This is the homepage for McKinley Park, a dramatic romance that I am publishing a chapter at a time on this website. You can also follow along on the blog. New chapters are published on Tuesdays. I have compiled all of the published chapters at the bottom of this page for easy reading.
What is McKinley Park about?
Detective Ben Carter is hunting for one of Chicago’s most deadly serial killers in recent memory. Rachel Lawson lives across the street from Ben. Rachel, single mother of three young sons, and recently divorced is the woman of Ben’s dreams. Ben falls head over heels for Rachel and learns there is deep hurt in her past, that he is committed to helping her overcome.
This dramatic romance is set in Chicago over a summer where the air is sticky and humid, tempers flare, and passion grows.
An Author’s Note About McKinley Park:
If you have landed on this page, I hope it’s because you have some interest in the story. Thank you for reading! I wanted to take a moment to clarify a few things about this story. The idea of the story first came to me a year ago. I jotted down my the idea furiously trying to capture it in detail. I was working on a different project at the time, and then I did NaNoWriMo in November. I felt like I would never get to McKinley Park. Finally, the time came and I could not wait to write to Ben and Rachel’s story. I sat down and wrote for two days and then…I got stuck. I have never written a crime novel before, and I have read very few. I was in over my head.
I know what you may be thinking, why would you publish one on your blog then? Believe me, I am asking myself this question every day. The book sat with three chapters completed on my computer for months. When I set out to do something, I do it. The fact that I was stuck irritated me to no end. When I started the blog I knew I wanted to publish one of the books I had written, a week at a time. I loved the idea, it showcased my writing and entertained readers, a win-win. I went through the completed books, each one seeming like a good choice, then I saw McKinley Park, with it’s three finished chapters. I knew if I used McKinley Park, it would force me to finish it. I would be stretched as an author as I had never been before. This was going to break the process in which I write completely. I was going to have to write and revise as I went, which is terrifying and exciting at the same time.
So, please keep these two things in mind as read through the book, first I have never published a book a chapter at a time. I usually finish a work and then spend months revising, editing and rewriting. McKinley Park does not have that luxury, so if you see errors, I am so very sorry. I have done my best to catch them prior to publication.
Secondly, as if publishing a work a chapter at a time was not enough of a stretch, I chose to write outside of my normal genre. This is against every piece of writing advice out there, I know this. I am normally a rule follower too. My thought was that in order to grow as a writer, because let’s be honest, there is always room to grow in any skill, I knew I needed to push myself outside of my comfort level. I also knew that Ben’s career very much intertwined with Rachel’s story, I could not have one without the other. I hope that I haven’t made too much of a mess of the crime and police scenes and that Ben and Rachel’s love story shines through.
Last but not least, I wanted to share something that happened after I had published the first two chapters of the book on the blog. I live just outside of Chicago, it is my city, where my heart lives. I set most of my books in Chicago because the city itself is such a great character to write. One afternoon as I was fretting that I had made a terrible mistake publishing the book, a chapter at a time when my husband suggested that we go down to our favorite Southern-style Chicken Restaurant in the city (Chicago). I had just written the chapter where Ben and Rachel went on their first date, the restaurant in that chapter is based on this actual restaurant in Chicago. My husband and I had been there many times before, but when we walked in that evening, the restaurant was full of Chicago police officers eating dinner. Half of the Chicago P.D. eating at this place was not a common sight. I smiled, imagining Ben and Marty (his partner) sitting at a table, and took it as a sign to keep going.
Thank you again for reading!
Warmly,
Jackie
McKinley Park
By: Jacqueline Thomas
And Now for Something a Little Different.. McKinley Park
I went back and forth on whether or not to post a creative work on the blog. I even made a Twitter poll, that resulted in almost an even divide whether to post a creative work on the blog. After mulling it over I have decided that I am going to take one of my unfinished…
Continue Reading And Now for Something a Little Different.. McKinley Park
Chapter 2: McKinley Park
*Warning: this chapter depicts a violent assault and crime scene Chapter 2 McKinley Park By Jacqueline Thomas Ben pulled his unmarked squad car as close to the bank of the Calumet River as he could get without sinking into the mud. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach, he knew just by…
McKinley Park: Chapter 3
McKinley Park: Chapter 3 by: Jacqueline Thomas Ben pulled his car into his driveway at 10:45. He had missed his 9 pm deadline. Shit, he was blowing his shot with Rachel and he hadn’t even got a chance to make an ass of himself yet, he thought as he stepped out into the rain.…
McKinley Park: Chapter 4
Ben stood on his porch and looked across the street. This was not how he has wanted last night to go. He liked Rachel and wanted to know her better. He wanted to know what triggered her reaction to him last night. He turned and pulled the mail out of the box from the day…
McKinley Park- Chapter 5
Ben walked back into the station, his shoulder back in its socket. He was in a hurry to get back to question Stephen Duke. He knew that Marty would do a good job, but he needed to be there. He wanted to look Duke in the eye as he questioned him. He noticed the interrogation…
McKinley Park Chapter 6
McKinley Park By Jacqueline Thomas Chapter 6 They had the tapes and a rough list of who was at the poker game Duke played with. Duke was right, some of the men at the table were real movers and shakers in Chicago. He was right to wonder why they were playing cards in Jim…
McKinley Park: Chapter 7
By the time they got Jim in an interrogation room, his lawyer sat next to him. “Look, Jim, I just want to know who asked you to record Ashley Jensen.” “My client can’t answer that. He doesn’t know. He has told you that multiple times. Now, why are we really here? Are you charging my…
McKinley Park Chapter 8
Ben knocked on Rachel’s door as his palms began to sweat. He had been looking forward to this night with Rachel since she called. He wasn’t sure if they were going as friends or it was a date, but it didn’t matter. He was just happy to be with her. Marty had pulled the report…
McKinley Park Chapter 9
Ben pulled his car back onto their street and drove past his driveway to pull into Rachel’s driveway. “Wait, I’m not ready to go home. My sister is staying over and I know if I walk in now, it will be chaos. She is having her house painted. She has her kids and my kids…
McKinley Park Chapter 10
Ben woke to his phone vibrating on the nightstand. The night before with Rachel was his first thing that went through his head, followed by the buzzing noise from his phone. He rolled over to grab it, burring his face in the pillow, it still held the scent of her hair. His phone demanded his…
McKinley Park Chapter 11
It had been a week since Ben had slept overnight in his own bed. Most nights he camped out at the hospital waiting for Serena, the victim the junkie had helped, to wake up. Her family welcomed his presence. Stephen Duke was still missing, Ben knew he would turn up eventually. The entire CPD was…
McKinley Park Chapter 12
** Disclaimer this scene contains a consensual sex scene in graphic detail, and is meant for mature audiences only.*** He walked over to the wine rack in the dining room and pulled out a bottle of red wine. He took it back into the kitchen and started searching in the drawers for the corkscrew. He…
McKinley Park: Chapter 13
Ben’s nose woke before the rest of him, taking in the soft scent of Rachel’s hair. They had eaten their pizza and cuddled back up in the guestroom bed together. They made love again and fell asleep cuddled up to each other. Ben had only meant to nap, but snuggled up to Rachel, he slept…
McKinley Park: Chapter 14
***Warning, this scene has a first-person account of a sexual assault*** “It’s okay, just take your time. Do you recognize any of these men?” Ben reassured Serena as she sat awake in her hospital bed. Ben and Marty got the call that she was awake as they got back to Ben’s car from the…
McKinley Park: Chapter 15
Ben watched the boys cross the street and enter his house before he walked quietly to Rachel’s back door. He tried the doorknob and the back door opened. Ben walked into the kitchen, noticing a broken dinner plate on the floor, the boy’s dinners still sitting on the kitchen table, half eaten. The chairs were…
McKinley Park Chapter 16
Ben led Rachel upstairs to her room, the front window of her room faced, his bedroom window across the street. He pulled back the quilt as she turned off the lamp on the nightstand. She slid off the robe underneath, a long, grey, silk slipcovered her body. Ben turned the light back on, and she…
McKinley Park Chapter 17
Ben took a shower and made some lunch, stopping by his front window to check on Rachel’s house each time he walked past. He turned on the Cubs game but wasn’t interested, he was frustrated with Rachel. He understood her fear but, he also wanted her to trust him. He knew it was going to…
McKinley Park Chapter 18
“Have a great day honey. Good luck with school today, boys!” Ben said after he kissed Rachel through the open driver’s side window. Ben and Rachel had spent every available minute they had for the past month together. Ben had really gotten to know the boys, who adored him having around. Ben knew she was…
McKinley Park Chapter 19
***Warning! This chapter describes sexual violence****** Ben pulled up in front of Rachel’s house. Marty grabbed Ben’s arm before he got out of the car. “You have got to calm down, man. You go in there all upset, with Rachel’s past, you’ll scare the hell out of her and mess things up. Just chill.” Ben…
McKinley Park Chapter 20
Rachel’s boys loved that Ben dropped them off for school. They were especially excited at the prospect of riding in his unmarked squad car. Their excitement was quickly dashed, when Ben told them Marty had his car and they’d be going in Rachel’s van. On the ride home, he called Marty, who was less than…
McKinley Park Chapter 21
Rachel fell asleep, snuggled up in Ben’s arms. Her eyes burnt from crying and she had intended only to close them for a moment, but slipped into slumber. She slept deeply, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt safe in Ben’s arms. He held her happily as he listened…
McKinley Park-Chapter 22
Four hours and six rest stops into what should have been a two and a half-hour drive; Ben pulled off of the two-lane highway up a dirt road. Rachel had agreed to go away for a few days while Derek’s face was all over the news. Becky was too close to her due date to…
McKinley Park- Chapter 23
Rachel looked at the antique engagement ring on her finger as she and Ben snuggled up together in bed. The boys could not have been more excited at the prospect of Rachel marrying Ben, much to Rachel’s surprise and relief. The ripples of the lake reflected on the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom. She laid…
McKinley Park: Chapter 24
Ben sat with Luke out on the dock; he didn’t want the little boy to see what was happening any more than he already had. Luke swung his feet off the end of the dock. “Detective Carter” one of the uniformed officers came off the porch. Ben got up, “Luke, you stay right here, buddy.…
McKinley Park: Chapter 25
Ben walked out of the hospital as the sun was setting. The weather had turned colder, and it had rained. Ben’s gut churned, thinking of Rachel. Daylight was their friend when looking for someone. He got into the chief’s marked SUV. “Right now we are just holding him for questioning. We are most likely charging…
McKinley Park: Chapter 26 (The Final Chapter)
“Ben go home. Go see the boys. You haven’t been home in days.” Marty said, looking at Ben who had not left the station since he had got back into the city. “I am not going home until she comes home too. I already told you.” “Ben, you’ve been here for two days when was…
Continue Reading McKinley Park: Chapter 26 (The Final Chapter)
McKinley Park is Coming Back!
I think each writer holds a special place in their heart for the characters they write. When you are a romance writer, you also hold a special place for the relationship you write. Out of all of the romance novels I’ve written up to this point, I hold Ben and Rachel’s story nearest to my…
