Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
—Calvin Coolidge
Fatal Affair, Available Now!
Buy Fatal Affair!
On the morning of the most important vote of Senator John O’Connor’s career he is late—again. His best friend and chief of staff, Nick Cappuano sets off to O'Connor’s apartment expecting to roust him from bed and hoping he is alone. But what Nick finds is that O’Connor, the handsome, amiable Senator from Virginia, has been brutally murdered, and Nick’s world comes crashing down around him. Complicating the disaster, the detective assigned to the case is none other than Sam Holland, Nick’s one-night stand from six years earlier, the woman who broke his heart and haunts his dreams. With six years worth of unfinished business hanging between them and more than a few scores to settle personally and professionally, Nick and Sam set out to find the senator's killer while trying—and failing—to resist the overwhelming attraction between them that seems to have only grown over the years.
It soon becomes clear that the Senator’s past holds secrets that not only led to his death but now endanger Nick and Sam as well. Working together to find a killer and to rediscover the love they thought they lost long ago, they must put the past behind them and build a future that offers a world of new opportunities for both of them—including an offer from the Virginia Democrats for Nick to finish the last year of John’s term.
Fatal Affair, AVAILABLE NOW from Carina Press
Excerpt
Chapter 1
The smell hit him first.
“Ugh, what the hell is that?” Nick Cappuano dropped his keys into his coat pocket and stepped into the spacious, well-appointed Watergate apartment that his boss, Senator John O’Connor, had inherited from his father.
“Senator!” Nick tried to identify the foul metallic odor.
Making his way through the living room, he noticed parts and pieces of the suit John wore yesterday strewn over sofas and chairs, laying a path to the bedroom. He had called the night before to check in with Nick after a dinner meeting with Virginia’s Democratic Party leadership, and said he was on his way home. Nick had reminded his thirty-six-year-old boss to set his alarm.
“Senator?” John hated when Nick called him that when they were alone, but Nick insisted the people in John’s life afford him the respect of his title.
The odd stench permeating the apartment caused a tingle of anxiety to register on the back of Nick’s neck. “John?”
He stepped into the bedroom and gasped. Drenched in blood, John sat up in bed, his eyes open but vacant. A knife spiked through his neck held him in place against the headboard. His hands rested in a pool of blood in his lap.
Gagging, the last thing Nick noticed before he bolted to the bathroom to vomit was that something was hanging out of John’s mouth. Read the rest of Chapter 1.
Reviews
Night Owl Reviews—Reviewer Top Pick
Title: Fatal Affair
Fatal Series
Score: 4.75 / 5 - Reviewer Top Pick
Review: When Nick Cappuano finds his best friend, Senator John O'Connor, dead he is in for one heck of an investigation. The investigator assigned to the case is none other than Sam Holland a lady he had a one night stand with. Six years hasn't changed their attraction, but they have a case to solve.
The case leads these two to unearthing powerful secrets the Senator kept hidden. Nicks car ends up getting blown up in the course of them solving the case.
Will these two be able to turn their one night stand into something more or will the end of the case be the end to them also?
I really enjoyed this book as the plot was really interesting and it kept me guessing all the way through. The characters were great in that Sam was a tough girl, but also a caring woman when it came to Nick. They both interacted well with each other as the tension ramped up. The action in this book also will keep you on the tips of your toes, as it's so realistic. This was just a great book overall.
This is a suspense that never stops. Add it to your book list today.
About Happy Books:
"I enjoyed pretty much everything about this book. The plot is thrilling and it's not easy to figure out who the murderer is. There are so many lies and it's hard to see through them. The two main characters Sam and Nick are just fantastic. They are authentic and I liked both of them right from the start. Sam is very passionate about her job and her family. Lately she had to deal with some serious events in her life but she's not one to give up. Nick is a very honest and hard-working man. On the one hand it's not so easy for him that Sam has a dangerous job but on the other hand he is willing to do everything to support her. There are a lot of lovely and funny scenes between them and I especially loved that Nick was man enough to apologize to Sam after he overreacted about her guarding him.
Sam and Nick are a great couple and I'm so happy that "Fatal Affair" is the first book in a series about them. I'm already excited for the next book and to learn more about them and the other characters like Sam's dad or her partner Freddie.
So all in all I think that this book is an outstanding romantic suspense novel and I can't wait to read more by Marie Force. I also love her contemporary romances because her stories and characters are always a true pleasure." Read the full review.
The Romance Studio:
The characters help make the story but it's the plot building and suspense that help make this such an excellent murder mystery. This author excels at both as the plot thickens before the suspects start being murdered. All of our great ideas about the murderer have to be rethought.
Not many great books are complete without romance. Nick and Sam burn up the pages. Her ethical values don't stand much chance against his determination not to let her go again. This book starts out strong and keeps getting better. Marie Force is one of those authors that will be on my must read list in the future. Read the full review.
My Thoughts, Your Thoughts:
I loved this book! I read this book in nearly one sitting because from the first page, I couldn't wait to figure out who the killer was and whether Nick and Sam would be able to make it work.
This is the first of a series, and I can't wait to read the next one. I excited to see how Sam does with her promotion, whether or not Nick accepts one hell of an offer, and how they work both of those things out within their fledgling relationship. All that said, this was a funtabulous read, and I'm anxiously awaiting for Fatal Justice! Read the full review.
Single Titles, 5 Stars
There will not be an instant of FATAL AFFAIR which you will want to skip, as clues are subtly given yet nothing is concrete until the final staggering revelation.
The Fatal series starts off with a story of political intrigue, an unexpected romance and plenty of mysteries to solve amid the escalating danger. Marie Force points readers in the direction of numerous suspects, and the road to discovering the identity of the brutal killer is filled with countless barricades to make the investigative journey extremely difficult and definitely compelling. Read the full review.
SOLD: Fatal Justice, Book 2 in the Fatal Series, Coming Soon From Carina Press!
About the Fatal Series: Oh Yes, I Can!
“You can’t write a romance series that features the same couple in every book. You just can’t.” I love the word “can’t.” I really do. Telling me I can’t do something is like dangling a red blanket in front of a bull. It just makes me want to scream CAN SO at the top of my lungs. But rather than getting mad after everyone and her sister told me I couldn’t do it, I decided to get even. I wrote FATAL AFFAIR, intending for it to launch a series featuring Washington, D.C. Police Lieutenant Sam Holland and her love interest, U.S. Senator Nick Cappuano. I worked hard in FATAL AFFAIR to surround Sam and Nick with a rich cast of supporting characters, and I put them in a city that will provide endless sources of story and conflict for my fearless duo as well as their friends and family.
I wrote that book, I loved that book, and my agent loved it, too. Knowing the series idea would be a tough sell to romanceland, I decided to start book 2 just to make sure I could get this plan to work the way I thought it would. (Another no-no in the writing world: starting book 2 before you sell book 1. Did someone say, “can’t”? Hmmm, thought so.) We put FATAL AFFAIR out on submission and guess what we were told? You just can’t write a romance series featuring the same couple in every book. You can’t. Ouch. I mean, I knew it, but I still hoped someone might be willing to take a teeny tiny risk that maybe, just maybe, I COULD write a series featuring the same couple in every book. That maybe, just maybe, rabid romance readers would connect with this couple and want more, more, more! That maybe, just maybe, as a rabid romance reader myself, I knew what it took to make this work.
Meanwhile, back at book 2, I was finding it downright difficult to keep up the conflict in the relationship of my newly in love couple. You know that stage—the rose-color glasses phase when everything is hunky dory? Well, of course I couldn’t let them be TOO happy, now could I? I was 50,000 words into FATAL JUSTICE and being challenged like I’d never been challenged before when I got the official word that FATAL AFFAIR hadn’t sold. What’s a girl to do? Well, scream and yell and punch a few things (not people, don’t worry, although I did give my kids a heads up that it was a good day to steer clear of Mom :-). After the hissy fit subsided, my mulish Irish pride kicked in, and I set out to finish that second book.
After a significant amount of bone marrow and brain matter was donated to the cause, I finished with a scene that is probably my all-time favorite in any of my books. It took me a full year to write FATAL JUSTICE—four times longer than it took to write FATAL AFFAIR—and I finished with tears on my face because before I even wrote the words “THE END,” this book I loved with my all my heart was dead on arrival. No one would ever see it. A year later, I sold FATAL AFFAIR to Carina, which opened its doors promising to blow the lid off the publishing world. And last week, on the fifth anniversary of the day I wrote “THE END” for the very first time in my life, Carina bought FATAL JUSTICE—eighteen months after the DOA day. Guess what? OH YES, I CAN!
I couldn’t be more delighted to have found a home for these two books, and hopefully more to come in this series. I couldn’t be more delighted to be working with editors who can see the potential and possibilities for Sam, Nick, and their cast of supporting characters (yes, I’m talking to you, Angela James and Jessica Schulte!). I couldn’t be more delighted to be working with the savvy, professional, incredibly author-centric group behind Carina as well as the Harlequin team supporting this effort. Every aspect of my association with Carina has been a delight. And how about that cover? Whoa! They gave me everything I asked for and then some! When someone tells you that you can’t do something? Do it anyway. You just never know where it will lead you.
February 1, 2011: Everybody Loves a Hero
Everybody loves a hero. That's the problem.
Hero pilot Cole Langston is learning to live with—and enjoy—his newfound fame and the rabid female attention that comes with it until a lucky punch knocks some sense into him and opens his eyes to true love.
When his copilot suffers a heart attack in flight, Cole lands the jetliner in a blizzard and revives the stricken captain. Catapulted to national hero status, Cole has more women vying for his attention than he knows what to do with. They all have one thing in common: they try without success to bring this happy-go-lucky pilot down to earth. Then comes an airport altercation, a punch to the face, and the lovely Olivia—a shy, timid artist who does what no other woman has ever managed to do: steal Cole's well-protected heart. With women coming on to him everywhere they go, Olivia struggles to believe that Cole is ready for a committed relationship. His biggest problem is getting rid of all his extra ladies before the only one he wants figures out that she's one of many.
Watch for Everybody Loves a Hero, coming February 1, 2011
Please support my favorite cause, The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN)
Author photo by Jennifer Neves Photography, Bristol, RI
Website design by TGD Communications, Inc., Alexandria, VA
The Latest
SOLD! FATAL JUSTICE, Book 2 in the Fatal Series, Coming Soon from Carina Press!
NEW! LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT takes 1st Place/Single Title in The Lories!
LINE OF SCRIMMAGE, LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT, Available Now!
Line of Scrimmage Takes 3rd in the Lories Best Published/Single Title Category
Line of Scrimmage Takes 3rd in the More Than Magic Single Title Category
Love at First Flight receives a coveted Best Book Rating!
Line of Scrimmage a Fresh Pick with Fresh Fiction
