Author Guest Post with DW Brooks: Homecoming Chaos

Jamison Jones Scott has been out of the country and out of contact with most of her family for four years.

Welcome to the April 15th stop on the blog tour for Homecoming Chaos by D. W. Brooks with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

A Novel Journey: Atlanta’s Influence on Me and My Book

I grew up in Alabama with brief detours to Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

While there were cool things in my home state like a lot of cousins and my grandparents, Point Mallard (a water park 45 minutes away), and the Space and Rocket Center just down the street from our home in Huntsville, I never considered Alabama as the place where I would live forever.

Atlanta was my dream destination.

I think the trip to Six Flags at age seven started my fascination for the city. We also visited Lion Country Safari, and my young mind thought that it would be great to live so close to an amazing theme park and a safari! Perhaps if my parents had taken me to Orlando first, I might have fallen in love with that city. But Atlanta was the first trip and became my dream location.

This persisted throughout my teens. I considered going there for college and medical school, but other factors, such as scholarship awards and details about specific schools, sent me to other cities. However, I was clear in my mind that I was moving to Atlanta one day.

At this point, my fascination with Atlanta had moved beyond Six Flags. I liked how the city had grown and had become a hub for new businesses and industries. It also had become a huge mecca for African Americans. It was a diverse area, and there were so many entertainment and sports opportunities. People were moving there from everywhere. But my dream of moving there was taking longer than I expected.

But finally, fate called. After several missed opportunities, a bit of serendipity got me to my destination. I moved to Atlanta after finishing my MBA degree and being offered the perfect job opportunity. Oh, I was thrilled. And at my new job, many of my coworkers were at the same stage of life—single and looking for the loves of our lives. Happy with our current careers. Enjoying ourselves as full-fledged adults.

As an example of all the people moving there, the man who would become my husband also moved there around one year before I did. We met at a ski club Christmas party (I don’t even ski), fell in love, got married, and had a baby. Sounds like the perfect ending, right?

Well, after my four years in Atlanta, we live in Texas now, which is OK. And have been here for over 20 years. But I still miss Atlanta. Some of it may be nostalgia for the stage of life we were in when we lived there, but the feelings still exist.

And that’s why I chose Atlanta as the ideal place for my MODEL MD / CHAOS series to exist. If I couldn’t live there, my characters could. The Scotts are a wealthy African American family in the city. So far, I have associated them with the vast and robust history of HBCUs in Atlanta and, using another name, the impressive medical training programs located in the area. Members of the fictional Scott family have shopped at Phipps Plaza, eaten at Lucky’s, purchased cupcakes at several locations, and gone out to local establishments. I still feel comfortable with the city even though I haven’t lived there in a while. I look forward to incorporating more Atlanta in my stories.

Besides, this gives me a great reason to go back for a lengthy visit…

About the Book

Homecoming Chaos
by D. W. Brooks

Published 21 November 2023
Life: The Reboot LLC

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Page Count: 448
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Jamison Jones Scott has been out of the country and out of contact with most of her family for four years. Distraught, she had left the states previously to join a physicians’ relief organization after canceling her wedding and turning down a cushy job offer.

Now Jamie is back. It’s a homecoming where she is unsure of her family’s reception—especially her mother’s—and she walks into a murder mystery at her family’s business and a big birthday soiree. While trying to navigate her return and learning more about this case, she runs into a tall, handsome detective who is working to solve the mystery and who finds her a sexy challenge even when she interferes.

Can Jamie survive the chaos and protect her family’s business, deal with her family, and handle the dance with the hot detective without managing to get herself killed?

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Excerpt

“Wait, wait. Hold on. Do you have a warrant? Do we need an attorney?” Jamison stood up, too. She was almost as tall as the detective and incredibly pretty up close, which caught him off guard. “Aren’t there proprietary issues at the lab?”

Nick paused and deferred to Ronald. Ronald chimed in. “We’re just trying to get information about this woman’s death. You can call a lawyer if you wish but retaining one may slow things down.”

“Hmmm.” Jamie stared at both detectives. She couldn’t read either of them, but the situation gave her pause. She recognized the importance of finding out what had happened to their employee. However, the family business needed to be shielded as much as possible. Jamie hadn’t been back long, and her brain was still cloudy and jet-lagged, but she recognized the potential perils in just letting the police roam free in the lab. “Dad, Mother, someone should call Richard,” she said, scrutinizing both parents.

Margaret said, “Good idea. I’ll call while I change. He can meet us there.” She gave the detective and the other officers a superior glance. “Richard Bradshaw, he’s a partner at Bradshaw, Taylor, and Kline, and he is our son-in-law.” She turned to walk into the master suite, with Gregory following.

Nick shook his head, and Ronald was less subtle with a steady scowl. Both had heard about Richard’s firm and peripherally knew Richard. This situation just got a lot more difficult. Nick didn’t suspect the family, but involving a lawyer usually complicated their police work. He turned back to Jamie, who was studying his reaction. He adjusted his face so she couldn’t sense his annoyance.

Jamie noted the subtle change and smiled to herself. She could tell she had annoyed him. Even annoyed, he’s pretty cute. “I need to get my coat. If you will excuse me,” she said, heading back to her bedroom.

Upstairs, Jamie changed clothes, retrieving a pair of skinny black jeans from her bag. As she slid into her jeans, her mind wandered to the detective. She typically dated guys that were taller than her—with her ex-fiancé being the lone exception—Eddie had been the same height. A strong jaw, wavy-ish hair, nice lips, and a commanding presence—which Jamie suspected the detective had in spades—didn’t hurt either. Just the type of guy she would typically go for if the circumstances were different. Rifling through the dresser, she found a white Henley shirt she’d left on a previous visit. She had gained almost fifteen pounds since then, and the shirt fit snugly. She now had boobs! Placing the hat back on her head, she was glad she had an appointment at the hair salon later in the day.

Yikes, she thought after catching herself primping in the mirror. Am I trying to impress the detective who’s investigating us? Girl, it has been a long time. Although he is hot. She shook her head exasperatedly.

About the Author

The author lives in Texas with her husband and children. She enjoys trying to stay in shape, sporadically cooking, reading (still), writing, and working on her blog. She is eternally grateful to the woman who donated a kidney to her over 5 years ago and continues to advocate for organ donation as much as she can.

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