Oh, I love doing these! It’s time for a cover reveal of my upcoming military romantic suspense, The Siren and the Drag Queen!
This is a F/NB Romantic Suspense, and the sequel to The Siren and the Scientist. It takes place in a little Montana town called Broken Pass, and it seems a serial killer has come to visit.
blurb
Lieutenant Lisa “Circuits” Dunwoody, Delta Retired, is a hacker, and damn good at it. She can navigate the digital jungles of the internet and Dark Web like a firefly in the night—there one moment, gone the next. But real relationships are best left in the romance novels she loves to read after the death of her almost-fiancé six years earlier. Real life is just too complicated.
Then she visits the local theatre for the drag show.
Barrett Anders is a mostly retired therapist and non-binary person, though they still do the occasional session for old clients. But in June, they become Misty Fjords, the Viking Vixen, complete with glittering beard, several nights a week. When the Sirens come to town for Ladies Night and Lisa wins a raffle basket, Misty offers to teach Lisa how to use all the goodies in the basket personally.
Then drag queens start dying.
A serial killer seems to be targeting drag queens around the region, but Barrett’s not worried until one of their drag sisters turns up dead with the killer’s signature. When Barrett is kidnapped, Lisa must use all her skills at hacking, and those of her sister Sirens, to find them and bring them home before she loses her real life romance for a second time.
excerpt
Misty finally spied the group they’d seen at the table over by the side wall of the lobby, with their backs to the wall and all exits visible. While they laughed and smiled, none of them were completely relaxed, their eyes roving around the room with watchful alertness. Misty didn’t see the woman they wanted at first, but as they sashayed closer, she appeared, carrying drinks for two others. Misty was again struck with the woman’s stunning beauty and they swallowed against their nervousness.
Don’t be ridiculous. It’s like interacting with any other fan.
Except, for once, Misty wanted someone to like them. They wanted to make a good impression on the sad, watchful woman.
“Hello, ladies.” Misty cocked a hip and flourished one hand. “Welcome to the Hodge Podge Lodge. I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to the show?”
“They are, but I’ve been here a time or two.” A bright-eyed white woman with short auburn hair and freckles across her nose and cheeks grinned. “I’m Chandra. These are my friends Ann, Deborah, and Lisa.”
Lisa.
While the Native American and east Indian women were beautiful and friendly, Misty couldn’t keep their gaze off of Lisa. But the blonde white woman was the least interactive of the group. She nodded and didn’t offer to shake hands, for which Misty was sorely disappointed.
Someone needs some cheering up.
“So pleased to meet you all. I’m Misty Fjords and I shall do my best to entertain you all in order to convince you to donate to our humble theatre space.” They smiled broadly, winking at Lisa in an effort to get her to smile. “We just discovered the place had been built with cheap aluminum pipe for the plumbing. The whole building has to be retrofitted with quality copper piping.” They leaned forward and lowered their voice conspiratorially. “My father was a plumber so I know a little about laying pipe.” They winked as the woman barked laughter. “Of course, he meant in the traditional way, and it rubbed off on me, so we thought the best way to get the building repaired was to have a charity show and silent auction.”
“Oooh, I love auctions. Like eBay with fewer people.” Ann rubbed her hands together.
“Uh-oh, look out, Ann’s gonna sweep in and snipe folks, just you watch.” Deborah rolled her deep brown eyes. “Come on, Chandra, we better keep her in line.”
“Why do I have to go? We can’t be rude and abandon Ms. Misty Fjords.” Chandra winked with a little coy smile. “Lisa can go with you.”
Ann paused, eyeing Misty before shaking her head. “Nope. Lisa doesn’t get out enough. Tonight is for her to lighten up. Besides, I want to see the auction and you already know the drag queens. Give Lisa a chance.”
“Oh, no, that’s not necessary—” Lisa held up her hands in protest.
“But I want to—” Chandra protested even as Deborah dragged her away.
“Very nice to meet you, Ms. Fjords.”
Ann waved and smirked as she followed the other two, leaving Misty alone with Lisa, the place they’d wanted to be all night. Lisa scowled before shoving some popcorn into her mouth and disgruntledly chewing.
“So, did you enjoy the show?” Misty shot her a coy look.
Lisa swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, it was good. Look, I’m sorry about my teammates. You don’t have to hang out here with me. I’m sure you’d rather mingle and drum up more funding for your plumbing issues.”
Misty waved a manicured hand, their nails catching the light from the chandeliers overhead. “I’ve done my duty for the night. Hell, I already got three people to go over to the auction tables.” They snapped their fingers. “Ta-dah! Magic.”
Lisa snorted. “Well done, you.” She shook her head.
“But if you want to know a secret…” They trailed off and glanced around before lowering their voice. “I really wanted to meet and talk to you.”
Lisa’s eyebrows went up. “Seriously?”
Misty held up their hand with three fingers. “Scout’s Honor. Boy Scouts at the time, because my father didn’t like it when I preferred the Girl Scouts’ uniform. So I had to learn knot-tying, whittling, tying lures for fishing, and building fires. Too bad they didn’t give out badges for cooking and baking over a campfire. I excelled at those.”
Leave me a comment to tell me what you think. This title is Book 2 in the Sirens, Inc. series and will be out November 2025. Great thanks to Kris Norris for the fantastic cover image of Barrett Anders (Misty Fjords). Happy reading!