The Downey Trilogy

Curious about my books? Like drama, suspense, or romance?

The Downey Series consists of The Downey Trilogy (First, I Love You; Second of All; and Third Time’s The Charm) as well as the spin-off romances featuring Dom & Kate (The Bird Day Battalion , The V-Day Aversion, and The Good Life).

The Downey Trilogy novels are contemporary drama/suspense with a romance subplot set in Chicago and Omaha. The Dom & Kate stories are contemporary romance set in the Omaha-Lincoln area of Nebraska. It is not necessary to read The Downey Trilogy to understand the Dom & Kate stories OR vice-versa.

[Start reading First, I Love You for FREE here on my website: Chapter One]

(Free!) (Free!)

How are the books connected?

For starters, both Detective Tommy Gates and his criminal-mastermind father Mickey Downey from The Downey Trilogy are mentioned in The Bird Day Battalion.

Not only that, but Officer Kyle Anderson (who is in all three Dom & Kate books) is briefly mentioned at the end of First, I Love You and shows up again at the end of Second of All. Tommy Gates also makes an appearance in The Good Life.

The Bird Day Battalion occurs before First, I Love You chronologically, but The V-Day Aversion occurs the same month Tommy heads to Chicago for his human trafficking task force in The Downey Trilogy. The Good Life is set after the end of Third Time’s The Charm

It’s not just Kyle and Tommy that connect the books; Mary Gates’ best friend Claire Underwood from First, I Love You–Agent Jack Underwood’s wife–is an Anderson by birth. Her brother, Tom Anderson, is Kyle and Katelyn Anderson’s father. When Kyle Anderson refers to his Aunt Claire in the Tommy Flashback, she is literally his Aunt, versus the fictive use of the moniker by Tommy. Claire also makes a cameo in the Mickey & Mary Flashback.

You can read MORE about the characters from the Downey series here:

CHARACTER TIDBITS

MICKEY’S FAMILY TREE

You can read the free supplemental Flash-fictions here:

NEW BEGINNINGS (A Tommy Gates and Kyle Anderson Flashback)

This short scene features a young Tommy Gates and Kyle Anderson and is set shortly before the flashback scene in the first chapter of First, I Love You in which Mickey finds Mary & Tommy.

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SPIN THE BOTTLE (A Dominic Valentini and Katelyn Anderson Flashback)

This is a look at the spin the bottle game that Kate references in Bird Day Battalion. Little Tommy Gates makes a brief cameo at the party.

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ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT KNEES (A Dominic Valentini and Katelyn Anderson Flashback)

This is a short holiday scene between Dom and Kate set the Christmas before they get together in Bird Day Battalion. It is very fluffy and G-rated. Published in A World of Joy Anthology.

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HER PRINCE (A Mickey Downey & Mary Gates Flashback)

This scene features a nineteen year old Mary Gates, freshly arrived in New York, talking with her new best friend Claire (Anderson) Underwood about the mysterious new man she started seeing, Michael…something or another.

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CONVERSATIONS AT 30,000 FT (A Maeve Downey & Ginny Sommers Missing Scene)

This is a quick missing moment from Second of All set aboard the flight to Dublin that both Maeve and Ginny are on.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY (A Kiki Downey & James Hoffman Missing Scene)

A Kiki Downey & James Hoffman missing love scene from First, I Love You set shortly after they “hook up” for the first time as Kiki puts it. Published in A World of Romance Anthology — (Warning! 18+ For Sexual Material!)

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SECOND CHANCES (A Mickey Downey & Mary Gates Flashback)

A flashback to when Mary tells Mickey she is pregnant with Tommy, and Mickey persuades her to be his mistress. — (Warning: 18+ For Language and Brief Sexual Material)

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LETTERS FROM MICKEY DOWNEY (Letters Mickey Downey wrote to his loved ones)

These are the letters referenced in The Downey Trilogy that Mickey wrote to his loved ones over the years. In the books, the reader rarely gets to see the contents of these letters so I have begun sharing them as periodic blog posts. Check back as I add more.

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It’s September! Here’s a new Letter From Mickey for my Downey Trilogy fans:

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Dear Joey,

Your last letter gave me quite the laugh! The cheek of you! Alright then, if you want me to trust you with my jet you’re going to have to tell me what the message is hidden within this tale:

Back when Finn was still the adventuring sort and fond of women and drink — well, more so than he was at the time of this tale, in any case — he came across a young scamp. This boy said he’d take care of Finn’s horse in exchange for a few coins. Now, Finn had already spent the coin he had on the aforementioned activities, but he knew the horse was in need of care.

So, he says to the lad, “Tis true the horse needs attending but I’ve a more pressing matter that’ll earn you double the coin… if you’re interested.”

The boy’s eyes lit up at the opportunity, for he was hungrier than a louse on a bald man, and at least three times more clever than hungry. “Oh, tell me, please,” the boy pleaded.

“Take the horse down the lane, past old man McIntyre’s, then take a right turn by the old oak and another by the raspberry thicket. There you’ll see a farm of some size. Knock on the door and say you’re delivering a message from Finnegan.”

“And what’s the message, sir?” the boy asked.

“That is the message, lad.”

The boy furrowed his brows, but agreed to take the horse. When he arrived at the place, he was greeted by an old hag rather fearsome in visage.

“Oh, ho, so Finnegan’s finally been gotten the better of, eh?” the old woman asked.

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but she waggled a wizened finger at him, “And don’t be thinkin’ I’ll be paying a thief who got the better of another thief, boyo!” Then she grabbed the horse’s reins and pulled him inside.

Realizing he had been had, the boy shouted, “Wait! I found the horse and I was just returning it. I don’t know this Finnegan. I was only hoping for a bit of bread and a place to stay. Perhaps if I clean the stall, I could rest with the horse for the night?”

The old woman paused and contemplated the offer. The boy did look rather peckish and he reminded her of her son at that age. “Alright, lad. I’ll have Moira bring you some bread and goat’s milk. Ye’ll be off at morning’s light.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he assured her.

And come the morning, her stalls shined as if they’d been built yesterday. And they were just as empty. When she returned to the kitchen, Moira asked her why she was smiling so.

“Why, because I’ve finally gotten rid of all my son’s stolen horses without having to answer any questions! What a good boy, my Finnegan is.”

I love you, Joey. Do try and be good in as much as that’s possible for any Downey.

Your loving father, Mickey.

Read the rest of the letters here: Letters From Mickey Downey

Fluffy, frisky, angsty!

No, they’re not Snow White’s naughty dwarfs, just missing scenes!

If you’re new here and you’d like a no-commitment taste of my books, or maybe you’re just bored, below are links to the free supplemental scenes from my novels. Some are fluffy, some frisky, well, you get the idea…

(And FYI: In between writing on my super angsty work-in-progress, and real life, I am working on another Downey/Anderson outtake set the Christmas AFTER all the books!)

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NEW BEGINNINGS (A Tommy Gates and Kyle Anderson Flashback)

This short scene features a young Tommy Gates and Kyle Anderson and is set shortly before the flashback scene in the first chapter of First, I Love You in which Mickey finds Mary & Tommy. Rated G.

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SPIN THE BOTTLE (A Dominic Valentini and Katelyn Anderson Flashback)

This is a look at the spin the bottle game that Kate references in Bird Day Battalion. Little Tommy Gates makes a brief cameo at the party. Rated PG.

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THE GOOD LIFE PROLOGUE (A Dominic Valentini and Kyle Anderson Flashback)

This is a wedding jitters scene between Dom and Kyle set before Dom’s wedding to Isabel Alesio, about three years before Dom and Kate get together in Bird Day Battalion. It’s not technically a missing scene, but I’m including it here anyway. Rated PG.

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ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT KNEES (A Dominic Valentini and Katelyn Anderson Flashback)

This is a short holiday scene between Dom and Kate set the Christmas before they get together in Bird Day Battalion. Published in A World of Joy Anthology. Rated G.

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HER PRINCE (A Mickey Downey & Mary Gates Flashback)

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CONVERSATIONS AT 30,000 FT (A Maeve Downey & Ginny Sommers Missing Scene)

This is a quick missing moment from Second of All set aboard the flight to Dublin that both Maeve and Ginny are on. Rated PG.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY (A Kiki Downey & James Hoffman Missing Scene)

A Kiki Downey & James Hoffman missing love scene from First, I Love You set shortly after they “hook up” for the first time as Kiki puts it. Published in A World of Romance Anthology – Rated R, For Sexual Material.

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SECOND CHANCES (A Mickey Downey & Mary Gates Flashback)

A flashback to when Mary tells Mickey she is pregnant with Tommy, and Mickey persuades her to be his mistress. – Rated R, For Language and Sexual Material.

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LETTERS FROM MICKEY DOWNEY (Letters Mickey Downey wrote to his loved ones)

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Random Author Ramble: Taking liberties, shoutouts, and being too “clever”

What started this meander was thinking about research put into fictional books. It’s true there are some great fiction novels that practically exude “this author researched the heck outta this” and then there are others that exude “aw, come on, that would never happen, what is this, Sci Fi?”.

My own personal style? I’m somewhere in between. As some of you know I love, looooove, love things having to do with American gangsters–usually old school gangsters of the Luciano and Capone sort. I also love the rich history of the FBI and other crime-fighting branches of the US Government. Everyone and their dog knows by now that I love the history of Chicago and the history of Nebraska (the two of which have quite a long history of being connected). My family’s from Chicago, I’ve heard tons of interesting stories. I grew up in Nebraska (for the most part) so I’ve an inherent knowledge of that unique whatever that makes up a Nebraskan.

Does that mean I am 100% accurate all the time in my books? Of course not. And, I will confess, intentionally not. Why? Because I’m telling a story, a fictional story. I took some liberties. Quite a few liberties, as only the purists will know. *waves* Sometimes this is to protect the truth, but most of the time it’s because I think that’s our right as authors, in essence, to say, “Yeah, but what IF it were to happen this way?” So, some things are made up and some things are shout-outs. Some things would never happen (particularly with regard to some of my law enforcement characters), and others are as accurate as I can make it. As a reader, I have always enjoyed sorting out what is an actual place, person or thing, versus what the author just made up. So when I write, I write as that type of reader.

For instance, in The Good Life there’s Castle Corner. Which does not exist. Nor does Anderson Adventures. Yet I have shout-outs to all sorts of places that do exist like The Cornhusker, and Karma nightclub, Lo Sole Mio, Runza, Valentino’s, Mahoney State Park, Roncalli Catholic, and yeesh, many, many more Nebraska things. And while Ashland absolutely does exist (I love that town!), I didn’t even bother to try to be accurate in any shape or form. It’s alternate universe Ashland and Gretna, where the Anderson and Valentini families run amuck. Well, not amuck, but dispense shenanigans on the regular. So, when I write, I’m saying have fun on your scavenger hunt of hidden meanings and clues, but don’t take it so seriously!

Unfortunately, I have discovered there are some readers who find that confusing. For instance, just today I was asked about this passage at the end of The Good Life:

“Mmm, I dunno, I usually go for the scruffy nerf-herders instead of peace-keepers,” she pushed him up and tapped the St. Christopher medal around his neck.

“But I sense the force is strong with you… Get it? Because you’re on the force…” She dissolved into snorts on her way to the door.

I can totally understand, based on the dialogue, where the reader might ask, oh, is a St. Christopher medal for law enforcement? And no, I have had to answer a number of times already, that is St. Michael, the patron saint of law enforcement. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. I was trying to be clever that Kyle was Demi’s home port, so to speak, after her travels away from Nebraska. But, as my inbox would suggest, I was too “clever”, meaning not clever at all. Haha! Ah well, I’m sure there were plenty of you who didn’t pay it any mind. Just like I’m pretty sure by now my friends connected to the Omaha Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have learned to just “go with it” and have a chuckle at their fictional counterparts. I’m just telling a story here, people!

What was my point?

As usual, I have no real point except to admit that I enjoy when people discover/recognize my nods to history and real places and people that, yes, I did, on purpose, flirt with the “that would never happen” and I was trying to be clever with hidden meanings. I’ll just have to hope my readers forgive me when I fail miserably, haha!

What about you, as a reader or author, how accurate do you like your stories to be?

Missing Tommy&Ginny from The Downey Trilogy? Here’s a peek at Dom&Kate’s wedding in #TheGoodLife

I’ve put up teasers from THE GOOD LIFE on this website before.

Here’s another one I shared the other day on Facebook featuring Ginny and Tommy from The Downey Trilogy:

THE GOOD LIFE

“Man, I love weddings,” Ginny Sommers declared breathlessly as she joined them, all but dragging Tommy behind her. “And this is our third in the last six weeks.”

“Third?” Tommy frowned.

“Your parents, then Kiki and James—”

“My dad’s doesn’t count as a wedding so much as a media circus fused with an inter-agency cluster-fuck.”

Ginny shrugged and grinned at both Kyle and Demi, “Anyway. Never gets old, weddings. The awkward social interplay between now connected strangers, the equally awkward ritual of…” she broke off and cocked her head. “Why don’t you two get up and dance?”

“Might be awkward with the plate full of cake between us,” Kyle joked.

Demi choked a bit on the bite in her mouth.

Tommy chuckled. “Talked to the DJ and the groom, and they’re going to do the official ‘aw, wook at da happy couple’ dance they forgot to do, so that means you guys are gonna have to shortly thereafter.”

“Aw, thanks for that,” Kyle responded with an insincere grin.

“Hey, no problem, partner,” Tommy replied with an equal amount of sarcasm. “But it ain’t about you. Rain man here can’t stand it when the rituals aren’t obeyed.”

“Uh!” Ginny smacked him. “I am not that bad.”

“You and Kyle’s sister—Kate—would get along great,” Demi laughed.

“As it happens, I’ve just finished chatting with the bride. We gave each other the standard anthropologist hand shake.”

Tommy laughed, “Which, near as I can tell, is an alcoholic beverage and mentioning Binford, or Boas, or Goodall…”

“…And other people no one’s heard of,” Kyle concurred.

“Everyone knows who Jane Goodall is,” Demi scoffed. “Anyone who actually cares about the environment and not slaughtering animals does anyway. I wouldn’t expect Mr. I Heart Bacon here to understand.”

Tommy snickered.

“I’ve mentioned Demi’s a bunny-hugging twig-eater, haven’t I?” Kyle teased.

Ginny seemed amused by the exchange, but she didn’t respond beyond a quick clink of her glass with Demi’s. Kyle flashed a grin at Demi who opened her mouth, flushed, then quickly turned back to Ginny.

“It’s nice you could get time off to come be Tommy’s date, Agent Sommers,” Demi said, dusting off that ethereal tone.

As usual it gave Kyle the twin desire to shake her and kiss her. He dropped his hand to slide it between her legs. She stopped it with her own and dug her fingernails into his skin. Interestingly, she didn’t move his hand.

“Call me Ginny,” Sommers protested. “And it’s pretty easy actually; I always schedule visits with work, so technically I’m here to consult on a case. What I do on my off time is my business.” She adjusted the special harness she wore to conceal her sidearm with her dress.

“It helps there’s an actual FBI budget line for ‘spying on Tommy Gates’,” Tommy snickered. He dodged the smack she sent his way.

Ginny hesitated and tilted her head shoulder to shoulder with an endearing sort of grimace, “Actually, that’s sort of the truth.”

They looked at each other and laughed. The love in their gazes was easily apparent and almost made Kyle feel like he was intruding witnessing it. He shot a side glance towards Demi. She was watching them with a wistful hint of a smile.

“We prefer to think of it as monitoring known contacts of fugitives on our Most Wanted list,” Ginny continued.

“Details,” Tommy acknowledged with an eyebrow wiggle.

“Only, I am not paid to watch him—”

“She just does it for free,” Tommy interrupted with a snicker.

“On account of the obvious,” she finished with a laugh, grabbing his hand and interlacing their fingers.

“It must be difficult to live so far from each other…” Demi said absently. She was staring at her plate, moving bits of cake crumbs into formations, looking pensive.

“Mmn, we make it work,” Tommy said with a shrug. “It’s not preferable, but she’s worth breaking my strict no-long-distant-relationships rule. And she’s Aunt Claire approved.”

Kyle chuckled. Claire Anderson-Underwood was a sweet and steady woman who didn’t speak much, but she could ferret out a bad match the way a fox could sniff out a hare, and was never shy about sharing her opinion if she felt someone wasn’t worthy of one of her loved ones.

“It’s great Aunt Claire and Uncle Jack could drive over from Chicago,” Kyle acknowledged. “It means the world to Katie.”

“Oh, she gave Ginny the thumbs up way back when I started working on the Bonanno case with Uncle Jack,” Tommy said.

“You know what I learned from meeting Tommy on that case and getting to know his family?” Ginny said ponderously. Her gaze suddenly locked on Demi’s. “I learned that, truly, some lives are meant to connect. They intersect, ebb away, then reconnect again, defying all logic, or practicality. The joy is in accepting it, and in doing so, we figure out why. And then the practicalities just have a way of working themselves out.”

“Yes, she does always speak in riddles like that,” Tommy joked with heavy sarcasm.

3 books for 3 bucks? Say what? YES! The Downey Trilogy is on sale Apr 6-12

DowneyTrilogybanner

ALL the drama, intrigue and romance you could need for ONLY $3!

For the week of April 6th- April 12th, all three books in The Downey Trilogy have been reduced to $.99 each!

This is a great time to share your love of the Downeys with your friends! Or maybe you’ve been meaning to pick up the last book and just haven’t gotten around to it! Maybe you just thought you’d like to sink your teeth into a new series, and happen to love mafia families, cops, Federal Agents, character based dramas, stories about love, betrayal, and redemption. Maybe it’s a Tuesday.

In any case, I hope you’ll spread the word.

First, I Love You (Downey #1)

“Love knows no time, or distance, and it certainly knows no reason.”

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Second of All (Downey #2)

“Oh, the sweet, painful pleasure of anticipation!”

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Third Time’s The Charm (Downey #3)

“What makes a family is love and loyalty.”

That one post in which Gen answers @laDEEda51’s questions about The Writing Process

So, my friend Deidre at The Red Velvet Chair asked me to be a stopping point on a blog hop about The Writing Process. I told her I am the chainmail killer. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually tagged forward on one of these things. She was all, ‘pssh, don’t care, whateves’. So I agreed to answer the questions, on the off-chance you were curious as to the answers. It totally wasn’t hard and I’m not sure why I was whining in the first place (story of my life).

Gen’s Writing:

1. What are you working on?

I am currently writing The Good Life, a full length Dom & Kate novel. It features the characters in my popular free short romance The Bird Day Battalion set in Nebraska. Even though Dom and Kate’s love story is still a major part of the plot, as it centers around their wedding (Ooops! Spoiler! LOL), the main romance is between Kate’s twin brother Kyle and Dom’s sister Demetria. It’s a funny, quirky romance with a strong emphasis on the bonds of family and friendship, a recurrent theme in all my writing. Fans of Bad Penny and Caroline in the V-Day Aversion (Dom&Kate#2) will be happy to know they both make an appearance.

2. How does your work differ from others?

Hmmn, that’s a tough one I guess in that we all write differently. All my stories are told 3rd person, in that manner in which the prose is narrated by the character, thus prone to vernacular. Also, Bird Day Battalion is the only book I’ve written in which there is only one point of view (Kate’s). All my other books have at least two points of view. First, I Love You has six, (seven if you count the epilogue!) Some like that sort of “head-hopping”, others don’t, however it is not the same sort of head-hopping you would find in a Nora Roberts novel in which you are privy to the thoughts and feelings of more than one character in the same scene, omniscient style. In my books when it is Kate’s point of view, for instance, it is constrained to her and what she knows and feels like in Harry Potter. I also make it a point to include sex scenes from both the female and male point of view which is not always found in romance or family dramas, it’s usually one or the other.

3. Why do you write what you do?

Well…I don’t know. I write what I love, I guess. Family dynamics, love and loyalty, romance, cops and mobsters. I wrote The Downey Trilogy set mostly in Chicago because I love that city; it is where my family is from. Likewise, I set Bird Day in Nebraska because that is where I was born and raised (mostly).

4. How does your writing process work?

I let ideas and scenes mull around in my head for a while before I write them down. Usually I type them up without writing them on paper, but sometimes I simply have to get them out and then if I am not near my computer, I’ll write them down on whatever I have nearby. I don’t usually write in sequence, or rather I do, but will leave out entire blocks if a later scene is just vivid in my head. Then I go back and bridge to it. I’ll write a scene, flesh it out, then rewrite it a bit, then edit, then edit, then edit. It’s a very circular or ebb and flow process. I try not to force myself to write if the mood is not with me. On those days I edit or proofread or block chapters out (meaning I write down who is in each chapter and what happens, so I can make sure it flows, and there are no major anachronisms or gaps). Oftentimes in the course of doing that, I will end up writing anyway. If all else fails, I strap my inner Hemingway on and fix myself some whiskey. ;p

Thank you, Dee! *smooches*

Goodbye hearts, hello shamrocks. I’m ready to let my inner Irish out.

There are lots of parts to me (and my family), but I’ve always been proud of the Irish bits and pieces. Why? Because I associate these parts with laughter, love, loyalty and perseverance. Is this exclusive to Irish folk? Nah, of course not. But every March when everyone becomes a wee bit Irish for a day, I smile and think it’s funny people think of drinking and parades. Because to me it’s always been about family and faith… that wee part of me.

Alright, enough of the pointless blither blather. I’m dusting off a Letter From Mickey that contains the sort of wisdom my grandpa was fond of sending me in HIS letters:

Dear Tommy,

First, I love you and I hope you are well!

A little birdie told me your hockey team didn’t make it to the finals. I am sorry to hear this and I know it is not from any lack on your part. You are quite talented, I am sure. Defeats are a part of life’s lessons for us I am afraid. Sadly they only get harsher as life moves on. But it is how you handle these disappointments that makes the mettle of a man. But I have no worries there, even as a young child you always brushed off disappointments with only a minimal fuss. A trait you get from your mother, no doubt, as it couldn’t have been easy raising you alone but she never complained. Even in the end shortly before she left, for as many arguments as we had she still was as loving and patient as ever. Every day I was able to spend with you, she always had a smile on her face and no matter the struggles she had, she could always find a way to spin a positive out of it. I remember one time when you were only about 2 years old, she had been ill all week with the Flu and had lost her waitressing job from the missed work. I brought her roses and the rent for the remainder of the year expecting to have to comfort her. But you know what she did? She smiled wide, handed you to me, and said, ‘I’m only sad I can’t smell these roses.’ I fed you dinner (spaghetti-os were your favorite) and I even got to give you your bath, something your mother usually did herself as I apparently made too much of a mess playing battleship with you. It was my habit each night I got to spend with you to rock you to sleep telling you stories your great grandfather, Seamus O’Malley, had passed on to me. Now, there is a man whose veins run with pure steel–he never met a disappointment he couldn’t turn into a blessing! He is a full 45 years older than I, yet he can still run circles around me in a spirited argument and still carves every day. If I possess even half of his vigor at his age I will truly be blessed. Anyway, this story was one of your favorites, or I should say, sent you to sleep the fastest, which in retrospect might be saying the opposite. You’ll have to tell me which case it is upon hearing it at an older age:

Finnegan had been a hard working man, if the work you were speaking about was finding ways to do the least amount of work to gain the most. One of his favorite things to do was trick people in to buying his tales of magical healing wells. Now back then people had heard of Brigid’s Well but few knew where to find it. Finnegan would spin a yarn about how he had thrice been cured by it himself and he knew the secret path to get there. They would pay him in food and shelter and other such comforts to show them where the well existed. But wily Finnegan would lead them around in circles until they were good and dizzy then leave them off at the nearest spring he could find. By the time they discovered the water was just ordinary water, he would be long gone. One night he was sleeping in a barn and a Wee One appeared before him.

“Finnegan,” she said. “It just so happens there is such a well in Kildare as to make a sick man healed. Would you like to know how to find it?”

“Oh, yes, very much,” Finnegan replied, thanking his good fortune, but suspicious of it just the same. “What is it you would want in exchange?”

“You must agree never to trick others again. And, I must warn you, you can only drink the water if you truly seek healing.”

“Of course,” Finnegan agreed, while crossing his finger behind him.

The Wee One told him the well’s location and Finnegan began searching for it, out of curiosity and avarice. But every time he would get near where the well was supposed to be, he would find he was right back where he had started. But he would always begin again thinking this would be the time he would find it. He began to waste away from obsession and lack of food. One day as he was resting on a low wall along came a fair maiden. She gave him some warm bread and he told her of his quest. He figured he had been tricked by the Wee One just as he had tricked others because even now, when he was truly sick, he still could not find the water.

“You poor dear,” the girl said. “I’m afraid Morrigan left out the most important part. You must truly want to get well to find the water in the first place.”

“What foolishness is this?” Finnegan asked. “Of course I want to get well!” And he did, for she was quite beautiful and he could see himself raising goats and children with her as a good and honest man.

“Then drink,” Brigid said and waved her hand. Behind her apace was a small circle of stones with a bucket suspended atop. He drank the cool, mossy water and suddenly felt no desire to wander anymore.

He settled down and made a good life with her. But one day his past came to haunt him as these things tend to do. One of the people he had tricked in the past came seeking justice. When Finnegan offered to let him drink from their well, the man thought he was being tricked yet again and absconded with Finnegan’s bride. Enraged, Finnegan armed himself and his children and swore vengeance upon the man and all who would aid him, vowing he would not stop until he was reunited with his fair love. But he did not know Brigid had sacrificed herself rather than be used by his enemies. So, endlessly he searched, killing all those who dared try and stop him. After each battle, those who would come to claim the bodies of their kin would swear Brigid’s ghost would wander about the dead, crying for their souls, and singing: ‘Until we meet again, my love, until we meet again’.

Then one day, wearied unto his soul from his searching, Finnegan laid down his weapons and gathered his children and grandchildren near and said, ‘enough’ and breathed his last breath, thus finally being reunited with his eternal bride. But his children did not weep, for there is nothing so perfect as a thing with no ending and no beginning, such as a family of souls intertwined.

My dear boy, I think of this story often when I think of you and your mother, not just because it reminds me of when we were together, but because it gives me comfort knowing that eventually, we will be a family again.

Your loving father,

Mickey.

Dom and Kate fans, thanks for making V-Day a chart topper too!

The month of February, V-Day Aversion has been FREE at all eBookstores!

(It goes back to $.99 March 1st)

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And Bird Day Battalion is always FREE!

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The V-Day Aversion has charted decently well in the paid short romance category at Apple, but not since its initial release last year have I seen it in the top ten short romance at Amazon. Of course, that’s only on the free chart this month, which matters to some, but not to me. Why? Because I’m happy new people are reading it! And I’m happy because it means YOU have been spreading the word! I do so love it when people fall in love with Dom & Kate enough to recommend it to their friends. That’s the best kind of endorsement there is!

And I hope that means you are getting excited for The Good Life!

In case you were unaware, you can also read some free flashbacks here on the website:

New Beginnings (A Kyle Anderson & Tommy Gates Flashback) Rated G

Spin The Bottle (A Kate Anderson & Dom Valentini Flashback) Rated PG

All I Want for Christmas… (A Kate Anderson & Dom Valentini Flashback) Rated G

And today I made a little tiny kinship chart (It’s the Anthropologist in me, LOL! Kate would understand.) to maybe help some sort out who’s who to whom… and whatnot. You’ll probably need to click on it to read it better.

And you can learn more about how the Andersons are connected to the Downey Trilogy here:

More About The Downeys

Happy reading!

Gen

SPECIAL DELIVERY (A Kiki and James missing scene from First, I Love You) #NSFW 18+!

Special Delivery is a Kiki Downey & James Hoffman missing love scene from First, I Love You. (18+ NSFW!)

Special Delivery can also be found in A World of Romance Anthology:

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SPECIAL DELIVERY

By Genevieve Dewey

Kiki Downey changed the wording on the last sentence of her blog post for what she hoped was the last time then hit . She was pretty sure her copy editor was only making her submit yet another draft to him because she had turned him down for a date again. He never cared what she wrote in her blog before and this nit-picking was the only change in the routine. She doubted he had developed a sudden love for wedding coordinations.

She crooked her head. On the other hand, maybe he’d finally found The One. Even a beady-eyed, sweaty-palmed rodent like him could find love.

She sighed. No, if he had found someone he wouldn’t have tried to grope her the last time she went over to the Sun-Times building. She really didn’t want to have to talk to the Editor in Chief about him. She knew for a fact her boss was terrified of Daddy and she liked to think she had this job because she possessed a keen sense of fashion and not because she had a mobster for a father… and grandfather… and cousin… and Godfather…

The knock on her door jerked her from her meandering thoughts and she popped up to answer it.

“Who is it?” She asked as she undid the bolt.

“Special Delivery!”

Kiki brightened. It was only a week past her birthday. Maybe it was a late present. She opened the door to see Agent James Hoffman with a smirk on his face. He slouched against the door jamb with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a take-out bag.

“You always answer the door without looking first?” James asked. “What’s the point of asking who it is if you’re just going to open the door for every Tom, Dick, and Harry anyway?”

Kiki let out a nervous giggle. Her heart started racing and she could feel her cheeks flooding with red. A visit so soon after their hook-up on Sunday? She slowly smoothed the front of her velour track suit—to make sure it was showing all the most important parts, of course—and opened the door wider.

His smirk morphed into a frown and he stopped the super-sexy broody slouch thing to walk past her into her apartment.

“Seriously, Kiki, you shouldn’t open the door without looking first. And you should keep your latch on, too,” James continued as he set the takeout bag on her coffee table.

Kiki sighed. She had enough men in her life being overprotective worrywarts she didn’t need her new… Hookup? Co-conspirator? Whatever he was… nagging her. She grabbed her hair and twisted it into a loop in back as she walked over to the divan and flopped onto it. She enjoyed the way his eyes followed her every move.

“I’ll keep that in mind… um… what was your name again?” she asked, trying hard to keep the smile from her lips. She tamped down the shudder of pleasure at the predatory look in his eyes.

He chuckled. “Play nice, kitty cat, and I might share. I only have a half hour before I have to be at the Federal Building.”

“Share what?” She purred, running the zipper up and down slowly on her track suit. “And you know you’ll never make it in time. Besides, it’s rather presumptuous of you to think I’d want to play anything. I’m a busy girl.”

“You want me to go, Katherine?”

She shivered at the use of her given name. Of course she didn’t want him to go, and he knew it. But she did have somewhere to be this afternoon, too. She was going to meet up with Tommy’s mother Mary. Mary’s support would further James and Kiki’s mutual goal of convincing her brother Tommy to let Daddy back in his life. James insisted doing so would help his and Tommy’s current case, but Kiki was only going along with it because having Tommy back in the fold—Detective or not—was the one thing Daddy wanted most. This sex-on-the-side thing between her and James was supposedly a separate thing entirely. She’d never dated a DEA Agent before; it’d be a nice change of pace being with one of the so-called ‘good guys’… assuming he wasn’t just using her.

Kiki hopped back up to grab the takeout bag and swing it playfully.

“So, what’s on the menu, Agent Hoffman? Taco? Clam? Sausage? Hot dog and a donut?”

His whole body shook from laughter. He snatched at the bag but she sidestepped him and deliberately rubbed up against his back as she danced away.

“Now, I know you haven’t forgotten my first name,” James drawled, turning around and shoving his hands back in his tight jeans. “After all, it was on your lips so many times the other night.”

His dimpled grin and twinkling eyes had her breath catching. He was so damn sexy even out of his formal wear. And the black shirt and leather jacket he was wearing with jeans seemed to highlight the contrast of blue eyes and black hair. He started walking toward her and she started backing up.

“How come you aren’t wearing a suit and tie? Isn’t that standard Federal Agent gear?”

“In general, drug runners don’t care how we look when busting their door down. All that matters is the gun and the handcuffs.”

“That’s kinda hot, maybe you should show me how that works sometime.”

He laughed outright then he shrugged out of his jacket and shoulder harness, all without stopping his menacing approach. Oh, please let him be for real, and not just another manipulator, Kiki thought. James made a grab for the bag but she hid it behind her and kept backing up down the hall. He only deepened the grin and started taking his shirt off.

Kiki bit her lip to keep from panting. Holy cow, he was… wow… ten times as amazing in the daylight. His hands swiftly unzipped his jeans and he managed to simply walk out of them and his shoes. She was so mesmerized by him that the crunch of the takeout bag smacking the end of the hallway wall startled her. She barely had time to register the thunk of it hitting the ground before his hand hooked behind her and yanked her flush up against him.

She frantically started to tug at her track suit. Why was she still wearing the damn thing? It didn’t matter anyway. He made short work of it and then she was soaring through the air in to her bedroom. She would have sucked her breath in at the swooping sensation in her tummy except his tongue was in her mouth and who could think about breathing anyway?

Her hands sunk into his short black curls and she wrapped her now naked legs around his waist. She thought he would set her down on the bed but he turned at the last second and sat on the edge. His lips finally left hers to explore her neck.

Oh, how she loved his neck kisses. It was some strange combination of kissing, licking and nibbling that made her feel like ice cream melting in July. She wanted him to lick her all over and eat her up. Literally. The way his fingers gripped her ass and pressed her up against his cock, his hot breath and his efficient mouth… this man played her body like it had been special-ordered just for him.

His tongue licked along her collar bone and he rubbed her wetness against his cock some more. His shaft was hitting her clit just right and he seemed to know when she was ramping up towards an orgasm because he would painfully grip her hips and stop just as she got there. She began to whimper from the teasing and he chuckled again, damn him.

Well, two could play that game.

She stopped gripping his shoulders and started running her fingers up and down his back in a half scratching, half tickling manner. He shuddered as her finger teased his crack.

“Say my name,” he demanded.

“Oh, how terribly cliché of you, Agent Hoffman,” Kiki snickered and licked her lips. She watched his nostrils flare a bit and he bit his lip for a brief moment. Then he stood up and tossed her on the bed. She rolled over to crawl further up the bed but he trapped her face down and straddled her, hands pinning her wrists. She could feel his cock prodding at her ass.

“James!”

“Ahhh…see? Now, that wasn’t so hard,” he snickered then started nibbling at her back.

It didn’t hurt at all, just sort of made her tingle all over. She squirmed underneath him and he let out a groan. He lifted one hand up and yanked the drawer open on her nightstand to grab a condom. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest her ribs ached. She wasn’t ready for any backdoor action if that was what he was going for. On the other hand, he had done things to her the other night no one had ever dared before and she had enjoyed every single delicious second.

He let go of her other wrist and raised her hips. His cock entered her and she sucked in her breath. No, no backdoor action yet, but she felt suddenly dizzy from the strange sense of disappointment that brought. No one had ever made her wonder or want to know what that would be like before.

Suddenly his mouth was next to her ear and he whispered, “I haven’t been able get the other night out of my mind. I can’t stop thinking about you.” His husky voice seemed to immobilize her. He licked her earlobe. “About all the things I want to do to you…”

His fingers trailed lightly along her sides and she squealed from the tickling sensation. Her legs trembled and she felt gooey and helpless in an erotic sort of way.

He licked along her spine as his hips set a demanding pace. She grabbed the comforter underneath her and pushed back so he would have better penetration.

“Katherine…” he let out in a sort of whispery groan. It was simply amazing how he managed to make such a stodgy old name sound sexy.

“James… please… I need to touch you,” Kiki said.

It was the truth; she needed to feel his strong chest muscles and watch his eyes as he came. It was the only time his face had betrayed any vulnerability with her in the short time they’d known each other. And really the only time since she’d met him Saturday that she had felt even remotely in control.

He let out a quick breath and pulled out. He flipped her so fast her hair got caught but the pain of it left her as soon as he entered her again. She was denied the pleasure of watching his face, though, because his mouth was on hers in a bruising, ferocious kiss. She moved one hand to his head to yank on his hair, and the other to his ass to rest a finger between his cheeks. His mouth left hers and she could hear his breath hitch.

“God, stop, baby—I can’t—I won’t be able—” He struggled to get the words out. His pace doubled and his face cramped up in a panicky expression.

She knew he was about to come and was fighting it. The way he needed her was nothing short of intoxicating. She clamped her muscles around his cock and came apart watching his face battle for control.

He groaned with his own release and it vibrated against her body.

“Ahhh,” she sobbed as the force of it had her coming a second time. She gripped his hips and pressed him against her one last time to keep the waves of sensation coming.

His arms holding himself up were trembling slightly and he dropped his forehead to hers. He let out a shaky laugh then kissed her quickly and rolled off.

Kiki stretched lazily like a cat, enjoying the soporific after-glow.

James sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed his underwear.

“Shit,” he mumbled as he looked at his watch.

“What?”

“Gonna be late,” he muttered as he quickly started gathering his clothes.

She sighed. So much for any post-coital cuddling. She followed him into the living room, not bothering to get dressed. Let him see what he was leaving, so he’ll come back for more, her mind whispered. It sounded a bit like her mother’s voice and that was more than a little disturbing so she plastered a cheerful, carefree, don’t-worry-about-me mask on her face.

He was dressed and fastening his holster in record time. He checked his phone with a frown, face otherwise completely free of emotion. He looked up briefly as he turned the knob on her front door and a quick blink was the only reaction to her still being naked. He flashed that devastating grin.

“Call you tonight?” he asked and shut the door before she could answer.

Kiki blinked at the door in the sudden silence. The door opened again.

“Latch the door,” James said and slammed it shut.

She sighed and retrieved the take-out bag from the hallway. She looked inside it and saw her favorite Portillo’s sandwich.

Bring her something, followed by a quickie? Check.

Immediately after, consult watch and phone for work? Check.

Ambiguous promise of future hookups? Check.

Yeah, so far, dating a Federal Agent wasn’t too much different than dating one of her father’s ‘employees’.

The bright side?

The sex was amazing and unlike the men who worked for Daddy, she wouldn’t ever have to worry about sending him care-packages in the clink. And if James was using her, well, she could tell herself she was using him as well. Plus, she perked up, they had known each other less than a week and he had already sent her half a dozen texts, had sex with her at least that many times, called her once, and made her breakfast. Come to think of it… this might be her first ever real grownup-type relationship.

She smiled and grabbed her phone to call Mary.

It was time to get cracking on James and Kiki’s ‘mutually beneficial’ plan, and maybe she could get all of her wishes.

How are the books connected?

You can read MORE about the characters from the Downey series here:

You can read the free supplemental Flash-fictions here:

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No, they’re not Snow White’s naughty dwarfs, just missing scenes!

If you’re new here and you’d like a no-commitment taste of my books, or maybe you’re just bored, below are links to the free supplemental scenes from my novels. Some are fluffy, some frisky, well, you get the idea…

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What about you, as a reader or author, how accurate do you like your stories to be?

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Gen’s Writing:

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The month of February, V-Day Aversion has been FREE at all eBookstores!

(It goes back to $.99 March 1st)

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SPECIAL DELIVERY

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