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A Warm Welcome to Sheryl Browne

Now residing in Worcestershire, Sheryl Browne grew up in Birmingham, UK, where she studied Art & Design. She wears many hats: a partner in her own business, a mother, and a foster parent to disabled dogs. Creative in spirit, Sheryl has always had a passion for writing. A member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, she has previously been published in the US and writes Romantic Comedy because, as she puts it, "life is just too short to be miserable."

Sheryl's debut novel, RECIPES FOR DISASTER - combining deliciously different and fun recipes with sexilicious romantic comedy, is garnering some fabulous reviews! Sheryl has also been offered a further three-book contract under the Safkhet Publishing Soul imprint. SOMEBODY TO LOVE, a romantic comedy centring around a single policeman father’s search for love, launches 1 July. The book, which also features an autistic little boy and his Autism Assistance Dog, has already been endorsed by Danemere Dog Rescue Centre and is currently being reviewed by Our Dog Publications with a view to future advertising. WARRANT FOR LOVE, bringing together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly, is released 1 August.

Summer Reads from Sheryl Brown

Somebody to Love & Warrant For Love

SOMEBODY TO LOVE Blurb:

BUY

After a turbulent marriage to a man who walked off hand-in-offshoot with something resembling a twig, divorced mum, Donna O'Conner, doubts happy endings exist. She'd quite like to find herself an Adonis with… pecs …and things. Alas, that's not likely, when her only interest outside of work is hopping her three-legged dog in the park, carrying a poop-scoop. In any case, Donna isn't sure she'd know what to do with an Adonis if she fell on one. When PC Mark Evans comes along, gloriously gift-wrapped in blue, however, she can't help wishing she did.

Mark, a single father, is desperate for love. He doesn't hold out much hope, though, that there is a woman out there with a heart big enough to love him and his autistic son. Enter big-hearted Donna, plus three-legged dog. And now Mark has a dilemma. Pretending not to mind her house-bunny chewing his bootlaces, he's smitten with Donna on sight. Should he tell her his situation up-front? Announcing he has a child with autism spectrum disorder on a first date tends to ensure there isn't a second. Or should he skirt around the subject, which amounts to a lie? When one lie leads to another, can he ever win Donna's trust back? Admit that he didn't trust Donna enough to let her into his life?

Somebody to Love has been made with love... love of animals. Sheryl Browne has done excellent research on assistance dogs for the handicapped, specifically their use with autistic individuals. With a focus on romance with police officers, appealing to all readers who love our boys in blue, the author's "teasing but not telling" style makes this read appropriate for anyone, including young adults and older teens.

Here's a taster:

A Lost Little Boy…

The bell tinkled overhead. The soft murmur of voices slowed and, somehow, Mark could sense his son’s nearness. He glanced at the shopkeeper. ‘There wouldn’t be a young boy?’

‘We wondered whose he was.’ She nodded, indicating a room beyond the shop-fronting area they were in. An Aladdin’s cave, stuffed full of toys and magical to a child’s eyes. ‘We were just about to call the police.’

‘Mine. My son,’ said Mark, his throat tight as he watched Karl wander through from the back room, his clear blue eyes wide with wonder, before they alighted on Mark. Then, they grew disconcerted, as if Karl knew he was in trouble, and Mark couldn’t bear that. He knew he should talk to him. Try to instil in him through firm repetition, that he should not do this sort of stuff. Instead, he walked over to Karl and bent down to hug him so tight, he could feel his son’s heartbeat next to his own.

‘Hiya, mate. Did you get your model car?’ he asked throatily, knowing Karl wouldn’t, couldn’t hug him back. Trying hard not to mind, Mark stood to ruffle Karl’s hair. His fringe was tickling his eyelashes again, he noticed.

Time for a trim, he guessed, recalling how, with his long dark eyelashes, Karl had often been mistaken for a girl as a baby. How his wife had joked he’d grow up to be a heartbreaker. Mark’s heart seemed to have broken, that was for sure.

Karl shook his head. ‘No,’ he said, in that gruff, grainy voice that drew people’s stares. Mark didn’t care. At least Karl was speaking. He was two when he’d stopped, and Mark’s life changed forever.

BUY

WARRANT FOR LOVE Blurb:

Leanne Curtis has shared more than her heart and her home with her womanising man. She's shared her pin number. The scales are peeled painfully from her eyes when she spots female footprints on the inside windscreen of his car. Devastated, Leanne storms off into the night. He wasn't going to pay her back when he sold his flat, his bolthole, his shag-pad, probably, the absolute…! Shivering on a street corner, Leanne comes up with a survival plan. She's no choice. If she's to keep her son in PS3s, Leanne needs a lodger.

Brought up in care, Police Constable Paul Davis doesn't communicate well. On duty, he's gloomily contemplating his impending divorce. His wife sleeping with his sergeant is not helping his morose mood. His sergeant has a history, and Paul needs to find somewhere decent to live in order to gain custody of his son, fast. And to keep his job. Wrongfully arresting Leanne Curtis for soliciting, he muses, whilst avoiding five-star-freezer looks from her friends, might not be the best way to do it.

Could fate have brought them together, though? Leanne needs a respectable lodger. Paul needs a home. One thing leads to another, and Paul can't quite believe his luck. When a blackmail plot ~ cooked up by Leanne's friends ~ threatens their budding relationship, however, is Paul compelled to uphold the law? Or will he risk everything to make sure Leanne's abusive ex gets his comeuppance?

Warrant for Love is not your typical rom-com where only one gal gets the guy — Sheryl Browne brings together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly. With a focus on romance with police officers, Warrant for Love appeals to all readers who love our boys in blue. Complex yet everyday relationship problems makes this read appropriate for young adults and older teens.

And another taster:

Dad!’ James exclaimed, hurtling out the front door.

‘Hi, small-fry.’ Paul ruffled his hair. ‘How’s things?’
‘Cool.’ James grinned. ‘I got one,’ he said excitedly. ‘A Play Station Three.’
Paul forced a smile. ‘Yeah, that is pretty cool. Mum get it for your birthday, did she?’
‘No.’ James skirted around Paul to the car. ‘Uncle Dave.’
Figures, thought Paul. Motive: one-upmanship. Cummings wouldn’t give a damn about what James wanted otherwise.
‘Wasn’t that nice of him,’ he said, with bitter-edged sarcasm as Kate appeared with James’ overnight bag. ‘Guess that means I’ll have to think of something else to get him for Christmas.’
‘Paul…’ Kate began. ‘We didn’t know you were going to get him…’
‘Forget it.’ Paul shrugged. Every time he tried to put hostilities on hold… ‘Have to see if we can’t get you some games for it, won’t we?’ he called to James over his shoulder.
‘Cool. Dead or Alive. Ben’s got it. It’s ace.’
‘Great. How much?’ Paul nodded his thanks to Kate as she handed him the rucksack.
‘Forty pounds,’ said James, scrambling into the passenger seat. ‘Is that okay?’
‘Yes. No probs,’ Paul said, wondering how he was ever going to pay solicitors fees and maintenance, as well as providing a decent home for James along with the things he should as a father.
‘We can get it,’ Kate offered. ‘Dave said…’
‘No thanks. Got it covered.’ American Express, Paul thought grimly as he turned to the car. That’ll do nicely.
‘Oh, and we’ll need a second control,’ announced James.
‘Why’s that?’ Paul asked, checking his seat belt.
‘So two people can play, of course,’ James explained, wearing his parents-are-past-it face. ‘It’s no fun playing on your own.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Paul smiled, checked his mirror, and pulled out.
‘Can we have popcorn this time?’ James asked whilst Paul mentally tried to make his bank balance add up.
‘Not as well as McDonald’s, James. You’ll be sick.’
‘But Mum said.’ James flopped his head back on the seat, popcorn deprivation overriding Play Station euphoria.
‘I don’t care what Mum said, James.’
‘There’s no point going to the pictures if I can’t have popcorn.’
‘You don’t want to see Turtles in 3D, then?’
James shrugged and turned to stare out of the window.
‘Look, James. No popcorn. But, what say we stop off on the way to the pictures? See if we can’t get Dead or Alive tonight?’ Paul tried to redeem himself in his son’s eyes, whilst wondering whether PC World would hire him part-time in exchange for the computer game.
He shouldn’t give in so easily but he had to get something for James’ birthday, closely followed by an alternative to the Play Station for Christmas. The second choice on James’ Dear Santa list was a computer. At this rate, he’d have to resort to touting for business on street corners.
His mind drifted to Leanne, his mouth curving into a smile as he recalled her quip about ten punters all in one night. He laughed out loud. Still couldn’t shake the image of her making eyes at passing traffic, wearing his police sweater and a sarong.
‘What’s funny?’ James asked.
‘Nothing.’ Paul straightened his face as he pulled up at the station. ‘Forgot my wallet,’ he said, trying hard to consign Leanne to history

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