Books in the Butterflies Fly Free series

Trapping the Butterfly is book one in Debra Parmley's Butterflies Fly Free series about flappers and gangsters in the 1920's. Each book focuses on a different flapper. Hot Springs Arkansas in the 1920's is where the wealthy go to "take the baths" for medicinal purposes and where gangsters lay down their Tommy guns while on vacation. Bethany and her aunt and uncle have gone to take the baths hoping to cure her aunt of her illness. Bethany, excited to be celebrating her eighteenth birthday at the Arlington Hotel, can't wait to cut her long hair into a bob and to raise her hemline and learn to do the Charleston. Her life has been controlled, from the clothes she wears to the food she eats as her aunt and uncle have kept her--and her inheritance--very close. If her aunt and uncle have their way she will return engaged to his new business partner. Little does she know Al Capone has rented the entire fourth floor of the Arlington where she is staying with her family, and Suki, the flapper who befriends her, is one of the gang's molls. One of Al's men is quite taken with Bethany and wants to make her his girl. Detective Paul Tollick chased butterflies when he was young. Now he chases gangsters. His job plunges him into the harsh underworld of gangsters, bootleggers, and fast women. He's captivated by the sight of innocent Bethany, sitting in the park surrounded by butterflies. He hopes she will be his girl. But two other men have determined to catch her and one is a dangerous gangster who is part of Al Capone's gang. Will Bethany exit her cocoon; and then find the strength to fly free or will she be trapped by one of these men? Coming of age in the 1920's is not so easy at it might appear, especially for a young naïve girl who has been sheltered.

Book two in the Butterflies Fly Free 1920's Flappers Series is Suki's story. "Shimmy hard enough and nothing can hurt you." - Suki Suki aka Susan Chesterfield, is finally being asked to dinner by Frank Omato, one of Al Capone's enforcers, after finishing her dance number at the Green Mill in Chicago, when gunmen enter the club with their Thompson submachine guns, ready to take out Al and anyone else in his gang or in their way. Frank saves Suki's life, pushing her out of the way and she escapes down the secret stairs behind the bar only to fall and break her foot. Everyone who knows how is escaping down the tunnels underneath Chicago's streets which were used to deliver hootch to all the speakeasies on the route. But Suki can't make her way out alone. She needs someone to help her and to get her to a doctor who can look at her foot. Frank comes to the rescue once again, making sure a doctor looks at her foot. She's broken her talus bone in half and it will be weeks until the cast can come off and she's able to dance again. How is she going to pay the rent? Frank comes to the rescue more than once, but there's a catch. There always is, when a gangster is involved and wants you to be his moll. There is safety in being a gangsters moll. No one messes with Frank's woman. But will she still be free and independent now that she's Frank's girl? Falling for Frank, it is oh so easy to say yes. But the life of a moll isn't an easy one. How will independent Suki handle being Frank's moll? She's itching to dance again and to break out of that cast and be free. But she knows she has to wait and to "live in the now." "The right now." Frank sends her to Miami, Florida on the train to recouperate at The Flamingo Hotel, the first grand hotel in Miami. She travels by train to Miami, first class all the way, courtesy of Frank, who will join her when he comes down with Al and his men. But train travel isn't without dangers. Something happens she can't tell Frank about. How can she when she had three rules to follow and broke the first two? The rules are harder for a flapper to keep than she'd thought they'd be. She wasn't supposed to leave her compartment until she reached her final destination. That was the first rule she broke and kept on breaking. She doesn't dare tell him what happened to her, or about meeting Phillip. Once she reaches Miami, her restlessness is even worse. She can't wait to get the cast off and to be free of Enzo, Franks man, who was assigned to meet her at the train station and to help her with whatever needs. But is he there to help or to watch her and report back to Frank? Will Suki break out of her cast to be free and independent again or is she trapped forever?