“As I’ve pointed out four times now, this entire incident has been recorded by security cameras. The footage will show that Ms. Etterson and I were attacked without provocation and we defended ourselves as is our right under Article 3 paragraph 1 through 4 of the House Protection Act.”
“Is that so?” Sgt. Munoz’s eyebrows crept up a quarter of an inch.
“You have no cause to detain either me or Runa Etterson. We have cooperated, and we have given our statements.”
“Ms. Baylor.” He frowned. “You wouldn’t happen to have an older sister, would you?”
That was just too much. “When Nevada encountered you, she was under a great deal of stress trying to keep us alive and save Houston. She didn’t have a chance to note that every time there was an incident requiring a law enforcement response, you mysteriously appeared on the scene. But I did.”
He watched me, impassive. I kept going.
“You are attached to the House Response Unit of Houston PD, tasked specifically with handling incidents involving Houses. Every member of this unit is assigned a number of families, in which he becomes expert. So, you know perfectly well that I have an older sister and that she is currently out of the country. You know the names of every person in our family, their birth dates, and their magic. You probably know the exact nature of my powers, despite the fact that my records are sealed. You are here because my last name popped up in your system. So please don’t insult my intelligence.”
AHHHH!!! I can’t wait until we get this book!!
+1
If there were ever a more perfect moment for a mike drop, the end of this scene would be it.
+1 Woot, go Catlina!!
Excellent picture choice.
Oooh! Love the pic!
Perfect picture.
Sirin is kicking ass and taking names. Don’t mess with her.
+1
Thank you! I was lurking and found a pleasant surprise!
Go Catalina! Thanks for the snippet 🙂
+1
+1
+1
Hah! Now I will reread all the Hidden Legacy books with a particular note of Sgt. Munoz’s appearances. Great excuse.
: )
+1 ha ha ha ha
Ohhhh..the sweet sister is growing up! Love it!!! She’s going to be awesome!
I love this family.
Sooooo Why did he show up for the adultery case in Burn for Me? Their name wouldnt have been involved yet???
See below. I agree with Nicki that he was probably assigned to House Montgomery before and just stumbled upon Nevada in the course of the job.
Might have been assigned to the house of the adulterer.
The book never says he was not a part of a house though.
Lol. Can’t wait!!!
Wow! Ice snippet to start the week. You shouldn’t reward my obsessive stalking of your blog. Teehee! Thank you.
*Nice* not ice… I wish I could blame it on being a Monday.
I wonder if he was assigned to Montgomery and/or Rogan? Because he popped up before a House Baylor existed but Nevada was associated with Montgomery from the beginning.
Then he got House Baylor cause he had experience with them.
+1
Or he could have been house Tremaine…
He was the first policeman to arrive at the scene of Nevada’s first case we were introduced to. In Chapter 1 of Burn for Me; Rutger, the philanderer, and Nevada were in a fight. Security had cuffed Nevada. The policeman reviewed the tape.
Nevada was not involved with Rogan at that time. Montgomery had nothing to do with the Rutger case. Sgt Munoz was there because he was called by hotel security. No one knew or were aware of Nevada’s power at this part of the story.
The next time we meet Sgt Munoz was in the last book. The scene was when they were attacked at the hospital, her cousin killed eight attackers in 2.5 seconds with the Ruger. Munoz wanted her to tell what happened. Rogan’s lawyer intervened. Lineus Duncan stopped the bickering.
Taking names and kicking ass! Go Catalina Go!!
You tell him Lina!!!
Thinking he can bully you just because your house is young, and you are young and female! ???
Like he would DARE speak like that to any other House Prime!
Unless he’s willing to take that tone and attitude with a male, middle aged, third generation Prime he should check his d*mn attitude!
I’m not saying non-house member living in that society doesn’t have a genuine axe to grind with the un-democratic informal power structures magic causes, and their whole political and judicial system might be rotten, but if he, or anyone working inside the system, wants to change it they should try to affect political changes that might lead to reform, not pick on the members of the priveleged class he/they think they can get away with harrassing!
+1 million
×100. Bullying with what little power/authority you do have, at some one you THINK to be weaker, is not excused by the overall flaws of the system.
Woah. It’s standard cop attitude with any party to an incident. They are suspicious by experience, and they try to catch people in lies. You need to read a lot of Linda Howard to chill out on cops.
Ooo la la! C’est une surprise magnifique!
*Big Grin* Gonna love this story!! 😀
Ooooh. Good one!
J
+1!
Catalina is coming into her own!
Ooo thank you. A lovely surprise after work xx
Sgt. Munoz, tsk tsk. Go Catalina!
Go ahead Catalina!!!
Ahhh! I can‘t wait for the finished book!
Really great appetizer!
How much of Catalina’s powers were informed by the experience of releasing the Innkeeper books in installments on the blog? 😉
Proof once again that the BDH should chill and not be pushy about what’s coming next because whatever the ALs give us will be better than we imagined. Of course we won’t chill because we all have our favorites and if we had any patience we wouldn’t be the BDH. ALs your storytelling imagination and skill never ceases to amaze!
“If we had any patience, we wouldn’t be the BDH”
Sing it!
I solemnly swear:
I am a BDH member.
I am patient.
I am not pushy.
I don’t send the AL’s demanding emails.
I don’t leave demanding comments.
I relish being part of an online community.
I rejoice when I see a new snippet.
I do a happy dance when I see an Innkeeper instalment.
I squeal with delight at a new book.
I devour them all.
I am a BDH member.
And I always say thank you!
+1
+1
+1
Same here Ange.
BDH got the name not from obsessively reading the AuthorLords, but from reading a lot. So in between gifts of books and snippets of books, I may check here every day but I won’t pester. I’ll keep on reading a lot.
Lol
+1
So true! I am proud to be part of the BDH!
Oooh, snippet!
The AL is kind!
Get ’em Catalina!
Also, thank you!
And I am squeeing like mad! How can you tell us we don’t know what the book is about? It’s about the awesomeness that is Catalina!!
(Also, autocorrect wanted to turn squeeing into squeegeeing. I may just let it next time).
LOL, I was just thinking along those same lines. We don’t mean to stress you with the early book buying its just that you post these awesome snippets (including the orig intro that was cut) and we *know* that we will love it. Heck I ended up buying/downloading two of the books you recommended after you posted snippets (and yes I read a more extensive bit first) but honestly the snippets had me hooked. And its also because its a form of being supportive/appreciative for all you do for us (Innkeeper, snippets, tree decorating, ect.)
So THANKS 🙂 And I will be buying this book (and anything else you publish) when it comes out. (I have a nook, they can get “issuey” if you pre-order too early).
+1 except that the Kindle makes pre-ordering easy.
(Just a response to your comment, I may use Amazon extensively, but I also know what a terrible company it is).
OHHHh she is going to make a name for herself!!!! I feel so proud already, i could cry T.T.
She is going to be feared like any other member of her family!!!! I’m so happy 🙂
Wheeeeee! And we’re off again! Thank you.
I do believe Catalina will be as kickass as her older sister!! Love it!
I knew that there was some Grandma Frida in her, and some Nevada, too.
Thank you can grin the rest of day now.
Smack down, Catalina style! Can’t wait for the book!
+1!! What a great surprise, thanks!
Woohoo! Go Catalina!!!
A snippy snappy Catalina snippet!
Yes! You tell him Catalina ?
Thanks for thinking of us.
Go,Catalina!…she’s all grown up and a lot like grandma Frida and Nevada…thank u so much ALs
Loved this snippet!
Oh {wing} snap!!
This is so exciting, I’m very much looking forward to reading HL4!
Mic drop-
So many threads and you keep pulling them back together –
I can only imagine the office wall has a large bulletin board with push pins, colored string, and circled faces to diagram connections!
Thanks for the preview!
Oh would it be nice for one of the family to stumble into that and we get to see how the task force actually think about the families
Thank you!❤️
Ahhh.. the joy <3 the agony!
(i feel while waiting for this already delicious looking book)
Go Catalina 🙂
Thank you!
Thank you for this lovely surprise.
Catalina: 1, Sgt Munoz: 0 ?
Munoz! Rogan’s mom did a good job. She sounds confident.
Someone sure had changed, you get ’em Catalina! This is going to be so fun!
Ha! Love it! Catalina laying the smacketh down.
Yaaaaas
You go girl!!! Give em heck!
Mike. Drop.
Go Catalina!
Thanks, AL!
Awwwww! Thank you for the surprise snippet, it’s going to be so hard waiting to read all about Catalina! And Runa! ??
Surely Munoz knows what Catalina did to almost half of Mrs. Rogan’s family? No? He should have done more research. Catalina lost her “shy little girl” persona during Rogan and Nevada’s wedding.
+1,000 on this snippet
Wow. Straight to the point. She hits like a hammer. A heavy one.
yeah
Been saving a couple of books for my replacement of a knee replacement (1st lasted 12 1/2 yrs). This tidbit is such a cool teaser. Going to get into this series after I finish oldest grandsons gift buying. Only series of yours I haven’t read, so I am leery of what next. I’d read anything of yours and hope your family has a perfect holiday.
You’re in for a treat. My favorite series! A perfect way to recuperate and take your mind off your knees. Good luck with your surgery!
This is such a cool series! You will love it! I too was a bit leery because how could it live up to the other series? And why move into a different world when the first one was still so rich with material? After all, I still want to know so many things about the characters i had grown to know and love! How could the authors take them away fron me?!? But, then i realized that id they had made me love one world so well, it was a pretty sure bet that i would love the new world, and who wouldn’t want to see a new world. And I can always reread the old books and it can get old to only have the old world as a platform. And we all want the authors to be happy because then they will give us more!!!!!
Go Catalina! Love it. Thank you so much. 🙂
+1
Big hugs!! Thank you!
Ooo. This makes waiting harder. You people are evil
I completely agree… Authors are closet sadist….lol (jk)
And BOOM goes the dynamite! 😀
WOW!!!! Lina is awesome!!!!!
Oh Catalina! Here’s a great big “atta girl” for you! Well done!
Nice.
A lovely Monday treat. Thank you.
Can’t wait to read this book. Thanks for the snippet.
Love it!
This is gonna be good!?
Go Catalina!
+1
Oooooohhhhhhh!
Bitchin’!
Way to go!
Catalina is hitting her stride.
Sooo fantastic!
Very nice! Love the straight talk!
What? What? I almost missed this! Woohoo!
Runa Etterson from Diamond Fire that helped with the poisoned fondue ohh BFf now impatiently waiting on book lol
Awesome teaser
???
Go Catalina! My how you’ve grown, from being the shy pussy cat to the tigress guarding her kits! Well done authorlords, well done…… and thank you for the tidbit that brightened my day.
Oooohhhhhhh, Catalina issued an epic verbal smack down! Niccceeee
Ooooh, love it! So excited for these new books!
Thank you for the snippet!
Eeeeeeeeee!!!!! ? ? ? ? ?
Also, Runa! Hi, Runa!!!
Squee! Thank you for the surprise snippet. Since I own a Nook, I need to wait to pre-order this treat, plus I do not want to stress you. Thank you ALs! May the rest of this holiday season be free of: illness, stress, broken stuff & emergencies … 🙂
What a lovely surprise,,, and may your day be as wonderful as you just made mine. 🙂
+1
Well done Catalina!
Wow! In all the previous books, Lina is described as the calm one. But more and more, we see Lina coming into herself. This, this is beautiful.
How long do we have to wait again?
Until it’s done. But the longer it takes, the more snippets we’ll get, so… 😉
Way to go Catalina. Love it. Thank you.
Apple doesn’t fall far — even from a sister’s tree!!! Thanks!!
I bet he’s missing Nevada!
I can’t wait for this! I love Catalina 🙂
Squee!
Snippet!!
Thank you!!!
Thank thank you
Love It! Keep that sass coming!
Thanks for the snippet!
Loved it!
The more I read about Catalina the more I love her <3
OK, you did it.
My reaction is just plain greed.
MORE!!!
Ayuh. Let’im have it. House Response Unit? Sounds like he’s a touch too enthusiastic in doing what he considers his duty, pushing as hard as he can until he’s slapped back.
Love it, and thank you for it.
He went from being somewhat sympathetic to Nevada when he thought she had no magic in Burn for Me during the fracas with the military mage cheating husband, a major jerk trying to intimidate Nevada in Wildfire without success in the aftermath of the shooting episode with Leon and now, 3 years later trying to bully Catalina for defending herself. He has an attitude problem. Not sure if it is House Baylor or Houses in general. Knowing the Authorlords, mentions in 3 separate books of an increasingly hostile nature pretty much guarantees that we will be seeing him again.
Loving Catalina so much! Glad we’ll be seeing more of Runa too.
Oooooh! Love Catalina ♥️
Atta girl, Catalina! Ferocious slapback!
Love a surprise snippet, and at a busy time of year too.
I was only hoping for some more tree news/photos.
Go Catalina, Go!!
Oooho! Yes, wow Catalina! She’s growing into her personality…no more shy kitten.
Oh wow, I’m loving Catalina so much! What an awesome smackdown of Sgt. Munoz, too. Thanks so much for sharing snippets like these. I’m really grateful for your generosity, even if I don’t comment enough and instead, spend more time quietly lurking. It means a lot to me to be privileged to see these little glimpses into the whole of an upcoming, enticing story I can’t wait to read
I’m having yet another spinal surgery mid January (that might turn into a 2nd surgery one week later depending on the results of the first) and will be in the hospital for a while. I plan on re-reading both the Hidden Legacy and Kate Daniels series and every snippet I can find on your blog – it’ll probably distract me from the pain even better than the morphine will! ?
Hope that your surgery/surgeries go well and that you heal up quickly! I can’t think of a better set of books to read as distraction and pain relief, especially when you have Kate getting so beat up on all sides (thoughts of, “look how much worse it could be” as you read and recover!). Best wishes and good luck!
WowWhee!! Get’em girl! Thank you, love it.
A Monday afternoon treat! Thank you both!
Every time I hear about an offshoot character, I think I won’t like reading about them, but end up enjoying it. That happened with Hugh and now with Catalina. Thank you for constantly proving me wrong and for this nice Monday snippet.
I want this book SOOOO much!!!!
Every time I read a little I want more. Cant wait for the next book.
Ditto! Love these characters.
Woot! Thank you. 🙂
Go Catalina! You tell him what’s what, girlfriend.
I am liking our new protagonist more and more with every new snippet. Can’t wait! Thanks for the new adventures!
+1
+1
+1
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to read the entire book.
Yaasssss Catalina!!!
Squeeee! Thanks for the snippet!
GO CATALINA!!!
My sentiments exactly!
LOVE her character, thanks for the teaser!
Bare those fangs Catalina. Someone who hates confrontation and is forced into it gets twice as mad as a hothead. Once because of the immediate cause of the confrontation and second because she is forced into the damned confrontation. And if he treats her like a dumb kid…big fangs. Big sharp fangs.
+1!
+1 with a !
+1 but big, sharp fangs would be her sister Arabella 😉
+1 hahahaha! Too true!
😀
+1
Love all of House Baylor..
So, looking forward to more adventures with this family. Thank you for this tease
And you can pick up your well kicked butt on the way out….
+1??
Omg…. i want it nowwwwww. But i am greedy…. i am really excited though.
Go Catalina!! She rocks! What’s nice in this and in the novella is that Nevada’s shadow or success isn’t holding her back — she’s already a full adult and taking charge and kicking butt. Which given the discipline she’s had to have all her life makes sense.
I’m already thinking about who you’ll focus on for the third book (how annoying is that for you all… but…. Bern please? 🙂
Wohoo! Go Catalina! You tell him! I can’t wait for this book
Thank you…
Catalina rocks. I can’t wait for the book
By the by will we get part 2 rogan pov???
+1
You little tease. Setting me up to love Catalina a little more. Thank you for the treat. Enjoy your week.
Yahoo! Thank you for the snippet!!
Thanks for the tease.. When is the next book due out?
Damn girl! Catalina more grown up, kicking butt, and taking names is making me like her even more!
Loooooved the short take on Catalina and that detective but I’m too much of a non american person to enjoy that image in any way. Well maybe in the first Iron Man movie.
What do you mean, None?
Thank you. We get a treat before Christmas. 🙂
Woot! give him heck, Catalina!
You GO Catalina!
OMG OMG OMG CANNOT WAIT!!!!
I knew there’s something more to Sgt. Munoz than meets the eye!
+1. Glad that’s sorted. I know it was a little thing but it bugged me. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he was there every time and yet it wasn’t addressed in the first trilogy. I am also happy that Catalina explains why Nevada didn’t notice. I bet Rogan knew!
Nice! Thank you for the snippet! Love how she is coming across as being very smart.
The more you tease us, the more I want it….
Wish we could talk to the cops like this IRL.
Nice. It’s lovely to see little insights into Catalina’s growth. I know I am going to really love these books.
Yesssss! Go, Catalina!
I love Cătălina so nici and I am so glad that she is a voice to be reckoned it. I can’t wait for her book.
Woo hoo! I am now officially over my “I don’t like change gimme my original characters” phase and am totally ready for Catalina’s reign.
As an aside, when do we get to see Mom Baylor grow? She needs to e heart-whole. I figured that Heart (one of Rogan’s men) would be good for her and vice versa. Based entirely on the scenes around a single battle in book 3, of course. ?
This scene made me think of the great cop character from the Innkeeper.
Thank you so much. I sit at a dentist, waiting for the sedation to hit in- and this made everything go away for a small time. This is why it’s called escapism
<3 <3 <3 Attagirl, Catalina!
Thank you, Authorlords!
Ohhhhhh! Lovely snippet! Catalina is really coming into her own! And you can still feel that she is different from Nevada but still has the Baylor touch!
Was just coming down from the high of the Maud ‘novella’ and now I get jacked up again on this.
Gotta cure myself of this addiction somehow…
Great snippet! Thank you ALs 😀
Ok. Already ordered and can’t wait!
I’M SO EXCITED! ?
I’m now living for more snippets…
Thank you for the snippets! Love seeing Catalina grow into a strong independant heroine in her own right!
I will confess that I have been trying to figure out why I don’t feel the same crazy anticipation as I did with Nevada’s trilogy…and I think it’s to do with not yet being engaged with the “Rogan” half of things….as much as I loved Nevada and her family…her interaction with Rogan and what he brought to the story was so compelling..I really enjoyed his epilogues in the first 2 novels (and kinda wish we had got one in the third too!!)
So…I will wait to read the whole Catalina novel to get sucked in again 🙂
Thank you
Attagirl!
But Sgt Munoz appeared the first time when Nevada was still a poor P.I with no magic and no connections in chapter one of Burn for me (I don’t remember exactly how many times or where he appears after).
How could he have been following Nevada then?
He wouldn’t have been following Nevada the first time but because of the use of magic he may have been dispatched to make certain there were no House tie ins.
If he has a prudent commander that would be something checked on everytime
magic was used in connection to a crime.
Bwhahaha. I love that Ms Shy has discovered her inner sassy pants! Lol
Thank you for your kindness in offering a snippet so soon after giving us a fabulous ending to the latest Innkeeper (with a huge tease for the next one, I might add). Catalina out of her shell is something to behold.
Thank you for the snippet. You know, they are always welcome.
Hugs.
Loved the snippet but it made me greedy for more. August is so far away! Waah! Love you and all you do for your BDH.
Loved diamond fire! Can’t wait to read Catalina’s story. Know you’ll do great as always. ❤️
Go Catalina! Thank you for that fun snippet to brighten my afternoon!
I love that she did everything she was required to do and then when he kept pushing, just lit right into him without worrying about the effect of her magic. Look out Houston, there’s another Baylor to worry about!
Thank you so much, these snippets always brighten my day. Love all you characters and the interactions they have
Oh, Gawd! Just as I was coming out of withdrawal. More! More!!! (Xoxo, love you folks for doing this!)
I LOVE you guys! Made my day!
Such sweet cruelty!
You gIve it to him, girl. Catalina ROCKS!
I think I like her more than Nevada! Yep, I’m one of her fandom now.
I was thinking the same thing….
Iron & Magic was picked by Amazon editors as a top 20 book (#7) for 2018 in Science Fiction & Fantasy. Congrats!
https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_BOTY18_5b1_w?node=17296237011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_r=VR65W1TG76A46XGBST88&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=159182f7-e760-49b4-8456-e584772b5129&pf_rd_i=17276804011
+1 Congratulations to the AL! Plus it came in number 5 on the Goodreads Choice Awards with 18,626 votes. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Squee! oh my week has been made. Thank you!
Ploptz, smack dab in the middle of nowhere.
Apropos of nothing …
Oh what wonderful growth is depicted here.
Well deserved … no prisoners … no s**t … no stuff, no nonsense. The facts and nothing but and maybe i’ll treat you like a reasoning adult.
Whew
Go Catalina. Knew there was a strong woman inside!
Loving this!
Can’t wait for the next installment from the authorlords!
Love these snippets.
BTW, congratulations on having TWO books in the top 20 finalists for Goodreads 🙂
Ditto!
More like a Catalina snippy. Make him go away!
Nuances, I love it! And Catalina has grit to spare now, can’t wait!
Gorgeous tree
Badass Catalina ? I already knew she is amazing, but I love that she seems as able as Nevada to put people in their place when it is necessary ♥️
Catalina already sounds like a badass. I love it! I can’t wait for more! ?
I finally had time to finish Diamond Fire and then reread the deleted scene (which was awesome! Can’t wait for the better scene with the extra bells and whistles) and all the snippets that are out now.
I noticed that they seem to still live in a warehouse. In Wildfire it was said to Grandma Victoria by Ceaser “Last I heard, they are beginning construction of a new family home. Not far from House Rogan’s country place, from what I understand.”
So does this mean that they rebuilt the warehouse somewhere else? They decided to not build it? Or you guys forgot this when writing?
I hope it’s not the last one and everything will be clarified once the book comes out!❤
Thanks for your hard work! ❤ ❤ ❤
Diana the way I took it was the home is Rogan and Nevada’s. Remember Catalina has moved into Nevada’s old room (in the warehouse with the last 6 feet(?) of steps able to withdraw) ?
Rogan has a perfectly beautiful house that Nevada loves. Building another house for the rest of the Baylors while keeping the warehouse is logical. The business address is there. Frida’s heavy machinery shop is there. They can actually leave the warehouse for another home at the end of the work day.
Go Catalina!!!!
Cant wait for more! >.<
Go get’em tiger!
Shy quiet sister indeed…lol