Hearts in Hazard ~ Which book do I Pick?

The Hearts in Hazard series
12 books set in the English Regency Era
Mystery & Suspense with a Dash of Romance

8 Years Ago ~

October 2015. I released the first three books in the Hearts in Hazard series:

The Game of Secrets

The Game of Spies

The Game of Hearts 

3 Years Ago ~

In August. The final HnH book released: The Hazard with Hearts.

Now ~

We just finished the annual celebration of all of my publications, novels and nonfiction and short stories.

Including, of course, the 12-book series

of Hearts in Hazard.

Which book in the Hearts in Hazard series is right for you?

I've never actually written down all this information. I've written snippets, but never the whole thing. So here it is ~ 

• how the books are interconnected without being sequels.
• which books have common characters.
• which books follow a similar plot or a similar trope.

With Hearts in Hazard~

Each novel is complete and stands alone, but the series has interconnected characters among the books. Not ALL the books and not ALL the characters.

New couples confront the primary conflict for each book.

What are the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series?

1. A Game of Secrets

2. A Game of Spies

3. A Game of Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Games.

4. The Danger of Secrets

5. The Danger for Spies

6. The Danger to Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Dangers.

7. The Key to Secrets

8. The Key for Spies

9. The Key with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Keys.

10. The Hazard of Secrets

11. The Hazard for Spies

12. The Hazard with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Hazards.

How are the Novels Interlinked?

 1/2 ~ A Game of Secrets 1 leads to A Game of Spies 2. These two are the most like sequels: Kate & Tony and Josette & Giles will become good friends. The friendship of Tony and Giles started when they served in the military together and were both wounded.

2/3/11 ~ A Game of Hearts 3, featuring Rafe & Maggie and Connie & Roger, mentions one of the treacherous English traitors from A Game of Spies 2. That treacherous traitor will recur in The Hazard for Spies 11.

• Also, the time frame for A Game of Hearts covers a month before A Game of Secrets to after A Game of Spies, and GSpies' characters are mentioned in GHearts.

2/4/5 ~ Building on the characters in A Game of Spies 2 are The Danger of Secrets 4 (Gordon & Maddy) and The Danger for Spies 5 (Tony & Melanie).

• The Danger of Secrets 4 was a joy to write. I laughed often at the repartee between Gordon & Maddy.
• The Danger for Spies 5 has as its primary couple Eugenie & Charles.

1/6 ~ The Danger to Hearts 6 brings back Jess Carter from A Game of Secrets 1. Jess becomes protector of Agatha.

6/7/10/11  ~ The Key to Secrets 7 features Constable Hector Evans (in love with Bee). Hector first appeared as a secondary in The Danger to Hearts 6.

• Hector re-appears as a side character (chief constable!) in The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11.

1/2/3/5/10/11 ~ The Hazard for Spies 11 concludes the "Capture French Spies" conflict of Game/Secrets 1, Game/Spies 2, Game/Hearts 3, and Danger/Spies 5.

• The Hazard for Spies 11 features Conrad and Phinney. She was barely mentioned in The Hazard of Secrets 10. 

10/11 ~ The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11 have a secondary plot with the children Vic, Elise, and Hank. The three are not the main focus.

• Corrie & Jem carry the main plot in The Hazard of Secrets.

6/9 ~ A character mentioned in The Danger with Hearts 6 becomes one of the primary leads in Key with Hearts 9. Greville Myers has married Liza Corbett to access her wealth. This convenient marriage inconveniently causes murder.

8 ~ The Key for Spies 8, one of the least-connected of the 12, is a stand-alone novel set in Spain. No interconnected characters. We do have spies, but I wished to break the constant focus on England. I justified my wish by saying, "Well, it has spies." Let's pretend our Simon Pargeter is friends with Hector Evans.

• Simon & Miriella carry the plot, but Jesus & Elixane are strong secondaries.

9 / 12 ~ The Hazard with Hearts 12 is another stand-alone, with no interconnected characters. With The Key with Hearts 9, The Hazard with Hearts 12  is most like the vintage gothics of Victoria Holt and Dorothy Eden, from the 1960s.

• It's another marriage of convenience, this time with Vivienne & Max.

What Else will Help me Pick a Great Read?

Do You Like Couples falling in Love? (Not Lust.)

All the books are for you.

Want a Strong Heroine? Or a Strong Hero who is not an Alpha Dog?

All the books are for you.

Do you like Murder Mysteries? A Puzzle to Solve?

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets (begins as suspense then morphs into a murder mystery)

 The Hazard with Hearts (both murder and suspense)

Do you like Suspense more than Murder?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard of Secrets (which morphs into a murder mystery)

The Hazard for Spies

The Hazard with Hearts (because murders happen long before the novel begins)

Like Former or Current Soldiers? Or a Story in Wartime, on the battlefront? 

A Game of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

Like Early Law Enforcement?

A Game of Secrets

A Game with Hearts

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with Spies?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard for Spies

 Want a Smuggler Story?

A Game of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

Want a Story with Nobles? (Earls and Marquesses and Barons are one of the primary characters: hero or heroine)

A Game of Spies

A Game with Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story without Nobles? (Not the hero or the heroine)

A Game of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard of Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Marriage of Convenience Story?

A Game of Hearts

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a High-Low Story? Someone of High Social Standing marries Someone Lower in Rank than them.

A Game for Spies

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story with a Runaway ?

A Game of Secrets

Want a Story with Children?

The Hazard of Secrets begins the story with Vic, Elise, and Hank, and it concludes in The Hazard for Spies.

Want a Story with a Young Couple?

A Game of Hearts

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with an Older Couple? 

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets 

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets

Want a Story set in a Foreign Land?

The Key for Spies

Want something like a Vintage Gothic?

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

This is all of the ways that I can think of to classify the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series.

If you can think of another, do write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

Read them all, a book a month. (Wasn't that a book club?)

Celebration # 31 ~ It's a 3 on 1 Day

 Celebration!

Final Day of October and the final day to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

Is it worth it? You betcha!

#1 of 3

Today, another writing guide for those writers who are realistic about the time-sucking requirements of jobs that pay the bills.

Discovering Your Novel, a 52-week course that offers a plan for success. Pair it with a planner!

Available in ebook and paperback.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PYYM2LG

https://books2read.com/u/boakv9

#2 of 3

Make a weekly inspiration for writing with The Write Focus podcast.

We’re currently in the series Enter the Writing Business. If you would rather read than listen, 14 of the episodes from our three years are collected into the guidebook A Messy Miscellany for Writers.

#3 of 3

A Messy Miscellany for Writers is available in ebook and paperback. 

14 Transcribed episodes from The Write Focus podcast. Hopefully, soon, an audiobook.

https://books2read.com/u/38ezzB

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6Y5GWG2

Celebration # 30

 Celebration!

It’s the 2 final days of October and the last 2 days to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

I’ve have NOT managed to celebrate every book, but I came close. Besides all the books I’ve posted this month, I have a handful more that I won’t manage to work in.

However, today’s focus is another guide for writers:

Discovering Your Author Brand

To hook readers, writers manipulate cover imagery, titles, and the back cover market copy (blurb). Discovering Your Author Brands has the keys to present your brand for a book, a series, and your writing self.

Available as an ebook. For paperback lovers, Discovering Characters is bundled with 3 other guidebooks in Discovering Your Writing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S

View the trailer for Discovering Your Writing here: https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk

Celebration # 29

 Celebration!

I have only 3 more days of October to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

This celebration focuses on my M.A. Lee pen name only! I’ve haven’t touched the 3 novels & single novella under one pen name or the 3 more novels (epic fantasy!) and 7 novellas under another pen name. Wow, that’s a lot of writing in seven years.

Today:

The Dark Lord, a touch of gothic, a touch of mystery, a touch of romance.

Everyone knows there’s no such thing as ghosts.

Tell that to the two ghosts haunting Elizabeth.

~~~

Currently The Dark Lord is available only as an ebook. As soon as I complete The Bride in Black, I will combine these two novellas into a book bundle. Sign up for my newsletter to receive a notification when I publish the bundle. winkbooks@aol.com

https://books2read.com/u/38yprZ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TQ22DNC

This book is the new direction I'm heading (in addition to the directions that I'm taking Isabella and Flick & Michael).

A Touch of Gothic, a Touch of Mystery, A Touch of Romance

The next book will be The Bride in Ghostly White. These two books will pair for a Regency / early Victorian set.

Then I'm exploring the Renaissance world followed by the Georgian world. Who knows what will come after these six books? 

I made a mistake with the cover of this book. I did a cover for myself ~ it was all wrong. My faithful cover designers rescued me with the cover above. Here's a little glimpse of my original cover. Image, Atmosphere, Fonts, Titling Choices ~ all wrong whereas the cover above, it's perfect. All thanks to Deranged Doctor Design!

Celebration # 28

 Celebration!

I have only 4 more days of October to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

Today, the continued collaboration with 5 recent short stories, all featuring Isabella Newcombe Tarrant, collected into Sailing with Mystery:

Mystery and peril are dangerous shipmates for an ocean voyage.

While travel presents opportunities to meet new friends and see new places. Isabella also encounters puzzling crimes and dangerous intrigue as she sails from England to India.

"Amber Dreams"

Blackmail threatens a young bride when her secret diary is stolen. Her marriage of convenience is threatened if the contents are revealed to her new husband and his autocratic mother.

Can Isabella recover the diary before the bride loses all hope?

"Purple Poison"

A flurry of poison pen letters unsettle the passengers on the ship Nomadic. Even Isabella is not immune from the vicious invective.

Will the culprit be discovered before tragedy occurs?

"Black Heart"

Pranks and tricks cause inconvenience, misery, and embarrassment.

After one prank goes too far and injury occurs, will Isabella locate the trickster before the next mishap turns deadly?

"Silver Web"

Lady Bernhardt’s diamond necklace is stolen. Other jewelry is missing. Suspicions and accusations fly among the passengers of the ship Garipoola.

Then the thief dies in the freak accident, proof of his theft in hand. Will Isabella locate his accomplice and the missing jewelry before they reach the next port?

"Red Mask"

A disturbing letter falls into Isabella’s hands—only to be stolen again before she deciphers it.

The letter claimed that a spy is aboard the Garipoola, but is that the only person hiding their true identity and purpose on the passenger ship?

These mystery short stories were an odd challenge. Because they're short stories, I wanted to avoid murder mysteries. I managed that, but I did have one death.

Research took more time than I anticipated. Learning about passenger ships in 1920 required delving almost constantly into my sources. One internet site saw my visits every time I worked on a story.

The itinerary should have been simple--and wasn't.

Yet I enjoyed writing these stories and even had one character demand a series of short stories in a later decade. I'll leave you to guess who that character is.

The best part was selecting the watercolor images for the covers of the short stories to represent what Isabella paints throughout the ocean voyage.

View the trailer here: https://youtu.be/csAe72b5X2I

Links to buy are here:

The Zon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCK9N1R9

worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR

 

Celebration # 27

 Celebration!

I have only 5 more days of October to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

Today, a collaboration of sorts of 10 short stories:

1st 5 Stories

Into Wild Sherwood ~ Dangerous Faeries Lurk in the Forest

Pursued by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his guards, five people take refuge in the wilds of Sherwood Forest ~ only to encounter the Faeries of British legend.

“Tod the Fox and the Faeries in the Ring”

Never enter a Faerie Ring. The Faeries like to play.

With the guards of Nottingham on his heels, Tod flees to wild Sherwood Forest. Frightened in the night, he falls into a Faerie Ring.

Faeries play with their catch, whether in the Ring or on the Wild Hunt. How can he escape them?

~ ~ ~

“The Poisoner and the Faerie Huntsman”

Never reveal weakness to a Faerie.

Escaping a false accusation of poisoning, Melly and her hound seek refuge in Sherwood Forest ~ yet the Nottingham guard who accused her is on her trail.

That night, she encounters the black hounds of the Wild Hunt. Then the Huntsman arrives.

Has she fallen into greater trouble?

~ ~ ~

“Three Yule Feasts for Faeries”

Will the cook become the final dish?

Yule, the worst time of year for Ellen Best. Few buy her breads at Market. No one will hire her for their Winter Feast.

Then a Faerie knocks at her door. Two dinners, he proposes, and a final feast for his duchess. After each, she’ll receive three purses, copper and silver and gold.

What did the Faerie mean by final feast?

~ ~ ~

“Friar Tuck and the Faerie at the Pool”

No one escapes from Faeries.

After visiting the hermit of Sherwood, Friar Tuck seeks the coolness of a forest pool. There he encounters a Faerie.

She is wondrous and strange and deadly. How can he convince her that he is a man of peace, unlike the guards and rangers who hunt in the forest?

~ ~ ~

“Alan-a-Dale and the Harp of Elandrielle”

Who can trust a Faerie?

The song competition at Nottingham’s Winter Feast offers a purse that will pay Alan-a-Dale’s debts. He wins the first night’s round … offending his competitors who take revenge.

At his lowest point, a Faerie finds him. She offers him a bargain—yet who can trust a Faerie?

~ ~ ~

Available in ebook and paperback.

https://books2read.com/u/bOzoDE

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YX79TMH

Trailer https://youtu.be/O9qWTwRZgoI

 

2nd 5 Stories

Outlaws of Wild Sherwood ~ Faeries inhabit the wild forest.

Five men encounter the Outlaws of Wild Sherwood and the Faeries of British legend.

“A Twist of Faerie Magic”

A twist of murder. A twist of Faerie magic. And Dav the wrestler caught between.

When Dav is accused of murdering his true love’s husband, will magic reveal the true culprit?

~ ~ ~

“A Faerie Song for a Feast”

Masks, Mummers, and a Faerie Song

Alan-a-Dale risks playing a song learned in the land of Faeries to help Robin Hood and his men. Will the song help or hinder the outlaws?

~ ~ ~

“Mischief of a Faerie”

A Challenge with Quarterstaves

When his sister names a bearded giant as her newborn’s father, Arthur storms off to force Little John to support them. Yet how can a simple poacher defeat a man taller and stronger than he is?

~ ~ ~

“The Green Man”

A Venture with Destiny

Bad luck has plagued Jack Greenleaf for years. Abandoned, evicted, and rejected, he joined the other outcasts in Sherwood Forest. The Green Man of the Faerie may seal his fate.

~ ~ ~

“The Prize of a Golden Arrow”

By Hook or Crook or Arrow

Gil vowed never again to take up the long bow. Then he learns the May Day archery contest is a trap to capture Robin Hood. He resolves to foil the Sheriff’s plan.

~ ~ ~

Available in ebook and paperback.

https://books2read.com/u/4Aj99N

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B92V1PKT

trailer https://youtu.be/aCftiZFqq1E

Celebration # 26

 Celebration!

I have only 6 more days of October to celebrate the 8^th anniversary of my writing journey. I published my first three novels in October of 2015.

Today:

The Into Death bundle of the first three novels featuring Isabella Newcombe

The Great War is over; peace reigns. Yet Isabella Newcombe encounters murder.

Digging into Death

Budding artist Isabella Newcombe finds herself stranded at an archaeological dig. Madoc Tarrant convinces his brother Prof. Gawen Tarrant to hire Isabella as the dig’s illustrator.

Romance is inevitable. Murder is not.

With everyone under suspicion, who can Isabella trust? One of the professors? A student? Gawen Tarrant, needing not only a reputation but also money? Or Isabella’s former employer, who pretends he isn’t after artifacts?

Or is the murderer Madoc, protecting his brother’s dig at all costs?

Has Isabella found true love only to lose her life?

Christmas with Death

Christmas is for miracles, merriment, and murder.

Over the holidays, Isabella Newcombe and her friends mingle with the British upper-class at a country estate. Then a philandering party-goer is murdered. Suspects surround them.

Did Tommy Gresham’s fiancée kill him? His possessive girlfriend or her uncle? The wealthy financier or the vengeful war hero? Was it the spiteful artist. Or someone unknown, blackmailed by Gresham? Or was it Isabella’s friend Cecilia, covering up an old affaire?

Hatred. Obsession. Revenge. Jealousy. Desperation. Which motive caused Gresham’s death?

Can Isabella discover the killer before her friend Cecilia is arrested?

Portrait with Death

Isabella and her friend Flick stumble upon the body George Webberly, a teacher at Greavley Abbey School. Someone bludgeoned him.

Murder motives abound. Suspects increase, including fellow teaching masters, a former soldier haunted by the nightmares of the recent war, ladies who were rivals for Webberly’s attentions, and jealous husbands. Could it be a fisherman, the pub owner, or the local constable? Or someone else, someone unknown?

Who killed George Webberly? Can Isabella find the answer?

Or will a murderer paint with more blood?

Into Death is available in ebook only.

https://books2read.com/u/baDN1L

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MRBNCH7