Debut Author Carolyn LaRoche - Witness Protection

Before I begin, let me say thank you to my hosts for having me here today. This is a very exciting time for me and I love being able to share it with all of you.

Witness Protection is the first book in the Defenders of Love series. The series is based on the James men, each one a member of some facet of law enforcement. 

Logan James, the hero of Witness Protection, is a cop sent undercover in an all girl's school to break up a drug ring. Instead he meets Angelina Ferrara, former NYPD cop turned protected witness who has become the target of a nasty assassin. With the help of the James boys and the clever Aunt Clara, Angelina learns to trust…and love…again.

(I hope you'll read the Excerpt at the end of my post!)

Writing Witness Protection was originally something I did to pass the late night hours when my husband was at work. He has the sort of job that keeps a wife up at night worrying about his safety. I channeled that worry into something productive—writing a book. My handsome husband served as the inspiration for the strong, resourceful Logan James. I have always been a sucker for a man in uniform so it only made sense that my hero on paper would be based on one in real life. With my background in forensic science, love of a good crime story and need for every story to have a happy ending, writing romantic mysteries just worked. When the first draft of Witness Protection was complete I sent it to a friend that likes to read for me and a day later, she informed me "you better do something with this."

Thankfully I listened to her. Since the release of Witness Protection at the end of November, I have been asked the question "when do you find time to write?" quite a bit. I work full time as a high school science teacher in a special program for accelerated students pursuing careers in the sciences or medical fields. Teaching electives such as forensic science offers a ton of inspiration. I am always reading up on cases and researching techniques for my class. A lot of that information is filed away for my books as well so research time is cut in half. Of course, the hubby still works that night shift and I am not much of a sleeper so that helps as well.

I suppose the better question these days is really "how do I find time for things like laundry, dishes and grocery shopping?" It is not uncommon for my boys and me to dress from the dryer on a school day. I buy everything in bulk to minimize trips to the store and thank goodness I have a twelve year old who is great at unloading the dishwasher!

Witness Protection is currently available in ebook and will be released as a paperback on January 20, 2015. The second book in the series, Homeland Security, should be available later this year. I also have another book being released in early spring titled Undercover in Six Inch Stilettos, book one in a new series called the Secret Lives of Police Wives. I hope that you will join me when each of them become available. In the meantime, feel free to stop by my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolynLaRoche?ref=hl or my blog http://carolynlarocheauthor.blogspot.com/ anytime to say hello and see what's happening my world of mystery and romance.

CAROLYN LAROCHE

Carolyn LaRoche grew up in snow country but fled the cold and ice several years ago. She now lives near the beach with her husband, their two boys, two finicky cats and one old dog. When she is not at the baseball field cheering on big hits and home runs, she is busy teaching science to unwilling teenagers.  She is also co-author of the non-fiction book The Crazy Lives of Police Wives.

EXCERPT - WITNESS PROTECTION

"This place belongs to your aunt?" Angelina said in disbelief.

"Sure does. After my uncle died, she inherited a tidy sum of family money that she held onto. Once the three of us boys were out of school and out on our own, she moved to this mountain. You are now looking at a large chunk of that inheritance."

 Angelina opened the door of the Jeep and gingerly stepped down from the cab. Logan made a note to find her some shoes as soon as they were settled. Aunt Clara had to have something she could use.

Suddenly the door to the cabin flew open. A little woman with a very big rifle jumped through the door yelling at the top of her lungs. "Get down on the ground! I ain't afraid to use this thing! Get down!"

The woman waved the gun wildly in the air. Angelina dropped to her knees even as Logan took a step forward, laughing.

 "Aunt Clara! It's me, Logan!"

The little woman stopped yelling the instant she heard Logan's voice. With a hand held above her eyes to block out what little sun made its way through the trees, she called out, "Logan? What are you doing here?"

"Where are your glasses, Aunt Clara?" He was still laughing as he crossed the clearing between them and grabbed his slight-figured aunt up in a bear hug.

"Well, you know I got no patience for those things, boy. They just keep sliding down off my nose."

 Logan laughed again. His aunt was his favorite person in the world. After the death of his mother, she was the only adult left in his life he felt that he could trust. He still felt that way.

"If you had them on you might not have come so close to shooting us!" He gestured to Angelina who was pulling herself up off the ground, disdain clouding her features. Logan frowned. The last twenty-four hours had been more of a trial for her than any one human being should have to go through. It was time to get her settled and figure out a way to get her out of this mess without endangering her life any further.

 Walking back to where Angelina leaned against the Jeep watching them warily, Logan took her hand and gently led her to the cabin steps where his aunt stood squinting at them.

 "Angelina Ferrara, meet my aunt, Clara James"

 "Nice to meet you, Ms. James." Angelina reached out to shake the older woman's hand, but Clara grabbed her up in the same sort of bear hug he'd greeted his aunt with. Logan watched with amusement.

"Oh, posh! Call me Clara, will you! No formalities around this here place." She gestured toward the cabin behind her. "Come, let's get you inside, dear. Whatever happened to your shoes?" Clara gave her the once over from head to toe. "Hmmm...I may not have my glasses on, Logan, but isn't that the shirt I gave you for your birthday? I definitely think we all need to sit down with some hot breakfast and have a long talk."

Aunt Clara had always been insightful. Of course, him showing up with a woman she knew nothing of wearing his clothes and shoeless probably would have set off warning bells in anyone's head, no matter how clear their vision.

"Breakfast sounds great, Aunt Clara." A loud rumble sounded from Angelina's stomach making Logan laugh. She flushed in embarrassment and stared at the ground. "I think Angelina might be a bit on the hungry side as well."

 They all laughed and Angelina seemed to relax considerably. Clara linked their arms and led her into the house. "Come along, dear, let me show you where you can get cleaned up. I bet I have something that might fit you a little better than my nephew's oversized lumberjack clothes."

Angelina glanced back at Logan, questions in her eyes. He nodded at her. "Go ahead, it's okay. I'm going to head to my room and clean up too. I'll see you at breakfast. She's perfectly safe, I promise."

Clara laughed as she led Angelina down a hall in the opposite direction from where Logan went. "Perfectly safe! That nephew of mine is such a joker!"