Laurel

I write mysteries and thrillers under the name Laurel Heidtman and romances and cozy mysteries under the name Lolli Powell. I live with my husband, two cats, and a big goofy dog named Buster on private land surrounded by Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. Over the years, I've paid the bills by being a dancer, a bartender, a police officer, a registered nurse and a technical writer. I draw on that life experience and my two English degrees to create stories that I enjoy writing and hope readers will enjoy reading.

As Laurel Heidtman, I've published three novels in the Eden mystery series: Catch A Falling Star, Bad Girls, and A Convenient Death. All three are also available in a boxed set titled Murder in Eden. I've also published a standalone thriller titled Whiteout. All the individual novels are available on Smashwords, and the boxed set soon will be.

As Lolli Powell, I've published eleven novels and a novella. The Boy Next Door is a contemporary romance, The Wrong Kind of Man is a romantic suspense novel, and The Gift, a novella, is a holiday romance. I have two novels, Death Notice and Undercover, in my Kisses and Killers Thrillers romantic suspense series.

I've published six cozy mysteries in my Top Shelf mystery series: The Body on the Barstool, Whiskey Kills, Name Your Poison, Double Shot, Bottoms Up, and On the Rocks. The first three Top Shelf novels are available as a boxed set titled A Top Shelf Triple.

I've also published The Ghost Wears A Badge, the first in my new Spirit of the Law cozy series, and I'm currently working on Dead Men Don't Retire, the second book in that series. At this point, all the Lolli Powell books are available only on Amazon.

Website: http://www.laurelheidtman.com

• Ash on Feb. 15, 2015
  
  I really enjoyed this book, although not as much as Jason Brant's Hunger series. I think I judge everything he writes by that now, which isn't fair. This is a really good story, though, with a great main character and great supporting ones (loved Nami!). I will probably get the next one in this series soon.
  
• Ella's Gifts on Oct. 27, 2015
  
  Ella has a past that haunts her and a family she’s trying to escape from, but the strength of her character has helped her create a new life for herself as a Boston nurse. She has a best friend and a good job, but the right man has been more elusive. Thanks to a chance—and embarrassing—encounter in a coffee shop, she thinks she just might have finally found the right one in Rett, who is both gorgeous and mysterious. Their romance plays out over the background of a brutal serial killer terrorizing the Boston streets, a serial killer who kills women who look very much like Ella. Melody Jerva has done a great job of balancing the steamy romance of the novel with the suspense and thrills of it. If Ella’s Gifts were a TV show, it would probably qualify for an R rating for language, sex, and violence. The sex scenes are erotic in their detail and the murder scenes are horrifying in their detail, but through it all, Ella’s basic innocence shines through. Not just Ella, but all the characters are fully fleshed out people who I can imagine continuing to have lives after the last page of the book. I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and I can usually figure out whodunnit long before the end of the book, but this one kept me guessing until the reveal. That doesn’t happen often and it impresses me when it does. All in all, Ella’s Gifts is a really good read.