Contemporary Romantic Suspense Excerpts
Category
Just Pretend ~ Excerpt from 'Mission: Impossible to Resist'
Aiden paused in front of one of her favorite French cafés. “Now we’re close to the Market, we’re going to pretend we’re a couple off the cruise ship. Nothing overly embarrassing, but I’ll get up close and cozy. Are you okay with that? You understand the reason for the PDA, right?”
Jordan refused to be cast into the role of a helpless woman. Not that she wouldn’t follow Aiden’s directions, but she was capable of taking care of herself. Uncle Harry had taught her well. “Sure, as long as you don’t take the role of Iowa farm boy too far. And I guess I’ll be doing some PDA myself. You okay with that?”
He flashed his boyish grin, and for a moment her heart went on a ride of its own, with dips, turns, and curves.
“Okay, Buttercup, let’s go get some lunch. Make your old man happy.”
She giggled, and then immediately felt bad for enjoying their silly game when Sophie was frightened and all alone. She gave herself a mental shake. Compartmentalize. Focus on each move. If she thought about Sophie alone and afraid, she couldn’t function. And Sophie needed her to come to the rescue, like she always did and always would.
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What I learned about military drones researching 'Mission: Impossible to Love'
In my new release, Mission: Impossible to Love, coming July 25, Elizabeth “Izzy” Benson is a tech genius whose Artificial Intelligence drone technology has been stolen and is being sold on the dark web. When I was writing the book,I spent a lot of time researching technology, including drones, AI, the dark web and hackers.
There is so much interesting research, and obviously not all of it can be included in a book. Here are a few facts I learned about drones that didn’t make it into Mission: Impossible to Love...but are still fascinating.
- Drone technology is also called “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV) technology.
- Drones (unmanned crafts) are built of lightweight composite materials, which enables military drones to fly at high altitudes, and are controlled from a ground-based system. Many drones are equipped with state of the art technology such as GPS, infrared cameras, and lasers.
- Applications for drones are becoming widespread in both the public and military sector. They come in a variety of sizes. The largest military UAV is the Predator drone. Click here to watch a video of a Predator drone taking off.
- Use of drones in the public sector is expanding. While you can’t yet have a pizza delivered by drone, this technology is widely used by companies for film, photo and video, as well as surveying and mapping land areas and inspecting and monitoring physical structures.
Here’s an excerpt from Mission: Impossible to Love. Enjoy this scene with Sten and Izzy and then preorder your copy to keep reading on release day!
Sten never stopped staring at her. “Avantus is using machine-learning algorithms to interpret drone-surveillance imagery. The company has managed to stay out of the controversy of using Artificial Intelligence in military operations. You have DOD security clearance, Ms. Benson?”
Why was he asking about her security clearance? What had he discovered about her? Paranoid fantasies of being dragged out of Dean’s office in handcuffs flashed before her. Now she could never ask Reeves for help in clearing her name. She had only planned to share her algorithm with him if she couldn’t stop Charles from selling it to North Korea or Russia.
“I have top secret level security clearance from my work at both Google and Avantus.” She didn’t add, “which you are totally aware of,” since she had been vetted before joining Dean’s software company.
All male eyes were now on her, and she felt the heat moving up her neck and across her chest. Darn her pale skin—it acted like a lie detector, preventing her from any subterfuge.
“But why leave Avantus?” Dean persisted. No wonder the man was a success. He was as tenacious as a colony of busy ants.
She gulped down the burning acid from her stomach moving upward. The noose was tightening around her neck. They didn’t still hang traitors, did they?
“I discovered that my work interests lie elsewhere.” Away from her cheating, conniving, criminal boyfriend.
“But I thought your second Ph.D. thesis was on machine learning?” Dean asked.
Izzy could feel the scorch of Sten’s intense focus zeroing in on her. It was as if he were slowly undressing her, leaving her sitting naked with every secret exposed. She could feel herself unraveling, wanting to believe that she’d soon wake up and be relieved that this was a bad dream.
“I never finished that Ph.D.”
Dean laughed. “At twenty-five, you still have plenty of time to finish it. Now, my daughter Sophie would say your arrival in Seattle was serendipitous. And I must agree. We need your help.”
“My help?” Izzy’s voice quivered. “How could I possibly help you?”
Mission: Impossible to Love ~ Releasing 7.25.19
Sources:
How Do Drones Work And What Is Drone Technology
Drones Are Doing More In U.S. Than You May Know, As These 3 Companies Show
Sleeping Beauty ~ Excerpt from 'Mission: Impossible to Love'
Mission planning always allowed for the unknown, but how could Sten plan when every detail was a twisted labyrinth—a layer of lies by Izzy Benson. Every preconceived idea of her as naïve and geeky blew up in his face like a grenade.
After Reeves informed Sten of the identity of Izzy’s ex, he added that Sten should realize that Izzy and his sister were both innocent and sheltered women. Innocent? Sheltered? My ass.
A woman dating Charles Bradley was no innocent. The man was a global playboy.
And why did Sten feel betrayed as if he and Izzy…
Sten restrained his fist from pounding the door but instead knocked forcefully and waited.
No answer. Izzy had dismantled her cell, making it impossible to call her or for anyone to track her. Was this part of her hiding from Bradley? He hated puzzles that he couldn’t solve, and Izzy Benson was a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle with no matching borders.
Where was she? She couldn’t have taken off—not that he wouldn’t put it past the woman, but the security guards at every door and the surveillance cameras would have alerted the alarm.
Richard Dean, wanting privacy for his family, refused to have cameras inside the penthouse, flush with three bedrooms, jacuzzi tub, and a kitchen stocked with gourmet food. If not for Dean, Sten could have checked the cameras to see what she had been doing for the last two-plus hours.
Sten paused and then knocked again before using his keycard to open the door. “Izzy?”
The large space that served as living room and dining room was empty. All the furnishings matched the other Dean residences with ultra-modern, cool sleek lines in silver and black leather.
Sten walked down the long hallway, first to the master bedroom with a closed door. He knocked, his patience slowly evaporating by his wasted time in pursuing Izzy. He could have sent Nick or Reeves to fetch her, but he wanted privacy for their come-to-Jesus moment. Time was over for game-playing. He tried the nice way, and he was finished.
No answer. He slowly opened the door, slipping into stealth mode. The shades were down, and the room was still. Scanning the room, Izzy was stretched out on the giant bed and appeared to be sound asleep.
He crept closer to make sure she was breathing since she hadn’t awoken with his pounding on the doors. Could she have sustained a more serious head injury this morning?
Stab him in the eye with a fork. Izzy Benson, sleeping on her stomach, had kicked off the blankets, her long shapely legs stretched out, her oversized t-shirt bunched around her middle. As he inched closer, he was rewarded with a spectacular view of Izzy’s sweet ass in a hot pink thong.
Sten tried to look away, but the firm globes drew him like a moth to the flame. What he wanted to do…
She had her hand tucked under her head, creating an innocent, childlike pose with the rest of her bangin’ hot body arranged in siren pose to drive any man insane with lust. He tried to look away but was captured by the image that was ever-after burned into his brain. The woman was C4 dangerous—a mix of Pollyanna and Maxim model. And why was he, like all the stupid Jenkins men, drawn to danger?
_____
Mission: Impossible to Love, book 3 in the Impossible Mission series, is available July 25th. Preorder your copy today.
Cover Reveal for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE!
A big, huge THANK YOU to all the readers who helped make the launch of my new military romantic suspense series, Impossible Mission, a success. If you’re a fan of the series, I’m already working on Book 3, Mission: Impossible to Love. Here’s the cover below – let me know what you think!
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE is up for preorder on Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play. Amazon will be available on release day of 6-27-19.
Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play
When IT specialist Elizabeth “Izzy” Benson is sent undercover as a black hat hacker to ferret out the identity of international terrorists trying to obtain top secret software used by military drones, the assignment is too dangerous to attempt alone. U.S. Marine Sten Jenkins is sent along to act as her bodyguard, but neither one has any clue how dangerous their mission is about to become.
More danger, passion and intrigue in Jacki Delecki’s Impossible Mission military romantic suspense series.
Read an excerpt from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE!
A Special Touch ~ Excerpt from 'An Inner Fire'
Grayce’s morning passed quickly—a few minor behavior problems, adjustment to a new relationship, and hairballs.
Hollie appeared at her door. “Your new client’s here.” With her pierced eyebrow arched in contempt, Hollie emphasized new like it was infected.
Grayce nodded, trying to decipher Hollie’s odd behavior. Always loving with the animals, Hollie kept a safe, cool distance from two-legged clients. Hollie didn’t look cool.
Grayce scanned her schedule. “Mr. Davis with Mitzi, a standard poodle.”
Hollie returned with the new client. Grayce stared. She blinked twice. Mr. Davis was Lieutenant Davis. Bewildered to see the fire investigator in her office after last night’s nightmare, she blurted, “Has there been another fire?”
“No, I’m a patient. I mean my dog’s a patient.”
Grayce rechecked her patient list. “Mitzi?”
His face flushed when she used Mitzi’s name. Had she gotten the name wrong? She seldom did. The black poodle’s ears perked at the mention of her name.
“Yes, Mitzi.” His face remained red as he led his dog into the room. Grayce focused on the haughty poodle, limping protectively next to her owner. There was something about the spunky dog she couldn’t grasp.
Grayce couldn’t envision the lieutenant comfortable in the overstuffed chintz treatment chair. She gestured to the chair across from her desk. “Please be seated. How can I help you…and Mitzi?”
“Mitzi was injured at the fireground,” he said.
Grayce bent on one knee, not touching the stressed dog. “Mitzi, what an amazing protector.”
She never knew where the words came from when she spoke to animals, but she knew they came from a deep part of her. She offered the words while observing the effect of her voice. Mitzi outwardly appeared calm but her eyes remained alert, watchful.
Grayce gently touched Mitzi’s head, needing to comfort, connect with the injured dog. Showers of blue sparks danced in her peripheral vision like those from an overloaded circuit. The charge flowing from the dog to her hand topped any ampere scale. Lightheaded from the power surge, Grayce forced herself upright and stepped toward the old pine table that served as her desk.
Looking across the table, she saw Davis’ concern.
“I’m fine, just got up too quickly.” She knew he didn’t buy it, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Read more contemporary romantic suspense: An Inner Fire
