When not at work as a full-charge bookkeeper in Philadelphia, she’s at home writing, reading or simply spending time with her husband of over twenty years. Both she and her husband love animals immensely, which is evident in her writing.
If there is any advice she would impart upon you, it is this: Follow your dreams. Always. Don't let anyone tell you it's foolish or unattainable. You have but one life to live—live it!
Magnus Eriksson has been dubbed the Silent Defender by the reporters he will only speak to through a sign language interpreter.
She’s a reporter he’s slow to trust.
Jennie Fields caught Magnus’ eye the first time he saw her standing in the back of the locker room. Physically, she’s just his type—long legs, voluptuous curves and an ass he’d gladly worship. Her only downfall is her job.
Unless it’s a slap shot from the blue line, taking chances isn’t Magnus’ strong suit. He’s comfortable with his life, even being deaf, but the more he gets to know Jennie, the more he wonders if he’s been wrong all this time.
Could he have his career, his right to remain silent and the girl? If so, he’d have the perfect hat trick.
Joe Starling has been stinking rich, and he’s been poor. But from the moment he figured out what makes women scream, he’s been raking in the cash. Not as a prostitute. Not technically…
Sex isn’t officially part of the Perfect Ten escort service’s package. Yet Joe is almost embarrassed to admit his “package” has gotten quite a workout in the past seven years. Truth be told, the ladies want him, and he can’t say no.
Faith Graham’s first reaction to Joe Starling? No. Make that hell no. She needs an average Joe on her arm for her model-thin sister’s wedding. Who will believe a dazzling hunk like him would date the Graham sister who has a few too many curves?
For the first time, Joe experiences what it’s like for a woman to look at him with loathing rather than lust. And he doesn’t like the feeling. Because there is nothing in this world he wants more than to turn her emphatic no into a heartfelt yes. In fact, a lifetime of yes would work just fine for him…
After a two-year sexual dry spell, Chloe Dasher is ready to jump back in the game and get more than just her feet wet. Not interested in a serious relationship, she takes a different route and hires an escort for one night of no-strings-attached, down and dirty sex.
Enzo Bauer isn’t interested in just one night with the sassy little firecracker. She has so much more to offer, and Enzo wants it all, but Chloe is gun-shy after facing the heartache of a failed marriage.
When tragedy strikes, it’s Enzo who shows her what true love and commitment really is. Will Chloe be able to let go of her past, and forgive Enzo’s transgressions to see that an Imperfect Encounter can lead to the future she’s always deserved?
Karen LaGrange, little sister of former enforcer for the Scorpions, lives in Canada, where she works with special needs children. After losing her job to redistricting, she makes an extended visit to San Diego, forming a friendship with the errant goalie.
Through frequent reminders that they are friends without benefits, Karen struggles to keep their relationship platonic, but the more she shuts him down, the more he wants her.
Can Cage convince Karen to slip under the sheets with him, or is he destined to be firmly entrapped in the friend zone?
All alone in a new town, Keith is drawn to Kelly, his take out delivery girl. When she shows up at ice girl tryouts, he’s lost. She’s all he can see. Can he convince her to forget her past and take a chance on him or is he destined to be alone in a new town a little bit longer?
Zoe Millis is the sports psychologist for the Scorpions. There are very strict rules about doctor/client fraternization. Zoe understands this, and even though it’s hard for her, she abides by it. Well, 99% of the time. Everyone slips up now and then.
Vlad tries to lure her to him with his friendship. He uses his charm and good humor. He assures her that no one will know of their relationship, but she is adamant. Zoe does not break the rules. Well, not more than once … or twice.
What can he do? He is determined to find a way to break her down and make her see things his way. Vlad will interfere with every date she has if that’s what it takes. Who knows? A little goalie interference could go a long way to getting him what he wants, or maybe he will be forced to give up one thing he loves in order to keep the other.
Living in San Diego definitely has its perks, such as, sunshine and beaches. The best part of moving to the west coast, however, is that Steven is still on the east coast. Catching your almost husband having sex with one of your bridesmaids on your wedding day would make even the strongest woman jaded. Therefore, Lacey has sworn off men for a while, especially men who travel a lot that have easy access to loose women.
When Lacey meets the new enforcer for the San Diego Scorpions, she thinks she might be in trouble. But she is determined to fight her attraction to the sexy NHL hunk. And she is successful ... for about a day.
Right now I'm writing book number 2 of my Atlantic City Boardwalk Breakers series (ice hockey). The first, which release in May of this year, was a book entitled Silent Defender about a deaf defenseman on the team. Book number 2 is entitled Five Minute Major and is about the enforcer, who has a tendency to want to fight with those on and off the ice. Here is an excerpt:
Chapter 1
Isabella Wolf
I had no idea what Jennie and the others were thinking when they set me up with Mitchell Simard. At six foot four and two hundred forty pounds, he was the ideal enforcer for the Atlantic City Boardwalk Breakers hockey team. He wasn’t just a useful mountain of a man either—he was off-the-charts hot with his dark and dangerous looks. His perpetual smirk was both incredibly sexy and alarmingly menacing, depending on which side of his graces you fell. But as physically tempting as he was, I couldn’t stand the man.
Mitch wasn’t half so bad the first time we’d met at Thanksgiving dinner a few months earlier. A little cocky to be sure, and his eyes may have lingered a little too long on places they shouldn’t in polite company, but that was as far as it went, so I gave him a shot.
For our first official date, we attended our mutual friends’ wedding together—it also happened to be New Year’s Eve. The groom was his teammate, Magnus Eriksson, and the bride was my best friend, Jennie Fields.
They’d both assured me that though Mitch was a tough guy—on and off the ice—he was a nice one too, but from the time I’d answered his knock on my front door all he’d done was leer at me. I’d be the first one to admit that I liked to attract men. I dressed to the nines just to go to the grocery store, but nothing I had on was unseemly. My sweater was form-fitting, but not tight. My black pencil skirt hit my knees and my boots—well, like a lot of women, I did love me a pair of sexy shoes. In any case, he needed to rein it in. I couldn’t imagine how he’d look at me after I’d changed into my gorgeous maid of honor dress at the venue. In my current outfit he’d already undressed me with his eyes, made a crude comment about the couple of things he saw lying around my living room when I answered the door and then he took the liberty of slipping his hand down my back entirely too low on the pretense of helping me into his truck.
After some awkward small talk, I addressed his behavior as we drove to our destination. Head on. “What is your problem?” I’d had enough of him, and that was saying a lot for me. To my shame, I was usually the meek girl who said nothing if a guy was rude. Jennie said it was because my self-esteem wasn’t high enough where men were concerned. She said I wasn’t confident enough in my ability to attract men for more than my looks. Maybe she had a point, but apparently I didn’t feel that way with Mitch. I was not his “yes” girl.
“No problem here, doll. Everything I see is right as rain.” His hand reached over the console to caress my bare leg, just above my knee.
“Hands off, Simard.” I fervently wished I’d driven myself to the wedding, but I had no reason to believe he’d be any different than the first time I’d met him.
He laughed at me. Laughed! But he did put his hand back on the steering wheel of his midnight black Hummer. His vehicle of choice screamed of over-compensation. Wretched excess.
“Jennie said you needed to lighten up.” He took a flask out of his suit pocket and took a deep pull from it. “Want a shot?”
“What? You’re driving! Oh, my God. What was Jennie thinking? Pull over.” And I was one hundred percent sure “lighten up” weren’t my best friend’s exact words.
He laughed at me—again. “Relax. That’s the first thing I’ve had to drink in a week and we’re here.” He pointed to the arena parking lot on the right that I’d neglected to see since I was too consumed by my disgust of all things Mitchell. Our friends were getting married on the ice rink the Breakers played on.
I snatched the flask out of his hands and swallowed a big gulp, coughing at the fire that immediately ignited in my gut. “What in the world is this?”
“Everclear. I’ll mix it with punch when we get inside. And share it liberally. You really shouldn’t take that big of a shot, honey.”
Holy shit. “Everclear? As in the liquor that’s ninety-five percent pure alcohol?”
His shit-eating grin was still firmly in place. “That’d be the one.”
“You’re an asshole. And stop calling me doll and honey.”
“Ah, come on, princess. Asshole? You can do better than that.”
Princess was the last straw. Even as I did it, I knew it was way over-the-top, but I hauled off and punched him right in his smug face. And it felt good. “How’s that? Is that better, dear?”
He pocketed the flask and parked before he answered me, wiping a tiny smudge of blood off the corner of his mouth. “Well now, that shows some spunk, doll.”
Then he shocked me for real. Quicker than I could guess his intention, he unsnapped my seatbelt, dragged me over the console between us, and kissed the daylights out of me. I pushed him away immediately—if the definition of immediately was ten seconds or so.
Things went downhill from there.
Who designs your covers?
I've had different designers for my books. The NHL Scorpions series was designed by David Goldhahn, who no longer designs. Silent Defender was designed by Cassy Roop of Pink Ink Designs and my current work in progress, Five Minute Major will be designed by Amy Queau of Q Design.
How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
This is a tough one. I use aspects from my life and of those around me, but nothing too specific. For example, one of my books had a physical therapist in it. My sister happens to be in the field so I named the therapist after her.
I write two genres. Most of my books are light romances involving hockey players. I LOVE hockey. I am a Flyers fan, which anyone who roots for a Philly team can tell you, is painful. We don't have great sports teams here, but we have A LOT of heart!
I don't use a lot of drama in my books. Is EVERYTHING realistic? Nah, of course not, but I don't write about things that could never happen. Even my book with the deaf hockey players. There WAS a deaf hockey player in the NHL in real life. Only once, but it did happen.
You'll also see a lot of references to Harleys and animals. I love both and have both. They're near and dear to my heart.
Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?
Aside from lost loved ones, which is obvious, I'd like to meet Edgar Allan Poe.
I write nothing like him, but he wrote what he wanted to and did it how he wanted. I like to think I do the same. Some people don't like the fact that I lean away from heavy angst ridden drama, but that's what I like. I like carefree happily ever afters, which I know, doesn't fit in with my love of Poe, but I do love his writing. I fell in love with him all over again in college. He just keeps you on the edge of your seat. Creepy bugger!
What book are you reading now?
I'm reading the latest Serenity Harbor novel by RaeAnne Thayne. It's pretty good!
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I can't say there's one moment I can recall. I've always dabbled, but in 2013, a friend of mine introduced me to self publishing. I thought, why not? 6 published novels and 3 novellas later and I'm still loving interested! Maybe someday I'll dig out those poems I've written over the past 30 years.
If any of your books was made into a film who would you like to play the lead?
I would love to see Silent Defender made into a movie. The lead character is tall and blonde. His name is Magnus Eriksson, so I'd pick Alexander Skarsgard. They're both Swedish and fit the Viking look.
Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
I do. I don't blog yet. I'm lucky I can turn on my computer, but it's something I need to become involved with. My website is www.nikkiworrell.com
Thank you!!