Today we have an excerpt from Kat Martin's newest book, INTO THE FIRESTORM! I read the previous book, Into The Whirlwind, and loved loved loved it! So I'm so excited to check out Into the Firestorm.
BACK COVER
COPY
At Brodie Operations
Security Service, Inc., following your instincts is company policy . . .
M. Cassidy—Luke Brodie had heard the name
before, some novice bounty hunter working Seattle, catching tricky skips with
more success than a newcomer should expect. But the dark curls, sparkly top,
and impressive cleavage were not what Brodie had pictured.
Emma Cassidy is tough and smart and sexy as
hell. She’s also popping up a step ahead of him every time he’s close to the capture
he wants most . . . and there’s no room for learning on the trail of this
monster.
Emma has idolized Luke Brodie, the bounty hunter
who can bring anyone in. The big man in the soft shoes, with a face like a
fallen angel and a reputation for breaking hearts. Watching him in action is
intoxicating. But her fight with Rudy Vance is fiercely personal. If he gets
too close, Brodie will find out just how ferocious she can be . . .
EXCERPT:
Sitting at
the long, neon-lit bar in Rocker's Karaoke Lounge, Luke Brodie sipped a cold
Corona and eyed his quarry. A bail skip
named Skinner Digby leaned back in a chair at a round Formica-topped table a
few feet away.
"You
here for Skinner?" Eddie Mullens,
the bartender, a string bean of a guy with gold wire-rimmed glasses, followed
Luke's gaze to where Digby sat nursing a Jack and Coke. Eddie knew everything that went on in this
part of Seattle. For a little cash once
in a while, he kept Luke informed if anything interesting went down.
Luke took a
sip of his beer. "Digby skipped on
a DUI."
"Seems
like small potatoes for you."
Luke was a
bounty hunter. He went after FTAs,
failures to appear, guys released on bail that didn’t show up in court. He got twenty percent of whatever the
bondsman had posted for their release and would have to forfeit if the fugitive
wasn't rearrested. Luke specialized in
the toughest and most profitable cases, bail skips whose bond sometimes ran
into the millions.
"I
need to ask Skinner some questions."
That was the way it worked. You
went after the small fish to get your hands on the big ones. "Figure I might as well make a few bucks
while I'm at it."
Luke took a
swallow of beer and returned his attention to his quarry. Digby had been flirting with a petite little
brunette no more than five-foot-three in a tight black skirt and low-cut silver
top who laughed at his dirty jokes.
Luke was
getting irritated. Skinner, with his
bulldog face and beer belly, was no ladies' man. Luke wished the woman would just take the
free drink he offered and move on.
Instead,
she sidled a little closer and leaned down to whisper in his ear, giving him a
bird's eye view down the front of her sparkly top at some very impressive
cleavage. Skinner pulled out a chair,
inviting her to join him.
Luke softly
cursed. If the woman was going to hang
around, he was going to have to make his move.
He didn't like putting a woman in the middle of a situation that might
go bad, but he needed to talk to Digby.
The lady was giving him no choice.
He set the
beer bottle down on the bar and came off the stool. Luke couldn't hear what the little brunette
said, but Skinner snarled a curse and started up from his chair.
Luke
couldn't believe his eyes when the lady grabbed Digby by the nape of the neck
and shoved his head down, slamming him hard onto top of the table.
Skinner
groaned and his muscles went limp. The
brunette twisted one of Skinner's arms up behind back, pulled a pair of
handcuffs from the handbag on her shoulder, and shackled his wrist, did the
same to the other one. Looking even more
stunned than Luke, Digby swayed, his legs wobbly, as the brunette hauled him to
his feet.
Sonofabitch.
Luke turned to Eddie, who stood chuckling behind the bar. "What the hell just happened?"
"She's
something, ain't she? Looks like the
lady got to your bail skip first."
"Who
is she?"
"Name's
Cassidy. She's a bounty hunter. Pretty amazing, huh?"
Luke was
torn between annoyance and curiosity.
"That's M. Cassidy?"
"Short
for Emma. The guys call her Em."
Em Cassidy.
He knew the name, thought it was a man.
He watched the petite brunette--nine inches shorter than Digby's six
foot frame and no more than a hundred ten pounds--haul Skinner out the side
door into the parking lot. Luke reached
for his beer, took a last swallow, tossed a little extra cash on the bar, and
followed the lady outside.
It took him
a minute to spot her beneath a lamp post at the edge of the parking lot. He sauntered into the shadow of a car in a
nearby space, got a real good look at her this time.
Late
twenties, petite, but curvy in all the right places, thick dark hair that hung
in heavy curls around her shoulders.
A bounty
hunter. That was a laugh.
The smile
on his face slipped a little as he watched her handle Skinner. She had the guy sitting cross-legged on the
grass, hands cuffed behind him. She was
pressing him to answer her questions--exactly the same questions Luke wanted to
ask.
"There's
a guy you know," she said.
"His name is Felix Riggs.
He's your supplier. I want to
know where to find him."
Felix Riggs.
Same guy Luke was hunting.
Skinner
just grunted. "Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna tell you anything. You damned near knocked me out, you
bitch."
Emma
lightly cuffed the back of Digby's head, and Luke bit back a grin.
"You
skipped on a drunk-driving charge,” the lady said, “third offense,
Skinner. They're going to stick your
butt in jail for at least a year. Tell
me what I want to know and I'll let you go."
She'd let
him go? Luke hadn't expected that. Now he was even more intrigued.
Digby sat
quietly, considering his options.
"Take off the cuffs, then I'll tell you what you want to
know."
"Not a
chance."
Digby shook
his head. "If Riggs finds out I
told you, he'll kill me. He don't like
snitches."
Frustrated,
Emma nibbled her bottom lip. It was
plump and damp, and Luke felt a curl of heat he hadn't expected.
"You
want to walk or go to jail?" she asked, pushing, but not quite hard
enough, only willing to go so far.
Luke
glanced around. If Digby didn't spill in
the next few minutes, there was a chance the cops would arrive. Always somebody there to dial 911.
He stepped
out of the shadows and Emma spun toward him, went into a wide-legged,
self-defense stance. He pointed to the
bail enforcement badge clipped to his belt and she relaxed.
"I
didn't hear you walk up," she said.
Luke
ignored her, zeroed in on Skinner Digby, crouched down in front of him. "The lady asked you nice and polite
where to find Felix Riggs. You know who
I am?"
Skinner
grunted. "I know who you are. You're Brodie."
"That's
right. I'm going to ask you the same
question just one time. You don't
answer, you won't have to worry about dealing with Riggs. You'll have to deal with me."
Skinner
swallowed.
"Now...where
is Felix Riggs?"
Skinner ran
his tongue over his lips. There was a
lump turning purple in the middle of his forehead. "Riggs is...he's out of town. Won't be back till Monday."
"Where
can I find him?"
Skinner
gave a sigh. "Hangs around The Polo
Club. There's a bitch he's got the hots
for."
"What's
her name?"
"Lila
Purdue...like the college, you know?"
"Yeah,
I do." Luke rose to his feet,
turned to the lady standing a few feet away.
The moon was out. She was
prettier than he had first thought, with big doe eyes, fine features, and a
firm little chin. He was a boob man and
from what he could tell, hers were prime grade A.
"Emma
Cassidy," she said by way of introduction.
"Luke
Brodie." He glanced down at
Skinner, who was grumbling beneath his breath, then looked back at Emma. "Nice work," he said.
"Thank
you."
Luke
glanced across the parking lot.
"Here comes Skinner's ride.
I'll see you around." He
started walking as a black and white patrol car rolled into the lot. Interesting
lady, he thought, ambling over to his battered old Bronco. Pretty and feminine with a hot little
body.
The very
last person who should be running around trying to hunt down criminals.
Luke just
shook his head.
He wondered
why she was interested in Felix Riggs.
Riggs wasn't wanted, though he should be since he was a low-life
scum. Maybe he knew something about
another bail skip she was hunting. Luke
hoped like hell Emma Cassidy wasn't going to confront the guy. He didn't think she'd come out as unscathed
as she had tonight.
None of your business, he told himself as he crossed the
lot, slid in behind the wheel of his beat-up old Ford, and fired up the
powerful V-8 engine.
The Bronco,
the perfect, non-descript surveillance vehicle, had been completely
rebuilt. A powerful Ford Racing
Aluminator XS 5.0 liter Coyote Engine--500 plus horses--idled like a predator
under the hood. The Bronco had a Cobra
jet intake manifold and fully CNC ported aluminum heads.
Welded
restraints had been fitted into the back to hold any prisoners he had to
transport to jail. Luke loved the
Bronco. Like driving a rocket disguised
as a paper airplane.
He checked
the rearview mirror, saw little Emma Cassidy hauling butt-ugly Skinner Digby
over to the patrol car. Why she would
want to be a bounty hunter he couldn't begin to guess.
He'd never
understood women.
Clearly
that hadn't changed.
ABOUT THE
BOOK
Luke Brodie is a bounty hunter. A fat $600,000 is the 20% bail enforcement
fee he'll collect if he brings in international criminal, Rudy Vance.
Emma Sullivan is also hunting Vance. It's been almost a year since she arrived at
her sister's home to find the housekeeper murdered and her young niece the
victim of Vance's sick assault.
Emma is determined to find Vance and make him
pay. And no one--not even the infamous
Luke Brodie--is going to stop her.
PURCHASE
LINKS
CONTEST
LINKS
SOCIAL MEDIA
LINKS
ABOUT KAT:
New York Times
bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at
Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. She is
married to L.J. Martin, author of western, non-fiction, and
suspense novels.
Kat
has written more than sixty-five novels.
Sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been
published in twenty foreign countries, including Japan, France, Germany, Argentina,
Greece, China, Russia, and Spain.
Born
in Bakersfield, California, Kat currently resides in Missoula, Montana, on a
small ranch in the beautiful Sapphire mountains.
Her
last 12 books have hit the prestigious New
York Times bestseller list. INTO THE
FURY and INTO THE WHIRLWIND her most recent releases, both took top ten
spots.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00027]](http://www.inkslingerpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/casanovanewebook-196x300.jpg)
I loved him more than life.
He broke me and he didn't even know it.
I ran from him.
He didn't chase me.
He never needed to, because he knew I'd come back.
He was right.
Death brought me home to him.
Brett Walker.
Drop dead gorgeous and filthy-mouthed with a smile that turns saints to sinners.
A casanova to his core.
My ex-best friend.
And the bad boy whose reputation precedes him—the same reputation I'm tasked with turning to gold... Or so they think.
ADD TO GOODREADS
By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies - usually wine - and writes books.
The last time I saw my best friend’s younger brother, he was a geek wearing braces. But when Cannon shows up to crash in my spare room, I get a swift reality check.
Now twenty-four, he’s broad shouldered and masculine, and so sinfully sexy, I want to climb him like the jungle gyms we used to enjoy. At six-foot-something with lean muscles hiding under his T-shirt, a deep sexy voice, and full lips that pull into a smirk when he studies me, he’s pure temptation.
Fresh out of a messy breakup, he doesn’t want any entanglements. But I can resist, right?
I’m holding strong until the third night of our new arrangement when we get drunk and he confesses his biggest secret of all: he’s cursed when it comes to sex. Apparently he’s a god in bed, and women instantly fall in love with him.
I’m calling bullshit. In fact, I’m going to prove him wrong, and if I rack up a few much-needed orgasms in the process, all the better.
There’s no way I’m going to fall in love with Cannon. But once we start…I realize betting against him may have been the biggest mistake of my life.
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 1.5 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She's a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she's appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.
