Ciao, amici! Today, I’m once again sharing a friend and fellow author’s new release. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am that so many authors are putting out such quality work, and I assure you, this one will rank high on your list.
I’ve got Marcia Meara here today. We’re revisiting our favorite emissaries, Jake and Dodger, in her latest release, The Emissary 3: Love Hurts. And without further delay, it’s my honor to turn things over to my Story Empire cohort, Marcia Meara. Marcia, take it away…
Thanks so much for having me here today Staci. I’m pretty excited to be sharing the release of Book 3 in my Emissary Trilogy with you and your followers. I hope they’ll enjoy this little excerpt featuring a conversation between Jake Daughtry, the first angelic emissary, and his unofficially adopted son, Dodger, the second one. The boy has been searching everywhere for a young lady he’d helped two weeks earlier when she’d dropped an armload of books. Jake was killing time at a local diner as he waited for the boy to join him for lunch. When the girl of Dodger’s dreams walked through the door, Jake was eager to alert his son—until he saw she wasn’t alone.
Excerpt:
Jake hunched over his cup of coffee, trying to hide his face while listening to the ringing of Dodger’s phone. Just what he was going to say to avert this catastrophe, he wasn’t sure, but before he could come up with a plan, his boy answered.
“Hold that thought, whatever it was. I’ll be there in about sixty seconds. Go ahead and order my usual, if you would.” And with that, the call ended.
Oh, this was so not good.
He sneaked a glance over his shoulder as the girl headed for an empty booth. The young man followed directly behind her. Well, great. After two weeks spent searching all over town, was it really going to turn out that she was already in a relationship? He slid off the stool, left money on the counter, and walked out the door to head off trouble.
Too late.
Dodger gave a little wave as he approached, his smile morphing into a puzzled frown. “How come you’re out here? No place to sit?”
“Not exactly. I’m just not sure you really want to go in.”
The boy’s frown grew, then his eyes went wide. “Did you see her walk by? Which way? She’s not … is she … is she here?”
He started for the door, but Jake caught his arm. “Wait!”
“Why? I’m not gonna run up and grab her, you know. I’ll be cool.”
“It’s not that. It’s just … uh … there’s a guy with her.”
Dodger’s mouth dropped open, then his shoulders slumped. “Well, hell. I was hopin’ I wouldn’t have to deal with that.”
“I know, and I figured a heads up would be good, so you could decide what you want to do.”
“Yeah. Lemme think this through for a minute.”
Dodger’s idea of a minute was about fourteen seconds. “Are they sittin’ to the left or the right side of the door?”
“All the way down on the left.”
“Are there any booths open to the right?”
“Yeah, a couple.”
“Okay. How about we turn right as soon as we go in. We’ll find a booth as far down as possible, and I’ll sit facing them. That way, I can watch how they’re actin’ before I decide what I want to do next.”
“You’re being awfully calm about this.”
“Got no choice, do I? If I want to have a chance with her, I have to play my cards right. First off, I need to see if she even remembers me, but I have to be careful with that. I don’t want to look like some creepy pervert stalker. And I have to keep Azrael’s rules in mind so I don’t blow this right from the get-go. Lots of stuff to remember here, and I only get one shot. I have to be sure it has a chance to work, and a lot of that depends on her.”
“Are you saying you’re not one hundred percent sure she’s The One, after all?”
“No way. She’s the one for me, all right. The question is, am I the one for her?”
About The Emissary 3: Love Hurts
The archangel created his emissaries to help mortals avoid choices that would doom them for eternity. He hadn’t planned on the youngest member of his team falling in love with one.
~~~
Azrael’s emissarial program was growing daily, but it still met with stubborn opposition from many on the Council of Angels. Dodger’s request to be allowed to experience what falling in love was all about didn’t help matters, but Azrael thought the boy was onto something. He agreed emissaries who’d shared a loving relationship during their mortal lives would have a deeper understanding of human emotions and motivations, thus enhancing the skills they needed to do their jobs.
With that in mind, Azrael gave Dodger one chance to search for true love. He then laid down a daunting set of stringent rules and guidelines that could not be broken under any circumstances lest dire happenings occur. But while the angel sincerely hoped Dodger would find a way to make this endeavor work, he feared an avalanche of unintended consequences could be in store for his youngest emissary.
Sometimes even angels hate to be right.
~~~
Will Azrael ever tire of popping up behind Jake just to see his first emissary fall out of his chair in shock? Will sharp-eyed motel owners ever notice a big red and white semi mysteriously appearing and disappearing from their parking lots overnight? And will Dodger be able to track down the mystery girl who caught his eye two weeks earlier to see if she’s really The One?
To find the answers to these and other angelic or emissarial questions, come along on one last adventure with Jake, Dodger, and that ginormous, glowy-eyed archangel, Azrael. They’re waiting for you!
Bio

Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years and four big, spoiled cats.
When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.
Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish her first book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?
Contact & Buy Links
Purchase Link | Email | Website | Pinterest | Twitter | Amazon Author Page
Well, if that doesn’t spark your interest, I’m at a loss. Please consider using the sharing buttons and (of course) the purchase link. And when you’re done, I hope you’ll join me in wishing Marcia congratulations and all the best with her latest release by leaving her a comment below. Grazie!
Great excerpt, and fascinating story line!
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Thanks. I’m glad you think so. Marcia really did a great job with this series.
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Great interview and that excerpt showcases some of Marcia’s expertise as a writer – she certainly knows how to keep you turning the pages!
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I’m on Dodger’s side, hope that the girl is not in a relationship. The excerpt sounds intense and inviting to read on. Congratulations, Marcia.
Thank you for hosting, Staci! 🙂
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Hard not to be on Dodger’s side. But I won’t give away the ending. 🙂
Thanks, Miriam.
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Thank you, Staci! I like surprises. 🙂
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The excerpt has me wondering, Marcia. I can’t wait to find out what happens.
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Glad it has made you curious, Denise. Hope you’ll enjoy the way series wraps up. And thanks so much for stopping by today and taking a moment to comment. 🙂
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No spoilers here, Denise! But it’s very satisfying. Thanks for visiting.
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I love these books and the excerpt is awesome. Thanks.
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Aw, thanks, Darlene. I hope you’ll enjoy how the trilogy wraps up! It was a first for me in a lot of ways. Never wrote a novella before. Never wrote about angels before. Never wrote a story 99% paranormal in nature. And never had to take orders from a ginormous archangel. 😀 But it was so much fun to write! I’m definitely going to do some more spinoff novellas, but I suspect the first ones will feature Rabbit and crew. 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by today! 🙂
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That’s a great testimony. Thanks, Darlene.
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Loved this excerpt, Marcia! The thing about great writing is it sucks you in. And now, after following along on this amazing blog tour, I NEED to read these books. I gotta know if Dodger gets the girl!
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Wooohoooo! I hope you check them out, Sue, and then I hope you enjoy them. They’re kinda far removed from true crime, but hopefully, they speak to things many of us recognize. And I try (as always) to have a healthy dose of humor included in the mix. (Personally, I think Azrael is very funny–except when he goes into flaming-sword/smite mode. 😯
If you do read them, I’ll very very interest in hearing your thoughts. On the plus side, each one is right at 100 pages, so they are quick reads. Hope that makes them more tempting. 😀 And thanks so much for stopping by today! So nice to see you, as always!
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Erm… my eyes are really bothering me today. Of course I meant I’d be very interest-ED in hearing your thoughts. Doh.
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Girl or not, the read is worth it for the angel alone. (Can you tell I’m a fan of Azrael’s?) Thanks, Sue.
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Can’t wait to meet him! I love that they’re quick reads, too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with a hat. 😉
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Got to put thus series on my TBR list. Congrats, Marcia! Enjoyed the excerpt.
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I hope you’ll enjoy them if you find time to read them, Joan. I’m pretty sure we both suffer from gigantic, teetering TBR piles, so I know how it is. 😀 Thanks for the kind words, and for stopping by today. 🙂
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Is your Kindle as frustrated with you as mine is with me? I know you can squeeze a few more in, Joan. lol
Thanks.
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My Kindle is extremely frustrated. 😊
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Congratulations to Marcia. I just finished Emissary 1 and enjoyed it.
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Thanks so much, John. I’m glad you enjoyed the first novella, and hope you’ll enjoy the others, if you get a chance to read the rest of the story. And thanks for stopping by today, too! 🙂
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😊
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So glad to hear that, John. Thanks for visiting.
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How awesome to see this book featured here today. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story despite giving Marcia heart failure for reading it out of sequence. 🙂 Best wishes, Marcia, for great success with this trilogy, and I am looking forward to backtracking and seeing how it all started! Thanks, Staci!
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Glad you could stop by, Jan. If you do go back and read the series from the beginning, you’ll enjoy the progression even more.
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Hahahahaha. I deserved that, Jan! Truly, it’s hard for me to know that you know the ending before you learned about the beginning, but I’m still VERY happy you enjoyed it anyway. And I do hope you’ll find a moment to check out what Jake and Dodger went through to get to Love Hurts. It’s kinda intense in places, for sure, especially in the first story, but it’s what bonded them so closely together, too. I’ll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts when you get a chance to take that part of the journey with them.
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a moment to say hellow, and forgive my previous shock at you reading them backwards. 😀 😀 😀 As long as they get read, I have no reason to be anything but delighted. And I am! 🙂 ❤
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Or “hello” as I more typically say! 😀
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Lol! No worries, Marcia. I understood. 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
Hi, Everybody. Just want to give you a heads up that I’m over at Staci Troilo’s blog today with an excerpt from The Emissary 3: Love Hurts. Hope you’ll stop by to say hi and will consider passing the post along so others can check it out, as well. Thanks so much, and a huge thanks to Staci for having me over. 🙂 ❤
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So glad to have you here today, Marcia. Let’s make this a habit!
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A wonderful excerpt from a wonderful book! I so enjoy the characters of Jake, Dodger and Azrael, and recommend everyone meet them. Wishing you all the best with Emissary 3, Marcia. It’s such a gem of a story, and I hope many new readers discover its charm.
Thanks for hosting, Staci. Beautifully done, as always!
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Thanks, Mae.
Marcia’s character work is exceptional. But that anger… he gets my feathers ruffled!
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Thanks so much for having me here today, Staci! I really appreciate your kind words and support, and I hope your followers will enjoy learning a bit more about Dodger, Jake, and Azrael. Now that the trilogy has wrapped up, I find myself missing those three! Who knows? I just might revisit them someday, after I finish Riverbend 4, and my plans for a Cole, Cole, & Dupree spinoff novella. Lots of ideas floating around in my head, for sure.
Thanks again! Will be sharing this over on The Write Stuff soon.
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That’s the nice thing about being the one who steers the ship. You can guide it wherever you want. There’s no reason you couldn’t visit these three again if the mood strikes.
So happy to have you here today, Marcia. Wishing you the best with this release and much luck with Riverbend 4.
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Thanks so much, Staci. I appreciate that, and I’m very glad to be here, as well! 🙂
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I’m all for Dodger getting the girl. Congrats on the new release, Marcia!
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Thanks so much, Teri! It was wonderful to finally get this last novella finished and wrap up the trilogy. Lots of delays during the process, but by golly, it’s out there! Hope you’ll enjoy the way it all played out if you get a chance to read it. And thanks so much for stopping by today, too!
(Much good luck with your sale tomorrow! 🙂 )
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Who knew you were a romantic at heart? lol
Thanks, Teri.
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Cool excerpt. Tough enough without angelic rules.
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Ain’t that the truth, Craig! And in this case, things get even tougher before long. 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by today. Glad you enjoyed the excerpt. 🙂
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Angelic rules always make things tougher. Probably also make the rewards better, though.
Thanks, Craig.
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Good excerpt. I’ve read this one. It’s one of those “feel good” books that leave a smile on your face.
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It really is. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Priscilla.
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Thanks, Priscilla! I’m so glad you enjoyed this little trilogy, and I appreciate your lovely reviews, too! 🙂 Happy to see you here today, as well! 🙂
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