title: The Tragic Secret of Cyrus Crowe: A Cassie Slade Mystery
author:  Patricia Cronin Marcello 
description: Pat Marcello never wanted to be a writer. But after fifteen years as a bank manager and sixteen years of marriage, she was shocked and elated to learn that she was pregnant. She and her husband decided that she should quit working to stay at home and raise their precious gift. However, as a full-time mother, it wasn't long before Pat began to feel as if her brain was melting. So, she began writing just for something to do. The more she studied writing and the business of writing, the more eager she became to perfect her technique. After all that effort, she just had to send something off to a publisher. Her first sale was to Guide Magazine, and Pat was hooked. She realized it was possible to earn money doing something she'd come to love, and she struck out on a mission to make a new career in the publishing business. Pat has been freelancing full-time for eleven years. She has written eleven books, including Diana: The Life of a Princess and The Titanic for Andrews McMeel and Indigenous People of America: The Navajo for Lucent Books. She has also had more than one hundred articles and short stories for children and adults published in magazines and newspapers, such as Writer's Digest, Wild West, Guideposts for Kids, Calliope, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pat was also an instruction for The Institute of Children's Literature for five years. Her newest book, The Step-by-Step Guide to Blogging, is available through Overcome Everything, Inc. Pat lives in Florida with her husband, her daughter, and two spoiled cats. You can visit her web site for writers--Write On!--at www.patmarcello.com.
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  _**Navy SEAL Protector**_
  
  When members of her film crew start being killed off, documentarian Nicole
  Hastings is relieved to find the man following her is Slade Gallagher—a navy
  SEAL sniper who once saved Nicole from Somali kidnappers. Now he’s shadowing
  her to trap the terrorists behind the killings and find out just what they
  want.
  
  Nicole couldn’t be more different from the women Slade usually falls for. But
  he quickly learns that there’s a lot more to this socialite than he first
  thought. And as Slade’s admiration for her courage and resilience grows, so
  does his yearning. Protecting Nicole is an assignment, but can he let her go
  when it’s all over?
  
  Red, White and Built
  
   _ **“You do not have to carry me upstairs.”**_
  
  Looking into Nicole’s green eyes, Slade narrowed his gaze. “Because you don’t
  want this?”
  
  “Oh, I want whatever this is, but you don’t have to lug me up the staircase to
  get it.”
  
  He chuckled. Yep, like no other high-maintenance society