Tender Misdemeanors by Alana Lorens 💕 Guest Post, Book Tour & Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Romantic Suspense)

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Caryn Orlane has law enforcement in her blood; her father was a cop, and his father, too. She's a federal agent in northwest Montana, protecting the old forests and keeping the peace.
Levi Bradshaw also believes in protecting the forests, but has a very different MO. He's the leader of a group of eco-warriors, determined to save the trees of the Bitterroot by legal—and illegal—means.
When they meet in the woods at gunpoint, their encounter ignites a spark of interest, despite operating on opposite sides of the law. When their worlds turn on them, they only grow closer. If they don't work together, can either survive?

In TENDER MISDEMEANORS, Levi Bradshaw and some of his companions are engaged in the business of monkeywrenching or ecotage. They see themselves as brave defenders of the wild places left in America, specifically in the forests of the Rockies and the Bitterroot. This particular movement has been going on for some 50 years, organized in direct opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s inventories and classification of the old forests in preparation for allowing loggers to harvest.

From Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching:

Monkeywrenching is done by individuals or very small groups of people who have known each other for years. Trust and a good working relationship are essential in such groups. The more people involved, the greater the dangers of infiltration or a loose mouth. Monkeywrenchers avoid working with people they haven’t known for a long time, those who can’t keep their mouths closed, and those with grandiose or violent ideas (they may be police agents or dangerous crackpots).

Various actions constitute monkeywrenching, and they include such things as hammering metal spikes into trees to discourage the use of saw blades, which can shatter and harm the logger using them; spiking or littering a road with caltrops to puncture tires of loggers or others who come to the anticipated logging site; disabling work vehicles, stealing drill bits, and so much more. Other, less intrusive means have been attempted by “tree-sitters”, who literally climb a tree slated for harvest and remain there, hoping to dissuade loggers from taking down the tree. Greenpeace chasing whaling ships would be another example of ecodefenders risking their lives to save the oceans.

The practices are, of course, illegal, though they are often seen in the eyes of the ecodefenders as the sort of “civil disobedience” called for by dissidents such as Thoreau. In light of the current administration’s actions to privatize public lands and allow the destruction of the forests and other lands which have protected wildlife and our history over hundreds of years, we may expect to see more of such action in future.

In TENDER MISDEMEANORS, heroine Caryn Orlane is an enforcement officer for the Bureau of Land Management, which of course puts her in direct opposition to Levi and his team. But when Levi’s people are infiltrated (as warned above) by some highly-armed white supremacist “crackpots,” the lines between enemy and friend blur considerably, and they’ve got to watch their backs.

What in the hell was he going to do?

Before Levi could enter full-blown panic mode, his cell phone rang. He grabbed for it on the corner of the desk, praying it was Caryn and she needed something so he had a good excuse to run away from home.

It was his brother Zane. “What in blazes do you think you’re doing there, trying to get the house seized under RICO?”

The angry surprise onslaught stunned Levi, and he had to scramble to respond. “Who’s Rico? What are you talking about? Try, ‘Hi, Levi, what’s going on?’”

“I know what’s going on. I’ve had my eye on the news on that corner of Montana for a while now. Bombs, monkeywrenching, red flags from the Feds? Mom didn’t give you that house just so you can lose it in a forfeiture action…”

As his brother continued, Levi sucked back his ready retort, finally recognizing Zane in lawyer mode. He was a power litigator worthy of the usual comparison to a shark. Zane lashed out at his opponents like a desperate man clutching his way up a drowning friend’s body to get some air. No holds barred, ever. The only way to win was not to play.

He took a long, deep breath as Zane ranted on, accusations dropping like grenades. When Zane paused for effect, Levi said, “Are you finished yet?”

“Don’t you have something to say for yourself?”

“Sure. I’m feeling much better now that I’m home from the hospital. No permanent damage. Thank you for asking.”

A shocked silence. “Haven’t you heard a damned thing I’ve said?”

Irritation threatened to rattle Levi’s intended calm. He tried levity. “Some of it.”

“That spread, the lands, the forests, are worth a lot of money, and I’m not going to let you just throw them away!”

“I’m not ‘throwing them away’. I’m done with the militia. I’m taking care of myself.”

Levi could almost hear the gears in his older brother’s head ticking as he regrouped. “I’m coming back there. Someone’s got to—”

“Someone is. Everything’s under control. Just keep on with the benign neglect, huh? I don’t need your ‘protection’ anymore.”

“Damn it—”

Levi clicked his phone, hanging up.

Alana Lorens (aka Barbara Mountjoy) has been a published writer for over 35 years, including seven years as a reporter and editor at the South Dade News Leader in Homestead, Florida. Her list of publications includes the non-fiction book 101 Little Instructions for Surviving Your Divorce, published by Impact Publishers in 1999, stories in A Cup of Comfort for Divorced Women, in December 2008, and A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Parents, in June 2009.

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