Mission:
Keep his eyes on the skies…despite one sexy distraction!
HIS TO PROTECT
Uniformly Hot!
Karen Rock
Released Oct 1st, 2016
Harlequin Blaze
Subject: Lt. Commander Mark
Sampson
Mission: Keep his eyes on the
skies…despite one sexy distraction!
There are things a man can never
undo. For Coast Guard search and rescue pilot Mark Sampson, it was the
agonizing decision that cost him a teammate—and his faith in himself. But an
unbelievably sexy blonde on a secluded beach may help him forget…if only for a
night.
Cassie Rowe needed a distraction—and,
boy, did she get one! How was she to know the brooding stranger who rocked her
world was the pilot who'd left her brother to die? And now they're on the same
mission. She should hate him. But she can't fight the storm of desire
threatening to pull them under…
BUY NOW
“Abandon
ship! Abandon ship!” Dylan hollered as the boat shuddered and lifted before
crashing smack down on its side.
Cassie leaped
into the whirling water and kicked hard against the sucking drag, her life
preserver no match for the powerful force. Coughing and spitting out salt
water, she flailed, trying to keep her head above the enraged ocean intent on
swallowing everything. Including her.
Dylan reached
her, cradled her head in his arm and began kicking them backward, hard, keeping
her mouth above water. When she looked skyward, she didn’t spot the Jayhawk and
her heart seized.
Had they lost
them?
Would she and
Dylan drown?
“Keep
kicking!” urged Dylan and she put her shaking muscles into it. The injured
swimmer wasn’t giving in and neither would she.
Several
seconds, minutes, hours seemed to pass— she’d lost count—as she and Dylan
battled the waves before, miraculously, a rescue strop dropped directly in
front of them.
In a flash,
Dylan had them hooked. Air whistled around her as they swung toward the
helicopter. Larry snatched them into the cabin the moment her toes grazed the
side of the aircraft.
The cabin
door slammed shut. She blinked at the crying, shaking and staring survivors and
her thoughts tumbled. A deep shudder started in her gut and rattled her to her
toes. She pressed her hand against the Jayhawk’s side, not trusting that she
really was out of the water and here.
Safe.
When she
caught sight of her v-fib patient, she crouch-walked to his side as the
helicopter wheeled then sped. What a relief to see the IV still attached to the
litter.
She checked
his vitals and tourniquet.
Stable.
Critical, but stable. Hopefully enough to get to the airport then medevac to a
major hospital.
A life saved.
One for her and how many more for these extraordinary men? She looked around
the cabin, deeply impressed as Dylan shrugged off any fussing over his dangling
arm and began checking passengers alongside her.
“Swimmers.”
Larry rolled his eyes at Dylan. “Crazy sons of bitches.”
“Or looking
for some shirt candy,” put in Rob with a sheepish glance behind him.
“It’s an Air
Medal for sure. You, too, Cassie, if you were in the Coast Guard.” Dylan’s
cocky grin was firmly back in place.
Her gaze
swerved to the cockpit and a spark, like the shock off an electric fence, went
through her as she met Mark’s eyes. They stared at each other for a moment
before he turned back, but the glimpse of his anguished expression tormented
her. Made her want to reassure him she was fine. Not scared after all, she
suddenly realized. She’d been so intent on her job, so focused on her survival,
that she hadn’t been meek at all.
The change
swept through her skin, whirling in the vast spaces between her atoms,
reconfiguring her into someone else—or perhaps, as Jeff had pointed out, the
person she was meant to be all along.
Award-winning author Karen Rock is both sweet and
spicy—at least when it comes to her writing! The author of both YA and adult
contemporary books writes red-hot novels for Harlequin Blaze and small-town
romances for Harlequin Heartwarming. A strong believer in Happily-Ever-After,
Karen loves creating unforgettable stories that leave her readers with a smile.
She enjoys returning to her teaching roots when speaking at regional and
national writing conferences and interacting with other writers. She has a
Master of Fine Arts in English and has continued to learn and grow
professionally through her work with YA co-author, fellow romance author,
friend and sister-in-law, Joanne Rock.
When she’s not writing, Karen is an avid reader who’s typically immersed
in three different books at a time, all in different genres. She also loves
cooking her grandmother’s Italian recipes, baking, Christmas (no need to
specify—she loves every bit of it), and having the Adirondack Park wilderness
as her backyard, where she lives with her husband, daughter, dog and cat who
keep her life interesting and complete..
Thank you for featuring HIS TO PROTECT on your blog, Sue!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting today! ~gaele for Tasty Book Tours
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