After an intense writing marathon, it's finally done, edited, and published. The Man Beside Her has debuted and is the first of seven novels in my new series: Pioneers in the Pulpit. Here's a sneak peek into the pages…

“I don’t date men outside my faith.”
“How about one in the faith who just pulled your leg?”
Her mouth went slack. He’d been joking about the whole basketball thing. He began to nod before she asked him the question. Diane seriously thought about taking off her stiletto and clocking him upside his head.
“Now will you go out with me?” he pressed. Still close, he smiled at her coaxingly.
Diane studied his beguiling brown eyes and sighed. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” he asked, startling her a little when he took her hand and started playing with her fingers.
“Slade, you’re my parishioner.”
“So what?”
His finger grazed her palm slightly, and her train of thought ran off course. “I’m the pastor. I’m supposed to be praying for you.”
“Please do. I need a lot of prayers.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist.
What had she been about to say? Diane shook her head to get some focus. What he just did with his lips felt wonderful. She wished he’d repeat it. But no, she needed to dissuade him. What was her next line? Yes, now she remembered. “I’m supposed to pray for you not prey on you.”
With a tiny tug, he pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. His lethal smile full of mischief and intimate interest, he whispered, “Who’s preying on whom?”
Diane didn’t have time to respond and could not have even if there were time. Slade’s mouth was coming closer and the fine line between pastor and parishioner, between praying and preying disintegrated faster than the bat of her eyelash. When his lips touched hers, all Diane thought was, please don’t stop!