Praise for the work ofMeryl Sawyer
âIf you like your suspense intriguing and your sexual tension high, look no further!â
âRT Book Reviews on Deathâs Door (4 ½ stars)
âSawyerâs gift for building great and believable characters makes the danger they face all the more intense.
Outstanding!â
âRT Book Reviews on Kiss of Death
(4 ½ stars, Top Pick)
âSawyer spins a tale to captivate and entertain â¦
Wonderfully crafty and extremely entertaining.â
âRomance Readerâs Connection on Half Past Dead
âNail-biting suspense punctuates this thrilling romantic adventure. The name Meryl Sawyer is synonymous with exceptional romantic suspense.â
âRT Book Reviews on Better Off Dead
âA riveting work of romantic suspense ⦠near perfection.â
âPublishers Weekly on Tempting Fate
âMeryl Sawyer has become a brand name known for taut, sexy and very intriguing romantic suspense.â
âRT Book Reviews on Closer Than She Thinks
âA page-turner ⦠glamour, romance and adventure on a grand scale.â
âPublishers Weekly on Promise Me Anything
âCount on Meryl Sawyer to deliver a fast-paced thriller filled with sizzling romance.â
âNew York Times bestselling author Jill Marie Landis
MERYL SAWYER grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the only child of a single mother. She gives her mother credit for her love of books and encouraging her to write. When Meryl was in the third grade her birthday gift was an ancient Underwood with the E key missing. That didnât stop Meryl! She wrote stories and went back and put in the E with a pencil. Sheâs been writing ever sinceâfirst on a typewriter, then a word processor, then a computer.
When Meryl finally decided to get serious about writingâby serious she meant wanting to see her work in printâMeryl attended the Writers Program at UCLA. She had graduated from UCLA years earlier but this time she returned to study writing. There Meryl was fortunate to meet Colleen McCullough, author of The Thornbirds. She was on tour and one of Merylâs instructors threw a cocktail party to introduce Colleen to some aspiring writers. Colleen was unbelievably warm and charming and helpful. âWrite what you like to read,â she told the students. Meryl had always wanted to be a female Sidney Sheldonâso thatâs the direction she took.
Meryl completed a novel, attended seminars, met an agent and had offers from four different publishers within two months of finishing the book. Thatâs not every authorâs experience, but it happened that way for Meryl. She jokingly says, âI thought I would be famous by FridayâSaturday at the very latest. Here I am eighteen years later. Not famous but successful, and more importantly, happy.â
One thing all Merylâs books have in common is animals. Her canine buddies have even helped Merylâs career. They have spent countless hours under her desk while she was writing.
Meryl loves to hear from readers. She may be reached on the web.
âANDY,â CALLED HAYLEY before she remembered he was gone. She walked out onto the third-floor balcony and gazed at the water as the breeze off the bay ruffled her hair. It was way too soon to leave, she decided, but her loft seemed so empty.
Sheâd been lonely for a long time, she realized with an ache too deep for tears. It was reflected in her paintings, or so sheâd been told. Ian never lied. Why would he? Ian Barrington had been the first person to recognize her talent and offer to sell her paintings in his gallery. Hayleyâs earlier works had portrayed her happy outlook on life.
But in the two years since sheâd secretly begun selling her art, Hayleyâs life had taken an abrupt turn. The familiar sadness, the melancholy seeped through her each day. Betrayal and death changed you radically, she reflected. She thought of her parents and her heart contracted with an overwhelming sense of loss.
âDonât feel sorry for yourself,â she said out loud, watching a boat passing by. The guys on the deck were wildly waving to get her attention.
She knew what they saw: a young woman dressed in a short skirt and sleeveless blouse. Her brown hair was streaked with copper highlights, making her look more like the beach bunny sheâd been in her teens than the artist she was today.
Maybe she should cut her hair short and stop streaking it. What would it feel like to have short hair? For as long as she could recall, Hayley had worn her hair long. The style made the hazel-green eyes that dominated her face appear larger than they actually were.
The needs, the longings for a past that would never come again nagged at her. Time for a change, Hayley reminded herself. In another few weeks, her life would move in a different direction. This would be a great opportunity for a new hairstyle. The fresh start sheâd been planning.
She checked her watch. It was too early to leave. Sheâd already packed her purse that doubled as a backpack with the few things she would need. Sheâd placed her treasured set of paint brushes in their wooden box and wrapped it in the shorts and T-shirts she planned to wear.