The Lakota Series - Book Tour and Giveaway

Under Cover of Night
The Lakota Series Book 3
by Constance Gillam
Genre: Suspense, Crime Thriller 

A courageous law officer fighting corruption. Can he hunt down an assassin on the reservation… or will he be permanently silenced?

Little River Reservation. Police Captain John Iron Hawk serves his people with pride. With a crucial election on the horizon, the strong and silent commander refuses to let criminals undermine his community’s leadership. But when his sister discovers his rival has been murdered, Iron Hawk is determined to catch the killer before he loses his job.

After his sibling quickly becomes the prime suspect, Iron Hawk is outraged when the FBI pulls him off the case. Working unofficially on the case, he uncovers conspiracies that reach far beyond the homicide. Protecting his homeland from ruthless enemies could cost this police chief his life.

Can Iron Hawk expose the deadly secrets before he’s buried in an unmarked grave?

Under Cover of Night is the third book in the thrilling Lakota romantic suspense series. If you like rich portrayals of Native American society, daring heroes, and edge-of-your-seat tension, then you’ll love Constance Gillam’s evocative tale.

Buy Under Cover of Night to unearth the mysteries of this reservation today!

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​ Exhausted and cold, John crawled into bed. He’d never made it to headquarters.

He wrapped his arms around Zora and pulled her against his chest. The warmth of her body started to thaw his cold, tired one.

Outside, thunder boomed. John settled deeper into the comfort of her body.

His cell buzzed.

He squeezed his eyes tight and pretended he didn’t hear it. But with his only deputy off the reservation, John was the on-call person.

“You going to get that?”

“No.” But he picked up the cell and flipped over onto his back. “Iron Hawk.”

“John.”

The panic he heard in his sister’s voice shocked the drowsiness away. Lydia never panicked.

“He’s dead.”

John jackknifed up in bed. “Who’s dead?”

Beside him, Zora lifted her head. “What’s wrong?”

His sister’s strangled cries made the hairs on his arms rise and quiver. “Lydia, talk to me.” Was she having some delayed grief over her husband’s death?

“There’s blood everywhere.”

The blood reference threw him off balance. “Whose blood?” He swung his legs out of bed and stared blindly around the room. His mind rushed and discarded possible scenarios—none of them good.

“Thomas’ blood.”

With his cell locked between his head and his shoulder, John crammed his legs into his discarded jeans.

Lamplight flooded the room. Zora scooted to the head of the bed, watching him with anxious brown eyes.

“Thomas who?” He pulled a shirt over his head.

“Thomas Crow.”

John paused, his head half in and half out of his shirt. What the fuck? He eased the shirt down over his chest. What was his sister doing with Thomas Crow? “Where are you?”

“At his house.” The words came out almost on a moan—the moan of a wounded animal.

Why the hell was she at Crow’s house? John’s brain scrambled, trying to remember where the man lived. He’d purposely never delved too deeply into his political opponent’s personal life. “Give me the location.”

“Rachel… Near Rachel Reynaud’s house. Same road.”

“Don’t touch anything. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Outside, the rumble of thunder warned it would take longer than usual to get there.

“John?” Zora threw back the blanket and stood. “What’s wrong?” She rubbed her bare arms against the chill in the room.

“Thomas Crow is dead.”

Lakota Blood Moon
The Lakota Series Book 2 

A MAN WILL GO TO HELL AND BACK TO PROTECT WHAT IS HIS.

Police Captain John Iron Hawk’s life is a speeding vehicle down a deserted road. A road with his tormented past looming at his back and a future summed up by the black thunder clouds building on the horizon.
His relationship with his daughter is nonexistent. And he can’t seem to say the words to the woman he loves to make her stay.
When Zora Hughes receives a job offer from Cosmopolitan magazine, she knows she has to take it and reestablish her career on the New York fashion scene. She has nothing to keep her on Little River Reservation, even if John is the only man she’s ever trusted or loved this completely. John’s life is his job, and he has little left over to build something with her.

But when a psychopathic killer turns their world upside down, they must dig deep to find the strength to outwit an adversary who will strip them of everything they hold dear…including each other.

This title is the second in the Lakota contemporary series.



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Lakota Dreaming
Lakota Series Book 1 

Her visions brought her here. Her heart tells her to stay. But someone dangerous wants her gone…

Zora Hughes is haunted by someone else’s past. Plagued by dreams of her ancestor fleeing captivity, the former NYC fashion editor travels to South Dakota to uncover the truth. And until she can put her visions to rest, she won’t let anyone stand in her way… not even the handsome captain of the local tribal police.

John Iron Hawk is on a mission to clean up his reservation. Trying to raise a teenage daughter on his own while working to expose a corrupt casino manager means he has little time for nonsense. But for reasons he can’t explain, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the gorgeous New Yorker stirring up trouble.

As Zora’s search collides with John’s investigation, unearthing an old secret could have deadly consequences.

Threatened by a ruthless enemy, Zora and John may have to find a key to her past to unlock their new future...
Lakota Dreaming is the first book in the riveting Lakota series of romantic mysteries. If you like mystical connections, spiritual journeys, and lush depictions of Native American culture, then you’ll adore Constance Gillam’s entrancing novel.

Buy Lakota Dreaming to discover love where you least expect it today!

This is the first book in the contemporary Lakota series.



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Lakota Moon Rising
A Lakota Series Prequel 

A Fight for Freedom. A Fight for Love

Julia, a mixed-race woman, born into slavery in Louisiana escapes brutal plantation life only to be captured by the Comanche. She holds tight to her dream of Canada and freedom as she unwillingly witnesses the acts of savagery the Indians perpetrate against the whites.

She is reluctantly drawn to a visiting Sioux warrior, Sunkawakan. The newcomer is both gentle and savage, compassionate and ruthless. Falling in love with him will mean an end to her dreams of freedom in the North.

In a vision, Sunkawakan Iyopeya saw white soldiers corral his people like cattle onto barren land. He visits the Cheyenne to convince them to band with him and his tribe, the Lakota Sioux, against the soldiers at Fort Laramie who would destroy the Indian way of life. While in the village, he meets beautiful but fiercely independent Julia. He is torn between his attraction to her and his duty to his people.

Torn between love and duty, pride and an intense need, they must both decide if this new love is worth the change in their destiny.

A different and intense historical romance. Read Lakota Moon Rising today.
This is a prequel to Lakota Dreaming and Lakota Blood Moon.



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Constance Gillam grew up in the Midwest among ice and snow. She now lives in the sunny South and loves it. As a child, she was a precocious reader and would sneak into the adult fiction section of the library. At age eleven she read Gone with the Wind and never looked back.

Romance is her love, and she fills her books with mystery and suspense, conflict and emotion.


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How I became an author
I’ve been a storyteller since elementary school. One of my childhood memories is of walking to school with a friend (and yes, we did that in the old days) and telling each other stories. The stories always involved handsome movie stars and a happy ending. When we arrived at school, we’d leave the story on a cliff hanger and started the story again on the walk home.
I attempted to write through my adulthood, but marriage and children claimed my time. It wasn’t until my youngest entered high school that I became serious about a career in writing.

Is there something unique/quirky about you?
I’m a list maker. I must have something to check off. At the end of the day, I do a mental summary of my day to see what I’ve accomplished. I’m not sure what that says about me.

If you knew you’d die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?
Visiting as many friends and family as I could. If I couldn’t see them personally, then I’d call them.

Who is your hero and why?
This was a hard question to answer. I have so many heroes.
Oprah Winfrey rose from puberty and sexual abuse to establish a global empire. She’s positive and motivational.
Michele Obama, who didn’t let her background limit the heights she could reach.
Kamala Harris, first black, Asian and female vice president.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg a fighter for women’s rights. I love this quote: “Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”

What do you do to unwind and relax?
I’d love to say, parasailing, bungee jumping and motorcycle riding, but I’m not that adventurous. Reading, walking, hiking, watching T.V. and ancestry hunting.

Describe yourself in 5 words:
Driven, studious, passionate, impatient, and proud.

Do you have a favorite movie?
No. I have several: Avatar, When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, Possession, The Photograph and any disaster film.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
Lakota Dreaming, Lakota Blood Moon, Under Cover of Night.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
An eagle. Because they are majestic and regal.

What inspired you to write this book?
Under Cover of Night is book #3 in the Lakota series. I’m excited by the idea of pairing people from different cultures in a love match and imaging how they would adapt and change to be together.
This latest book in the Lakota series explores the strength of family bonds and the extremes we would employ to keep them safe.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
Lakota Dreaming, the first book in the series, was inspired by an independent movie, Unbowed. The movie centered around an exceptional black female student, who was a teacher and a jewel in the school’s crown immediately after the Civil War.
A Union captain arrives at the college with a group of renegade Native American males that he wants the headmaster to integrate into his student body. The female student falls in love with one of the males.
At the end of the movie, the Sioux warrior is planning to escape and return to his reservation. You’re left to wonder if the female student/teacher will go with him and leave everything she’s gained to build an uncertain future on a reservation far from home.
The ending sparked a series of what ifs. The answers led to Lakota Dreaming. A New York editor—a descendant of a runaway slave and a Sioux warrior—travels to a South Dakota Indian reservation to learn the fate of her ancestor, who comes to her in visions.

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
In Lakota Dreaming, the first book in the series, the female protagonist comes to the reservation because of genetic memories she has about an ancestry who was a slave. The female slave escapes a plantation and is captured by Native Americans and lives among them. I wrote a historical prequel whose characters are the slave and her Native American lover. The story is Lakota Moon Rising.

What can we expect from you in the future?
I have a romcom releasing August 24, 2021 entitled, The Hookup Dilemma. It’s an interracial romance between two individuals who are totally different in how they view life, family and love.

How did you come up with the title of your first novel?
My heroine has visions or dreams of a deceased ancestor which lead her to a Lakota Indian reservation. I put the two important words together: Lakota+dreams= Lakota Dreaming. I guess the title could have been Lakota Dreams, but I liked the cadence of Lakota Dreaming.

Who designed your book covers?
Kim Killion of HotDamn Designs created the book covers for the series.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
I have the reigns of the story for the main characters but those secondary characters spring out of nowhere. They walk on stage without warning and always seem to be colorful and eccentric. For example, in Lakota Dreaming, I have two ninety-year-old men who almost take over the story.

Is there a writer whose brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
I’d love to spend a day with author John Hart. His novel, The Last Child, is a masterpiece of suspense, thriller, family drama and social awareness told through the lens of a thirteen-year-old boy who’s searching for his twin sister. Hart uses theme and lyrical imagery to bring all the elements of the story smoothly together at the end.

What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?

1. The Last Child by John Hart (crime procedural)
2. Rangoon by Christine Monson (historical romance)
3. Scribe by Elizabeth Hunter (paranormal romance)
4. Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland (crime+romance)
5. The Wrong Man by Delaney Diamond (contemporary romance)
6. Afterwards by Nia Forrester (contemporary romance)
7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (historical fantasy)
8. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (historical fiction)
9. Judge’s Girls by Sharina Harris (women’s fiction)
10. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (science fiction, crime, romantic elements)
11. Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins (historical romance)
12. The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (science fiction)

I couldn’t do just 10!!

Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
I have the main protagonists and their opponent(s) when I start. Most of my secondary characters come to me as I write. And I love that! There’s nothing more exciting than a new character walking on the page.

Do you read if so, what is your favorite genre?
I live to read. I read everything but horror. I love writing mystery and thrillers, but I love reading a good fantasy or historical fiction or sci-fi.

Describe your writing process.
The plot or a character comes to me from something I’ve heard in the news or just watching people on the street. Sometimes ideas pop into my imagination from a movie or from music. Once I have that kernel of an idea, I expand it with the right characters for the story, then the location and scenes. If I’m writing a mystery, I develop almost all the scenes before I start writing.
Because I suffer from inflammation in the wrist and fingers, sometimes I dictate my scenes.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Write even if you only have thirty minutes. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make a living as a writer. Write when the kids go to sleep or get up an hour early to write. Just write.

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