When paradise turns perilous, will courage be enough to survive?

In the serene beauty of Kailua Kona, Hawaii, the tranquil life of Jessica and Sam is shattered by the news of an impending Category 5 hurricane. With the Storm of the Century barreling towards them, they make the heart-wrenching decision to leave their beloved island and head to Florida for safety. But Jessica’s sister, Pua, a relentless real estate broker, refuses to abandon her lucrative deal and insists on weathering the storm.

Pua Murphy is no stranger to adversity. With her fierce determination and unyielding spirit, she’s climbed her way to the top of the competitive real estate market. But as the hurricane looms, bringing with it unprecedented danger, Pua’s resolve is tested like never before. Torn between securing her financial future and heeding the desperate pleas of her family, Pua stands her ground, convinced she can outlast the tempest.

As the winds howl and the waves crash, Pua’s courage and resourcefulness are put to the ultimate test. With her clients growing nervous and the storm’s fury intensifying, she must navigate not only the physical threats of the hurricane but also the emotional turmoil of her choices. Will Pua’s gamble pay off, or will she be swept away by the forces she underestimated?

Death Storm is a riveting narrative of survival, ambition, and the unbreakable bonds of family. Author J.E. Trent masterfully weaves a story that captures the essence of human resilience in the face of nature’s most formidable challenge. With vivid descriptions and heart-pounding suspense, this novel is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

Prepare to be swept off your feet by this unforgettable journey. Death Storm will leave you breathless, pondering the true cost of ambition and the lengths we go to protect the ones we love. Don’t miss out on this electrifying tale—grab your copy today and experience the storm that will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

Payback Jack is available at these online bookstores. Click here. 

Read the first chapter below.

After I fueled the boat, I put it back inside its slip at the harbor and went into the salon with coffee in one hand and the Sunday paper in the other.

Usually, I liked to sit in the fighting chair in the cockpit and read the paper, but it was windy and sprinkling. The forecast was to drop an inch of rain. From the looks of the dark sky, it wouldn’t be long before it poured. Warm rain was ok, I loved the smell of it, just not when outside trying to read the paper.

I sat on the couch and glanced at the headline. It read, Another homeless man found stabbed to death in the village. I shook my head in disbelief. The crime was so heinous and the act so foreign to my little slice of heaven. One or two murders a year on the Kona side of the island was typical, but this was the fourth one in a month. Someone was out to solve the island’s homeless problem–one murder at a time.

I continued to read the paper and sip my coffee. I don’t know why, but coffee always seemed to taste better on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the news wasn’t better. Story after story of nothing but bad news and bad things that happened to good people. I sighed and muttered to myself, “Something’s got to change.” After a while, I folded the paper and threw it down in disgust.

It’s usually quiet out at the harbor. That’s why I lived there on a boat named the Holo-Holo. It’s the perfect home for a sworn bachelor. And forty-two feet of Cabo fishing yacht nirvana. It used to be named the Hui-Hou. I changed it because I hated saying goodbye and because holo-holo meant cruising or vacation in Hawaiian; it was more in line with how I liked to spend my time.

Most apartments weren’t as nice inside. What I liked most about it was if I got sick of the neighbors, I could untie and move to a different harbor or island if I chose to. I had no desire to, but I enjoyed having options. Living in the same house in the same neighborhood for twenty years was not my idea of living anymore.

Later that afternoon, Kathy dropped by to work on her book while I laid on the couch and studied the weather report from Kona to Honolulu. I had business over there that would take about a month, and I wanted to avoid staying in a hotel for that length of time.

It would’ve been a nice occasion to exercise the Holo-Holo, since it wasn’t good to let 800 horsepower diesel engines sit idle for long periods of time.

Kathy sat at the table across from the couch. Her right hand appeared to be permanently attached to her forehead as she leaned forward with her elbow on the table. She was on the third rewrite of her first novel.

According to her, it’s a love story that happened on the high seas. She said my boat was the only place she could write it because it was on water and she needed to feel a connection to the ocean to make her words authentic–whatever that meant.

When she wasn’t working at the Ugly Omelette, I used her part-time when I had a charter. Fish shivered at the mere mention of her name. That’s how good she was with a fishing pole.

Kathy had a red hibiscus flower in her long black hair. It was tied up into a messy bun with tendrils that streaked down the side of her face. She wore a teal bikini top with white denim shorts that contrasted her golden brown skin. She traded off chewing her hair and a pencil intermittently as she regarded the paper version of her manuscript.

The stack of pages was a sea of red and blue ink over, under, and around the printed words. If there was one thing she’d convinced me of, it was that I never wanted to be a writer; especially not after watching her write and rewrite the same story over a period of months.

I’d never been the type to sit in front of a computer for hours at a time and would definitely have thrown it overboard after the first hour. Never mind the fact that I’d sit in the boat’s fighting chair with a fishing line in the water, drink beer for hours, and stare at the ocean with nothing to show for it. I wish I was a better angler. To each his own, I guess. W. C. Fields once said, “Everyone’s got to believe in something, and I believe I’ll have another beer.” It worked for him, it worked for me.

I didn’t mind Kathy coming over to write, since her perfume always improved the smell of the place.

“Crap!” she said as she stared at the manuscript.

I looked over and said, “Problem?”

“I have a plot hole big enough to drive a boat through.”

I watched for a moment as she spit her hair out from between her front teeth and started scribbling wildly in the margins on the paper in front of her. The more she wrote, the more unwrinkled her face got. I nodded and went back to reading the weather report, since I wanted to avoid crossing the channel between the Big Island and Maui in twenty-foot seas.

When I saw that three tropical storms had formed off Baja, Mexico, and were headed straight toward Hawaii, it was a straightforward decision to postpone my trip to Honolulu until after hurricane season.

I was about to tell Kathy when a loud woman’s voice out on the dock disrupted the evening silence. It was one of the drawbacks of not having a doorbell.

“Kathy, are you in there?”

Startled, Kathy said, “I’m sorry Jack, I told her not to come here. I’ll get rid of her.”

“No worries, she’s fine. There will come a day when you’ll miss her interrupting you. Trust me.”

Kathy bounced from the table out the salon door toward the dock.

“Mom! I told you not to come here,” she whispered so as not to draw the eyes of any nearby boat dwellers.

“I know honey, I’m sorry and just afraid of what I found in the backyard, and I remembered your friend Jack being in law enforcement, and–”

Kathy interrupted, “He’s retired. What did you find that is so important?”

Her mother looked down the dock and at the two boats on each side of the Holo-Holo and whispered, “Bones.”

Now really annoyed because her mother had interrupted her writing, Kathy said in a low tone of voice, “They’re probably from some animal.”

Her mother shook her head. “That’s what I thought until I found the skull,” she said as she pulled it out of her oversized purse.

“Oh my gosh, put that back and come with me,” Kathy whisper yelled as she checked to see if anyone was looking as she pulled her mother by the arm down from the dock onto the boat.

 Payback Jack is available at these online bookstores. Click here. 

Hank and Betsy Walker have been married more than twenty years. But he’s recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. As they await his surgery, they turn to family, friends and her treasured memory box for comfort.

A pink ribbon reminds him of the day a little girl shared her chocolate chip cookie with him. That was the day their love story began. Choosing tokens from the past, they relive moments that define their relationship. They recall stories of a stolen rose, first kisses, and childish jealousy. Family and friends remember school bullies, a frigid rescue and a disaster called Thanksgiving.

During Hank’s surgery, Betsy clutches to hope and a dried flower. It’s the wild daisy he gave to her when he went to war. It was his promise that he would come back. But when he returned injured, his guilt almost destroyed their love. They share their imperfect moments, and the power of forgiveness.

As the days pass, and Hank grows stronger, more memories fill their days with joy and laughter. They reminisce about romantic dinners, love songs and dances. It’s his desire to ask Betsy to renew their vows overlooking an iris-filled meadow. Her sister makes the arrangements—with some big surprises.

Does life hold more time for Hank and Betsy? Will they make more memories?
Young love, wounded hearts–and time. Love isn’t perfect, but it can be true.

Are circumstances coincidence or divine intervention?

Emily agrees to spend her Christmas vacation with her rich boyfriend, Cooper, and his wealthy parents. She has doubts about herself and even more about Cooper. He can have any woman he wants–why her?

Cooper’s impulsive decision leads them on a journey up snowy Glimmer Mountain. Emily is given a special Christmas gift, a red bell–rumored to be from angels. A car crash leaves them stranded on a desolate road and Emily injured. A winter storm and a handsome stranger take them to Betsy’s B&B.

Emily develops new friendships and learns what’s missing in her life. She can’t ignore her attraction to the man that saved her. A man with a wounded heart. Cooper is anxious to leave the mountain, so his life will go on as planned–until a voice from his past calls.

An avalanche teaches Emily about life’s priorities. A proposal is only days away but what are Cooper’s true intentions? He can give her anything her heart desires, but can he give her what she needs? Or will she walk away for the kindness of a stranger who only offers her life on a mountain and a crooked grin?

A snowstorm and a Christmas bell turn her world upside down. Coincidences… or the work of an angel’s bell?

A Christmas Novella 

 A Hawaiian cowboy returns to his hometown for Christmas and sees an old flame and wonders if they can re-kindle the love they once had and get a second chance at a happily-ever-after.

Dr. Jasmine Murphy DVM is building her practice in the small town of Waimea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, after graduating from a prestigious Texas veterinary college. She doesn’t have time for anything but work and especially not for Keith Shaw who a decade earlier left her for the rodeo.

When Keith and Jasmine cross paths, she finds out he’s been temporarily hired onto the ranch where her animal clinic is, and they have to work together with a pregnant mare. She can’t wait for him to leave and go back on the mainland rodeo circuit after the holidays.

Keith abandons any thoughts of getting back together; chalks it up to euphoric recall and looks forward to leaving the island shortly after the start of the new year.

But when he’s severely injured in an auto accident and his recovery is going to take at least a year before he can go back on the bull riding circuit, he has to decide whether he wants to stay on the island with a woman that truly doesn’t seem to like him being within a hundred miles of her.

Will Keith and Jasmine find a way to reconcile their differences or will they spend Christmas together in a way that neither of them ever expected? 

• There is no profanity, sex, or violence in this story. •

Book 4 

A thrilling family tale of murder and intrigue in Paradise.

Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Retired detective Jessica Kealoha finds herself in the murder trial of her sister Pua and rife with guilt because she’s being forced to testify against her.

Many in town have already decided Pua’s guilt and only see the trial as a formality before they send her to prison for life. Jessica discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye and must find the evidence that will free her sister before it’s too late.

Book 3 

A Hawaiian serial-killer thriller that will make you think twice about ever being alone. 

A clear blue ocean, sandy white beaches–and five dead real estate agents.

On the Big Island of Hawaii, sleepy Kona has become the hunting grounds for a serial killer. With little faith in the local PD’s limited resources, and before they find another body, the governor calls in retired LAPD detective Jessica Kealoha to join the serial killer task force.

Jessica quickly butts heads with the mayor of the island who is demanding results and questioning her tactics.

When the killer sends a letter to the newspaper with details of her best friend’s murder long ago–a chilling connection becomes a reality that Jessica can’t live with.

Book 2

Revenge and greed… a deadly combination in paradise.  

Jessica Kealoha retired from the LAPD and moved to Kona, Hawaii, for the sun, sand, and a billionaire boyfriend. She thought she was over fighting organized crime in her previous life with the Soviet Crime task force in LA. But she will have to battle the Russian mob one more time to save her family.

When a Russian assassin seeks revenge for the death of his brother at the hands of Jessica, he kidnaps her newly adopted son and demands an eye for an eye in a way she never expected.
​
★★★★★ You won’t be able to put down this compulsively addictive second book in the Hawaii Adventure Series. Especially if you like Hawaii Fiction with strong female leads.

★★★★★Wow! From the first few pages to the last, non-stop action with our heroes fending off assassins and kidnappers. Anyone who wants a peek at Hawai’ian culture teamed with a great story should not hesitate to pick up this book. – Reader review.

Book 1 

In paradise nothing is simple…

…not even murder.

For Jessica, this time it’s personal.

The knock at the door shook her from a deep sleep. When she saw the cops, Jessica knew why they were there. As a LA Detective, she’d been on the other side of the door plenty of times.

Someone she loved was dead.

Time slowed. Her heart sank. They knew she knew.

Before they could get to the news, her mind raced. Growing up in Hawaii, half of her family in law enforcement and the other half gang members, she’d known the darker side of life.

As the detectives explained why they’d come, Jessica was only partly listening until they said it was her father who’d died…

…in a plane wreck.

And in that moment, the instinct to grieve was gone. He was meticulous in his maintenance. She didn’t believe it was an accident.

Who murdered her father?

Jessica was going home to Hawaii.

You’ll love this gripping thriller with a taste of romance, because of the twists, turns, and complex characters.