Maggie Mae by Sandy Wolters, Contemporary Steamy Romance, Ghost, Paranormal

Hello Everyone,

 

Today I am welcoming author Sandy Wolters to the blog. She's sharing an excerpt from her contemporary sensual romance with paranormal/ghost elements.

 

She's also showing off a sexy new cover.

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt for Maggie Mae

 

As difficult as it was, he had to know more about her and Jimmy. He asked, “How did you meet your husband?”

She looked at him and realized that she wanted to tell him. Stuffing the pain back inside, she began to share with him as he had shared with her. “I was going to Arizona State University. My roommate was going to an upscale party in Scottsdale. I hated parties like that. You couldn’t be yourself. It had always been my experience that everyone who went to those parties were snobs. I just didn’t like putting myself in the position of being judged as a young woman having to work her way through college.”

A faraway look in her eyes, she reviewed the events in her mind before smiling as she remembered. “Then Carley, my roommate, said, ‘free food.’ That was all I needed to hear. The words free food are the working college student’s mantra.” She laughed lightly before continuing, “So I went. I never imagined that one action or decision could change my life forever.

“I walked in, and as usual there was a dull drone as people talked about nothing at all interesting so I headed straight for the buffet. I allotted myself a half hour, one hour if the buffet was good.” She laughed again.

“All of a sudden, I had this strange feeling that someone was watching me so at first I didn’t take as much food as I wanted. Then I thought, what the hell, the food is here, it looks really good so I might as well stack the plate. I’ll never see anybody from this party again anyway.”

He listened as she spoke, knew this was difficult for her, but she was sharing what was probably one of the most important moments in her life. As she spoke, he couldn’t help reaching out and wrapping some of her silky hair in his fingers.

He truly hoped her sharing this story with him was in some way liberating for her because it was killing him. Hearing about the exact moment she met the man she fell in love with made his stomach clench.

She was in deep thought and her face twisted as she tried to come up with just the right words. “It was the strangest thing,” she declared. She lifted her hands and looked at them. “My palms started to sweat, and the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up.” She looked at him and laughed, “Are women supposed to admit they have hair on the back of their necks?” He laughed with her.

“I remember thinking at the time that the place must be haunted. That had to be it. You always hear about people experiencing strange physical phenomena just like that when ghosts show up. If I was lucky, I thought, I’d turn around and see Elvis. When I turned around, there Jimmy was. He was looking at me. I don’t know what happened, but the room started to rock. I thought we were having an earthquake and stuck my hand out to catch myself.”

She smiled and looked up at him, “Jeez, Michael, can you believe that I stuck my hand right in the middle of something that looked and smelled like cat food that was past its date? My hand smelled like that stuff for two days. How in the world do people eat something that looks and smells that bad?”

Shrugging it off, she said, “Anyway, Jimmy just stared back at me. It’s funny, but all I could see were his eyes. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what his face looked like, but those eyes held me. Then all of a sudden, everyone in the room seemed to just disappear. There were no voices, no sounds at all—just Jimmy looking at me and me looking at him.”

Michael closed his eyes and thought, Oh, Man!

She smiled wistfully at nothing in particular. “As he moved closer to me, it felt as if my body were shutting down, like I was having some sort of attack.” She giggled, almost oblivious of Michael now as her memories of the past engulfed her. “My first thought was, please don’t let this man be a ghost. It seemed to take him forever to get to me. My mind was saying put the plate down, wipe this gross stuff off of your hand and introduce yourself, but my body wouldn’t move. I just stood there, paralyzed, like an idiot.

“All of a sudden, there he was, right in front of me.” She smiled softly. “You know what he said to me? He said, ‘What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you.’ I had no idea what he meant, and I didn’t care. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him, but my mouth still wasn’t working. I just kept thinking to myself, Thank God, he’s not a ghost.” She laughed. “Can you imagine me not being able to say a thing? It’s kind of frightening, isn’t it?

“He took my plate and sat it down. He grabbed a napkin to wipe my hand off and said, ‘I’m going to really enjoy taking care of you.’ Then very slowly, he bent to kiss me. I was paralyzed. In my mind I was screaming at my mouth that now was the time to work: please, please work.”

Absently she reached up to touch her lips as if trying to remember every last detail of the kiss. “It was such a soft kiss, but it held more emotion than I’d ever felt before. I remember thinking: who does this guy think he is? Who does he think I am? Who the hell cares?”

Deep in thought she didn’t speak for a long time. Finally, she shrugged. “The rest is history.”

Michael rolled onto his back and sighed. How the hell was a living guy supposed to compete with a memory like that of a dead man?

 

Maggie Mae by Sandy Wolters

 

July 4th 2005, Maggie Mae's wedding day was the happiest day of her life, the most painful  day of her life and the day she died three times. 

Maggie lives as a recluse in the home that she and her dead husband, Jimmy, built  together. It's all she has left of him. She has her friends but has turned her back on the world and any possibility of spending her life with another man.

Five years after Jimmy's tragic death, Maggie's world is once again turned upside down when their home, the last hold she has to her husband, is destroyed. Maggie is thrown into the path of a man, the only man, who can bring her back to life. Elk Bend Chief of Police Michael Rogers is there to help her pick up the pieces and move on.

Rafferty, a close friend, has loved Maggie for years.  Waiting for her to get over the loss of her husband so that she will be with him, Rafferty has inserted himself into Maggie's life so deeply that she doesn't see his obsessive behavior— that she was being stalked by Rafferty even before the death of her husband—nor the danger that Rafferty represents to her. Rafferty believes Maggie is his, and he will do whatever he has to do in order to keep her.

Will Maggie be able to start a new life with Michael? Or will she be so consumed with the fear of losing him that she is paralyzed to move forward with her new life? Will Rafferty have the power over Maggie to extinguish any feelings she has for Michael? Or will he destroy her trying to wrestle her away from her fate with another man?

In this steamy contemporary romance with a ghostly paranormal twist, the depths of love as well as sorrow are explored as you experience the horror of Maggie Mae’s husband’s death, the joy and laughter  of friendships, and, most of all, the wonder when love transcends death.

 

 

 

 

What People Are Saying About Maggie Mae:

 

 Five stars from Darian Wilk

 

"Overall this was an excellent read, and well worth the guilt of making my kids watch TV for an entire afternoon. The way Wolters developed the bond between Maggie and Michael, and the challenges they met to fight or accept love was, well...for anyone who has seen The Notebook, that feeling - you'll find it in this book. If you're a fan of love, a fan of getting sucked into the story of people meant to be together - yet almost pulled apart by circumstance, you'll love this book. Wolters masterfully produced one of the best love stories I have read in a very long time."  5 Star Review by Darian Wilk on Amazon

 

Five Stars from The Paranormal Romance Guild

"The author has written some wonderful scenes involving Carly, Maggie's best friend, and Maggie's brother Marc. This is such a beautiful story, sad and happy and funny.  Maggie is one of the most enjoyable characters I have read about in a long time.  She has such an amazing personality and I recommend everyone read this book for themselves."  5 Star Review by The Paranormal Romance Guild

 

Five Stars from BookChick

"Maggie Mae was romantic and sweet and I would definitely recommend it a friend and read it again. Read it. Love it."  5 Star Review by BookChick on Amazon

 

Five Stars from NancyofUtah

 

"This book is fast paced, and the writing style fantastically allows you to move right along, without stalling."  5 Star Review by NancyofUtah on Amazon

 

Five Stars from Abouchard 

"Sandy Wolters is a genius at finding the perfect blend of drama and comedy in her books. This book will have you crying, laughing and when it's over I promise you will have a smile on your face."  5 Star Review by Abouchard on Amazon

Five Stars from Journey 

"Sandy Wolters has written a very moving book. From page one it had me strapped into an emotional roller coaster. Full of tragedy and hope, it is a must read for anyone who has ever experienced profound love and profound loss. Once you read it, you won't forget it."  5 Star Review by Journey on Amazon

 

 

To Purchase Maggie Mae Now:

 

Amazon USA | Amazon UK | All Romance Ebooks (ARe) | Barnes and Nobles | Kobo

 

To Connect With Sandy Wolters:

Facebook | Twitter | Website

About Sandy

I’ve been an avid reader for years. To my husband’s dismay, I have bookshelves full of books, rooms full of books, boxes full of books. My cars have books in them. I just can’t seem to get rid of them after I read them. You just never know when you will want to read it again, right?

About two years ago, my husband gave me the dream gift, a Kindle. It was love at first sight and my first foray into the world of ebooks. To say the least, I am a technologically challenged person but when a reader, such as I, is told that you can have the book you want to read in seconds, I’m going to do whatever it takes to learn how to use it as quickly as possible.

While I still have books everywhere, I no longer take ten or twelve books with me when I go on vacation. The only thing I need is my Kindle. It never leaves my purse.

My genre of choice is romance with a paranormal twist. My authors of choice are Diana Palmer, Iris Johansen, Catherine Coulter, Jill Gregory and of course, the queen, Nora Roberts. I am also very partial to Michael Connelly, who is not a romance author but damn that man can write!
In my life prior to becoming an author, I was a Legal Assistant/Office Manager for a wonderful local estate planning attorney (no criminals that I know of). Prior to that, I also worked my way up the ladder in a large corporation, from payroll clerk to supervising nine employees in operational accounting.

When my children, Shandelle and Pilar, were small, I took a few years off to be a full-time mom and help my husband with his accounting work for his auto repair shop.

After, Michael, my husband, sold his business, he changed professions and started working for a national construction company.

Michael and I raised two beautiful, strong women so that’s who I write about. The women in my books are strong individuals that have moments of weakness and frailty to work through.