Wicked Wednesday: Blueprint for Passion by Neil S. Plakcy

Oh those wicked real estate developers! And our guest blogger today, Neil S. Plakcy, has a steamy new novel with just the right amount of villain. Tell us about it, Neil:

Real estate developers often get a bad rap. They’re accused of everything from paying off government officials to flouting conservation laws to subjecting tenants to egregious clauses. 

It wasn’t hard to decide that the villains in my new romance novel, Blueprint for Passion, would be
developers. In my construction career, I’ve built shopping centers from Albany, New York to Manhattan, New Orleans to Miami, and I’ve worked for both good and bad people—just like in any occupation. The “enemy” in my enemies-to-lovers romance is a good guy developer, who a passionate woman eventually convinces to adjust his plans to honor the history of the area and the local environment. 

But I needed a villain, someone who would force the developer and the preservationist in my story to work together. An uber-villain, if you will. 

It wasn’t hard to come up with Morgan Swan, the owner of Black Swan. He’s a rapacious businessman who has specialized in coercion and bribery to get the building permits he wants, and then often sold the ready-to-build property to someone who won’t be bound by any of the agreements he has struck. 

Here are a couple of excerpts from Blueprint for Passion: 

Victoria and Alex claimed a corner table on the cafe’s wraparound porch, ordering coffee and waiting until the server retreated before spreading the plans between them. Victoria’s knee brushed Alex’s under the table as she leaned in to study the drawings. He tried to ignore the contact and focus on the crisis at hand. 

“Look at this foundation design.” She tapped the page. “They’re planning to backfill part of the shoreline to accommodate the parking structure.” 

“Black Swan is known for this. Coming in with overwhelming force, pushing projects through before opposition can mobilize.” Alex watched her face as she studied the plans. “He’s already got three commissioners in his pocket.” 

“Four.” She looked up, meeting his eyes. “Commissioner Epstein called me this morning to ‘explain’ his position. Apparently, Miami desperately needs another Neiman Marcus.” 

“More than it needs workforce housing?” 

“More than it needs anything, according to Epstein.” She sat back, wrapping her hands around her coffee cup. “This is worse than your project, Alex. The environmental impact alone...” 

It was the first time she’d used his first name. Something shifted in the air between them, the professional facade cracking just slightly. 

And here’s another, to demonstrate the kind of tactics a villainous developer can use: 

Epstein’s smile didn’t waver, but something flickered in his eyes. “The Commission is always happy to work with developers who understand Miami’s needs. Swan’s project would bring significant tax revenue and jobs.” 

“Like the jobs he promised in Port Haven?” Alex kept his tone casual. “Before that project mysteriously fell apart?” 

“I’m not familiar with all his other projects.” Epstein turned to look out his window. “Though I hear he’s had some impressive successes.” 

“He has interesting methods of achieving those successes.” Alex watched the older man’s reflection in the glass. “The kind that sometimes lead to unfortunate questions about commissioners’ voting records.” 

Epstein turned back slowly. “Are you implying something, Rivera?” 

“Not at all. Just expressing concern about Miami’s reputation. It would be a shame if certain development practices from up north found their way down here.” Alex stood. “I know how much you’ve always cared about doing things the right way, David.” 

The commissioner’s face had gone carefully blank. “Swan has friends here, Alex. Powerful ones. Be careful where you stick your nose.” 

“I always am.” Alex headed for the door, then paused. “By the way, how’s Michael enjoying Boston U’s law school? I hear he’s in line for a clerkship with the same judge who often rules in favor of Morgan Swan’s projects.” 

He caught Epstein’s sharp intake of breath before closing the door behind him. One commissioner compromised. How many more to go? 

Have I worked with guys like Morgan Swan? You bet. I was young and inexperienced, and I needed the job more than I needed a conscience. Not that I could have done anything myself—by the time I met tenants, they had already signed restrictive leases, and I had to make them stick to those deals. Marble storefront for a mall drugstore? Got it. Hiring extra construction staff to make the grand opening? I’m there. 

Even when we as the developers didn’t stick to our deadlines, the tenants had to suck it up. Like spend extra money to put up plastic tarps over portable generators to make the mall interior warm enough to install their storefronts. 

Morgan Swan is that kind of guy, and it’s up to preservation attorney Victoria Whitmore and her original enemy, developer Alex Rivera, to band together and stop him. Even if it means sharing a bed in a sold-out hotel during a Boston snowstorm. 

If you’re going to fight the good fight against a villain, you’ve got to be willing to pay the price! 

BLUEPRINT FOR PASSION sizzles with forbidden attraction, forced proximity, and the undeniable heat of Miami nights. This steamy enemies-to-lovers romance proves that sometimes the best foundations are built on opposites attracting. 

Content warning: Contains a Latin lover who knows exactly how to push all the right buttons, steamy scenes that will fog up your windows faster than a Miami summer day, and enough sexual tension to rival the Florida humidity. 

An Enemies to Lovers Contemporary Romance by Neil S. Plakcy

https://amzn.to/4hXVa1I 

Thanks for reading! I’d love to stay in touch with you. Visit my home page at www.mahubooks.com, where you can subscribe to one or more of my newsletters. I hope you'll also consider following me at Goodreads to see what I'm reading, and subscribe to my author page at Facebook where I post news and giveaways.

 

Reading and Reviews (Henderson, Marshall)

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. From time to time, I'll share my reviews of present and past reads. My available time to read is limited because I write, but I love to curl up with a paperback or an eBook at night for the last hour of my day. 

I tend to read what I write, but not exclusively. Besides Romantic Suspense and mystery, I read crime and law novels, once in a while a true story, WWII historicals, romance, and mainstream character driven books.

Here are some of the books I've read recently or in the not-too-distant past. Maybe you'll discover a new book or author. 

A Death in Room 213: An Izzy Munro Cozy Mystery (Izzy Munro Mysteries) by Alison Henderson 

Izzy Munro’s budding photography business gets a big boost when she’s asked to photograph a holiday wedding at a grand old seaside hotel in picturesque Carmel-by-the-Sea. Everything is going perfectly until the best man disappears after the ceremony, and his tuxedo-clad body is found floating in the bathtub of his room.

Who could have wanted him dead—a swindled client, a secret lover, the father of the bride? What about the catering manager or the wedding planner? No one is off the hook.

Before Izzy and her maybe-boyfriend—an investigator for the DA’s office—can narrow the list of suspects, a second death muddies the water, threatening to turn the investigation on its head. As they work to untangle the web of leads and evidence, Izzy begins to wonder if the seeds of the crime might lie deeper in the victim’s past. With the help of her trusty trio of friends and bossy Burmese cat, Bogart, she keeps digging until the shocking truth is finally revealed. 

My Review 

Izzy Munro is still getting settled in her new life. I love starting over stories for women over forty. They have life experience they can roll into the adventure. Izzy seems to fall into murder mystery with ease, and she's off on another crime to solve. The setting is enticing. The plot is twisty. There’s a hint of romance. Ms. Henderson has done a wonderful job in creating a warm, entertaining cozy mystery.

 

Finding Zachariah: In a Community Garden by Nancy Hick Marshall 

Who knew a feral cat named Sebastian could observe and share so many different insights about human behavior- all within a formerly abandoned lot?

FINDING ZACHARIAH allows you to capture the spirit of what is possible in a community garden. While this remarkable story is fiction, it is based on true events. Imagine a veteran with PTSD, who has fallen into homelessness and thinks alcohol is his only friend - only to find a true friend in a feral cat, Sebastian. Then, imagine a family suffering from losing their dad to violence.

Finally, imagine the possible healing and reconciliation that can occur when volunteers work their own "road map" to turn their lives around - with the help of compassionate humans, the feral cat, and a service dog.

Many things go on in a community garden - mulch-making, seed-planting, pollinating, irrigating, nurturing - both plants and people, and reaping a bountiful harvest. 

My Review 

As told from the point of view of a feral cat, this unique story will tug your heart and bring you chuckles too. I’ve had the good fortune to listen to the author speak about her book. This story is based on true events, and there’s a lesson for all of us within the read.

I Hate to Cook: Yummy Soup

Soup can be a whole meal if it’s rich and thick the way we like clam chowder. Add a side salad using pre-cut lettuce and you’ve got a good “I Hate to Cook” dinner. 

I’m going out on a limb today and listing amounts for the ingredients. I cook mostly by feel and taste. I’d say this will feed four people of normal appetites if you include a salad. You could serve warm bread or crackers with it, too. 

4 medium potatoes (white potatoes are my choice, unpeeled)

1 cup chopped celery

3 tbs butter

1 large onion

2 cans chopped clams

Milk

Half and half

Juice from canned clams 

Dice the potatoes into ½ to 1-inch pieces. Boil until soft but not mushy. Mash about half of them. You want chunks, and the mashed ones give the soup its thickness.

In a large kettle, spoon in about three tablespoons of butter. Real butter is best. And if you really like butter and richness, add more. Chop the onion then sauté with the celery in the butter.

Once the onions are translucent, mix all of the above together in the kettle and add enough half and half, milk and a bit of clam juice to the consistency you like. We like ours thick. I tend to use more half and half than milk. Rich, rich, rich. 

In the first book of my Wild Horse Peaks Series, The Art of Love and Murder, Lacy and Chance have dinner at the California inspired restaurant called the Brie in the small college town of Timberline, Arizona. They have seafood. I’ll leave you with this short restaurant scene. 

White linen, sleek recessed lighting, and candles on the table—not what Lacy expected in this rugged mountain city. The host of the Brie showed them to a table by the window overlooking the street and train station beyond. Although a working station, the outside of the building looked more like a gingerbread house. An obvious draw for tourists, the city had capitalized on the focal point of the main road through town.

Chance rested his forearms on the table, gazing across the candle. Sparks flickered in his eyes and highlighted the gold in the hair falling onto his forehead. Although he looked more suited to a granola café or lumberjack inn, the contrast left her breathless with his raw masculinity. He appeared perfectly relaxed.

She took a deep breath in an attempt to follow his example—and to calm the quivers he caused. “You’re showing me a whole new side of Timberline.”

He gave a cursory glance at the art on the walls. “I think it’s the California influence.”

“California?” She opened the menu.

“We’ve been discovered and have quite a few transplants.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not if the food’s as good as they say.” One corner of his mouth ticked up as he opened the menu. “Which appetizer would you like?”

“They all look good.”

He cocked a brow and tipped his chin down. “I know you’re starving, but I’d say we should stick to two.” 

THE ART OF LOVE AND MURDER, book one in the series

A woman searching for her past. A sheriff hiding in his present. Their future together threatened by murder. 

All of the Wild Horse Peaks books can be found here: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNC7LT9J   

Life's Adventures: A Birthday Celebration

My sister and I have an adventure twice a year when we enjoy a chocolate martini, once in the spring for her birthday and again in the fall for my birthday at the Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, Arizona in the saloon called the Peacock Room. This tradition is what led to the cozy mystery series I’m writing with co-author Joyce Proell. 

You might not consider sharing chocolate martinis to celebrate a birthday as an adventure, but we've met so many fun people and discovered some interesting tidbits about the town, the saloon, and our imagination. We never know what adventure awaits us...but can always count on the great martinis that Huck creates.

Our fictional Chocolate Martini Sisters are Emma (Em) Banefield and Nicole (Nic) Earp. Nic's second ex-husband, Rodney Earp, is a distant cousin to the famous Earp brothers. The sisters find a lot more murder and mayhem at the Dulce Inn in our fictional town of Wyatt, Arizona than my sister and I find in the Peacock Room!

Nic is the younger sister and prone to jumping to conclusions when she and Em are following the clues to catch the murderer. Em is an analytical sleuth, more cautious than Nic. Both sisters are keen observers and love to people-watch. Nic is a freelance travel writer and ex-teacher, carefree and arty in her style. She loves hats. Em’s style is classic. As of soon-to-be published book 4, Nic has gone into business...a yoga studio. Em is now a published author. But chasing killers and solving the crime still takes up much of their time.

In the next couple of months, we'll be rolling out book 4, Birds, Puppies, and Murder. In the meantime, if you haven't read books 1-3...well...why not? 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BQ9T7ZBX

Sisters Fearlessly Find the Killer by Joyce Proell

It's Fearless Friday on Discover... and Joyce Proell has joined us. She's my co-author in the Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery Books about two sisters who are fearless in their pursuit of finding the killer. She's coming to us by way of her character Emma, one of the Chocolate Martini Sisters...

Hi. I'm Emma Banefield. My siter Nicole Earp and I love murder and mayhem. In the Chocolate Martini Sisters mysteries, Nic always brings along one of her favorite mystery author's books to read during our week-end getaways. Ha! As if we have time to read when finding a killer is our main objective. Needless to say, we’re big mystery fans and read a lot. So it makes sense after reading countless mysteries, a person would develop favorites. I’d like to share a few of mine with you. Since mystery covers a broad area, I’ve narrowed my choices to the cozy series category. Here goes…

Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody – The series begins in 1880 where an independent and unmarried woman uses her inheritance to travel to Egypt to further her knowledge of antiquities. Elizabeth Peters, a former doctor of Egyptology, knows her stuff. She had a marvelous sense of humor, especially as she describes Amelia’s later husband and son, Ramses. Amelia is practical and single-minded in her pursuit of killers. When she finds herself in a threatening bind, there’s always her umbrella on hand to solve the problem. The first book in the series is Crocodile on the Sandbank.  

Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mysteries – Set in 1895 New York, the series features Sarah Brandt, a compassionate, tough-minded, justice seeking widow of a doctor. As a midwife, she goes into the seediest of tenements in a time where the rich often turn a blind eye to injustice and murder. Murder on Astor Street is the first book in the series.

Rhy Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness – Set in 1932, a time of economic depression when people struggled to feed their families, Lady Georgina or Georgie, cousin to George V and thirty-fourth in line to the throne, finds herself not so different than the masses. When her brother cuts off her inheritance, she must find a job—a daunting task when her education taught her few practical skills—a perfect curtsey being one of them. But Georgie is nothing if not kind, likable and determined to be self-reliant. However, a tumultuous childhood and a self-absorbed mother have dented her confidence. As she struggles in charming fashion to set her life in order, she stumbles upon a murder. The person most surprised when the killer is caught is Georgie herself, the solver of the crime. The series begins with Her Royal Spyness.  

MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin – After building a successful career in public relations, Agatha retires at fifty-two moving from London to a quiet, picturesque village. Only the place isn’t as tranquil as if first appears. The boredom of retirement doesn’t suit her temperament. In no time, she’s discovered a murder. With fashionable style, she throws herself into the job of solving the crime. Along the way, she meets and, more often than not, offends the locals with her abrasive manner. At first, I found Agatha’s personality off-putting, but in successive books, came to see the humanity and frailty behind her bossiness. The Quiche of Death is the first book in the series.

Spenser Quinn’s Chet and Bernie – These are the only books I’ve read narrated by a dog. Chet is a big, lovable mutt who absolutely adores Bernie, a private detective. In Chet’s view, Bernie can do no wrong. He is the best! The smartest! The most fearless! Chet likes the exclamations. If you are a dog lover, listening to Chet’s narrative will make you laugh. Spenser Quinn absolutely nails dog thought. In addition to solving crimes, Chet has a number of friends in the neighborhood. Their get-togethers are hilarious. For a fun time, read It’s a Wonderful Woof!

I hope these suggestions inspire you to pick up a cozy and read. You might even consider the Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery Books.

Series Link on Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BQ9T7ZBX