Black Heart

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~ Details ~

~ Outline ~

~ Reviews ~

~ Excerpt ~

~ Author’s Note ~

~ Also of Interest ~

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Details

EROTIC ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Facing the heart of the enemy.

• Nominated for The Romances Studio’s Annual Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

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Black Heart is the second book in the Guns ‘n Lovers series
The first is Red Leopard, which is now available.
The thirds is Blue Knight, which is waiting a release date.
The fourth book in the series will be White Dawn (yet to be written)

For more about the series, click here.

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Available now.

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Outline

Black Heart is the sequel to Red Leopard. Vistaria is now controlled by the insurrectos. Their leader, Serrano, holds his power with the help of his shadowy security officer, Colonel Bruno Zalaya.

Zalaya is a cool-headed man of secrets and strong sexual appetites in which he fully indulges. Minerva Benning (Minnie) is the only one who believes her beloved army captain, Duardo, is still alive, and no-one will help her return to Vistaria to find him. Nicolás Escobedo, the bastard half brother of Vistaria’s recently assassinated president, is too busy trying to win back his country. Calli, Minnie’s cousin and Nick’s lover, is too busy learning to be the partner of a national leader. Desperate and out of time, Minnie steals her way into Vistaria to find Duardo.

But Zalaya finds her, instead. Chained to his bed as Zalaya’s latest toy, Minnie watches Zalaya’scontrol over Serrano begin to crumble. As the danger surrounding both of them grows, Zalaya’s manipulations and Minnie’s quest to find Duardo are set to collide…and the fallout will be fatal.

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Reviews

I loved this book. The plot was intricate, intense, fast paced, well thought out and wonderfully written. The characters were believable, likable, and intensely loyal to each other and their country. The chemical reaction between characters was explosive with hot sexual scenes that left me sweating. I was hooked from the first chapter and read well into the night. This was not just a love story, but the story of political intrigue, true love verses duty, passion, honor, great dangers and intensely loyal people. I would not only highly recommend this book, but will anxiously be awaiting this author’s new work. You can’t go wrong with this book.

Tara for Euro-Reviews

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At one point in the book, I choked up and my heart was breaking for Duardo and Minnie. This story is riveting with all the excellent intrigue and suspense it offers. This author will keep you guessing throughout this story with a fantastic plot twist. You will definitely want this book.

Candy Cay for Coffee Time Romance

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(She) has created a war torn and grief-stricken setting that helps to lay out the struggles Minnie faces as she tries to find Duardo. This is a love story, but more importantly, it is the story of Minnie’s quest for someone who completes her. Black Heart is truly an adventure of the mind. Minnie and Duardo are two characters who won’t soon be forgotten.

Sarah for Fallen Angels Reviews

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The characters in Black Heart made great first impressions. Nick Escobedo was an intimidating figure. He radiated power, even though he was reluctant to wield it. I could easily see why Calli shared his bed. As for Minerva ‘Minnie’ Benning, she possessed a certain amount of spunk that would make any woman proud. I definitely understood why she went after Duardo. Not only was he a self-sacrificing hero, he was gorgeous and his heart was made of gold. When he was with his family those traits were so apparent, it was astounding. Another great aspect of Black Heart was the political intrigue. Danger surrounded every character and I steadily feared for their lives. The drama never stopped and it was great. I could almost forgive the lack of detailed sexual encounters. Oh, do not mistake me; the couples shared moments of intimacy. The story was just more sensual than erotic. Overall, I thought Black Heart was a fantastic romantic suspense. However, I recommend that anyone seeking to read Black Heart pick up Red Leopard first. The novel can stand alone, but it is without a doubt a continuation of Red Leopard.

Sunni for Just Erotic Romantic Reviews

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Excerpt

“That’s it? You won’t do anything?”

Nick pushed a hand through his hair. “You have to understand, Minnie. We have no standing army, no weapons. Vistaria has been held by the insurrectos for three months. They’ve dug themselves into strongholds, now. Even to simply go looking for Duardo would involve a massive operation to infiltrate Vistaria. I’m not in a position to authorize something like that. It’s not that I won’t. It’s that I can’t. And I’m sorrier about it than you can possibly imagine.” He smiled ruefully, “I truly wish I could give you a different answer.”

It was the understanding in his smile that did it. That, and the model-perfect Miss Carmen, who wore designer jeans with a rip that revealed the bottom of her perfectly formed right ass cheek. She stood running her hands over the pecs and biceps of the college jock she’d dragged into the house. Minnie knew she did it to piss off Nick, but it irritated her anyway.

That, and the fact that she had casually ripped out the sleeves of the Diane von Furstenberg shirt which would have cost Minnie a month’s salary, and loosely tied it around her waist, unfastened, so that every breath and movement she made threatened to spill out her breasts.

It occurred to Minnie that it would be very easy to hate Carmen Escobedo y Caballero. Yeah, she might have lost her father when the insurrectos bulldozed their way across Vistaria overnight. But the whole time she was undulating against the jock, Carmen wore a smug little smile as she watched Nicolás Escobedo tell Minnie that she basically could go to hell.

Finally, after six weeks of nothing but a dull ache where her heart used to be, Minnie felt something.

Pure rage.

“You all think he’s dead, don’t you?” She curled her lip into a sneer. “None of you believe me.”

Calli rose from the lounger on the far side of the balcony. She and Nick and Minnie’s father, Josh, had been stealing a few moments of peace away from the chaotic, busy rooms of the big house perched on the cliffs on the north side of Acapulco. They’d been watching the sunset when Minnie had found them.

Now Calli held her hands out pleadingly, her face very white. “Minnie, please, it’s not like that. We all miss Duardo.”

“Bullshit! How could you say you miss him and do nothing about getting him back?” The scream seemed to tear at her vocal chords. Tears sprang to her eyes. Tears of pain. Screw self-pity. She was done with pity. Enough was enough. These people right here were the key to getting Duardo back and she wasn’t moving until they did.

Nick rose to his feet, and touched Calli’s forearm. It was enough. She lowered her hands and simply looked at Minnie, the same understanding patience on her face.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Minnie shouted. Her throat was raw and it hurt all over again. The tears came harder.

Then she realized they weren’t tears of pain after all.

“Fuck!” She hated crying in front of people. Especially Carmen the Wonderful. And she couldn’t think of anything else to say. They—all of them—would be horribly patient and understanding no matter what she said, and in the end nothing would be done.

She whirled and hurried away, as fast as she could move through the rambling, overcrowded house.

* * * * *

The big house on the road to Tecpan de Galeana was nearly a hundred years old, and had always belonged to the Escobedoes. There were three hundred acres around the house, and they included a private beach that featured a long jetty, on a perfectly semi-circular bay. The empty acres guarded the house from adventurous tourists who actually made the trek to Tecpan and its beautiful silver factories.

For the last thirty years, the house had been provided as a stately residence to Vistaria’s Consul, who served Vistaria’s interests in Acapulco and the Guerrero State.

But since the insurrectos had ripped through Vistaria, the three hundred acres had become Vistaria’s terra cognita. To this house came every refugee who found a way across the one hundred miles of open water between Vistaria and Mexico. They sought shelter and food.

The weaker refugees were given shelter in the house itself. And there were others who advised Nick and his generals. Then there were dozens of people who voluntarily helped keep the house running smoothly and provided dozens of hungry mouths with hot food each day.

Privacy in such tight quarters was a luxury, but Minnie had discovered a closet in the attic too small for sleeping quarters. She’d tipped an old galvanized steel bucket upside down and used it as a perch for those moments when she absolutely had to get away from people or go crazy.

She dodged and wove through the public rooms, and up the rambling staircase, then the creaking attic stair. All the way she fought to hold the tears in, feeling them ripping at her throat, struggling to explode from her.

She reached the closet, shut the door and buried her head in her hands.

Shivers racked her, but no more tears came. The effort to reach privacy had pushed them away. Instead she wrapped her arms around her knees and trembled, though it was not cold beneath the creaking, dusty rafters.

“Minnie?”

It was Calli’s voice and she sounded concerned. There was a small tap at the warped door. “Are you in there?”

Minnie took a deep breath, and pushed the door open a few inches. “Yeah, I’m here.”

Calli’s golden hair, even in the dim light, glowed. She glowed. Well, she was in love. Of course she would glow. But her eyes were wide and full of that same endless patience.

“Just don’t give me any bullshit about how you know how I feel,” Minnie said.

“I’m just trying to be a friend, to watch out for you.” Calli spread her hands. “Your mom isn’t here, and under the circumstances…”

Minnie just stared at her, and waited her out.

Calli let her hands drop again. “What is it I’m not getting?”

“I’ll put up with all their political bullshit,” Minnie told her. “But I won’t take it from you.”

Calli stared at her for a long moment, then took a deep breath and let it out in a tired sigh. “Ah, dammit.” She slid down the side of the closet wall, until her knees were up against her chest, like Minnie’s. But Calli’s knees were higher from the floor than Minnie’s, despite the bucket.

Calli pressed her lips together, studying Minnie. “I have no idea what you’re going through,” she said frankly. “I’ve never lost anyone…close. But I can imagine, I think.”

“Pretend you’ve lost Nick,” Minnie shot back.

Calli actually flinched. “I don’t have to. I live with the possibility every day.”

Minnie felt a touch of surprise. “He’s still going out on the boats to pick up refugees? Shouldn’t he be here, running things?”

Calli threaded her fingers together. “He knows his own boat better than anyone else, and he knows the waters around Vistaria.” Her tone was calm. It was almost a monotone.

“You’ve said that way too often lately.”

Calli’s gaze dropped. “Nick knows what he’s doing.”

Minnie strove for a gentle tone. “I sure hope so, honey.”

“You changed the subject on me. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“Because you really don’t get it, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Calli nodded. “All right, then. Explain it to me.”

“Okay. Nick’s dead. Think about that.”

Calli bit her lip. “Okay.”

“Now…you suddenly find out he’s alive. Very near death, but still alive.”

“Minnie, we’ve—”

“You want to understand, then just go with me,” Minnie snapped. “He’s alive, but it’s a close thing.”

She swallowed. “Okay.” Her voice was soft.

“You can’t get to him. You can’t reach him, communicate with him, and what’s more, you’re not entirely sure where he is. Just that he’s alive and out of your reach.”

Calli nodded.

Minnie leaned forward. “You come to me, ask me for help. And I don’t believe you.”

Calli held up her hand. “That’s the issue right there,” she said. “Nick isn’t being deliberately cruel.”

“Bullshit. He has the resources. He could slip a small team over there, sniff around. Christ, he’s already done it twice himself.”

Calli’s eyes opened wide. “What?”

Minnie mentally winced. Oh shit. Talk about foot-in-mouth disease.

Calli wiped at her lips, delicately, almost like she was playing for time. “Nick has been on…missions…? Into Vistaria? Into enemy territory?”

Minnie licked her lips. “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think they wanted to worry you with it.”

“How long?” Calli murmured, her gaze turned inward, and far, far away.

“How long what?”

“How long ago? When did he go?”

“I’m not sure. I just happened to overhear it. I think, a long time ago. Right at the beginning, when we first made it here. Not lately. I don’t think anyone has risked going lately. It’s too tight now.”

Calli’s gaze returned from wherever her mind had been. She pushed her hands through her hair, slowly, like she was stretching. But Minnie saw her hands were trembling. “I think…I think I understand now some of your frustration. The pat on head—for your own good.” There was a twist to her tone that Minnie interpreted easily.

“Don’t go ripping Nick to shreds, Calli. He needs you. And I’ve done enough ripping for the day.”

Calli took a calming breath, and rested the back of her head against the wall. Then she opened her eyes. “Mama Roseta was making coffee when I pushed through the kitchen. Come and have a cup.”

“Spiced?”

“American.”

“Thank god for that.”

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Author’s Note

This is the second sequel I’ve written by reader demand. This one, just like the other, I’ve been more than happy to write; Red Leopard is still one of my firm favourites, and any excuse to return to Vistaria was just fine by me.

I was also faced with a huge logistic problem: how to write Minnie’s story, when the love of her life, Duardo, had been killed at the end of the last book. It took a great deal of thought to come up with a way to write her story and still honour the depth of her love for the fine Vistarian soldier she had lost.

It has taken far longer to get to write this book than I had ever anticipated. Many other projects and contractual obligations have got in the way. But at last I squeezed out the necessary months needed to dedicate myself to Minnie and Duardo’s story.

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December 2009 Postscript: Readers are asking for a third book in the series. Vistaria has a way of getting into your blood. Nothing to do with the men that country produces, of course. ;)  As a result, the “Vistaria books” have become an official series:  Guns ‘n Lovers.  Red Leopard and Black Heart are books one and two.  Blue Knight (when I get it finished!) will be book three.  There will be six books in the series in total:

1 Red Leopard

2 Black Heart

3 Blue Knight

4 White Dawn

5 Silver Noon

6 Golden Day

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Also of Interest

Dreaming Up Duardo…a short article explaing how Duardo came into being.

We’re Talking to Duardo.  An actual “interview” with Duardo himself, that appeared on the Stories Rule blog in 2008, after the publication of Black Heart.

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Red Leopard is the first book in the Guns ‘n Lovers series.
The second is Black Heart, which is now available.
The third is Blue Knight, which is currently being written.

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Available now.

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