By M. S. Spencer (Guest Blogger)
In my new romantic suspense novel Mai
Tais and Mayhem, our heroine Tessa Diamond volunteers at the
famous Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Founded in 1955
by Dr. Eugenie Clark, the “Shark Lady,” today over 200 scientists
on five campuses conduct research on sharks, red tide, marine
mammals, sea turtles, coral reefs, coastal ecology, and sustainable
fish farming. One aspect of their work that is featured in Mai
Tais and Mayhem is a public-private effort to save the American
surgeon, funded by sales of fabulous caviar. All
25 sturgeon species found in the Northern Hemisphere are listed as
threatened or endangered. Mote has been growing several species of
sturgeon since 1997 and in 2006, it began producing caviar for the
market.
While writing Mai Tais, I had the
opportunity to do quite a bit of research on sturgeon. Called living
fossils, sturgeon range all over the world and the fossil record goes
back almost two hundred million years. American sturgeon can weigh up
to 1500 pounds and grow eleven to twelve feet long, while Asian
sturgeon get even larger.
What many people don’t realize is how
abundant the fish was, even as recently as a hundred years ago.
Sturgeon constituted one of the United States’ biggest money crops
until the 20th century. In Colonial times, we supplied
much of the world’s smoked sturgeon. Upstate New York, a hub of
sturgeon fishing, processed so much of it that housewives referred to
it as Albany beef.
As for caviar, since one good-sized cow can produce up to 250 pounds of roe, we were swimming in the stuff. Why, a bartender might be as likely to put out a bowl of caviar as a bowl of peanuts. By the latter half of the 19th century the U.S. was one of the largest exporters of caviar in the world. Sadly, due to overfishing, the big three species—Atlantic, River, and White—were nearly extinct by the 1990s. Once the U.S. supply ran out, Russia embarked on an advertising blitz that eventually convinced customers that they made the best caviar. Nowadays Mote caviar is giving them a run for their money!
As for caviar, since one good-sized cow can produce up to 250 pounds of roe, we were swimming in the stuff. Why, a bartender might be as likely to put out a bowl of caviar as a bowl of peanuts. By the latter half of the 19th century the U.S. was one of the largest exporters of caviar in the world. Sadly, due to overfishing, the big three species—Atlantic, River, and White—were nearly extinct by the 1990s. Once the U.S. supply ran out, Russia embarked on an advertising blitz that eventually convinced customers that they made the best caviar. Nowadays Mote caviar is giving them a run for their money!
If you want to find out more about Mote
Marine (and the caviar), here’s a link: www.mote.org.
If you want to find out more about Mai Tais and Mayhem, keep reading!
One lucky reader will receive a pdf of any of my backlist, described
in the short bio below.
Mai
Tais & Mayhem: Murder at Mote Marine (a Sarasota Romance)
Secret
Cravings Publishing (January 2013)
EBook
64,848 words (208 pp)
Contemporary
romantic mystery, M/F, 2 flames
When Tessa Diamond rescues a baby pufferfish from a hungry seagull, her good deed leads her into a shady world of smuggling, Russian gangsters, and coded messages. She confronts murder, attempted ravishment, parrots, sea turtles and big fish, only to encounter blossoming romances at every turn, including one of her own.
When Tessa Diamond rescues a baby pufferfish from a hungry seagull, her good deed leads her into a shady world of smuggling, Russian gangsters, and coded messages. She confronts murder, attempted ravishment, parrots, sea turtles and big fish, only to encounter blossoming romances at every turn, including one of her own.
She is torn between Cameron Mason, tiger-eyed and handsome, and Dugan Trevally, sexy and dangerous, but before she can drop her longstanding opposition to marriage and accept her true love, she must face the possibility that one of them could be a thief, and even a murderer.
EXCERPT (R) ~ Morning
Delight
Filtered blue light
fluttered on her eyelids. She shivered in the light breeze. I must
have left the window open. And the curtains. She pulled her
grandmother’s quilt up under her chin and stared at the ceiling,
trying to remember how her night had ended. The sound of a sliding
door made her sit up. Praying her sudden terror didn’t peal through
her voice, she cried, “Who’s there?”
No answer came, but she
heard whoever it was go into the kitchen. She cringed at the sound of
cups and plates cracking against each other. This guy is going to
pay if one edge of George’s favorite crockery is chipped. She
found herself hoping it was Dugan so she could engage in a satisfying
rant.
“Tessa? Are you awake?”
Relief and something warm
and fuzzy flooded through her. “Yes, Cameron.”
“I’m bringing coffee
up.”
A minute later a tall, cool
piece of manhood framed the doorway. He ducked his golden brown head
under the lintel and set a tray down beside the bed. A sunbeam
rippled through the window, melding with Cameron’s eyes. An image
flashed across her mind, of swimming naked in a vernal pool under the
canopied rainforest, begging the green-eyed leopard that drank from
the verge to come make love to her. A heavy body bouncing on the bed
brought her out of the trance. “Stop that! You remind me of my
brother.”
“Was he a brat too?”
Cameron’s eyes glinted with humor.
“Yes.”
“Ah, but he didn’t make
up for it the way I do. At least I hope not.”
Tessa lost her will to argue
as his fingers found their mark under the sheet. “Urgggh. Unnnh.
Oooh.”
“Is that the extent of
your repartee?” His voice—and his fingers—were relentless. Two
fingers kneaded her thigh, then crawled toward the sweet spot. Tessa
could feel her juices start to ooze in anticipation and when the tip
of his thumb bore down on her clitoris her muscles clamped down,
urging him on. Just as the orgasm began to click he pulled out with a
wet, smacking sound. “Cameron!”
“Patience, patience.” He
pulled up the quilt and ducked his head under it. She felt his tongue
flick at the so-sensitive labia and she spread her legs wide to give
him an entrance. The tickling drove her crazy. She wanted to thrash
about, to let herself buck, but feared she’d lose the connection
with that rough, agile tongue. Finally, she slowed, breathing as
steadily as she could, waiting. His fingers joined his tongue in her
hole, rubbing, squeezing, licking. Without warning her climax hit.
Before he could fly off her, she clamped her thighs around his head
and rode his lips like a mermaid on a dolphin, moaning in ecstasy.
When she’d settled back he
extricated himself, whistling softly. “My, we’re certainly
energized today. You were so sedate last night.”
She looked up quickly to see
his mouth tilted up in a waggish grin. Her stomach rumbled, begging
for food, but she decided she could put it off for a few more
minutes. “Let’s see how you handle yourself in a similar
situation.” And she went to work.
Buy Links:
http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=book_info&cPath=4&products_id=500
Amazon:
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Mai-Tais-and-Mayhem-ebook/dp/B00B3YJZJO
Bio
Although M. S. Spencer has lived or
traveled in five continents, the last 30 years have been spent mostly
in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional staff assistant,
speechwriter, editor, birdwatcher, kayaker, policy wonk, non-profit
director and parent. She now divides her time among Virginia, Maine
and Florida. She has published six contemporary romantic suspense
novels.
Ms. Spencer has published six best selling contemporary romance novels. Lost in His Arms is set in the spinning world of 1991 when countries fell like flies and a CIA fixer had his hands full. In Lost and Found we follow a desperate wife searching the wilds of Maine for the husband who disappeared. Losers Keepers is a tale of love, lust and treachery set on the island of Chincoteague. Triptych tells of jealousy and intrigue high above the Potomac River. In Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders, Milo Everhart, artist, meets her match in lawyer Tristram Brodie on the battleground of the old munitions factory turned art center called the Torpedo Factory. Her latest release is Mai Tais & Mayhem: Murder at Mote Marine.
Ms. Spencer has published six best selling contemporary romance novels. Lost in His Arms is set in the spinning world of 1991 when countries fell like flies and a CIA fixer had his hands full. In Lost and Found we follow a desperate wife searching the wilds of Maine for the husband who disappeared. Losers Keepers is a tale of love, lust and treachery set on the island of Chincoteague. Triptych tells of jealousy and intrigue high above the Potomac River. In Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders, Milo Everhart, artist, meets her match in lawyer Tristram Brodie on the battleground of the old munitions factory turned art center called the Torpedo Factory. Her latest release is Mai Tais & Mayhem: Murder at Mote Marine.
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