At the Beach with Hannah Halloran & Mary Behre

Mary BehreAs one of the #CMCon16 featured bloggers, I get to have a little fun with a few of the fabulous authors who will be hitting the beach for Coastal Magic 2016 by showcasing their many stories. Last year I interviewed four of the the CMC15 authors, but this year I’m changing it up. I came up with this really fun idea to have the authors introduce us to their worlds by sending their characters to the beach.

Quite a few of the authors took me up on it and today Mary Behre is taking us to the beach with Hannah Halloran, the lovely femme fatale from the third Tidewater novel, Energized, which releases August 3rd. If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the new novella, Harmonized, that was released last week.

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At the Beach with Hannah Halloran

MBehre-EnergizedHannah Halloran made her way to the Oceanfront, stunned to see the deep blue-green waves dotted with the curved dorsal fins of dolphins. Her heart actually leapt at the sight of two of them playing twenty feet from shore. The hot sun beat down on her bare shoulders, making her grateful that her lover Niall had thoroughly and sensually applied sunblock to her skin before she’d put on her strapless summer dress this morning.

Kicking off her aged sandals, she left them by the railing before hurrying down the steps to curl her toes in the hot sand. The gritty ground burned the bottoms of her feet and sent her running for the water’s edge.

Hannah bunched the hem of her tie-dyed peasant-style dress in her hands and waded closer to the dolphins, fascinated by them. A wave crested in front of her, promising to douse her. She could run for the beach or… Pausing only a nanosecond, she dove into the wave.

The quick shock of water rushing past her face and her wild tangle of hair, gave way to the weightless joy of being in the ocean. She let herself float for a moment longer then pushed off the sand-silt floor. The heel of her foot caught something rigid, oblong, and metal. It had to be metal because only that kind of object could send her into a psychic vision.

Hannah fought to surface as the vision swamped her. The water faded, the real world grayed, and her entire consciousness spiraled down to the object beneath her left foot and the woman who’d owned it a hundred years earlier.

Margo tucked the cash in her glove. It might not be acceptable for a lady to walk un-chaperoned around Baltimore with cash in hand, but this was 1915. Surely, she should be allowed to spend the money she’d earned as she saw fit.

And from the moment she’d seen the silver seahorse ring with its ruby eye in the store window, she knew she had to have it. Had she ever desired anything as she had that piece of Carl Schon artwork?

Today, she’d walk in and purchase it. Then one day, she’d pass it to her daughter and she would pass it to hers. The ring would symbolize that they didn’t need a man to buy them pretty—

Hannah was ripped from the vision by someone yanking her to the surface, arm first. Water sluiced down her face and she sucked in painful gulps of air. Blinking through her blurry vision, she focused on the handsome face of her Marine. And her heart did a little somersault like it always did when he looked at her. God, how she loved this man.

“I’m okay, Niall.” Her voice sounded distant to her own ears.

He spoke but his reply was tinny and garbled. A side effect of the vision.

The ring.

Hannah pulled free and dove beneath the waves again. Her eyes burned as she searched the brownish water. It’s ruby eye winked from the ocean floor. Using the hem of her dress, Hannah grabbed it and surfaced again.

“All that for a ring?” Niall asked in clipped tones, when they were back on shore. Passion shimmered in his eyes. “You weren’t moving. You weren’t breathing. I thought—I thought you’d died right in front of me.”

Heart in her throat, Hannah threw her arms around him. After all they’d been through this summer, the last thing she’d wanted to do was frighten him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I stepped on the ring in the water and went into the memory of some woman named Margo. What were the odds?”

Grabbing her by the shoulders he set her back far enough to bring his face to hers. “But you went back for it. Why?”

Hannah cupped the ring using her dress as a shield. The seahorse was so tarnished it appeared mostly black, but Hannah could still see it as Margo had 100 years before.

“This is an heirloom. Someone loved it.”

Niall frowned at the blackened jewelry. “You sure about that?” When Hannah nodded, he smiled. “Okay, how do we find the owner?”

“That’s a mystery I can’t wait to solve.”
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Meet Mary Behre!

Award-winning author, Mary Behre, is the lone female in a house full of males and the undisputed queen of her domain. She even has the glittery tiara to prove it. She loves stories with humor, ghosts, mysteries and above all else, a good romance. When not writing, she enjoys reading, gluten-free baking, and hanging out at the beach with the most important men in her life, her family.

MBehre-HarmonizedHer debut paranormal romance, Spirited (Tidewater Novel #1) was an award-winning manuscript before it sold to Berkley Sensation. The Tidewater Series is mix of humor, suspense, and a psychic love-connection. The first three stories are about three sisters separated years before in the foster care system. As they search for love, each other, and a way to live with their psychic abilities, they’re tossed into the middle of mysteries that only their unique gifts can help solve.

Contact Info: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | GoodReads | Amazon | Pinterest | Instagram

Want to purchase Mary’s novels?
Tidewater

  1. Spirited
  2. Guarded
  3. Harmonized
  4. Energized

CMC16

Don’t miss your chance to meet over 50 fabulous urban fantasy, paranormal, and romance authors at Coastal Magic next February! This super casual book-lover weekend happens on Daytona Beach, and gives everyone the chance to hang out with fellow readers and amazing storytellers.

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About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.