I love finding new authors to try. There's a sense of ownership when you do, like bragging about a new restaurant everyone
must try. And I love it even more when (full disclosure) they are my friend! So check out this great start to a new romantic suspense series:
He’s not the hero she’s looking for
As
part of the elite Centurion Corporation team,
military-veteran-turned-mercenary Gabriel Diaz is a natural defender.
He’ll do anything to ensure a mission is successful. Anything but get
emotionally invested—he learned the hard way that can be deadly. Easy
bodyguard jobs in between the more challenging missions are all he’s
interested in now.
Maylin
Cheng is desperate and running out of time. Her younger sister has gone
missing but no one seems to take her concern seriously. Her last hope
lies in asking an aloof bodyguard for help. He dismisses her outright,
but all that changes when she is almost killed in a not-so-accidental
hit-and-run right before his eyes.
As
Maylin leans on Gabriel, she begins to rely on him for more than just
her safety. But as their attraction grows, so does the danger
surrounding them. When the elaborate web they’re trapped in unravels,
Gabriel will do anything to protect them. Even if that means putting his
heart in the crosshairs.
Book one of the Safeguard series
Excerpt:
Breathe.
She
gasped and cool air rushed in, clearing away some of the fog.
“That’s
it, sweetheart. Take another breath nice and slow. Slow.” Strong hands patted
her down, touched her with gentle purpose. “Does anything hurt? Your neck, your
head?”
“The
way you took her down, it’s amazing her skull isn’t splattered all over the
sidewalk.” Another man’s voice floated over from some distance away. Or was it
a shock thing?
Maybe
she was in shock.
Did
people’s feet get cold at times like this? Only her left one.
“Your
left foot is colder because you lost a shoe when I shoved you out of the way.”
A thread of amusement ran through the original speaker’s voice. She liked the
sound of it. Kind humor, like what she heard in his words, was the sign of a
good man. “I’m going to help you to a sitting position, but if anything hurts
at all, you let me know right away and we’re laying you back down. Understood?”
“Yes.”
She said it out loud on purpose, because she was pretty sure she’d been talking
out loud anyway so it’d be good to know if she could do it when she actually
meant to.
The
same big hands she’d taken note of before took hold of her, one sliding under
her neck to give her support as she came up to a sitting position.
“Slow,”
her caretaker admonished.
His
choice of speeds was frustrating.
Piper J. Drake
piperjdrake.com
