M STRATTON'S HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT **** DAY 1 ***

Day One

With Halloween right around the corner, M. Stratton has decided to celebrate one of her favourite holiday’s with a good old fashioned scavenger hunt!  Join us as we journey through all of her books in search of the missing pieces needed to claim the final grand prize.

 

Every day you will be sent in search of different hosting blogs that will hold the pieces needed to continue on in the hunt.  After each day, go back to the event page and make sure you post the pieces needed for the day. 

At the end of the week one lucky winner will be chosen to win a collection of signed books from M. Stratton(including The Storm Series, Dreaming in Moonlight and Fade to Black) and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

Remember the missing piece may be hidden in an synopsis, excerpt, teaser photo or interview questions given to Miss Statton and you may have to visit more than one blog to find it.  The piece needed may be a part of a picture or as simple as a word in a paragraph. Make sure no piece is unturned……

After the Storm 

Synopsis

Alexia “Lexi” Hanson moved across country and rebuilt her life after the attack that could have destroyed her. She enjoys her simple life in the beach cottage. Life was complete in her eyes.

Noah Matthews is Rock & Roll’s hottest star and on top of the world. After years without a break he finds the solitude he craves at his beach house. Enjoying his early morning coffee Noah was surprised to watch his neighbor sneak into his garden and start crawling around.

They never saw what was coming that fateful morning. Someone else was watching them. Someone who thought she belonged to him and would stop at nothing to have her.

Lives are changed forever when they meet amongst the blooms in his garden. Even when things seem darkest, there is always light After the Storm.

Excerpt 

Noah sat in a chair with his feet up on the terrace rail, drinking coffee instead of sleeping. After the schedule he’d kept over the years he should be asleep, dead to the world, for at least the next week. But for some reason the ocean was pulling at him. The fresh air and coffee were doing more for him than a massage from Sven, the best deep tissue masseuse in Los Angeles, and a full night's sleep would ever do.

Just over six feet tall, he had broad shoulders and an eight-pack the women went crazy over but he had to work hard to keep his body in shape now, especially after all of the years he’d spent abusing it. He had black hair and green eyes with obnoxiously long eyelashes that were considered lethal weapons (all the gossip rags said so), a killer smile, and dimples that could melt the heart of the most hardened woman. His largest tattoo was tribal that went from his upper right arm and across his chest, continued down his belly and disappeared under his waistband. Speculation as to what was at the end of the tattoo had women always trying to find out. There was a time in his life when he would have let them. But those days were long gone.

He ran his hands over his face, noticing the stubble just starting to grow. Noah had decided to grow a beard on his long, overdue vacation but now that he finally had some time to think, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He’d never had much time to do whatever he wanted. For so long, he’d lived on a schedule set by someone else. He knew it was time to make a change, but had no idea what it should be.

The one thing he did know was that he didn’t feel done bringing his music to the masses.

Noah Matthews and Last Stand hit it big in the music business when he was twenty-one. But that had been fifteen years ago. Fifteen long, hard years. He’d changed a lot from that naïve, hard-partying boy. They all had. The rest of the band were married with kids. The press called him, ‘Last Man Standing’, and it was true.

He didn’t have anything against marriage, he just couldn’t understand how it would work with his schedule. He’d had some long term relationships, if you wanted to call meeting-up-for–a-few-days-once–a-month a relationship. But nothing made the Earth stand still. Nothing that would make him want to change his lifestyle. The other guys in the band had found great women and made it work—proving it wasn’t impossible—but the band was slowing down. They wanted to spend more time with their wives and children, and he couldn’t blame them.

Noah’s bandmates were like brothers, and their wives his sister-in-laws. They’d been together since high school. It was nice having this extended family since his father had left when he was a baby and his mother had died from breast cancer when he was nineteen. Watching his band and their families meet up again, after months of being apart, made him long for something he wasn’t sure he even wanted. Or could ever find.

He looked over to his neighbor’s house when he saw an upstairs light. I wonder if old lady Patsy still lives there.

Noah had just purchased the home and was there, looking things over, when he’d met his neighbor, Patsy Hanson. She was a pistol. He smiled as he remembered her checking out his ass every time he turned around. It didn’t bother him, he was used to it. He’d had a great conversation with her and she’d given him chocolate chip cookies that had reminded him of what his mom used to make when he’d been a boy.

He watched someone jog out of Patsy’s house and into his garden and sat up straight in his chair. Well, that can’t be Patsy. What’s she doing? She never looked up at the house, completely focused. He almost called out to her but the vision of her tight, little ass wiggling around stopped him. Deciding to see what she was up to he kept a close eye on her, wondering if she might be a paparazzi.

Having lost sight of her, Noah started down the stairs toward where he had last seen her, curious to see more than the fleeting glance he’d gotten from above. And what a sight she was. Walking down the stairs he was able to get a better view of her. She wasn’t that tall from what he could tell and had a trim body with nice curves. Wavy dark brown hair with blonde highlights, tied back in a ponytail, came alive in the rising sunlight, some tendrils escaping around her neck and cheek, yet she didn't move a muscle, even though it had to tickle. His fingers itched to tuck the strands behind her ear, but her attention was completely on the viewfinder of her camera.

Noah lost track of time, watching her take picture after picture, as he sipped his cooling coffee, trying to memorize every line of her body, and wanting to know what she was doing near his home. He moved forward, trying to see what she was looking at, and watched her visibly relax, shaking the tension out of her shoulders and coming back to her surroundings. She even gave her pert little rump a shake in what he assumed was happiness.

It was time he let her know he was there.

"Sam didn't tell me he’d planted such a beautiful flower. If I’d known they had blooms like you at the Home Depot, I’d have had him stock up for the whole year." He spoke softly, hoping not to scare her.

The woman gasped and spun around to face him, one hand on her chest, the other holding her camera like a weapon. Staring wide-eyed, she looked up to meet his eyes. After a brief moment he watched as her eyes darted around looking around as if she had forgotten where she was.

Looking back at him she said, "Geez! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Her eyes grew larger and he knew she recognized who he was. Her mouth dropped open but she quickly closed it.

"No," he chuckled. Face-to-face, she looked even better than he’d thought. She had the whole girl-next-door look going for her. "Here I was enjoying the view of the ocean and having some coffee when someone steals into my garden and starts to crawl around. I figured the polite thing would be to meet her." He held his hand out.

She blushed and started to dust off the dirt and mud from her jeans, but looked up sheepishly and extended her hand "Hello, I'm your next-door neighbor Alexia Hanson.”

"Noah Matthews." He didn’t release her hand and made it a point to maintain eye contact. "Do you always crawl through other people’s gardens?”

He watched her blush again, enjoying the knowledge that he’d been the cause of the charming reaction.

"I do in yours.” Lifting her chin defiantly, she said, “Sam and Martha said it was okay if I took pictures on your property. Sam does such a wonderful job with it and the flowers are always changing.” She gestured with her free hand. “It’s calming to be surrounded by so much beauty and I love trying to capture that." She twisted her ponytail nervously while talking to him.

He could not resist as he lifted her hand, brushed some mud off it and kissed her knuckles. "Not as beautiful as watching you in my garden in the early morning light." His plan was two-fold, one to find out who she was and what she was doing in his garden and the other was he was enjoying teasing her and making her uncomfortable.

"Thanks, I think.” Lexi took a step back. “I'll get out of your way now. Sorry to disturb you."

He watched her hands shake. "Oh, don't worry about it. Would you like some coffee?” Noah winked and held his mug up in front of her face. “I was just about to get another cup. I'm sure Martha made something sweet to eat." He watched as she contemplated his offer, wanting her to say yes, unable to deny the pull to her. Maybe it was that she wasn’t falling all over him, or expecting him to bow to her like the high-maintenance models and actresses he was used to having on his arm. He cocked his head to the side and nodded toward his home. "Come on, we’re neighbors, let's get to know each other better. I promise not to bite." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. Crossing his arms he stood and waited for her to make a decision, wondering what thoughts were going through her head.

"Sure, I only had one cup this morning, but I’m a little muddy."

He could tell by the way she fidgeted while she put her camera in her bag, she was uneasy.

“How did you make it so long without another?” he teased. “Come on neighbor, let me get you a cup. Don’t worry about the mud. We live on the ocean, there’s always sand in the house anyway.” Noah turned away and started walking toward the house, knowing she’d follow. His vacation was starting to look up. It might be fun to see if she would show him around. He could play tourist.

When she caught up to him she said, “I’ve lived here for a few years and haven’t seen you here before. If I remember correctly, the sale of the estate went through a couple years before I moved here, while my grandmother was still alive.” There was a sadness to her voice that touched Noah. He knew all too well what it was like to lose someone you cared for deeply.

“I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother. I only met her once but she seemed like she knew how to have fun.” He laid his hand on her shoulder in sympathy. “I’ve been working hard the past few years in the hopes that I could take some serious time off to just relax. Not too many people know I own it, so it’s the perfect getaway. Now, I’m wishing I’d made trips sooner. The scenery here is lovely.” He made it a point to glance her way hoping to see her reaction.

 “How much time off do you plan on taking?”

“I can only take a few months off,” he sighed. “But I plan to think of nothing but myself, and now, maybe you.” Noah leaned in close to give her his trademark look, flashing his dimples unrepentantly.

She stood her ground and raised one eyebrow at him. “You’re a smooth talker aren’t you? How many women has that line worked on?”

He laughed, stepped away and put a hand to his heart “You caught me.” He opened the door and gestured with his hand “After you.”

Lexi toed off her muddy shoes before entering the gourmet kitchen. “Do you ever stop?”

“Not if I’m breathing. What can I say? Women are beautiful. Your skin is always so soft.” Noah ran his hand lightly across her cheek. “You do all these mysterious things to try to make yourselves even more beautiful, never realizing to a man, you’re beautiful just the way you are. There’s something amazing about every woman.” Shrugging, he said, “I try to use my music to help women understand that concept.”

 “Oh, you are good.” She laughed with a nervous quiver.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Yes I am. Maybe someday I’ll show you how good.”

She grinned and winked at him. “Who knows, if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll show you what you’ve been missing by not taking a vacation sooner.”

He put both hands to his heart and with a dramatic sigh. “So how long will I have to wait? Because I want to make sure I clear my schedule for a week or two.”

She chuckled at him. “How about that coffee before the academy comes in to give you an award?”

Noah smiled and shrugged. “How do you want it?” He winked. “The coffee I mean. Sugar, creamer?”

“I think I’ve had enough sugar this morning, black is fine,” she said dryly.

“Okay, strike one.” He looked out the window and nodded his head. “That is a beautiful dog you have.”

Lexi smiled. “She really is.” She leaned against the kitchen counter to look out the window at Pepper. “I think she’s so thankful for being rescued, she’d do anything for me. We’re really good for each other.”

“I noticed she didn’t follow you into the garden. Stopped at the edge. That is some great training.” Noah handed Lexi a coffee cup, letting his fingers linger on hers as she lifted it from his hand.

She cleared her throat. “I’ve made sure she doesn’t get into your garden and dig up all of Sam’s hard work. Pepper waits for me to be done, then we usually play on the beach as her reward.” Lexi smiled in Pepper’s direction and took a drink. “Do you like dogs?”

“I love them, but with all the traveling I have to do, it isn’t good to have one.” Noah leaned over and filled his cup.

“Pepper goes in and out of my house all the time. If you ever want to play with her, she’d love it. Just keep her out of your garden. She might not be able to resist digging.” Lexi couldn’t resist directing her smile over the edge of her coffee cup at Noah.

“That would be great. Now I was wondering…” He stopped as an alarm in Lexi’s bag started going off.

“Sorry,” she said as she went over to her bag and found it. “It’s my reminder that I need to get ready to head into town to the senior center.”

“The senior center?”

“Yes, Golden Ages. I try to help out there as much as I can.” There was a warmth to her voice when talking about the center. “There are wonderful people there. I love spending time with them.”

He didn’t want her to leave. But he knew sometimes you had to take a step back and leave them wanting. “Anytime you want to take more pictures, my garden is always open.” Noah smiled as she handed him her mug.

She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Thank you, but I’ll give you your space while you are here. The garden will still be there when you’re gone.”

He grabbed her arm and gently spun her around so that she was looking him in the eyes. Her eyes grew large and she let out a little gasp. He dropped his hand. “I didn’t mean to startle you, but what gives you the idea I wouldn’t like you in my space?”

They were standing so close, he could feel the heat from her body radiating out. “Alexia, I came here to get away from the business, not people. It would be great to get to know you and spend some time.” His voice was like silk caressing her. “Please? Friends?”

She stared at him for a few moments, “Umm… yeah… sure.”

He watched as she raced to her house, wondering how his life could change in one hour. This is going to be a fun couple of months.

A Halloween Question For M. Stratton

How did Halloween become your holiday?

I've always loved dressing up, then once I was out of high school and out of drama, I needed some kind of excuse to dress up, and BAM, Halloween baby. Plus, I've always loved scary movies and books. I remember in junior high reading horror YA books, and I'm pretty sure one of my first horror movies was The Omen, and yeah, I read that in junior high too. I love to scare people so it was like the planets aligned and there I was in all my Halloween glory.

8 Things You Didn't Know About M. Stratton

1. She loves the movie Twister… she can say all the lines along with the actors. She will also use those lines in real life as often as possible. 

2. Halloween is her favorite holiday. She starts planning months in advance. She has more Halloween decorations than Christmas. 

3. She once made up a monologue about her love of chocolate chip cookie dough for her high school drama class.

4. There are times she thinks she is so funny she has tears running down her face while laughing at herself.

5. M. can play the clarinet but is in awe of anyone who can play the guitar, piano or drums, pretty much anything where your hands have to do two different things at the same time. 

6. Cary Grant is her favorite actor. When she was in high school after Cary Grant died one of the cable stations ran a marathon, she watched his movies from 6 in the morning all day and night until 4 AM the next day.

7. Reading has always been an escape for her. She can devour a book in hours. When she moved in with her husband she literally donated over 1,000 books and saved over 1,000 for herself. She can reread books over and over again if she loves them. There are some that she has reread about once a year for the past 20 years.

8. She eloped after knowing her husband for only two months in 2006. They are still married over seven years later.

About the Author

M. Stratton is an International Amazon bestselling author in the romantic suspense and mystery suspense categories for her debut novel After the Storm. She is a self-proclaimed dork that loves to make people laugh and can trip over nothing. Her inner rock star is always on stage performing to a sold out crowd but is quiet and shy on the outside.

She lives with her husband and son in Arizona, which is a big difference from where she grew up north of Chicago Illinois. As an only child she learned to tell herself stories to make the long winters go by quicker while dreaming of summer vacations. Now as an adult she still makes up stories to pass the time, but now she writes them down to share with other people.

When not writing you can find M. watching football (Go Bears!), NASCAR, or classic movies, watching her husband and father restore classic cars, and seeing who can be sillier, her or her son, and of course reading.

http://www.mstrattonauthor.com

https://www.facebook.com/MLStrattonAuthor

Twitter: @mstratton70

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