Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the NCIS waters! After all the upheaval last season, with Tony’s departure, followed by three new series regulars being introduced, then one of those regulars being magically disappeared this season, then news of Abby’s departure after this season, then finding out we’ll be seeing a lot less of Ducky … and whew! We needed to take a breath!
Maria Bello as Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane in NCIS. (Photo: Patrick Wymore, CBS)
There is no rest for the cast-whiplash we’re all experiencing, however.
Tonight, we meet new series regular Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane, played by Maria Bello. Now, I happen to think Bello is a much better fit than some of their other recent casting choices, but that all depends on how they’ve written her character. And it’s still a LOT of change in a short period of time.
And yet, here we are. Tonight’s episode is titled Skeleton Crew, so hopefully we’ll at least get some fun Abby-Does-Halloween Hijinks to keep us happily distracted.
We open with the dramatic Organ Music of Haunted Houses Everywhere playing, and a man lying on the floor of a mansion drawing room with a knife sticking out of his chest. In walk two young women, identical twins. One casually surmises that the cause of death looks far too obvious, the other is bored and wants to leave. They turn and re-enter what appears to be a house party. So, a Murder Mystery Mansion party, I presume? Hopefully so for Dead Guy On Carpet anyway. They stroll into the dining room, one twin enjoying trying to parse out the plot, the other wishing she were anywhere else, when a man bursts through the swinging doors to the kitchen, staggers back, falls onto the food-laden table, his shirtfront covered in blood. Bored Twin declares yet another bad actor. Jessica Fletcher Twin approaches the man, touches his shirt and realizes, ruh roh, that’s not fake blood.
Cue awesome theme song and opening credits!
Over at Gibbs’ place, it’s a dark and stormy night as the rain rages outside his window and we hear a newscaster talking about a hurricane in the background. (How ripped-from-the-headlines.) From the newscaster we learn that the hurricane is slated to make landfall in the next day or two and the Navy has already begun to move ships from the harbor in preparation. Gibbs settles in for a night of reading when someone starts banging on his (still locked) front door. She continues banging until Gibbs lets her in. The rain outside is looking hurricane-like in its intensity, and she is more than a little wet. Also? In case you were wondering, yes, hello, Maria Bello.
Mark Harmon as Gibbs on NCIS. (Photo: Sonja Flemming, CBS)
As it turns out, she wasn’t looking for Gibbs. She was looking for a port in the storm, and it turns out, five doors later, he was the first one to let her in. Her car broke down, phone died, and they just don’t have storms like that in California, you know? Gibbs shakes his head, but he doesn’t seem at all put out to have rescued a pretty blonde. (Also, Show, thanks for not making her a redhead.) She shows him her ID so he knows she’s not some weird stalker or anything. He offers to go try and fix her car (aw, what a White Knight our Gibbs is), but she tells him not to bother. It’s a rental. She just needs a phone to call a tow truck. He asks if she drinks coffee, she says, “By the gallon,” and we’re off and running.
So, we’re getting the classic meet-cute. I admit I didn’t see that coming.
She finds out it will be two hours before the tow truck can get there. Gibbs says it could be worse, she could still be outside. She’s all, “Ah, a glass-half-full kind of guy,” we’re all snorting, and Gibbs is all, “Depends on what’s in the glass.” HA! She hands his phone back and he comments on how she didn’t comment on his old flip phone. She likes it, calls it “vintage” just like his “retro chic décor.” Very in right now. Oh, Maria. Gibbs says he never knew it went out of style. Ha. She pours a half bag of sugar in her coffee, then says she has to notice things like that for her job. He asks if she’s a decorator, she’s all, “I wish,” and tells him she’s a doctor. She tries to guess what he does and goes for carpenter, then cowboy. Which, both true. Gibbs smiles, amused, clearly enjoying the back-and-forth.
Then Gibbs gets a call (Dead Guy on Banquet Table, my guess) and tells her he has to go. She says she’ll wait outside, he tells her to stay put as long as needed. She says she could rob him blind. He tosses her the keys and tells her to lock up when she’s done. HA. I have to say, I’m enjoying the way they’re starting this off quite a bit. (But then, I write romance novels for a living, so this comes as a shock to no one, ever.) But it’s nice to have an off-the-beaten path intro, rather than the hardcore, hammer-time, in-your-face-over-a-case setup we usually get. Nicely done, despite the farfetchedness. Tell me more.
Our band of merry agents are busily processing the crime scene. Torres is talking to Butler-With-Knife-in-Chest, who stays in character the whole time, but saw nothing, due to, you know. Poor vantage point. McGee is marveling over how awesome the place is, saying he and Delilah were there the month before for the Game of Thrones theme night. Torres thinks the whole dress-up-and-wear-masks thing is creepy, which makes McGee, Bishop and me ask him if he’s kidding with that, given his background as an undercover agent. He says the two are not at all alike and offers to give them a demonstration, but Gibbs enters and nixes that plan. Dang it.
We learn that Dead Banquet Table Guy was a 25-year-old Marine first lieutenant, stabbed in the abdomen in the service hallway, staggered into the dining room and — wait! He’s Not-So-Dead Banquet Table Guy! He’s in the ICU at the local hospital and his wife is en route. Gibbs sends McGee and Torres to the hospital. Bishop said there weren’t any witnesses, and most thought the screams were part of the murder-mystery party.
Maria Bello as Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane and Rocky Carroll as Vance in NCIS. (Photo: Patrick Wymore, CBS)
Torres is trying to explain to McGee the difference between wearing a costume and going undercover, but McGee isn’t listening. Then they hear a tussle going on in a nearby room. Turns out Not-So-Dead Marine is trying to fight off two hospital workers so he can call the police. Enter McGee and Torres, who tell him they are the police. NSD tells them that he was attacked, they say they know that, hence their arrival, and he says no, there’s more. The person who stabbed him took his wife.
Well. More surprises! Tell me more. Right after we fade to black and white.
We come back to the Bull Pen of Orangey Goodness, and now it’s a dark and stormy morning. In comes Abby to tell the team that, not to fear, she’s realized after watching a zombie-movie marathon how woefully unprepared they are for the eventual zombie-pocalypse. So, she took the liberty of making them little preparedness kits and tucking them in their go-bags. McGee pulls his out and it’s a little coffin with a mirror, small beeper and other assorted items. HA. Go, Abby.
Exit Abby, enter Gibbs for a sit-rep. Turns out NSD’s wife is a Navy lieutenant. The two were confronted by a guy in a devil costume. NSD was stabbed, wife was taken, Devil made the getaway in the couple’s car. BOLO out on the car. NSD’s stab wounds missed all vital organs. Wife’s mom has been notified and is on her way in. Gibbs sends Bishop and Torres to scope out the ship the wife was stationed on, but is told it was moved out of port due to the hurricane. He tells them to take a helicopter out to the ship. Both Bishop and I are a bit incredulous at the order to take a helo to a ship in the middle of a hurricane. How about an MTAC chat with her CO instead? Sloppy plotting.
Up in the conference room, Mom is not having it with McGee. She wants the FBI called in, she wants her daughter back. McGee assures her the FBI have been notified and they are doing all they can. Mom explains to McGee she knows Wife was taken because she’s an heiress to Mom’s soap empire. Clearly the kidnapper was after the family money. Mom is not having it with her daughter joining the military, either. Fun times. Mom says Wife didn’t talk about the family money, that even NSD didn’t find out she was wealthy until after they were married. A marriage that took place at the county courthouse, robbing Mom of the chance to throw the big lavish wedding of her dreams. (So you can imagine how much Mom loves her son-in-law. As in not at all.) Mom makes it clear that when the ransom call comes, she will pay the asking price, and expects her daughter back unscathed.
Over in Abby Lab, Palmer is having anxiety about flying solo as the official lead medical examiner, but Abby manages to soothe his nerves then calm him down before he goes full-on Hamilton solo. As to the case, we learn the Mystery House had no cameras, so she combed social media to see if anyone posted anything about the night and found a clip from the twins showing NSD and Wife in the background, as well as Devil. The clip shows Devil following the couple and the big ol’ river knife he’s carrying as well. Handy little clip there. How convenient! Then the storm ramps up, flickering lights and monitors off and on. Director Leon descends the stairs and tells all non-essential NCIS personnel to evacuate the Navy Yard. To the surprise of no one, Gibbs tells his team they aren’t going anywhere.
Emily Wickersham as Bishop in NCIS. (Photo: Sonja Flemming, CBS)
McGee looked at Wife’s phone records and the last call she made was to an employee of a military credit union, and it wasn’t their first conversation. Gibbs sends him out to follow up. Enter a merrily smiling Maria who shouts, “Hey, cowboy!” Then she tosses Gibbs his house keys and heads on upstairs to give Vance a hearty hug hello. McGee asks Gibbs if he knows her, and Gibbs is all, “Apparently not.” Heh.
Up in Vance’s office, we finally learn she’s Special Agent Sloane. Vance shares his surprise that she’d relocate to the East Coast. She reminds him it was his idea, and he says he didn’t think she’d take him up on it. He says they’re happy to have a skilled forensic psychologist on staff and she says she goes where she’s needed. So that answers the other question. Forensic psychologist. Wonder how that plays out? Sloane comments that she heard rumors about some renegade agent Vance had who was always breaking the rules, but she was sure it was a urban myth. Vance says about 50-50. Then the show closes one plot hole, but disappoints me greatly while doing so. So, the whole caught-in-the-rain thing? Not a coincidence after all. Turns out Sloane wanted to do some personal reconnaissance on the rogue agent before joining the team. So, it was all a setup. I hope Gibbs hates that as much as I do. She’s happy to report that she’s up for the challenge. Me, I want to have a sit down with the Show’s writers, but we’ll move on. (Just when I was giving you guys credit for broadening your horizons. SMH. OK. Now I’m moving on.) Vance says she picked a heck of a time to start. “Big storm coming.” To which she smiles, says, “You have no idea.” So, we’re going the butt-heads route after all? Oh boy.
My stoke-meter has dropped significantly. But I’ll hold on until we see them in action once all the cards are on the table. I still like the casting. Just hope I like the character.
Oooh, wait, more cards. Vance tells Sloane, aka Jack, that he knows she took the assignment as a favor to him. She says she’s repaying an old debt. He says that was a long time ago, debt’s been long paid. She says, “Not even close.” So, that history is interesting. Stoke meter knocks back up a wee notch.
Out on the ship our agent duo makes it safely aboard to discover that the ship has stripped down to a skeleton crew of 40. The crewman who brought them on board explains that if the ship goes down in the storm, at least they don’t lose the whole crew. Torres tells him he has a weird sense of humor. Crewman says he wasn’t joking. They make their way through the ship, which is rocking hard due to the storm. Wife’s CO is not on board, so they talk to the XO instead. Bishop says the XO’s name is the same as a guy she knew in school. Popular kid who made her “elbows-and-knees” self miserable. She tried her best to avoid him back in the day, really hated the guy. Something tells me that day is about to resurface. And, yeup. Hello, Mr. Bishop’s Past. Torres, on the other hand, is tickled pink. Fade to a resigned Bishop black and white.
XO is all, “So good to see you, Scarecrow,” while telling Torres how she never came back to their high school reunions. He seems stymied by that, and hey, you look so good now. Yeah, Bishop and I already know why. He seems a pretty stand-up guy in general, if clueless, and tells Torres and Bishop that Wife was hardworking, good at her job, no issues with him or anyone else. Bishop asks why they didn’t report her missing. XO says Wife wasn’t slated to be part of the skeleton crew. Bishop tells him about Wife being abducted and XO is suitably disturbed. They ask to see her stateroom and personnel files. XO is all about it. As they exit, Torres murmurs, “Scarecrow?” because of course he did.
Over at the credit union, they’re closing down on evacuation orders, but the employee McGee is seeking takes time to talk to him. Turns out Wife handled all the credit union account for the ship she was stationed on and he was her financial liaison. He said the storm had them communicating more than their one-time-per-week average and confirms he spoke to her the afternoon before, but said she didn’t come in that morning as expected to pick up checks.
Pauley Perrette as Abby. (Photo: Michael Yarish, CBS)
Back on board, while Torres does a thorough check of Wife’s room, Torres and XO are bonding over the sports they played (while standing in the same room). Torres asks him what Bishop was like in high school. XO said she was an individual, never followed the crowd and didn’t care what folks thought of her. XO calls it refreshing and seems sincere. Torres asks about the nickname and XO says she favored oversized overalls with patches on them and had the straw-colored hair, so it sort of happened. He realizes now it wasn’t kind, but says he hated his nickname, too. Bishop tells him being called “Thomas the Adonis” wasn’t quite as harsh. He accedes that, but says how now she’s a kick-ass federal agent, so all ended quite well. Bishop wants to search Wife’s disbursement office, but XO doesn’t have the keys and those who do aren’t part of the skeleton crew. Enter Crewman with Gibbs via sat phone.
Bishop tells Gibbs they haven’t found anything. Gibbs tells her that no ransom call has come and after 24 hours without word, he doesn’t think it’s about a ransom. McGee says Wife’s car was found by a park ranger. Gibbs orders Bishop and Torres to come back on the next helo. Yep, no problem there, boss! Enter Sloane and Vance. Vance goes to introduce Sloane to Gibbs and McGee, but Gibbs beats him to the punch. She starts to talk to him, but Gibbs just turns and heads out with McGee. Exactly. Sloane is all, oops, and seems kind of amused by Gibbs’ complete loss of respect for her. I’m all, what the heck did you expect? You started your relationship with an important co-worker with a big ol’ lie. A ridiculous one at that. I dislike everything about that premise and I’d hope anyone — not just “hard-headed” Gibbs — would, too. Oh, Show. You disappoint. Don’t be lazy.
Over on board, Bishop is all geared up and ready to get off the ship and away from XO. Torres says XO seemed like a nice guy and maybe she was too hard on him, that it was a long time ago, so she should move past it. Bishop makes an impassioned statement about the lasting effects of bullying (hear, hear) and that she’s perfectly happy to leave it in the past, so the last thing she wants to do is go talk to the guy about it. She wants off the ship. Enter Crewman, who predictably tells them all flights off are canceled until the storm passes. (Ya think?) Bishop is understandably not thrilled, and Torres feels sorry for not taking her reaction to XO more seriously.
Night has fallen again. We move to McGee and Gibbs checking out Wife’s car in the midst of the deluge. Car is on park property, on a closed access road, not much foot traffic, prompting Gibbs to say the kidnapper knew the area. McGee says how he came there as a Weebelo and there’s a fire station about a half mile up. Maybe Wife is there. Meanwhile, Gibbs is popping the trunk open with his knife, because he knows where Wife is. And, sadly, he’s not wrong. Fade to black and white.
We return to Palmer having a not-as-poetic-as-Ducky chat with Wife, but promising her he’s just as thorough. Enter Sloane who introduces herself. Palmer has heard of her, via Ducky, who has sung her praises. She says the same of Ducky and Palmer’s praises. He’s all, aw, shucks, and she’s all, Ducky wouldn’t trust his job to just anyone. Détente is reached and we move to dead-body talk. Enter Gibbs, who makes it known to Palmer and Sloane without saying a word how much he is not a fan of her being there. She steps back, but doesn’t leave. Palmer just gets on with his findings. Cause of death was blunt-force trauma, likely with a big rock. Time of death was four or five hours after she was taken, and Palmer found red fibers under her nails, likely from the Devil’s costume. Sloane has cleared her throat a few times, finally prompting Gibbs to ask if she has anything to add.
Sloane opines that the kidnapper’s intent was not to kill Wife. She points to the photos of Wife showing the kidnapper wrapped her hands in cloth as well as tape and tied in a way to not be uncomfortable, and that if his original intent was to kill her, he’d have just used the knife he used to stab NSD. So, why the rock? Sloane says something apparently went wrong, maybe she figured out who had abducted her, and he panicked. Gibbs asks if she thinks Wife knew her killer. She says it was more than that, then goes on to opine that her captor not only had feelings for her, he likely loved her, so look for that guy. (That’s a whole lot of opining because of padded taping …) Gibbs and Sloane have a stare-down, but you can see on Gibbs’ face that she’s started re-earning his respect. Wee bit.
In interrogation, NSD is upset to find out his wife is dead and they think he might be the killer. (How would that work?) Aaand, we learn he signed himself out of the hospital in puh-lenty of time to track down his wife and kill her. He says he signed himself out to go look for her. Gibbs tells him to stop lying. I say there’s still 20 minutes left, so move on, not your guy. But first we get to hear that she filed divorce papers, they started seeing other people, then realized they really loved each other and got back together two weeks prior. Gibbs remarks how NSD would inherit millions, but he is staunch in proclaiming his innocence. McGee asks who Wife was seeing while they were separated, and we learn it was a co-worker. NSD wasn’t sure as she never named him, but she commented on how things got uncomfortable after she broke it off. NSD thinks she was seeing (say it with me) her XO. Who was on board ship, so …
On board, Torres and Bishop question XO, who is adamant that he wasn’t dating Wife. When XO says they were friends, Bishop pushes him to come clean, saying he wouldn’t be just friends with a subordinate, but he stands by his story. Bishop tosses out a theory about why he would have killed her, and he is instantly shaken to hear that Wife is dead. We learn that he counseled Wife when he heard she filed for divorce. Bishop isn’t having that, but XO calmly explains that he went through a divorce the year before, after 10 years of marriage, and sincerely wanted to make sure Wife didn’t make the mistakes he did. Bishop sees he’s telling the truth. Torres asks if things got romantic, and XO reiterates they did not, that he’d never cross that line. XO then looks to Bishop, as realization dawns how much she must despise him, to think him capable of murder. He gives her a sincere apology for what happened in high school and assures her he’s not that guy any longer.
Mark Harmon as Gibbs and Maria Bello as Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane in NCIS. (Photo: Patrick Wymore, CBS)
We move to MTAC before we get any response from Bishop. Gibbs asks a tech who appears to be the only person in the room if there has been any word from Torres or Bishop, but is told the storm has knocked out all ship-to-shore communication. No answer on the sat phone, either. He turns to go and notices Sloan seated at the opposite end of a row of seats. He asks her, how come everywhere he goes, she goes? She says it must be a coincidence. Say it with me: Gibbs says, “Rule No. 39. There is no such thing as a coincidence.” She replies that she doesn’t believe in absolutes, which earns a partial smile. I hope she believes in apologies. He asks her to stop following him, she says she was there first, so he must be following her, but she’ll let it slide, seeing as she’s all nice like that. He responds, wondering about how that fits with her stopping by his house. She explains that to really understand what makes a person tick, you need to interact with them on their own turf. He nods, then says, you know, “Yeah. Or you could just ask.” She says, “What’s the fun in that?” And his smile goes from friendly to steely as he replies, “I don’t like games.” Thank you. And he adds, even more softly, how he doesn’t much like folks lying to him, either. Hear, hear. She says how, well, gosh, they are off to a bad start, then, and I can’t quite tell if she’s abashed or still thinks she’s funny. He tells her that if she wants in on his cases, she needs to go through him.
She counters how, uh, no, she answers to Vance, not Gibbs. Then she stands up and says, kindly, but passionately, that she is there to offer insight into the cases, and that whether he chooses to utilize her expertise is up to him, but though he might question her methods, they work. She said she wanted to understand if Gibbs was the kind of man she could work with, and what she discovered? In her words? “Hell, yes.” OK. So now my respect meter has inched back up. Wee bit. She says he should give her a chance, because he’ll enjoy having her around. He smiles and asks why that is. She says, “Because you enjoy a good fight.” She exits, my stoke meter droops. (You know, Show, you can actually have interesting partnerships with all kinds of textured layers that don’t revolve around a constant battle of wills. Just saying.)
Down in Abby Lab, she tells McGee that the DNA on the fiber didn’t get a hit, which rules out husband. (And, I’d assume, XO.) She notes that the car key was still in the ignition, but how no one just has one key, so the killer must have taken it off the ring, and he couldn’t have done that wearing gloves, so fingerprint source. (Me, I just have a car key. No other keys. So, there goes that theory, but OK. That one is a pass.) And who do they belong to? Whoa, it’s Crewman. And, yep, no communication, no way to let Bishop and Torres know. So now we’ve gone from Murder Mystery Mansion to Murder on the High Seas. Fade to black and white.
We’re in MTAC, but no dice on getting hold of Bishop and Torres. Then McGee remembers their zombie-pocalypse kits, the ones with the old-school beepers inside. Torres and Bishop would have theirs in their go-bags. Whether they’re turned on or not is another question. On board ship, Bishop is looking everywhere for the sat phone and runs into XO in his office while looking for it. (I think we know who has it.) He’s lost in his thoughts, trying to reconcile how to deal with the knowledge his friend was murdered. Bishop sits and tells him about someone special to her that she lost, and how getting over it wasn’t easy. She tells him that she does what she does to be a part of making things right in the world. He says he joined up for the same reason. He admits what an ass he was in high school and apologizes again, then says the truth was, she intimidated him. Tells her she still does. Enter Torres, intruding on their Moment, telling Bishop he got word via his zombie beeper about Crewman.
XO says it doesn’t make any sense that Crewman might have been involved with Wife, seeing as they had next to no contact onboard ship. Bishop says it’s weird that Crewman would come back on board ship after killing Wife, so he must have wanted something. Then she recalls XO telling her that only two people had keys to the disbursing office. One of them was Wife. So maybe, with a skeleton crew on board, Crewman was hoping to get into the disbursement office and clean it out. Pre-deployment, there would be close to $300,000. Worth killing for? Mmm. I dunno. Maybe he didn’t plan the murder part, just the stealing the key part.
And … down in the disbursement office, sure enough, there’s Crewman, filling up his duffle with the money from the safe, and the sat phone for good measure. He exits to find Bishop and Torres aiming guns at his head. Yeah. That didn’t work out too well all around for you there, buddy. But, wait! There’s more! Turns out Crewman is just the money man. As soon as he got off the ship, he was to call his partner, the one who kidnapped Wife, and tell him they were in the clear. Then Partner would call and let them know where they could find Wife. Crewman seems a little surprised to hear she’s dead. Also? How far did they think they’d get on $300K? Asking for a friend.
So, who is the Partner? We come back to the Navy Yard the following day, with the sun shining and the big post-storm cleanup underway. McGee meets up with Credit Union Guy as he gets out of his car. He doesn’t seem to get that he’s been made. Then Gibbs walks up. And yeah, poor Credit Union Guy. It’s all over for you, buddy. He was the co-worker who fell in love and couldn’t handle being dumped. Then Wife figured out it was him, and what he was up to, so she had to die, but not before getting some DNA under her fingernails. And then there’s Crewman, singing like a bird. So, the whole let’s-get-revenge-and-some-free-money thing? Yeah, that never works out quite as well as one hopes. But good story line on that part!
Wilmer Valderrama as Torres in NCIS. (Photo: Michael Yarish, CBS)
On board, Bishop and Torres prepare to bring Crewman back to the Navy Yard. Bishop and XO have a nice heart-to-heart. Both agree they are grateful their paths crossed again, despite the unfortunate circumstances. Bishop invites him to have coffee and catch up when he’s back from deployment, and he agrees. A nice feel-good moment that is earned.
And short-lived as, back in the Bull Pen, Gibbs goes to get on the elevator to leave for the day, coffee cup in hand, only to encounter Sloane in the elevator, in track gear, doing stretches, as the doors open. She grins, makes a comment about coincidences, prompting a brief smile from Gibbs. She asks him if he’d like to join her in the gym. He says no, then chuckles. This prompts her to stop the elevator. HA. She looks at him, then says, “You knew the whole time I was at your house, didn’t you?” He’s all, not the whole time. Heh. She asks how long it took. He says about 30 seconds. Right after she flashed her license exactly how a cop flashes a badge. Plus, there was the part where Ducky mentioned to him they had a new forensic psychologist coming in from California. And her license was from … yeah. Elevator starts back up, she asks why he didn’t call her out right then, and he says that he wanted to know the kind of person she is. She tells him it’s going to take him a long time to figure that one out. “We’ll see,” he says. She says the same back. He exits the elevator, says, “Special Agent Sloane.” She smiles, follows him out but heading in a different direction, saying, “Special Agent Gibbs,” definitely no longer so smug. (Thank you, writers. I take it all back. OK, most of it back.)
We get the Song of Introspection as we see Sloane put on her training gloves and take off her sweat jacket, revealing crisscross scars on her back, as if she’s been lashed at some point. The scars are old. Then she proceeds to lay the beginnings of a beat down on the punching bag … and the song plays on.
Hmm. Still like the casting. Willing to give the character a chance. Definitely more of a good match than they’ve come up with in a good long while.
So … what did you think? Good addition? Not so much? Jury is still out? I’d love to hear what you think! Drop me your thoughts to donna@donnakauffman.com. And while you’re at it, you can enter this week’s fab giveaway! Only ONE week until my holiday e-novella, The Inn at Blue Hollow Falls, hits the shelves, which means one week left for someone to get his or her hands on a copy before anyone else! To enter, just put “I’d like to book a room at the INN” in the subject line, and you’re in the running to win an advance copy of the e-novella AND a signed print copy of my current release, Blue Hollow Falls. I know! I give and I give.
Speaking of giveaways, thanks to all who entered last week! The winner is Virginia Matteson! Virginia, drop me a line to donna@donnakauffman.com so I can set up delivery of your prizes!
Next week, the team, plus Sloane, will start figuring out their new chemistry … or not. As will we! Here’s hoping they do it justice.
I’m going to be traveling/camping/hiking my way down the full 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway next week, but me (and possibly Yogi, Boo-Boo and my other forest creature pals) will be here with the recap! One way or the other!
If you’d like to virtually join me on my travels, follow my Facebook author page or follow me on Instagram. Scenic fall photos and camping antics to come.
Until next week …
Donna Kauffman is the USA TODAY bestselling author of 70-plus titles, translated and sold in more than 26 countries around the world. Born into the maelstrom of Washington, D.C., politics, she now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, thankfully surrounded by a completely different kind of wildlife. You can check that out for yourself and more at www.donnakauffman.com. She loves to hear from her readers (and NCIS viewers!). You can write to her at donna@donnakauffman.com or visit her on Facebook or Instagram.
MORE ON HEA: Read what Donna learned while writing Blue Hollow Falls
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