Books by Jeff Lovell

Michigan City Blue by Jeff LovellWhen a bullying thug accosts professional musician Carson Coughlin, threatening him to stay away from a woman, he has no idea that the woman is a person with whom he fell in love with years ago. The two people, crushed emotionally by failed marriages, soon meet and learn that they can build a life together. Lauren, a genius at organization, hires Carson to put together a band to play at a new community center, and, as the center comes together, they face violent retribution from her ex-husband.Her ex-husband, Richard, faces grim retribution from a crime syndicate, to whom he owes a gambling debt far beyond his ability. After threats, he kidnaps Lauren aboard a tramp steamer, intending to hold her for ransom. A former Navy officer, Lauren manages a daring escape.Next, Richard kidnaps one of her grandchildren, who Carson manages to rescue from the trunk of a car.Richard turns to vandalism, hiring criminals to destroy the Center with Arson. The arsonists are apprehended but are unable to help the police locate Richard.Lauren's daughter and granddaughter are soon victimized, but they learn that they have a long-hidden ability which allows them to escape. Meanwhile, Lauren opens the Center, which is a huge success, and Carson's band is warmly received by the community. After another failed extortion attempt, Richard attempts to kidnap Lauren, but a wild chase into the Dunes National Lakeshore Park results in Richard being trapped in a natural sinkhole in the Dunes.Richard, bitter and vengeful, is sent to prison in the west.Many years later, Lauren dies, and her granddaughter becomes a skilled performer. The book ends as Carson, sits waiting to perform at the Center named for his wife and commemorating her gifts and love for the Community. As Carson sits in his office practicing for his next performance, his wife comes to call him to another life at her side.

Cherokee Treasure by Jeff LovellJanice O'Neill, beautiful but immature, tries to abandon her husband and two daughters in the mid-1980s. Jilted by a criminal lover, she takes jobs which begin to show her skills in a variety of areas. When she fends off a bullying nasty attack from a customer at the shop where she works. He pursues her across the US and into Brazil, where she meets and falls in love with Chris. the man who will become her husband. Together they fight their way in the past against Simpkins, the villain, finally leaving him in a Hell of his own making.When I was a little boy, a great deal of television dealt with cowboys, and a great deal of that portrayed Indians as vicious killers. One movie had the lead character talking about the Oglala Sioux: "They're the throat cutters." But some of the most heroic and brilliant generals in our country's history were Native Americans: Crazy Horse, for example. Sitting Bull. Red Cloud, to name only a few. As a child, I was too young to have a sense of justice, I suppose, but I knew that it was wrong for the White Man to take the lands which were not theirs. It was wrong to slaughter the buffalo, as well, though the species seems to be making progress to repopulate now. Maybe I will succeed and give the land back to the Indians.

The Captains Daughter by Jeff and Jacqi LovellMacey discovers her dad has taken a job across the country and must leave her home and friends. In order to soften the news, her parents take her on a vacation to Walt Disney World. At Blizzard Beach, she and a boy named Luke zoom down a water slide but pop up in water hundreds of miles away in the freezing Atlantic Ocean and a long way from shore. They are able to use a pendant that magically takes them to the shore of a secluded island. There a mysterious friend introduces them to the legend of the Ghost of White Island. The teens hear the courageous story of Martha Herring, forced into marriage with a brutal pirate, and abandoned on the miserable rock. The pirate goes back to sea, leaving Martha to guard his treasure. This is a recounting of her adventures and the challenges she and the people in her life endured. It is also the story of how the bonds of strong friendships can impact our lives.