
When I first began writing, I had standalone ideas. Like the man with the tattoos that connected to the Oracle in Delphi. Or the soap opera of a businessman and a cowboy. Or the secret organization stepping in to keep people safe when others couldn’t.
All of these turned into the start of either a series. One became Texas (Cowboy, Businessman, blackmailed into marriage, soap opera) the other Sanctuary (special ops, bodyguards, action adventure). The other, Oracle, spawned a sequel.
But, some of my books are truly what I consider to be standalone, and I decided to pick three to recommend if you haven’t read RJ Scott before.
Moments
This is the classic Hollywood bad boy meeting the do-gooder charity guy in an inner city project type story. On the one hand, we have Jacob, losing his way, think Robert Downey Jr in his bad days. On the other, we have Ethan, lost in his own way after the death of his partner, and left to run the inner city education center. Along with gangs, a teenage pregnancy, a family in need of help, and episodes of a mostly naked time-travel show that Jacob stars in, and it’s a fairytale romance.
I love this story, it’s possibly one of the favorite things I’ve ever written, and I love Jacob so much.
Alpha, Delta
This is a novella, set on an oil rig that is being decommissioned in the Norwegian Sea. Writing this was for a publishing call for alphas and I went out and did my usual research, and for some reason a different definition of alpha hit me. This is the Norwegian special forces, the Delta team, who are kind of like Navy SEALs. There is someone ready to destroy the rig, people in danger, and a violent storm to contend with. There is a lot of energy packed into one story! I loved writing this for the research I did, and the pictures I had in my head of the stormy seas, with the hulking oil rig sitting steadily in the middle of it. Someone called it Die Hard on an oil rig. I wouldn’t go that far but, it’s certainly got the feel of it!
Boy Banned
A story close to my heart – hope for a young man with autism set against a talent show. I loved writing this book.
Books that nearly made the list:
• The Decisions We Make
• The Christmas Throwaway
• The Gallows Tree
An actor on possession charges, hell bent on destroying his own life, meets a man who quietly works to make the world a better place.
Jacob Riley is a typical Hollywood former child star with issues. He has already done prison time and at the age of twenty-six has been arrested again.
Ethan Myers is the owner and manager of Macs, an education center providing teaching and learning to local low income families. Losing his partner to cancer leaves him lost and alone and he buries himself in his work to start to mend his broken heart.
Sparks fly when Jacob has to complete his community service at Macs. Their relationship grows against a background of disenfranchised street gang members, arson, the Oscars, and despite their prejudices.
Can Jacob Riley be saved?
Officer Finn Hallan has never run from a fight. With Niall’s life at stake, he’s not about to start now…
Finn Hallan is a member of the elite Norwegian Emergency Response Unit, code name Delta. When the team is sent to respond to a hostage situation on a Oil Platform in the Norwegian Sea, he has to face demons he thought he had buried a long time ago.
Scottish engineer Niall Faulkner’s skills in oil platform decommissioning takes him to the Forsetti platform at the worst possible time. When he’s captured by terrorists, his only thought is that he will never get to tell his lover how he really feels.
Can Finn keep Niall alive? Or will they both die at the hands of hijackers in the frigid waters of the Norwegian sea?
When the only way to win is to hide who you are, how far are you prepared to go?
Reuben “Angel” Jacobs is one step away from giving it all up. Losing a place in the live finals of Sing UK almost kills him. He has no choice but to go home and work for the family business, even though it means giving up his dreams and proving his old bullies right.
Corey Dixon is a rocker at heart. Being on the spectrum means that making sense of other people’s ‘normal’ is hard in itself, let alone in the chaos of a high-powered competition. Singing is his safe space, the only way he can think through the noise in his head. Messing up his audition for the live shows means his journey is over, and it’s the worst day of his life.
The judges throw them a lifeline and create a boy band from the near-miss hopefuls. Angel, Corey, and three others are put together in a room and offered the chance to sing as a group. Agreeing to become part of the new band means Corey has to hide who he is and what Angel has come to mean to him.
Is winning worth the price Corey and Angel have to pay?
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