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Sheer Pleasure
Slip into three enticing stories from the USA Today bestselling author.
In "Daydream Believer," a clairvoyant haunted by visions of a mysterious stranger finds herself drawn to a lawman with a psychic gift of his own. But it will take more than a glimpse of the future to save her from a killer-it will take the man of her dreams.
Though she's the model of modesty, a young entrepreneur is reluctantly transformed into a runway model for her burgeoning lingerie business-so much so that her own roguish boss doesn't even recognize her! And she's about show him that flowers and candy just can't compare to "Leather and Lace."
In "Awaiting Moonrise," a professor enters the steamy bayou to find a new species of animal, convinced that her quarry has sparked the rumors of a werewolf in the region. Instead, she finds temptation in the form of a creature straight out of her most sensual nightmares.
In "Daydream Believer," a clairvoyant haunted by visions of a mysterious stranger finds herself drawn to a lawman with a psychic gift of his own. But it will take more than a glimpse of the future to save her from a killer-it will take the man of her dreams.
Though she's the model of modesty, a young entrepreneur is reluctantly transformed into a runway model for her burgeoning lingerie business-so much so that her own roguish boss doesn't even recognize her! And she's about show him that flowers and candy just can't compare to "Leather and Lace."
In "Awaiting Moonrise," a professor enters the steamy bayou to find a new species of animal, convinced that her quarry has sparked the rumors of a werewolf in the region. Instead, she finds temptation in the form of a creature straight out of her most sensual nightmares.
295 pages, Paperback
First published February 6, 2007
2 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Shayne
257 books2,571 followersI live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 6, 2022
I was not expecting this book to be what it was. It had a little bit of everything I love about reading. A little predictable but good… Never judge a book by it’s cover is all I can say. 💜💚🥰 Loved & recommend it 💯
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March 8, 2020Read second story before but like the book as a whole☆☆♡♡
March 27, 2022
Was ok.
February 23, 2008
The first story, "Leather and Lace" was cute but unbelieveable since the time frame was like 4 days and Richard proposed when he didn't even notice she was alive before. The second story, "Awaiting Moonrise" was good and better than expected. And the third story, "Daydream Believer", I had already read but it was really good.
May 10, 2015
I have to say I LOVE Maggie Shayne's writing style in this bundle!!
3 Incredible heart-felt stories that will captivate your attention, have you cheering for the underdog, and smiling!! They aren't very long but they certainly cover enough storyline that you don't feel cheated.
Great way to spend some time!
3 Incredible heart-felt stories that will captivate your attention, have you cheering for the underdog, and smiling!! They aren't very long but they certainly cover enough storyline that you don't feel cheated.
Great way to spend some time!
February 19, 2016
This is three short stories by Maggie Shayne. I enjoyed it, however, one story (the second one) is a reprint. It was included in an anthology I have already read, but the rereading was okay. I really enjoyed the third story - great cop drama.
November 18, 2008
Awesome read. Three short stories. Surprised I liked it.. Usually don't care for complications, but this one was good.
February 27, 2010
There were 3 short stories in this book, and they were all great! It took no time at all to get through this book!
July 12, 2011
Three pretty good stories. Since they're short, they're great if you just have a little time to read. I think these stories would have been just as good as full length novels.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews