Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, where I share snippets from new and past releases and works-in-progress, and occasionally twist the arms of author buddies to do the same.

What’s been happening in the Hein house? I had a little holiday after sending in Serenity’s Song to my publisher. Not much of a holiday, mind. Holidaying is a tad restricted with the Covid19 lockdown, but you make do with what you’ve got, don’t you? For me, my brief holiday consisted of a lot of lolling about, eating and drinking naughty things, reading, cooking, playing with my (sad) garden and daydreaming about my next book.

And cleaning. A lot of cleaning.

Urgh. Cleaning is one of the things that I get very slack about when I’m rushing to the end of a book. It’s amazing how easy it is to blind yourself to dust and other grubby bits when you need to. Amazing until the book is sent off and the blinds rise and you’re faced with all that scrubbing. Then it’s completely UN-amazing.

On a good note, mindless activities like scrubbing the bathroom and dusting all the dusty bits tend to be good for the imagination. Personally, I would rather tend to my imagination by swinging on a chair in the shade outside with a glass of something delectable in my hand, and staring off into nothingness. But it’s like holidaying. You make do with what you’ve got.

But you’re not here to listen to my house cleaning adventures. You’re here for another faaaaaabulous dose of Teaser Tuesday!

What are we going to be teased with today?

Seeing as I sent off Serenity’s Song to Tule Publishing last week, let’s look back at Elsa’s Stand, the Outback Brides tale in which we first meet Serenity.

In this snippet, our hero Jack scores his first taste of Elsa’s friend and colleague Serenity…

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They stood on the kerb as a car passed. Jack’s back prickled from the heated stares of their audience. He glanced at them and down at Elsa.

She squeezed his fingers. ‘Don’t even think it.’

‘Elsa …’

‘It’s fine.’ She waved at the driver and stepped out, towing Jack across the road and inside the salon, where a fluoro orange-haired girl stood behind the counter.

‘This is Serenity,’ said Elsa. ‘She has the beauty rooms at the back. In case you’re wondering, she chooses her own hair colour. Nothing to do with me. I just apply the stuff.’

Serenity grinned at him. ‘Nice to meet you at last, Jack. We’ve been discussing you in great detail.’

‘Serenity,’ warned Elsa.

She threw up her hands. ‘What?’

‘Go wax your toes or something. I need to talk to Jack.’

It was then that Jack realised Elsa still had hold of his hand. He looked at it, so delicate in his. Which was kind of funny. Elsa was anything but delicate. She was a steam train of sexy determination.

‘Alone, Serenity,’ said Elsa when Serenity remained behind the counter, her grin growing even broader.

‘Oh, all right,’ she huffed, before moving to stomp off. Suddenly she stopped, her focus on the street. ‘You might want to change your mind on that.’

Both Jack and Elsa looked. Al was marching towards the door. Across the road, at least half a dozen pairs of eyes were on the salon.

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As you can probably tell, I had an awful lot of fun writing Serenity’s character. Watch out for more in coming months when I begin teasing you with snippets from Serenity’s Song!

Elsa’s Stand is available in ebook and print from these retailers.

amazon.com | amazon.com.au | amazon.co.uk

AppleBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Barnes & Noble

Booktopia | Angus & Robertson | Bookdepository

If you’d like a personally signed print copy, I can do those too. Just fill in this form and one could be yours. Please note: Quantities are limited and Australian postal addresses only.

Learn more about how I came to write Elsa’s Stand in Outback Brides and Places to Hide, the story behind Elsa’s Stand. You can also read another excerpt on its book page.

Don’t want to miss out on Serenity’s Song news? Join the cool people in my newsletter team and receive access to three bonus short stories to enjoy over a cuppa, as well as other fun stuff like first chapter previews, cover reveals and the occasional bonus story.

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