Carmen DeSousa

McDonalds.com Free Books are like Big Macs! Really! Find out how they compare.    As I wrote that line, not only was I reminded of Joe Fox's comment in  You've Got Mail  about vats of olive oil, but I also realized — and this is fitting to the post — not everyone likes Big Macs. Me, eh ... not really, I'd rather have a black-bean burger. But ... I LOVE McDonald's french fries and coffee. I digress ...    The M in McDonald's is probably the most commonly known trademark throughout the world, and yet, McDonald's advertises EVERYWHERE! Radio, TV, Twitter, Facebook, your mailbox…    Yes, even though there's a good chance that you'll go to McDonald's in the near future — umm … for coffee — they still pay millions of dollars to bring you into their lair. And one of their most popular draws is the freebie or discount, often called a "loss leader."   Yes, that lure of a fre...

When Mark Waters decided to be a detective, he didn't plan to investigate ghosts.   But as he sifts through evidence of a supposed suicide by train, he learns a murder that took place eighty years ago may directly affect his case.   Six months after the strange occurrences at The Depot, there’s another murder. This time, The Library holds secrets of several murders, and the dead won’t rest until the murderer checks out too. Prologue Edda should have known he’d deny her. Deny seeing her, deny being with her. Her friend had warned her, but she’d thought he was her chance to escape the life she’d been living. A chance to be someone. A chance at love. Ever since she’d moved out of her momma’s home, life had been difficult. She could barely even pay her way at the boarding house where she stayed. At nineteen, the only thing she had going for her was her looks and body, even though it’d been a challenge getting her size back down ...

Did you know... eBooks make great gifts... And you can send them directly to a loved one's email on Christmas Day... Oh ... and if you haven't read my first romantic -suspense bestseller, She Belongs to Me , it's my gift to you.  Merry Christmas, my friends, and Happy Reading! You can find all my books to download or gift here .

Cover for 'The Library' is not available yet, but this library was my inspiration for the description. Hello, friends. It's time for a new segment of Sample Sunday posts. This week, I'm giving you a first peek at The Library, which picks up six months after The Depot . But since I know most of you who've read The Depot  want to know what's happening with Detective Mark Waters, I'm giving you the entire prologue and then a snippet of the first chapter.  If you haven't read The Depot , please skip this sample and grab the FREE book via one of the links below. PROLOGUE Wade inserted the key into the deadbolt the same time he did every night. Only this time, the door glided open as though some unseen force had invited him inside. The house was quiet. Too quiet. Usually he’d hear the sound of the TV, a kitchen timer alerting that dinner was ready, or the constant boom from the stereo upstairs. But this evening,...

After years of searching for the mysterious stranger who saved her life, twenty-two-year-old Kristina is alone and desperate. Seeing no future in her worthless existence, she attempts to force her protector out of the shadows the only way she knows—killing herself. Ignoring his family’s disapproval, Derrick continues to safeguard the girl he rescued from a vicious attack years earlier. The one thing he can’t protect her from, however, is herself. When Kristina jumps off a bridge, he must reveal himself, even if saving her means she will now be in danger  from  his kind. To make things worse, a video revealing Derrick’s supernatural ability when he saved Kristina is now in the possession of a government agency, and someone in his family will do anything to keep their existence a secret, even kill Kristina, the woman Derrick can no longer live without. The Creatus Series is not your normal paranormal story ... it's a  realistic ...

Remember when we used to have to wait to see our friends in school to tell all of them about something exciting that happened at the skating rink Friday night. Yeah, we could have called on our landline, but how long would it have taken to retell the story ten times or more, depending on how many friends you had? With social media, we can tell all of our closest friends something. I still don’t recommend talking about extremely personal situations. But hey, remember when you read ‘Flowers in the Attic’. Yikes! I do. I still have nightmares. I remember sitting around the school lunch table discussing our favorite books, a new band, and Rick Springfield from General Hospital. Am I showing my age yet? Even if you’re twenty years younger than I am, you still can identify with this, as social media really didn’t start hopping until the last ten years. Since the beginning of time, ‘word of mouth’ advertising has been one of the most reliable sources consumers have had when pu...

In every myth there is a modicum of truth… Creatus , the reason we believe in fairy tales—and monsters. In my new novel, for the first time ever, I deleted the prologue and the first chapter and jumped right into the story, but I do love prologues, as I know many of my readers do as well, so I couldn't part with it. Instead, I'm going to give you a first peek at my new novel, and a little insight to the above scene. I hope you enjoy. Creatus Prologue Kristina cowered against the damp building , looking to her mother for direction. Even at eight, she could see the wild gleam in the man’s eyes. Pepper spray in hand, her mother pushed her toward the street. “Run, baby!” A knife glinted in the man’s hand as he held it up in front of him. “I just want the jewelry and your money, lady . Don’t make me hurt you or the kid.” Her mother took her eyes off him for a fraction of a second. “Run, Kris—” Her words cut off as the man slammed the knife into ...