Showing posts with label romantic suspense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romantic suspense. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Book Spotlight: This Never Happened: A Call Girl in D.C. by Kent Heckenlively

 Can a call girl enter politics and escape with her

life and morals intact?


Heidi Scherzinger is just a typical working girl in Chicago in 1972. Well, maybe not so typical. In fact, she’s running Chicago’s most successful independent call girl outfit when she’s summoned to meet with Sonny Battaglia, the country’s most powerful Mob boss.

The other local call girl agencies are complaining about her success, so Sonny offers her a deal: either she gets whacked, or she relocates to Washington, D.C., where she’ll be working for the “Agency” under the control of the creepy Sidney Gottshalk, the resident blackmail specialist.

The Agency wants blackmail material on all the horny Democrats flooding the Capitol in the run-up to the presidential election, trying to defeat President Nicholas Dixon as he runs for a second term.

The always efficient Heidi quickly sets up a first-class operation, aided by the quietly competent Milton Greenbaum. What follows is a Florence Gump-style adventure through a 1970s Washington, D.C., that might be just a little different than the version you read about in your history books.

This Never Happened: A Call Girl in D.C. is available at Amazon.

Watch the Book Trailer at https://f.io/rLzZemf1.

Excerpt

My Life Now – November 21, 2024

Most of those who’d want to kill me for telling this story are either dead or living in a nursing home.

I’m not dead, I’m not in a nursing home, but I am living in a “senior community.”

I’m the kind of woman you’ll often see is such a setting, teaching a morning and afternoon Pilates class, then checking out a lecture or play in the evening with her friends. I dress immaculately, my hair and makeup are always perfect, people often wonder if I’m in my mid-fifties or early sixties, (seventy-six, thank you very much) and truth be told, often getting propositioned by the Viagra crowd of men convinced they’ve still got it.

The truth is I’ve always loved sex and I’m pretty good at getting men and women to fall in love with me. But I’ve also mastered the art of convincing a person I’m fascinated by them, while at the same time remaining just out of reach. They know I’ll come and play for a few hours, especially if the money and conversation is good.

And there’s nobody better than me, man or woman, at listening to what the powerful are really saying while they’re trying to get me into bed, or do the commitment thing (no, thank you). That’s why I was on the payroll of the Agency for such a long time, although, truth be told, most of them are a bunch of psychotic morons.

You might call me a prostitute, call girl, hooker, or even a whore if you’re feeling particularly righteous, but I prefer the term courtesan.

Everything in life can be done poorly, or with style.

For example, President John Francis Fitzgerald did everything with a certain devil-may-care nonchalance, from bedding beautiful actresses to getting himself shot in Texas.

By contrast, President Nicholas Milhous Dixon could find the grey cloud on the

sunniest of days, and that partially explains how he went from winning the biggest landslide in American history to resigning in disgrace a year and a half later.

I say only partially, because there’s the part I played, that nobody’s ever really understood. You see, I’m the woman who’s been whispered about for years, the main player in the story you thought you knew, protected by forces more powerful than you can imagine.

But was it really my fault?

Maybe after fifty years it’s time to finally tell the story.

I’ll let you be the judge of whether I’m a hero or a villain.

– Excerpted from This Never Happened by Kent Heckenlively, Manhattan Book Group, 2026. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Kent Heckenlively is an attorney, science teacher, and two-time New York Times bestselling author. He is best known as coauthor of the Plague series – Plague, Plague of Corruption & Ending Plague) with Dr. Judy Mikovits and Dr. Francis Ruscetti, winner of the Distinguished Service Medal from the National Institutes of Health. His book, Plague of Corruption reached #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list in June of 2020, has sold more than 200,000 copies to date, and is being turned into a documentary narrated by Liam Neeson. Kent has published numerous non-fiction books, focusing on the tech sector, controversies in medicine, and media bias.

His most recent two books,Twilight of the Shadow Government and Catastrophic Disclosure, focus on government corruption.

This Never Happened is his third novel and reflects his belief that we all need a fun book for the summer. With more than 15,000 Amazon reviews, a 4.7 average ranking out of 5.0 stars, more than 750,000 of his books in print, critical praise from Kirkus Reviews, including a highly coveted, “Kirkus preferred review” for his book on interferon, as well as his books being translated into ten languages, Kent is quickly becoming a powerhouse in the literary world.

Visit his website at www.kentheckenlivelybooks.com

Connect with him on X at https://x.com/KentHecken.

Sponsored By:

Monday, September 29, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Sep 29



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and was then taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Welcome to the last Monday in September. That sure went by quickly. Hope you had a great weekend. I took a partial day off on Saturday and spent some time in the kitchen before heading out to The Big E with the family. Earlier in the week, HB Real Estate celebrated its fourth annual Mums and Martinis. We visited a local nursery to grab fall plants and decor before heading out to lunch at one of our local restaurants. Such a fun time. Here are some photos:


Part of my Mums and Martinis haul


Pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips and blueberry muffins in a brownie pan


Hubby and I standing in front of the Midway




Travis, Dwight, and Theo are adorned with The Big E Parade bling

Want to know what I read this week? Nothing. Zip. Nada. Zero. Just didn't have the time or the energy. I feel productive coming into this week, however, because my meal plans for the entire month of October are done. 

If you missed it, I posted my First Chapter Review of Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin on Tuesday. You can read it here.


I started this poetry collection two weeks ago for a November review, Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson. 


Want to continue Eleanor Roosevelt's Nightly Prayer by Donn Mitchell, which is a NetGalley download.


The Man Next Door, another romantic comedy by Sheila Roberts, is next.


I want to read Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas during the holiday season. 


Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein and The Curiosities by W.H. Eatons are middle-grade NetGalley downloads I need to read. 



I am awaiting the arrival of The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright for an October review. 




Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach

I grabbed these books on Booktrovert.





Upcoming Events
  • The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright - Oct 29 (Review)
  • One Foot in the Ether: Whispers of the Pendle Witches by Kayleigh Kavanagh - Oct 30 (Spotlight)
  • The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts - Oct 31 (Review)
  • Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson - Nov 25 (Review)

The latest Christmas... in the news post is up at Christmas Year Round. This week, we are talking about the expansion into the Midwest of Spirit Christmas, new Christmas ornaments at Magic Kingdom, and the "Great American Christmas" holiday movie lineup. You can read my post here.


Nothing new at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. My quarterly goals update should be coming soon. 

Wrote a post at Laura's Little Houses about my Top Five Favorite Episodes from Little House on the Prairie - Season 2. You can find it here.

Waiting to hear back on writing-related news, so nothing fun to share yet. Hope you enjoy your week. 

Monday, August 4, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Aug 4



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and was then taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Welcome to the first Monday of August! This month has brought cooler weather to Massachusetts, even some rain. I'm ready to decorate for fall, but it's too early. 

Last week was full of nice things: a closing, an order from Modern Prairie, and a surprise visit to Boston to watch the Red Sox play the Astros. We were at that game where the benches and the dugouts cleared out. Afterward, we enjoyed some great food at Joe's on Newbury


This Christmas in July Mystery item is from April Cornell. Love that it is different colors on opposite sides. 



Baked haddock at Pafumi's on Main.


Saturday was a beautiful day in Boston.


Chicken Pot Pie from Joe's on Newbury.

As far as reading, I reviewed M is for Mason Jar at my children's book blog. You can read the review here


I also reviewed The Day I Met Bigfoot: And Made a New Friend by D. L. Miller. My review is here


I didn't read Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley on my Kindle this week. 


I finished The Bible Simplified by Zach Windahl on NetGalley. My review should be posted this week. 


I didn't touch The Sea Captain's Wife by Tilar J. Mazzeo this week, but I need to finish it soon. 


Read a few chapters of Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine. Since the review is in September, I have some time.


Need to review Generating Business Referrals Without Asking by Stacey Brown Randall soon. 


These First Chapter Reviews are coming in August and September. 


Gone to the Ground by Morgan Hatch


Father of One by Jani Anttola 


What Lies We Keep by Janet Roberts


Whatever It Takes by Alan Benham 

Need to read Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas soon. 





Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach

Thanks to Sarah Hamaker's Christmas in July Reader Extravaganza, I received some free books from authors whose newsletters I subscribed to. Here is what is now on my Kindle.







These two books arrived from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.







Upcoming Events
  • Gone to the Ground by Morgan Hatch - Aug 7 (First Chapter Review)
  • Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine - Aug 12 (Author Interview)
  • Father of One by Jani Anttola - Aug 18 (First Chapter Review)
  • What Lies We Keep by Janet Roberts - Aug 20 (First Chapter Review)
  • Whatever it Takes by Alan Brenham - Sep 2 (First Chapter Review)
  • Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine - Sep 15 (Review)


The latest Christmas... in the news post is up at Christmas Year Round. You can read all the seasonal good stuff here. "Three Things to Do in August to Prepare for Christmas" should be posted today. 


The Children's and Teens' Book Connection has the reviews I mentioned above. 

I had this great post idea for Laura's Little Houses, but I couldn't write it down when I was driving. It's lost now, but I will remember it again. 

Hoping for a slower work week, but I am working on offers, so not sure how that will go. Enjoy your week!