Category: Romance Publisher: True Meditations of the Heart
Type: Fiction
Pages: 210
Copyright: January 30, 2009
Love battles a criminal mastermind, a rogue agent, and a traitor. Who will claim the victory?
Quentin gets a first look at Quintana as she is discussing the menu for his sister’s wedding reception with his sister. He is instantly drawn to the unknown woman sitting on his sister’s couch, and she is just as drawn to him. The relationship quickly heats up, but the coals become quickly cooled by outside forces.
How does Quentin keep up his cover, watch his back, and close this case without losing the woman that he loves? How does Quintana maintain her loyalty to her best friend, remain loyal to her man, and not become a pawn in the game of war and peace that they are both players in?
Does love conquer all? Or will crime truly be their downfall?
The book has an expected release date of March 2009.
The main characters are Quentin McNair and Quintana Richardson, who meet as a result of Quentin’s sister’s wedding. Quentin is the younger brother of Indigo McNair whom you met in Triple Threat, and is an FBI agent who has been sent to Dallas on an undercover assignment to break-up an illegal arms smuggling ring. Quintana is a caterer and restaurant owner who will be catering Indigo and Kyle’s wedding, and she is the sister of a military officer who was killed trying to break-up the same arms smuggling ring that Quentin is after.
The story begins with Quentin getting a first look at Quintana as she is discussing the menu with Indigo at Indigo’s home. He is instantly drawn to the unknown woman sitting on his sister’s couch, and she is just as drawn to him. Once Quentin finds out that a dinner has been planned at Quintana’s restaurant he invites himself along, and once there receives an invitation from Quintana to meet her at the restaurant after it closes. Never having been a patient man, Quentin invades her kitchen after his sister and the rest of his family leave the restaurant. Quintana lets him stay, and even takes him up on his invitation to let him pamper her for the rest of the night.
The relationship quickly heats up from there, however, the coals become quickly cooled by the wind storm that is Sylvia Williams. Sylvia is an ex-military officer who happened to be engaged to Quintana’s twin brother, and is one of Ana’s (as Sylvia calls her) closest friends. Sylvia takes an instant dislike to Quentin, and he becomes instantly suspicious of her which makes for some interesting confrontations. A tug-of-war breaks out between Quentin and Sylvia for Quintana’s loyalty which causes her to pull back from both her best friend and the man she has fallen in love with.
Quentin’s assignment develops more twists and turns than he expected with him finding out that there is a traitor in his camp; Sylvia trying to expose him so that he doesn’t interfere with her quest to find her fiancée’s killer, and a criminal mastermind slipperier than an eel covered in slim. Then there’s Quintana, the only woman he can say that he has ever truly loved who wasn’t a member of his family. Although he doesn’t want her involved, her family tie to one of the killed operatives and her close friendship with a rogue agent make it nearly impossible for her not to be caught in the middle.
How does Quentin keep up his cover, watch his back, and close this case without losing the woman that he loves? How does Quintana maintain her loyalty to her best friend, remain loyal to her man, and not become a pawn in the game of war and peace that they are both players in?
Does love conquer all? Or will crime truly be their downfall?
Excerpt
She stands there and watches him walk back in the direction of the Jacuzzi. He doesn’t turn back in her direction once. “I’m all for chivalry, but he could have at least made it seem like it was hard for him to resist coming inside the room with me.” She enters the room, showers, and puts on the nightgown, robe and slippers. Wide awake after her shower, she heads for the Jacuzzi where he finds Quentin with a drink in his hand and his eyes closed. “Do you plan on sleeping in there all night,” she asks.
Having heard her enter the room, Quentin is not startled by her voice. He slowly opens his eyes, and what he sees leaves him speechless. She’s beautiful with her hair loose and flowing around her face and shoulders. She didn’t belt the robe, and at the angle at which he is looking at her the light shines right through the material of the gown and robe. He could see every wonderful curve of her body. “I haven’t been as successful with my own body as I have been with yours, so I thought maybe a few more minutes in here and another drink ought to put me to sleep.”
She walks over to him and takes the drink from his hand, shaking her head no when he starts to protest. She pulls his hand to let him know she wants him to get out of the pool. He does what she wants since he told her she was calling all the shots tonight. She takes him through the sitting room to his room and on to the connecting bathroom, and turns on the shower. She strips down before removing his trunks, and pulls him into the shower with her. Neither one has said a word, they just go with the flow. She lathers him up and rinses him off before turning off the water. She takes a towel and dries him off from head to toe, before wrapping the towel around his waist. She then dries herself off before leading him back to the bed where she lies him on his stomach, and prepares to give him a backrub while completely nude.
After a few minutes, his muscles are still tense and tight. “Quentin, just let the tension flow right out of you, relax.”
“Quintana,” he whispers. She doesn’t answer. “Quintana,” he says again a little louder. Her only response is an ‘Hmm’. “I know that you don’t have on a stitch behind me, and it’s driving me crazy. I don’t think you should be doing this. I think you should go to your room and get some rest.”
“You’re thinking too much. Don’t think, just feel.”
“If I go with what I’m feeling, I’ll be flipping you over on your back. I’m not trying to scare you sweetheart, but I think it only fair that I warn you how close to the edge I am. I want to make love to you, but that is not the reason I brought you here. I wanted to do something special just for you and only you.”
“And I must say that you accomplished your goal. I feel wonderful, but I also wanted to touch you, to feel your skin beneath my palms, and if that makes you want to make love to me . . .,” she pauses. “Well let’s just say, I’m not going to stop you.”
As the last word leaves her mouth, she finds herself flipped over on her back with Quentin on his elbows above her. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” As she nods her head yes, he continues, “Right now I have the control needed to let you walk out of this room, but if I touch you, kiss you, it will be all over for me. I don’t want you waking up tomorrow morning with regrets that you spent the night in my bed. Is that what you want, to spend the night in my bed?”
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
An intern architect at Ryan and Associates, Mateo Diaz has spent the last year learning his craft under the tutelage of partner Alex Ryan. Alex is the closest thing to family that Mateo has known since losing his own family years ago. But not even Al
