Sharing the Solstice with You!

July 5, 2019

— Goodreads giveaway! STRANGERS SHE KNOWS!

— Sharing our solstice celebration!

— At last! A cover and excerpt for HIDDEN TRUTHS!

Happy Canada Day!
Happy Independence Day!
Happy There’s a Goodreads Giveaway for STRANGERS SHE KNOWS and You Can’t Wait to Enter Day!
Enter to win 1 of 10 Advanced Reader Copies of Strangers She Knows by Christina Dodd, which is out September 17 but you could win it sooner! I would love for all the copies to go to my newsletter friends. Go forth and Enter!

While you’re at Goodreads, why not follow me? Or send me a friend request? I’d be delighted to meet you there.

Sharing our solstice celebration!

You all know about our stone circle and that The Husband and I (and family if they’re around) go out to greet the dawn on the summer solstice. Because we live in NW Washington, sometimes we have to be patient before the morning skies clear enough for us to see the sun rise. This year, we celebrated on June 25th. It was lovely as always. I filmed a video to share with you (19 seconds); the sun is coming through the trees and between the two key stones, and The Husband steps in to throw a bundle of lavender on the fire. Enjoy this special moment with us!

Announcing HIDDEN TRUTHS

HIDDEN TRUTHS is the upcoming suspense novella (September 1, less than two months!) starring Kellen Adams and her new family, and at last we have a cover. To celebrate, please enjoy this teaser excerpt!

      Max Di Luca placed the two flat pillows against the wall, sat on the bed, put his feet up and called home.
      His mother answered the phone. “Max. Are you all right?”
      “I’m fine. I’m at the motel—”
      “Motel? You’re at a motel?” Verona made it sound like a den of infamy.
      In this case, she might have a point. He hastened to reassure her. “It’s fin
      “What is your mission? Max, what are you thinking, leaving your wife at this moment? Kellen could die while you’re gone.” Verona sounded truly upset.
      “I know, Ma. But Kellen wants to know whether Mara Philippi is in prison.”
      “Kellen is unconscious!” Verona spaced the words.
      “She wants to know she’s leaving us safe. She saw Mara Philippi at our wedding. If that woman is free—”
      “Mara Philippi? How can she be?” Verona put all her incredulity into her voice. “She is incarcerated in a federal prison!”
      “I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m here to find the evidence one way or another. I know Mara. I worked with her. I tackled her and brought her down.” He felt a bone-deep satisfaction about that. “All I need is one good look at her face, close up, not through a camera, and I’ll be satisfied one way or the other.”
      “What if you’re hurt?”
      “In a federal penitentiary? How? There’ll be guards everywhere.”
      “She’s vicious, she’s crazy, she kills, and you helped bring her to justice!”
      Patient with Verona, because she was his mother and she was truly scared, he said, “All the reasons I need to know she’s still behind bars.”
      “When you see her face-to-face, she could attack you!”
      With some humor, he said, “I can defend myself.”
      “I saw Silence of the Lambs!”
      Ah. At last, the truth behind her fears. “I’ll try not to let her take a bite out of me.”
      In the background, Max heard his seven-year-old daughter yelling, and he asked, “What’s Rae saying?”
      “I’m tired of talking sense to you both. Here. She can tell you.” Verona put Rae on the line.
      “Daddy.” Rae’s voice was serious. “Mommy is going to get better.”
      Oh, God. Oh, no. All that hope swaddled up in that sweet little body. “Sweetheart…”
      Firmly, Rae said, “God is not going to let Mommy die.”
      “Sweetheart, before I left, we talked about this. The doctors said—”
      Rae interrupted, “It doesn’t matter what they said. Daddy, all we need is a miracle.”
      All we need… READ MORE

Rae may be the most popular character I’ve ever created, and she’s an important part of HIDDEN TRUTHS and STRANGERS SHE KNOWS. She’s growing up, my dears!

We’ve got a busy, exciting summer, and by we I mean — you and me. We’ve got the upcoming Reviewers’ Club contest, we’ve got four Cape Charade book releases, and now we have the STRANGERS SHE KNOWS Goodreads Giveaway.

If you’re enjoying the Cape Charade series, please let your friends know. Share a book, share a newsletter, give it a shout-out on social media or…what was that other thing we used to do? Oh yeah. Give them a call. It’s always good to catch up with your friends.

Until next time, happy reading!

Christina Dodd
New York Times bestselling author

Downloadable Printable booklist (arranged by genre, series and in order)

Books by Series (book covers and links)

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.