SECRETS FROM THE PAST—Release Day Monday, November 27, 2023

SECRETS FROM THE PAST, a sensual mystery/romantic suspense, is scheduled for release by The Wild Rose Press on Monday, November 27, 2023.

Veiled threats endanger secrets from Cameron Pierce's past and soon escalate to attempts on his life. Shelby Haywood has her own secrets that could destroy her future with Cameron…or get them both killed. Is their shared heated desire increasing the danger surrounding them?

Cameron Pierce is a self-made billionaire, a man known world-wide for his business acumen, power, and extreme wealth. A man also known for his patronage of the arts and many charitable deeds. And a man with a past clouded in mystery and dark rumors.

Four years ago, Shelby Haywood's husband of ten years died in a fall down a flight of stairs. Even though his death was officially ruled an accident, she's been subjected to the harassment and accusations of her former in-laws who continually accuse her of being somehow responsible for their son's death. The Haywoods are a powerful and very wealthy family whose roots go back several generations in San Francisco. They've never made a secret of the fact that they believe their son married far below his status.

Shelby finally makes the decision to leave her lifetime home town of San Francisco. She signs a contract for a one year project with Pierce Industries in Seattle where she'll be working directly with the dynamic Cameron Pierce.

G-Excerpt #2) 

Cameron Pierce read the anonymous letter again, being very careful to handle only the corners of the paper so he wouldn’t disturb any existing fingerprint evidence. I know everything, and I’m going to make you pay.

The fourth threat he had received in as many weeks, this one just as ambiguous as the previous three letters had been. The anonymous threat didn’t contain anything specific. Did it refer to something he, personally, had been accused of doing? Or a problem in one of his companies? And the reference to making him pay…an attempt to extort money or a threat on his life?

He dropped the letter and its envelope into a plastic sleeve, sealed it, and handed it to Tom Jenkins, head of security for Pierce Industries. “Put this one with the others.”

“The last three letters arrived on consecutive Mondays. This is the Friday after the fourth consecutive Monday. When did you receive it?”

Cam glanced around his office, not happy with the sensation of being grilled by his own employee but knowing he had purposely withheld the information. “It came last Monday.”

He directed a stern look at his security chief, putting a stop to what he knew Tom wanted to say. Tom’s expression said he got Cam’s unspoken message.

“Okay, Cam. Where was this one mailed?”

“It has an Edmonds postmark. That makes four letters postmarked from four different locations in the greater Seattle metropolitan area in the last four weeks.”

“I still think they should be turned over to the police. I can call Lt. Crandall and put it on an unofficial personal basis.”

“No…there’s no reason to bother George with this. Men in my position are always receiving meaningless threats. The police have enough real crime to worry about without concerning themselves with crank notes. Besides, the letters are so vague that it’s impossible to determine what they mean, and the writer has never made any specific demands.”

“The threats are coming through the mail. That makes it a federal offense, which would put it in the lap of the FBI. They’re also being mailed from four different law enforcement jurisdictions, possibly an attempt to confuse an investigation.”

“Local or federal, there still isn’t anything specific in the letters that says what the person wants or what I’m supposed to have done. Or, for that matter, if they’re unhappy with me personally or if the vague threat is aimed at one of my companies.”

Cam maintained a casual attitude until Tom left the office. One thing about this mess bothered him more than anything else—the possibility that someone had been able to unravel his past and discover his true identity. For over twenty years there had been unsubstantiated rumors about where he came from before he started his meteoric rise to the top, but no one had ever been able to track down anything before he legally changed his name to Cameron Pierce—not even the fact that it had been the second time he legally changed his name. It was the main reason he refused to involve the police.

Then there was the other thing he didn’t want to acknowledge—the threatening letters started two weeks after Shelby Haywood came to work for him. Could there be a connection? She had worked for Jerry Decker, a point not in her favor. Thirty-four made her too young to have any connection to his deep past. But what about her family? Had either his father or uncle crossed paths with some member of her family, resulting in disaster for her hapless relative? Could that have caused her to seek revenge?

Blurb:

After the death of her husband, Shelby Haywood needs to escape the constant harassment from her former in-laws who blame her for his death. When offered a job with Pierce Industries in Seattle, she eagerly accepts but is unprepared for her instant attraction to the company's very desirable owner.

The moment billionaire Cameron Pierce meets Shelby, he knows she's what's been missing from his life. Veiled threats endanger secrets from his past and soon escalate to attempts on his life. When one attempt injures Shelby, he vows to protect her.

Shelby has her own secrets that could destroy her future with Cameron…or get them both killed.

Excerpts and other information available on my website  www.samanthagentry.com

Buy links:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Past-Samantha-Gentry-ebook/dp/B0CJG4CMYX

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1144089246?ean=2940186044321 

Those Naughty Pilgrims

With Thanksgiving comes stories of the Pilgrims taking up residence in the new world, landing at Plymouth Rock in what is now the state of Massachusetts.  The pious Pilgrims certainly have a reputation for being a rigid, hard-working, and humorless group.  But there are a few surprises to be found.  Even though drunkenness was discouraged, beer was accepted as a drink for men, women, and even children.  The daily ration on the Mayflower was a gallon a day for each individual.  It took 66 days for them to sail from England to their landing place of Plymouth Rock.  Hmmm…66 days times 1 gallon per person times the number of people on the ship.  It seems that a lot of room on board the ship was devoted to storing the beer ration.

Even sex was not taboo under the right circumstances.  They had a matter-of-fact attitude about sex as long as it was between a married couple.  It's when sex strayed from being the exclusive right between a married couple that the stories get interesting.

Studies by a group of anthropologists at the University of Virginia found that the Pilgrims spent a great deal of time thinking about how to punish those with impure thoughts and actions.  Studies also discovered that in 11% of the marriages at Plymouth Colony the bride was already pregnant.  The same study estimates that as many as 50% of the Pilgrims engaged in premarital sex.  Definitely not an image that fits the stereotype of the staid Pilgrims.

But what about the actions and activities of those naughty Pilgrims?  As with so much in life, there's the façade then there's the underlying reality.

Although not liberal in their thinking or lifestyle, the Pilgrims were not as uptight as history would have us believe and apparently not as uptight as their cousins, the Puritans.  Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans were English Protestants who believed that the Church of England was in need of reform.  Although both groups were strict Calvinists, they differed in their approach to how the Church of England should be reformed.  The Pilgrims were more inclined to separate from the church (therefore known as separatists), while the Puritans wanted to reform the church from within.  The Pilgrims were the first group to seek religious freedom in the New World (thus separating from the church).  As strict Calvinists, members of both groups believed in original sin, predestination, and the literal interpretation of the Bible as God's word.

The Pilgrims tried to create a strict religious society, but had an understanding and mercy unusual for their time in history.  As time passed, however, intolerance grew and was reflected in their laws and clearly demonstrated by the notorious Salem witch trials.  Innocent people were convicted and put to death on evidence that later even the Pilgrims declared to be inadmissible—I saw it in a dream, the spirit of my dead grandmother came to me and said…

According to the Mayflower Compact, the colony was to establish laws based on Biblical teachings "for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith."  The Old Testament book of Leviticus was the basis for most of their laws, a biblical source that definitely predated the New Testament and Christianity's teachings of love and forgiveness rather than reflecting those Old Testament teachings.  Adultery?  Death.  A man has sex with his daughter-in-law?  Death.  Sodomy?  Death.  Bestiality?  Death.  Are you beginning to see a pattern?

But interestingly, the Pilgrims did not typically enforce the death penalty for sex offenses.  There is only one known case in which the convicted offender was actually put to death for sex crimes.  It was the case of Thomas Graunger, a teenage boy apparently at the peak of his raging hormones who sought satisfaction from any and all sources available to him…those sources being the farm animals.

According to Plymouth Governor William Bradford, "He was this year detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey."

Even though Thomas was the only one executed for a sex crime, punishments were routinely severe even with far lesser sex crimes and usually meant whippings, being put into the stocks, and fines.

Men were not the only offenders in Plymouth colony.  The prim women weren't always so pious either.  Women were often caught since the evidence of their dalliances were babies.  The records of the times are filled with one out-of-wedlock child after another.  Babies showing up just a few months after marriage were also evidence of wrong doing.  Pre-marital sex was severely punished.  Fines were levied even for making passes, for appearing to have a lascivious carriage in public, or partying in mixed company at an unseemly time of night.

Sex outside marriage, even between two unmarried consenting adults, usually meant a whipping and fines.  If the woman became pregnant, the man had to either marry her or pay for the child's upbringing.  The man was usually placed in the stocks and whipped while the woman was made to watch.  Sometimes mercy was granted as in the case of a servant, Jane Powell.  Following years of hard servitude, she was destitute and had agreed to having sex in the hopes of marrying the man.  Apparently the court found her plea convincing and she went unpunished.

Even though the Pilgrims imposed strict punishment for crimes, they also understood human temptations.  In 1656, Katheren Aines and William Paule were sentenced for committing adultery.  William was whipped and forced to pay the costs of his imprisonment.  Katheren was whipped, imprisoned and forced to wear a letter on her shoulder designating her as an adulteress.  (Calling Nathaniel Hawthorne!)  However, Katheren's husband, Alexander, was also punished.  Alexander had left his family for some time and treated her badly during their marriage.  The Pilgrims viewed him as guilty of "exposing his wife to such temptations."  Alexander was required to pay for his wife's imprisonment, and sit in the stocks while William and Katheren were whipped.

This Thanksgiving as you sit down to your turkey dinner, it might be a good idea to take a moment to be thankful that you aren't a Pilgrim. :) 

Eagle Vs. Turkey: America's National Symbol

We all know that the bald eagle is America's National Symbol—a proud and majestic bird.  And turkey is what we serve every year at Thanksgiving dinner—a tasty bird made all the more appetizing when accompanied by dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy.

But did you know that if Benjamin Franklin had gotten his way, the turkey would have been our national symbol?

In 1776, right after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress appointed a special committee to select a design for an official national seal.  This committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.  They each had their own ideas, none of which included the bald eagle.  They finally came to agreement on a drawing of a woman holding a shield to represent the states.  However, the design did nothing to inspire the members of Congress.

So Congress consulted a Philadelphia artist named William Barton who created a new design that included a golden eagle.  At the time we were still at war with England and the fierce looking bird was deemed an appropriate symbol…with one small change.  The golden eagle also flew over Europe so the federal lawmakers declared that the bird in the seal had to be an American bald eagle.

On June 20, 1782, they approved the design that we recognize today.

From the start, the eagle had been a controversial choice.  Benjamin Franklin was quite vocal in his objection to the selection of the eagle.  He considered it a bird of "bad moral character."  A year after the Treaty of Paris officially ended the war with Great Britain, Franklin argued that the turkey would have been a more appropriate symbol.  "A much more respected bird and a true native of America."

Unfortunately for Franklin, Congress was not convinced and the bald eagle remained our national symbol.

Whereas both the bald eagle and the turkey are native to America, we can't lay exclusive claim to either species since both traditionally ranged in Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S.

And all of this leads us to one important question.  If the turkey had been chosen as our national symbol, what would we serve as our traditional Thanksgiving dinner?  Somehow roast eagle just doesn't have the same appeal as the turkey. 

Halloween Aftermath—Candy and Costumes

I'd like to offer one last Halloween fright before we turn our attention to the next celebration of the holiday season—Thanksgiving.  And what is that one last fright?  It's all that Halloween candy that you still have on hand.

Halloween aftermath usually means two things—putting the witch and goblin decorations away and fighting the battle of all that candy in the house.  First, there's the leftover candy from what you bought to hand out to trick-or-treaters.  There's two schools of thought about what type of candy to buy.  One theory says buy what you like so you can enjoy the leftovers.  The other theory says buy what you don't like so you won't be tempted.  And the second thing is all the candy the kids collected on their trick or treat rounds.  Sacks full of candy.  Enough potential sugar overdose and tooth decay material to last until next Halloween.

And what kind of candy is it that we now have in abundance?  It seems that all the candy manufacturers, in addition to their regular size candy bars, make the little fun size candy—the mini candy bars or individual pieces.  Those little bite size morsels that give us just a taste.  Unfortunately, it's usually a taste for more.  :)

These little tidbits aren't as harmless as you'd like to believe.  Many of the small treats are worse for you than eating a normal size candy bar.  But that can't be, you tell yourself, because you're only going to eat one of those little things and that's certainly not the same as a regular size candy bar.  What's that you said?  Eat just one?  Well, you and I both know that's a lie!  :) Remember that old Lay's Potato Chip commercial from many years ago? Bet you can't eat just one. That applies to those tasty little bite size morsels of candy as well.

I recently saw a list of the ten worse choices of these mini candy snacks and I'd like to share it with you.

1)  Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins (1 piece):  You convince yourself that you're getting lots of protein from the peanut butter.  Think again.  One pumpkin has 180 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 17 grams of sugar.

2)  Dove Milk Chocolate Promises (5 pieces):  Chocolate is marvelous stuff, full of antioxidants that help decrease the risk of heart disease.  Think again.  It's DARK chocolate that has the antioxidants, not milk chocolate.  You're eating 220 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 22 grams of sugar.

3)  Twix Miniatures (3 pieces):  Like the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, another choice that might not seem so bad for you.  This gooey caramel and cookie crunch treat has 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 15 grams of sugar.

4)  Almond Joy Snack-Size Bars (3 pieces):  Coconut milk and coconut water might be popular in healthy eating circles, but that doesn't mean it's ok to cover it with chocolate and still consider it healthy.  With these, you're eating 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 19 grams of sugar.

5)  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniature (5 pieces):  Remember the comments about Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins?  Well, the same rules apply here only this time it's 220 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 23 grams of sugar.

6)  Hershey's Miniatures (5 pieces):  These are staples every year at Halloween time.  The mixed bag of treats begs you to try at least one of each kind.  You'll be consuming 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 19 grams of sugar.

7)  Hershey's Kisses Caramel-Filled (9 pieces): These seem safe, but don't be fooled.  You're looking at 190 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 24 grams of sugar.

8)  York Dark Chocolate-Covered Peppermint Patties (3 pieces):  The cool minty chocolate that melts in your mouth gives you 150 calories, 3 grams of fat, and 27 grams of sugar.

9)  Snickers Fun Size (2 bars):  The commercials say, "Hungry?  Grab a Snickers."  If you do, you'll be grabbing 144 calories, 7.4 grams of fat, and 14 grams of sugar.

10)  Kit Kat Snack Size (3 bars, 2 pieces each):  These little beauties are worth 210 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 24 grams of sugar.

Perhaps the scariest thing about Halloween is the number of calories, grams of fat, and grams of sugar we consume under the guise of it's little, it won't hurt me.

Let's talk about that other Halloween must—costumes. Per Google Search, here's the top ten Halloween costumes for kids in 2023:

1)  Spiderman

2)  Princess

3)  Ghost

4)  Superhero

5)  Witch

6)  Batman

7)  Barbie

8)  Zombie

9)  Mario

10) Wednesday Addams

And the top 10 Halloween costumes for adults in 2023:

1)  Witch

2)  Vampire

3)  Barbie

4)  Batman

5)  Cat

6)  Zombie

7)  Pirate

8)  Princess

9)  Ghost

10) Spiderman

And now, strictly for adults…having a glass of wine with our Halloween candy.  What type of wine could possibly go with Candy Corn?

Master Sommelier and Director of Wines at Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has put together some pairings of Halloween candy and wine for your pleasure.

Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars go nicely with a fruity, low-alcohol wine like Brachetto d'Aqui from Northern Italy.  It's bright pink and tastes like raspberries and roses.

Hot Tamales candy are intensely spicy and sweet.  That demands a high acid wine with low alcohol to cut the spice and high sugar content, something like a German Riesling.

Tootsie Rolls go very well with a Tawny Port.  A twenty year old Tawny Port will taste like nuts and orange peel.

Reese's Pieces go perfectly with Vin Santo from Italy.  This wine has a nutty flavor, a great match with the peanut buttery candy.

And finally…what wine goes with Candy Corn?  According to the expert, this super sugary candy pairs well with a very floral wine like Muscat de Beaumes de Venise which is a fortified Muscat from the South of France with a rich orange blossom flavor.

So…sort out your candy and don't over do it.