Fall For A Hero: Devlin's Grace, now just 99 cents at Amazon.com through October 13th!
From the desk of Lee Ann Sontheimer
Murphy
Devlin roars into Gracie’s life on a
motorcycle in Devlin’s Grace from
Rebel Ink Press, now discounted October 11 through 13th at
Amazon.com to the bargain price of 99 cents (normally $5.99). She’s scared but
she’s intrigued too. Readers get their
first taste of Devlin in a brief prologue so they’re aware he served in
Iraq. And it’s evident the attraction
is mutual. Devlin is far from the ideal date.
He’s more than a little rough around the edges and he struggles with
many things including PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). He rides on the wild side of life and by his
own admission he’s more than a little wicked.
After all, his nickname is ‘Devil’.
Since Gracie’s a “good girl” and a college student, you might expect her
to turn tail and run but she doesn’t.
Instead, she responds to him with an openness he hasn’t experienced
until now. Devlin is more than a little
prickly but Gracie, despite her natural shyness, can be pushy. And she dares to move closer when everyone
else tends to back away from the former Marine.
Devlin is a flawed hero. He’s human
but he’s not without redeeming qualities. And Gracie looks beyond the mask,
probes deeper behind the façade. The
more she knows him, the deeper her feelings become. Their love story possesses some poignant
moments and I think it’s because he’s not perfect but they work together in
spite of their issues.
Watch the book trailer here:
Blurb:
When he rides out of the fog on his motorcycle, Gracie Alloway
almost mistook him for a demon rising from the smoke and steam of hell. Except
she's attracted to him from the first moment. Devlin's everything she's not -
wild and a little wicked. But opposites attract because good girl, college
student Gracie wants more of this bad boy.
Devlin dreamed up a fantasy woman back in Iraq a lot like Gracie
and she evokes a side he hasn't shown anyone in years. She also dares to enter
his personal space and take liberties no other woman's dared. Although he
struggles with PTSD and other issues, Gracie won’t run and she refuses to
abandon Devlin.
If she can just tame him and help him battle his demons. If he can
teach her how to live a little bit more, they might just have a chance at a
future together.
From Devlin’s Grace, here’s an excerpt:
“I don’t sleep much, anyway.”
His hesitant manner hinted maybe he
didn’t usually volunteer such personal information any more than she invited
men up to drink coffee or rode motorcycles.
Her hand trembled the tiniest bit as Gracie put her cup up to her lips. Dev made her nervous, but he evoked a growing
sense of tenderness, too. And his
presence leached out a lot of her usual bashful reserve. Deep weariness shadowed his eyes and haunted
his face, she noted, so she asked, “Why don’t you?”
This time, his mug shook between his
hands. After a heavy moment of silence,
he sighed. “You can’t expect the devil to have sweet dreams, darlin’. Thanks for the coffee. I’ve got to go – morning comes early and I
have to work.”
When he held out the cup, Gracie
noticed the scarring on the underside of his left arm. Dead white skin mottled with angry red
patches and rough ridges indicated he’d suffered serious burns. She noticed similar scars on the side of his
neck and wondered how much of his body had been affected. Everything she’d learned screamed at her to
say nothing, to ignore what she saw, but Gracie followed instinct. After accepting the cup, she put it down on
the end table and touched the old burn.
Her fingers brushed against the coarse skin and marveled to find it
cool. She expected heat, but it would’ve
gone long ago. Dev started to jerk away
from her, but when she touched him, he stopped.
Like a bird poised for flight, he remained still as she stroked the
damaged area.
Before she could speak, he pulled
his arm back and with a defiant glint in his eyes, he removed his t-shirt. “If
you want to see the scars, you can see them all,” Dev said, voice harsh and
hoarse.
He revealed a torso dappled with terrible raised welts, both back and
belly. These scars were worse than the
others. Raised red ropes twined like
vines over his flesh, fused and almost melted.
The agony Dev endured was beyond anything she could imagine and Gracie’s
eyes brimmed with tears. They spilled over,
down her cheeks with silent hurt. One
glance at his face, set hard and as stoic as a statue intensified her
empathy. She laid her right hand on his
back, his scarred flesh beneath her touch and with her left she touched the
center of his chest.
Beneath her hand his
heartbeat thumped, rapid but steady. His
eyes locked with hers and in them Gracie glimpsed flickers of his personal
hell. Confusion showed up, too, along
with regret and maybe shame.
Whatever she did or said now would
be pivotal, she sensed. Based on her
actions he’d either leave and be gone from her forever, something she didn’t
want, or a new beginning would emerge, delicate and fragile. If she took time to think, she’d be lost so
Gracie mined deep into her woman’s soul.
When words came, she spoke them, her voice soft and yet as constant as
the evening stars. “Oh, Dev, it must’ve
hurt so much.”
“I don’t want your pity,” he said, a
snarl transforming his face into something wolfish, alien. “Don’t feel sorry for me, babe. I don’t need charity and I sure as hell don’t
need you to tell me some dumb ass feel good bunch of shit. So quit crying over me. Maybe it makes you feel better, but it makes
me mad.”
“It isn’t pity,” Gracie told him. “I
admire you. It takes a lot of courage to
overcome hurts like this. I hurt for
you, but I don’t feel sorry for you. I
hate you had to go through such pain, but I’m crying because I care.”
His hard face softened a little. “Why?”
In this raw moment, she could give
him nothing but honesty. “I don’t know, but I do.”
Then Gracie leaned forward and bent
just enough to touch her lips to one of the ugliest lesions, the worst of the
scars. He shuddered as she kissed his
chest and when she lifted her tear streaked face, Devlin grasped her arms. He held her in place and kissed her back,
full on the mouth, without remorse or mercy.
Gracie gasped with surprise. His
lips burned hers as if she kissed a devil fresh from the pit, but she liked
it. Her body answered his call and her
arms moved to circle his neck as she gave him back the kiss.
No man ever kissed her with such
thorough savagery or such hungry need.
Shy by nature, Gracie dated young men with quiet demeanor, bookish, and
bashful. None dared to take her mouth
and claim it with potent fire. Her body
charged with wild electricity. Gracie’s
response scared her, but not enough to move away from the flame.
Dev ran his big hands through her
hair, gentle and yet insistent, his mouth hooked tight to hers like a bass
caught with a spinner and skirt. At
first his motions were a little clumsy, but as he continued, Gracie could tell
he knew exactly what he did. Even with
her limited experience she knew he kissed well.
Like a child told dessert was out of the question, she craved more
regardless of the consequences. She
leaned hard against him, her hips moving against his body in a dance older than
time.
Now just 99 cents through October 13th here:
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