Check out these awesome new covers for The Fallen series!

If you’ve been waiting to try this series about sexy fallen angels, book one is #free!!!

Angel of Mercy
I don’t know why I got stabbed. I don’t know why I healed overnight.
I don’t know why I keep seeing the same guy in my dreams, on the sidewalk, at the minimart near my apartment – the insanely hot guy with the piercing blue eyes that nobody can see but me.
I have to follow him. I have to talk to him.
And he’s not the only one stalking me. That guy with the knife? He’s still out there, and he knows where I live.
I have to know. What am I now? Am I still human? Am I part angel? Or am I something new?

* This is the first book in a completed, five book series about fallen angels and demons, and contains a cliffhanger.

http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Mercy-The-Fallen-Book-ebook/dp/B0056A2H4G
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angel-of-mercy-lisa-olsen/1103745268
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/angel-of-mercy/id968112762
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/angel-of-mercy-15

The Fallen books 1-3 are now available as a boxed set for your kindle. I’ve never done a boxed set before, but it looks awful spiffy doesn’t it? (thanks James for the lovely pic, as usual!) Easy to navigate between books from the table of contents, this set contains Angel of Mercy, Mercy for the Wicked, Mercy for the Damned, deleted scenes form Mercy for the Damned and a preview of Child of Mercy. It can be found here on Amazon.com for $7.99.

In other news, I’m already deep in planning for my next book which I hope to begin in early March. It’s a stand alone novel about a demon hunter and his too-curious-for-her-own-good neighbor. It’s got sexy demons, magic, missing girls, a brooding hero with a dark secret, intrigue, body switching, mythology, tattoos, cheese whiz, you name it. I’m thinking of calling it In Darkness Bound or Let Darkness Bind Them.

Psst – Nine Steps to Sara is also free today on Kindle.

As promised, another deleted scene for Mercy for the Damned. I could have sworn, I posted this over a week ago, but apparently I never hit the button! This one takes place at the end of Chapter Five. I do love my dream sequences, but there just wasn’t room for it in the final draft.

Strong arms reached around my waist from behind, and I threw my dishrag down in disgust, expecting to see Parker’s cheesy grin over my shoulder. “I thought I told you not to get gropey with me at work unless I give you my permission?”

Instead, another deep voice stirred the hair by my ear. “Is there someone other that me you’d be giving permission to?”

“Adam!” I whirled to see him with my own eyes, throwing my arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. “Oh my God, what are you doing here? When did you get out?” I demanded, half laughing, half crying.

“Cool it, your co-workers are gonna think I just got out of prison,” he chuckled, pulling back to brush the hair away from my cheek.

“Well… you did, didn’t you?” My eyes drank him in, feasting after being starved from his presence for so long. He looked good enough to eat, dressed in his usual black jeans and a black button up shirt. His hair seemed a little longer, and my fingers itched to grab a pair of scissors and attempt to tame it.

“Sadly no, I’m still there,” he pouted, but he didn’t look all that disturbed by the notion.

“What? Then… how are you here?”

“Beats the hell out of me, it’s your dream,” he shrugged as if it was unimportant.
A dream. All at once it dawned upon me; I must be in the Ether, the space between being awake and dreaming. “I thought you couldn’t get to the Ether from Midian?” Otherwise I’d have spent all my time in bed.

“I’m not, it’s just a good old fashioned dream. So let’s enjoy it before the Gestapo notices us.”

“Huh? I looked up and sure enough, there were demons dressed in World War II Nazi uniforms lined up at the bar, enjoying a beer and ignoring us. The rest of the club underwent a shift, somehow merging the old with the new. Civilians and military alike slow danced to an old fashioned big band sound, among the colorful, modern play of lights on the dance floor. Turning around, I saw Adam dressed in the olive drab of an old army uniform, his chest decorated with ribbons. It occurred to me; he could have very well served in the army during the war, or any number of wars over the past hundreds of years.

“Come on, baby, let’s dance like there’s no tomorrow.” Grabbing my hand, he tugged me out there, and I tottered on heels I hadn’t been wearing moments before, my dress longer and tighter than my usual work uniform.

“Wait, Adam…” I let him lead me out onto the dance floor and he immediately gathered me into his arms, pressing his smooth cheek to mine. Not that it didn’t feel wonderful being close to him again, but I couldn’t help but feel the need to get away. It was only a matter of time before the Nazis noticed him. “We should go; they’ll be after you to bring you back,” I darted a look back towards the bar, but Parker stepped in to block my view. Dressed in a shiny, pin striped suit, he looked every inch the mobster club owner.

“May I cut in?” he asked with a suave smile, but I cut him off before Adam could reply.

“No, you can’t.”

“But I thought we were an item, dollface.”

Crap. This was all I needed.

“Something you need to tell me?” Adam raised a dark brow, his arm tightening around my waist.

“No, there really isn’t. Go away Parker,” I scowled, laying my head back down on Adam’s shoulder.

“He won’t be able to save you,” Parker called out, giving up the chase, he strolled back to the bar.

“Look, about Parker…” I started to explain, deciding to come clean, but Adam pressed his forehead to mine.

“He’s right, you know. I won’t be there.”

“Don’t say that. I’m going to save you this time. I promise. And then, we can worry about who’s saving who the next time.”

“You’re going to save me?” he smirked.

“That sounds funny to you?” My chin came up a little, daring him to make fun of me after everything I’d been putting myself through to break him free since he’d made the stupid deal with Raum in the first place.

“No, I think you’re cute when you get all determined, that’s all. But I don’t need saving,” he let go of me, backing away and I chased after him as the dancing crowd threatened to swallow him up.

“Adam, wait…” I caught the flash of his blue eyes right before he disappeared through a door marked “employees only”. Only, instead of leading up to the sound booth, the stairs went up and up. “Adam?” My heels clicked on the stairs, and I could hear him up ahead of me, though he didn’t answer my call. “Adam! Don’t you dare leave me again!” I called out, nearly losing my balance when the door at the top of the stairs opened to a small balcony, overlooking a field, scarred by battle.
Adam stood on top of the railing; perfectly balanced on the wrought iron barrier.
“Adam? Please come down from there. Let me keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe,” he scoffed, eyes on the horizon. “You’ll never be safe as long as you love me.”

“I don’t care,” I pleaded with him, “please come down, Adam.” Too afraid to touch him, for fear that he might fall, I held tightly to the railing.

Adam turned; his face a mask of sorrow. “I do.” He fell backwards, off the ledge and I plunged after him without thinking. The terrace was impossibly high, and my stomach dropped with the sensation of free-fall. There was a split second, where I felt a moment of peace… I would fall and I would welcome the nothing of the end. No more worry, no more pain, no more anger or fear… just nothing.

And then my sense of self preservation kicked in and I screamed like a banshee, unwilling to go down without a fight. Snowy white wings unfurled, catching the wind, and I soared up into the sky, the battlefield incredibly small below. I don’t know how, but I still saw the faces of the demons below, their faces alight with hunger as they caught sight of me.

“Adam?” I looked to the skies for some sign of him, but there was nothing.

“Over here!” I heard the call long before I spotted them waving, Matty, Parker and Sam, each dressed up like old fashioned army rangers. They beckoned to me from the mouth of a cave set into the mountain, and I somehow guided myself there, though I had no idea how I managed it. Just before I reached the safety of the cave, a flood of warmth went through my shoulder. There was no pain, but as I looked down, I could see the stain of blood spreading across my wing.

“You got my wings all shot up,” Sam frowned, examining them critically as he pulled me into the cave, guiding me to a metal hospital bed where Daphne waited, dressed in a white nurse’s uniform, complete with a white, starched cap, her hair rolled in a forties style.

“I’m sorry… Where’s Adam?” I tried to look around the cave but they blocked my view as they surrounded the bed.

“That’s the last time I’ll lend them to you,” Sam pouted.

“It’s okay, I’ll get them bandaged up good as new,” Daphne smiled brightly, breaking out the rolls of gauze.

“Where’s Adam?” I repeated. “Didn’t he make it?”

“Oh honey, Adam’s gone. Didn’t you know? He left,” Daphne explained, winding the white gauze around and around my shoulder.

“He left?” I blinked.

“Of course. What did you expect?”

“But he was free…”

Parker leaned close, his face a mask of pity. “You didn’t think he’d stay with you, did you?”

* * *
That’s what I get for watching superhero movies set in the 40’s before I go to bed… As I lay there, puzzling my way through the disturbing dream, I couldn’t help but wonder; even if we managed to set Adam free, would he leave me anyway? So far we’d spent way more time apart than together and it almost seemed like he looked for reasons for us to be apart. Would we ever be able to have some semblance of a normal life together?

Child of Mercy is going well, about 30K words done so far. I’ve got a vacation coming up at the end of next week (we usually take a week off in May and one in Oct), so we’ll see if that derails things, but I’ll try to keep the words coming. Mostly because Mercy keeps chattering along in my head demanding I fix things for her!

I’m pleased to announce I’ve got a new proof reader I’m adding to my editing team. A good friend who is a fantastic writer in her own right, has professional editing experience, and a generous heart. So hopefully I’ll get some typos and minor grammatical errors cleaned up in the books. I’ll also be going back through Angel of Mercy again once I finish Child of Mercy for another deep scrub. Angel of Mercy was the first book I published, and hadn’t quite gotten the editing process we have down now, so I know it needs a little more love and attention (just haven’t had the time!).

As promised, here is a deleted scene from Mercy for the Damned. It takes place between chapters 4 and 5 in the book when Mercy plans to break into Ben’s place with Sam. I cut it for length, but I still love the idea of Sam dressed up for the break in with a black watch cap and face paint, plus… it continues some issues that definitely come into play in the next book.

I parked a few blocks away from Ben’s townhouse after work, glad I’d brought a knit hat and leather gloves, because it was cold enough to make my eyes water as I stepped out of the car. Making sure to hide myself from human eyes, I approached on foot, keeping an eye out for Sam. I wasn’t sure if he planned on meeting me outside first or going straight for the windows when he arrived, and I was running a little late as I approached the door to the garage.

Leaning against the side of the house, I settled in to wait, my gloved hands shoved deep into my pockets. The side door opened with a sudden jerk, and I suppressed a squeak of surprise when Sam popped out, dressed like an old fashioned burglar from a movie. In addition to the black pants and turtleneck, he covered his bright hair with a black knit cap. He even had his face liberally smudged with something black to better blend in with the shadows.

“What are you supposed to be?” I whispered, moving past him into the garage to shut the door.

“I’m incognito,” he whispered back.

“You’re also invisible, or at least you have the ability to be if you choose to. Why the need for the get up?”

“You don’t like it?” his face fell.

“No, it’s perfect. Thanks for doing this, Sam.” I patted his shoulder comfortingly.

“I don’t mind, Daphne is staying at her grandmother’s tonight to help her tie up some tubes,” he followed me up the stairs to the main living space.

Not sure how to untangle that statement, I decided to leave it alone and ask Daphne about it later. But it did give me an opening to bring her up. “Listen, Sam… about Daphne…”

“She will be back home tomorrow. She’s promised me to share lunch in the park.”

There was so much simple joy in his face, I hated to bring up the subject of consequences, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that some things needed to be said. “And I’m sure you’ll have a great time. I need to ask you though… are you in love with her?”

“I… Why do you ask?” His expression became guarded, and I hated that he felt like he couldn’t talk to me about it.

“Come on, Sam. Your entire face lights up whenever you talk about her. I almost never see you anymore because you’re always with her, it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. The fact that she’s the same way around you paints a pretty clear picture.”

“It is true; I have become very fond of Daphne…”

I could guess why he didn’t want to say the words out loud, particularly if he hadn’t even said them to her yet. I plunged ahead anyway, as if he’d given me the confirmation. “I want to give you some advice, you can choose to take it or not. You once said to Adam that it wasn’t a sin to love, and I agree with you, I don’t think it’s a sin to love. But you have to think about what your love would bring for Daphne.”

“Daphne is in no danger on my account.”

“It’s not fair to put her at risk though. Don’t you remember what happened to Mariah?”

“Do you truly think I could forget what damned me for all eternity?” His eyes blazed with azure fire, and my heart twisted in sympathy at I saw that anguish there.

“No, no I don’t,” I said softly, sending out soothing Grace with a touch to his shoulder. “But I think you’re more than half in love with her already. I think it gets harder and harder for you every day to remember the penalty for giving in to that love. I just want to make sure you both understand what it could mean if you take things to the next level.”

“Would you willingly give up Adam if it meant the same fate for you?”
I’d often asked myself that same question, especially after meeting Raziel, and I knew the answer without having to think twice. “No. But I’m not her. I wouldn’t go down without a fight, and I’d do my damnedest to survive. Daphne’s too gentle a person for that, she wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I told you, Daphne is in no danger. I will not risk her for all the earthly delights to be had.” The resolve was clear.

“Does she know that, or is she expecting things to… progress as they normally would in a relationship?”

“We have not discussed it.”

“Don’t you think you should?” It seemed like a pretty important discussion to me. Sam was either in deep denial, or didn’t feel like hashing it all out with me. I missed that easy confidence with him, but I could understand why he wouldn’t want to broach the subject with me.

“You have no more need of me?” he paused on the stair on the way to the third floor.

Somehow I thought he’d be staying with me, but I released him with a nod. “I’m good. Thanks again, Sam.”

“I’ll be near.”

With Sam gone, I got down to brass tacks, searching in the darkened house for Ben’s laptop. It wasn’t too hard to find, in the spare room that he used as an office on the top floor. Careful to keep my gloves on, I sat down, powering up the computer without turning on the lights. The backlight made me squint as the login screen came on, and I entered Ben’s password… only it didn’t work. Checking to make sure the Caps Lock wasn’t on, I tried it again, moving more slowly, but nope, he’d changed the password. Thinking for a moment, I tried a couple of other options, his birthday, his mother’s name, anything I could think of, but nothing worked. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

As I sat there, the screensaver came on, a slideshow of pictures from his files, starting with one of his empty living room, a bunch of painting gear in the middle of the floor. Next came a picture of his car, and then one of us together at the park feeding the ducks. With a pang I watched the pictures fade from one to the next, realizing most of them were of me. At the club, in my apartment, in his bedroom… I hadn’t known he had that many candid shots of me, or that he would still keep them so readily visible.

“Oh Ben, I’m so sorry,” I sighed, powering the computer back off. There were plenty of relationships in my life that I wasn’t so proud of, but Ben… how many girls could say they’d completely ruined the life of their ex? It didn’t matter than I hadn’t meant to, his life was now literally a living hell because of me. I had to find a way to give him back his life, or I’d spend the rest of mine trying to make amends for it.

Only we were really striking out on all fronts and I wasn’t sure where to turn next. In an interesting twist of fate, help came easier than I thought it would, wearing a navy blouse and pencil skirt with kitten heels.

The third book in The Fallen series is available through Amazon.com in print! To celebrate, here is another little excerpt that takes place after Mercy gets back to Midian to rescue Adam.

Without thinking, I let go of Nelo’s hand, rushing forward to greet him without a single thought as to whether or not there might be anyone else in the room watching. “Adam!” I gasped, my heart clenching almost painfully in relief as I ran to his side to throw my arms around him. Only Adam didn’t seem happy to see me at all, catching hold of my arms before I could wrap them around his shoulders.

“Nice try, I’m not falling for that again,” he growled, shoving me aside where I landed on my butt with a soft whump. Oh sweet Jesus, had Raum sent him an imposter me? For what possible purpose?

“Adam it’s me!” I insisted, shifting back up to my knees. “It’s Mercy.”

“Uh huh, sure,” he turned back to his book, studiously ignoring me.

“No, seriously…” I frowned. “Who else would I be? Look, I brought Nelo with me,” I looked around but Nelo was gone. “Nelo?” Adam didn’t even bother to look up, and I craned my head to look back towards the doorway. “Nelo, this is really not a cool time to go walkies…”

“I’m not into the floor show, so you can take your act and buzz off, okay?” he smirked. “Why don’t you run off and tell Raum I don’t need his attempts to keep me happy, I’ll keep honoring my part of the bargain.”

“Oh for the love of…” snatching the book out of his hands, I tossed it aside. “Hey, the least you can do is listen to me after everything I did to get here. I don’t know what Raum’s done to you and frankly I don’t want to know about you and any body doubles he’s sent your way, but it really is me and I can prove it.”

“This should be interesting.” Looking only mildly intrigued, Adam sat up, legs swinging towards me as he gave me his complete attention. “Go ahead; dazzle me with your Mercy-like skills.”

Despite the mild rejection, I still itched to hold him, but it was clear I’d have to convince him first. “I’m assuming you can’t tell by my Grace?”

“I see a shine of Grace, but that could be a trick of the light.”

“Fair enough, but we have a connection, right?” I laid my hand on his knee lightly and his eyes dropped to follow it. “You should be able to feel me all the time the way I feel you. Don’t I feel closer now?”

“You do feel close,” he murmured as I slid my hand a little higher up his thigh, my body shifting so that I came to kneel between his legs.

“On some level you know it’s me, even if I didn’t have anything to say about the boneheaded deal you made with Raum.”

“I know you’re not her,” Adam said evenly, “because if my Mercy were to show up here, I’d have to throttle her on sight for sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Since when do I do what I’m told?” I scoffed. “Besides, there are other things to consider, things you know nothing about. Can’t you tell it’s me?” Leaning close, I brushed my lips against his tentatively. “Not even a little bit?”

Adam went as still as a statue at the touch, a little groan escaping his lips as I bussed him lightly again. “God forgive me, I don’t even care if you’re not mine, I miss you so much, Mercy,” he breathed, mouth chasing after mine. For long seconds I lost myself in the familiar taste of Adam, before his words came back to haunt me.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” I frowned, breaking the kiss. I didn’t want him kissing me unless he was completely sure it was me. “But if you need more proof, then here,” I laid the two metal slugs I always carried with me into the palm of his hand. Adam’s brows drew together as he tried to puzzle through what they were until the realization dawned upon him.

“You pulled these out of me that night…”

“In my living room, before you left me,” I nodded, gratified to see his face change, the skepticism fading, replaced by longing so sharp, it took my breath away.

“And you’re really here…”

“I’m here,” I grinned like a fool before our lips crashed together in another passionate kiss.

I have to say March was a weird month for me. I saw a lot of success from the Pretty Witches giveaway and I published Mercy for the Damned, so the business of being a writer went very well. Creatively, I finished up my Push fanfic, but did little else in the world of writing. I’ve been working on my upcoming book and let me tell you, I can’t remember the last time I was in such a wishy washy mood!

I’m supposed to be working on Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie, a paranormal mystery/ghosty book similar to The Touch. But instead, I’ve been inundated with all manner of other plot ideas, each vying for a spot at my next book. I’ve even gone so far as to do some major plotting on several of these ideas, hoping one of them would pull forward as the clear winner with the hopes of starting it this month.

Well, I’ll tell you, the end of March came and I found myself no closer to picking what project to begin. Each idea has merit, but none of them were grabbing hold in just that right way that tells me it’s the next one to focus on. So, instead of writing a new book, I’ll be dusting off Moonsong, the first book I wrote about two years ago. My writing has evolved quite a bit since then, and it needs a bit of work to get it whipped into shape for publication, but that’s what I’ll be working on next. Hopefully, I’ll have it ready to go by month’s end. That means a jump start on working on the sequel to Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down or letting my other book ideas fight to the death with chopsticks to see what book comes after that, but we’ll see where we are when I come to the other side of this one.

The third book of The Fallen series is now available for sale on Amazon.com
and BarnesAndNoble.com! It’s out as an e-book for $3.99 but you don’t have to have a Kindle or Nook to read it, they have free downloadable apps so you can read it on your PC, or even your phone. It’ll be available in print as well in a couple of weeks through Amazon.

Mercy’s saga continues with Mercy for the Damned, Book III of The Fallen. When a new prophecy predicts a great evil if a fallen angel is allowed to remain in Midian, Mercy will move heaven and earth to free Adam from his deal with Raum. The trouble is, it’s far easier to get into Midian than it is to get out, and Adam is perfectly happy to serve out the remainder of his sentence if it keeps Mercy safe from harm. Throw in some pressure from the police who suspect Sam and Mercy of eliminating Ben, and the race is on to rescue both of them before it’s too late.

In celebration of the release, I’m running a $.99 promo for the first book in the series Angel of Mercy. What else can you buy for a dollar? You can find it on Kindle or Nook.

Now I get to enjoy a four day weekend before getting back to my Push fanfic and then I’ll start working on finishing my outline for Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie, a paranormal/ghost thriller.

Mercy for the Damned has a new cover!

Well, it was neck and neck for a while, but the darker cover edged out to be the winner. I still love both of them, but I agree, the darker cover will likely stand out better on white backgrounds (like on Amazon.com). DeAnna Felthauser is the winner of the free book and I’ll be mailing out her signed copy of Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down today!

Thanks everybody for weighing in with your opinions, I really appreciate it! Mercy for the Damned is in the final editing stages, and I hope to have it out in the next couple of weeks.

In other news, I’m close to releasing Mercy for the Damned, it’s in the last half of edits then off to proofreading. So, hopefully that’ll be out in the next couple of weeks. I’m hoping to finish my Push fanfic before I start on my next book Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie too so I don’t stretch myself too thin. Balance… must learn balance…

In other, other news… okay this isn’t really news but I am so ready for spring to get here! It’s been in the 30′s this week with the car icing over every night. That’s crazy! I can’t wait for a little warmer weather so I can put my heavy winter coat away. What about you guys? What’s your favorite season?

It’s that time again to give me your thoughts and feedback on the cover art for my new book coming out this month, Mercy for the Damned. Anyone who comments on the covers on the website will be automatically entered for a chance to win a copy of one of my books (your choice of books).

Please remember that this will be mostly seen against a white background on Amazon.com, since that is where I sell the most. I’d also love to hear constructive criticism and ideas for how to improve them if you have any suggestions. Please keep in mind that they have to be not only eye-catching, but easy to identify when much smaller in ads and for sale on websites.

Here is a little blurb of what the book is about:

“You’d think having an angel come to visit you would be a good thing. So why did I feel like everything was about to get ten times worse as one knelt before me?”

Mercy’s saga continues with Mercy for the Damned, Book III of The Fallen. When a new prophecy predicts a great evil if a fallen angel is allowed to remain in Midian, Mercy will move heaven and earth to free Adam from his deal with Raum. The trouble is, it’s far easier to get into Midian than it is to get out, and Adam is perfectly happy to serve out the remainder of his sentence if it keeps Mercy safe from harm. Throw in some pressure from the police who suspect Sam and Mercy of eliminating Ben, and the race is on to rescue both of them before it’s too late.