna dives in headfirst. As their intimacy grows, so does their love for each other and each of them find a very special way of expressing that love. In the end, Don and Anna find they’ve grown into each other’s heart, body and soul.
 Excerpt:
       The sun was starting to set on a cool and vibrant February evening in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anna had a gorgeous view of the horizon from her sixth floor apartment. She sat on her window ledge, looking out at the sunset with a glass of wine in her hand, pondering the reason she didn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day. She and Jerry had broken up at the end of December. The holidays were made for lovers and they just languished through the celebrations. The break up was her choice because she knew in her heart he wasn’t “the one”. She was thirty-two years old, had a great career, but was still unwed. Most of her girlfriends had husbands and were starting families and she still hadn’t found the right man. She really wanted to find a man to love and start a family.
       Being alone on Valentine’s Day is just one notch below from being alone on New Year’s Eve, she thought.
At least she had a friend on New Year’s Eve to kiss. Donald Mitchell, one of her best friends. They had met at a software convention where she, as a software programmer, was demonstrating one of her company’s software products. Standing in front of the computer monitor, an audience gathered around her, and in the back of the crowd she spotted him. He was strikingly handsome, tall, and wore an Armani suit. She blushed in the middle of her demonstration as he stared at her with piercing eyes. After her dog and pony show, he came up to talk to her, and they agreed to have coffee on her break. To her dismay, they were both in a relationship so they decided on the consolation prize, a friendship. And in the years that followed, they became best friends and it was enough for her. Until New Year’s Eve.
       They both went stag to a party at the Fairmont, ringing in the New Year. After the champagne poured and it was midnight, Don grabbed her in the middle of the crowd and gave her a seductively wet kiss. Anna was almost shocked, not from the kiss, necessarily, but from the hot moistness she felt between her legs. She never felt that kind of arousal from a friend and it made her feel sexy, desired, controlled.
      Tonight Don and she had decided to have dinner together at her apartment since neither one of them had a date. She was a little curious about where it might lead and she was dying to find out. Don had been her rock during her break up with Jerry, keeping her spirits high and insisting her beauty and personality would attract the right man in no time. She had always wondered since that kiss on New Year’s Eve, if he meant himself. And tonight she was hoping it did.
Here's the purchase links: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-annaanddon-1062379-148.html;
http://www.bookstrand.com/anna-and-don
About Vivian: 

        Vivian Proud spent her 15-year career in Silicon Valley, CA writing technical and business proposals with her science degree. Always having a dream of moving to the mountains and writing a book, it never materialized until she moved to the rural Wild West. Living in the middle of nowhere in the Black Hills of Wyoming, she found the country lifestyle peaceful and uplifting and it spawned the creativity behind the writing of her first erotic romance: Anna and Don: Heart, Body and Soul. She is a wife, mother of one and lives on a small ranch in Wyoming with her husband, three dogs, two cats and five chickens.

Spending Valentine's Day weekend.... with Lila Munro

For those who make Valentine's Day into a multi-day event or extend into a weekend (like me), here's a holiday post from fellow Rebel Ink Press author Lila Munro.

The Magic of Valentine’s 365/Lila Munro

I was both thrilled and flattered that KT offered me the chance to blog here on Valentine’s Day. How special is that to be able to roll out a new release prior to its publication and on the national day of love at that?!

Long ago and far away I started my writing career as a contemporary romance author, took a left turn into Kinkyville, but still hang around the park late at night in Sensualtown and conjure up tales which don’t involve whips, chains, safe words, and leather clubs. Thus, A Slower, Lower Leap. It’s actually the third and final installment into the series which set me down the path to become a series writer. There will be a bit more on that further down. For now I wanted to address this Valentine’s thing for a few moments.

When people think of Valentine’s Day, they typically get visions of chocolates, roses, romantic dinners, champagne…spending all night with Barry White and the love of their life burning up the sheets. Most people probably even have a most memorable Valentine’s Day where the most spectacularly romantic thing happened to them ever! For me, that’s not been the case so much. You see, I’m a military wife. And as such I’ve spent the majority of my Valentine’s Days alone. Now, that’s not to say I’ve not been the recipient of all the booty associated with the day. I’ve had my fair share of roses, wine, chocolates, cards, letters…and tissues, more wine, more chocolates. In truth, no matter what comes to my door in the form of a delivery, because the man really does send the best gifts, it’s still sad to not be able to spend the Lover’s Holiday with my beloved marine. Don’t get sad for me just yet though. 

While most other people have a most memorable Valentine’s, I am in possession of countless most memorable homecomings and most romantic gestures given at random than probably any woman on the planet. (I like to think so anyway) Homecomings are always a huge ordeal in the military community…and the most likely bearers of tidings in the form of conceptions.  Any guesses as to how that happens…haha. But the most memorable and heartfelt things for me, is when my sweetie makes Valentine’s magic for me on random days for random reasons.

One thing which sticks out beyond compare happened during 2011. In February of that year he left for a one year tour to Afghanistan. At the buses I was told not to listen to a voicemail which would pop up on my phone after I left him. When I got home, it turned out the voicemail was a message for me from him. Instructions on where to find the most heartfelt gesture I’d ever received. My Marshfox had taken the time to write me 365 love letters and store them in a box prior to his deployment and they were dated as to when each should be opened. They ranged from true love notes, to poetry, to songs I should listen to that day…

So, I say to you…Valentine’s? Meh…It’s another day in my book because I get the magic 365…

 Thanks for spending a few of your realmantic moments with me today…And don’t forget to scroll down and enter to win signed copies of books one and two in my Slower Lower series.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c5869e2/
Here's more on her Feb. 17 release at RIP,:
A Slower, Lower Leap
Book 3, Slower Lower series
Purchase Links: Amazon, http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html,www.barnesandnoble.com
Blurb:
When you’re the last man standing…
Not only was Logan Delaney the last of his siblings to remain unmarried and unsettled, his entire family believed he’d never find a wife. The baby of eight, he’s been dubbed an irresponsible player and told he’ll never amount to a hill of beans. And at one time, Logan may have been okay with those descriptions, but no more. On a quest to prove his worth, he’s spent the entire summer learning the family business, staying in at night, and saving his money. And if his family would stop meddling in his affairs and trying to dictate who he should and shouldn’t be seeing, he might just show them he’s found the one, Lizzy Jenkins.
And have a bad reputation to blame…
Elizabeth Jenkins had always known Logan Delaney existed, but he’d never so much as turned one glance her way until she handed him his butt on a silver platter in three sentences or less over the phone. After that it seemed at every turn there he was and the more she resisted the heat building between them, the bigger the fire got. Until his family interfered. And why wouldn’t they? Between Logan’s legacy and her baggage, they were a disaster in the making.
Can you be trusted with a fragile heart?
But Logan doesn’t run when he finds out about Colby. In fact, he embraces Lizzy’s special needs son and defies the advice of everyone urging him to leave Lizzy alone. But after one moment of weakness, Logan finds himself knee deep in a marriage complete with the little boy whose father bailed before his birth and Lizzy’s grandfather, who needs constant care as well. Then there's the man who just might be the demise of it all.
Excerpt:
Lizzy watched Colby make yet one more circle around the living room with his arms spread and sighed in frustration. He was oblivious to the disruption he was causing which only added to her exacerbation with the situation. How could she possibly be angry with him when he didn’t grasp the concept of time or what it did to her nerves when his unscheduled moments of innocence hampered what should have been her scheduled life? And it surely wasn’t his fault he was the way he was or that he’d even been conceived at all for that matter. No, his conception was wholly her fault and she’d been paying for it for nearly six years. Alone.
But the truth was, no matter how many times she kicked herself for believing whispered promises in a back seat and guilt swamped her even though medical science would argue it was nothing she’d done to make him this way, Lizzy loved her little boy more than life itself. There were days, though.
Like today, she wanted to sit and cry until there were no more tears left then cry some more. Rarely was it, though, Lizzy had time for such frivolities as tears. What time wasn’t taken up with Colby’s care was spent at her job as the assistant officer manager at the farmer’s market, somewhere she had no intention of working a lifetime and which brought her to yet another responsibility on her list. School. When she wasn’t working or caregiving, Lizzy was an almost full-time student and watched the sun rise on a new day without sleep having studied all night more than once. In a word, she was not only exhausted physically, she was just plain tired. Never in her life would she have imagined being twenty-three and feeling so defeated.
What she wouldn’t give for one night of freedom. One night filled with beers and dancing. Maybe even some hot sweaty sex in the form of someone who would disappear the next day and not look back. Well, that and not leave her knocked up. Alone was fine, with another baby to tend to by herself, not so much.
Of course she had no idea how to go about this stranger for one night sex. The closest she came to any man was when they made deliveries to the market or they drove their grandfathers to the Senior Center for bingo and hung around waiting for the old farts to get tired of dotting cards and fighting the caller over what had come out as B-five but was mistook for B-nine because someone’s hearing aid battery was running low. And although they all knew her fairly well, they avoided her for the most part because of which grandfather she dropped off at bingo. Thank God none of them knew Michael Silcox was the one who’d left her high and dry with a special needs child, not exactly prime bait to fish with in the pond of hooking up. Her name associated with his would only add fuel to the stay away from Lizzy fire as his family owned most of Georgetown.
Bio:
Lila Munro currently resides on the coast of North Carolina with her husband and their two four-legged kids. She’s a military wife with an empty nest and takes much of her inspiration for her heroes from the marines she’s lived around for the past fifteen years. Coining the term realmantica, she strives to produce quality romance in a realistic setting. Her genre of choice is contemporary romance that spans everything from the sensual softer read to BDSM and ménage. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading everything she can get her hands on, trips to the museum and aquarium, taking field research trips, and soaking up the sun on the nearby beaches. Her works include The Executive Officer’s Wife, Bound By Trust, Three for Keeps, the Force Recon series, the Slower Lower series, the Identity series, and the Private Collection. Currently she is working on two new series set to release summer of 2013, the At Your Service line and the Steele Image line. She’s a member in good standing of RWA. Ms. Munro loves to hear from her readers and can be found at Realmantic Moments facebook, www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/LilaMunroAuthor; www.goodreads.com; Twitter You can also contact her via email at lilasromance@gmail.com and you can find all her works at: Amazon; www.allromanceebooks.com; Nook, Bookstrand

The return of Joanne C. Berroa

Joanne C. Berroa, a fellow author at Rebel Ink Press, is back and ready to talk about her recent release at RIP, On Angel's Wings.

From Joanne: "My Life, My Heart is a novel that leaves the reader feeling good about love, life, and death. It's

Blurb

December 1940 found the world on the brink of a conflict greater than it had yet known, but for Anne Miller, USO band singer, the days before Pearl Harbor find her world full of excitement and promise. She had left the comfort of family and friends in Washington, DC to venture out into the distant and beautiful Hawaiian landscape to make a new life for herself and her fiancé, Corporal Daniel Beiler of the American Army forces.

Little did she know her perfect world was just an illusion. She didn’t expect to fall in love with a Navy pilot she’d meet at the USO dancehall on the eve of “the day that will live in infamy.” Her love for Daniel would be threatened while she fought with new and strange emotions for the brave and reckless Lieutenant Johnny Morgan. How could she love both men, although quite differently, and remain true to either? Will the outbreak of WWII tear their lives apart or pull them together in rain drenched islands in the South Pacific?

From Joanne: On Angels’ Wings is a story of desperation, hope, and fulfillment during the tumultuous years of World War II.

Excerpt

As Johnny’s launch cut through the water, a new formation of Jap planes appeared, flying frightfully low above the waters of Southeast Loch. The launch was making good speed as it approached 1010 dock. At least the Lexington, Enterprise, and Saratoga were at sea and escaped the slaughter. Some of the bombs missed their intended targets and splashed into a watery coffin not far from the launch, spraying sea water like a shroud of death around Johnny’s boat.

If only Johnny were in his Wildcat, he’d blow those Jap bastards right out of the sky. Suddenly Johnny gasped. Dozens of torpedo planes zoomed past them headed straight for the Oklahoma.

“Torpedoes,” Johnny cried. His cry of alarm went unheard, for the wails of dying men and exploding glass dimmed all else. Then the world went topsy-turvy for Johnny as a torpedo struck the underside of his launch. A huge shock wave lifted it out of the water and turned it turtle, spilling its occupants among the debris and bodies floating in the harbor.

Johnny found himself beneath the launch, water filling his nose and mouth. He tried to push the launch away and finally was able to move it. He surfaced and gasped for air, grabbing the end of the overturned boat just as a Jap plane swooped down for a strafing run. Clinging to the boat, he watched the plane alter its course and fire straight down into the midst of the men who were trying desperately to swim away.

The Oklahoma was now crippled and helpless, yet the Japs continued to fire upon her. Many of the men who’d been on the launch with Johnny drowned, hit by the plane’s bullets, but Johnny continued to use the boat as his protection, hiding beneath its hull whenever a plane came close enough to strafe them.

Just when he thought he’d make it unscathed, a plane left formation and swooped down upon Johnny, unleashing a torrent of bullets. Immediately, a searing pain coursed through his body and he gasped, letting go of the boat as cold water swirled up around him, shutting off his air supply. Overhead the sky was black with smoke, but he saw nothing as he sank into oblivion.
About Joanne C. Berroa, author: My life's passion has always been writing. Begun at an early age, I never got enough of creating "life" through my stories. It's such a high to be able to make realistic, believable characters who come to life on my computer monitor. Basically, they tell their own story and I just write it down. Their lives are very real to me, and I feel deprived not to be able to meet my heroes in real life. When not writing (which is seldom) I teach piano and organ. But my first and foremost love is weaving stories that readers will appreciate and remember.