Heart of Stone has just been re-released, today in fact, and
this will be the third time this book has been added to my catalogue. I’m
hoping this is the final home for it, too. New Dawning Book Fair has been a
very good publisher for me, and when I terminated contracts back in January for
four of my titles, I was wondering if that would mean these stories would never
be seen again.
Randall Stone is the hero of this one, a man who served his
country, and disobeyed an order that would have left a member of his team to
die. He went back, and was dishonourably discharged for the offense of
disobeying a direct order. However, you don’t train a soldier only to dismiss
him, so he’s become a covert operations specialist, and a mercenary who often
works for the government who dismissed him publicly.
I’ve had quite a few reviews of this book, and all but one
have been good. I tell people they have to be prepared for an off-camera rape
scene, but apart from that, it’s pretty straightforward action/adventure romance.
I’m glad to have it back, and with another of Kayden McLeod’s stunning covers.
Available now from these stores:
(15% off at Bookstrand until October 14th)
So, have a look, and the other book that’s been re-edited for new release is Pirates, and I am having a super contest to celebrate that one, all the details are here:
Excerpt:
Jennifer
stopped at the door to Rand’s office, her stomach lurching with sickening
intensity when she spotted what held his attention so completely. Sighing, she
shook off the sense of loss and went into the shadowy room.
“How many times are you going to
watch that?”
Rand’s eyes flashed with annoyance
when he turned to look at her. For several moments, he made no other indication
of having heard her. Then he turned, hit the pause button on the DVD player to
mute the sound, and leaned back in his chair. He tossed the remote onto a pile
of paperwork.
“I thought you were going to Paris
“I am. This is where you can reach
me.”
The shrug he gave her in response
was not reassuring. Genuinely concerned, she dropped the slip of paper on the
nearest stack of work, then perched on the edge of his desk and looked closer
at him.
“When was the last time you slept
without dreaming about her, Rand?”
“The day we buried her. Since then,
it’s been constant.”
“Let her go,” she whispered. “This
isn’t what Robin would want for you. She loved you too much.”
“This proves she’s not dead.”
His certainty created a flicker of
exasperation in her. “That doesn’t prove a damn thing, Rand. We haven’t been
able to verify the disc’s dating. There were no fingerprints. No trace of
anything that could tell us where it came from.” She paused. “It might not even
be Robin.”
Even she heard the lack of
conviction in her last words, and Rand laughed.
“You don’t believe for a minute
that I can’t recognize any part of her, Jennifer,” he said, his voice quiet.
“Her face might not be in the picture, but I know it’s her.”
Jennifer knew he was right. She
just didn’t like what that correctness meant.
“He likes to touch, but not to
inflict pain,” Rand mused, turning the recording on again.
The comment took Jennifer back to a
mission she would have preferred not to remember. Rand had once served with a
man named Jason MacIntyre. He was, like Randall, a highly trained soldier, and
had once been as tied to Donald Brookman as Stone and their team were.
MacIntyre had gone rogue a couple of years back, and when Brookman had given
Rand the nasty assignment of bringing him in, the entire mission had proven a
mistake. Mac had planned a detailed trap, and they’d fallen into it. Most of
the team had been captured and used to bait Stone.
Rand had once owed the man his
life. Despite the bad blood between them, Rand had shown Mac a mercy that would
never have been accorded him had their situations been reversed. He made the
difficult decision to let Mac disappear rather than let him face the wrath of
both the government and the military. It had been one of the few times she’d
ever see Donald Brookman genuinely furious with Stone, and it was not a
pleasant memory. No more than the recollection of Mac’s slimy come-ons to her
during her time as his prisoner. Her mind pulled forth the memory, almost
against her will…
“…Some
people like to do things to their captives… painful things… I like to touch… to
inflict pleasure…” he murmured, leaning in to her.
Jennifer repressed her flinch and
met his eyes with a cool composure that she’d spent years acquiring.
“Do you sleep with Stone?”
She smiled. This was pretty much
the conversation she’d been expecting. She let the pause lengthen, chose her
moment for effect. “You’re not prepared to believe me if I say yes or no, so
why bother?”
“Because maybe I will believe you,
if you give me the right answer, of course.”
“Of course. But there is no right
answer.”
The words tumbled back into the
forefront of Jennifer’s mind, freezing her blood in her veins as she considered
what they might have overlooked in Robin’s case.
“Rand?”
It took a moment for his
concentration to refocus, and he straightened in his chair when he saw the
intensity of her gaze.
“Do you know where Jason MacIntyre
is?”
Startled, Rand shifted until his
elbows were on the desktop, and he was looking directly at her.
“Why?”
“It’s possible…just possible, that he’s the one in this recording.”
“Why, Jenn?” Rand snapped at her.
“What haven’t you told me before?”
“Something you said, about liking
to touch,” she answered warily. “He used those words when he had us in his camp.
He likes to touch, but not to inflict pain. He gets a kick out of humiliating
women, and he does it by making his victim feel good then watching her twist
herself into knots because it did feel good.” She paused. “I know because he
did it to me, Rand.”
Rand shook his head, uncertain of
precisely what he was attempting to deny. Part of him was rejecting the
possibility that the woman he loved was in MacIntyre’s hands. Yet the more
rational part of his mind sensed it could be true.
He reached for the phone, but the
gesture was aborted when the man he intended to call walked into the office.
“I’m glad you’re still here,
Jennifer,” Donald Brookman noted with a nod. “I’m afraid your plans for Paris
Rand’s frown deepened, and after
Brookman took a closer look at him, his gaze moved to the image frozen on the
big screen television that was usually concealed behind a wall. He sighed.
“She’s dead, Rand,” he said
quietly. “Let it go.”
“Let it go?” Rand
repeated, voice icy with contained fury. “I will not ‘let it go,’ Brookman. She’s alive, and I intend to find her!”
“We’ve been through this already,”
Donald began, only to be stopped by the sheer force of Stone’s anger when the
younger man rose and glared at him.
“Whatever you came for is going to
have to wait.”
Brookman looked to Jennifer, and he
must have read something in her expression because he turned back to Rand and
studied him intently. “What’s happened?”
“We may have a lead on what really
happened to Robin,” Jennifer said, her voice soft, caution in her look and
tone.
Rand didn’t so much as look at her;
his eyes were still locked in silent combat with Brookman.
“Robin is dead,” Donald said.
Brookman’s decree was met with
stony silence, and tension poured into the room, enshrouding the three people
present.
PIRATES
Formerly called ROGUES, revised and
reedited
Genre: Adventure Fantasy/Romance (mildly
erotic)
Cover by: Kayden McLeod
Available from these Bookstores:
Three stories, one kind of hero, pirates anyone?
Includes the short stories Angel-Fire, Storm-Singer, and The Phantom’s Lair…
Historical adventure, and the darker mystery of an ageless vampire who keeps a
witch at his side, his protector and his lover through
eternity...
Angel-Fire: A short intro to the world
of Captain Jack Stanton, an honourable man with a tarnished reputation. Stranded
in Nassau, caught up in a pleasant interlude with a barmaid, Jack has a vision
that will lead him to his past and his future, if he can survive to get back
Tortuga to discover what it all means…
Storm-Singer: The Isle of Nyx has
become the dread of all sailors who must dare the waters surrounding the
mythical island. Local legends say a vampire prince resides in the ancient
castle that can be seen from the harbor of the island. At his side is a powerful
sorceress whose song can control and summon storms.
In a desperate attempt to end the eternal threat looming
over them, the people of the Aurora Islands sacrifice their greatest treasure,
the princess Sarita, entrusting her with the task of seducing and destroying the
dark prince who has been plundering their wealth and their people for
centuries?
The Phantom’s Lair: Upon her arrival in
the pirate port of Tortuga where her father is acting as Governor, Katheryn
Hollinsworth is determined to choose her own path, and follow her heart wherever
it may take her. On the streets of Puerta de la Plata, she encounters the
mythical buccaneer known as The Phantom, and very quickly loses her heart to the
handsome rogue.
Jack Stanton is a man who has never fully come to terms
with his past, and in the Governor's pretty daughter he finds a most unlikely
champion. But when his past threatens her life, and any chance of a respectable
future, The Phantom must face the demons of his past, and accept the dictates of
his own reawakened heart...
Available from these Bookstores:
Congrats on your new releases, wonderful news indeed. And wishing you much success!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane. Much appreciated! :)
DeleteCongrats to you Denyse... your books are always good... Hugs to you. you inspire me to keep reading and some writing even if it is not the greatest but I at least try.. Ana
ReplyDelete