Award Winning author, Lizzy Ford, gives us an emotional, sexy read with her first Sons of War novel, SEMPER MINE.
A
Marine captain tortured by the death of his men in Iraq returns home and falls
in love with the sister of one of the slain, who blames him for the massacre
that killed her brother. SEMPER MINE, is a standalone novel in the
Sons of War contemporary military romance series.
About SEMPER MINE:
“A freak accident landed both of the Khavalov
twins under my command, just before a routine mission turned into a nightmare.
I brought home one twin in a coffin and the other in a coma missing his leg. I
did everything right – and still people died. I can’t forget that night or how
many lives it changed, including mine.
It’s natural for their sister, Katya, to blame
me. I made one decision in the middle of a firefight, and it shattered her
sheltered world. I’m the ice to her fire, and when we first meet, it’s not
pretty. I don’t fear war or death, and I am definitely not going to let a
beautiful woman with a quick temper and broken heart scare me off, either. I
know she’s hurting, and I’m determined to make sure she’s okay. It’s the least
I can do for the twins.
I may have failed them that night, but I won’t
fail her. What I’m not counting on: the feelings she ignites within me.” –
Captain Sawyer Mathis
Excerpt:
Good Luck Charms
I wait until
he’s gone to pick up the box again. I’m not exactly excited about the idea of
taking time off. Dr. Gomez has been telling me I should for a month. Guess she
got tired of me brushing her off and went to my boss.
Damn civilians. I pull the knife on my belt out
of its sheath and slice the tape on the box. Not sure what to expect, I replace
the blade and open the package. A ring-sized jewelry box is inside, and my brow
furrows. Did someone send me the wrong
thing?
Sometimes, we
get care packages shipped to us by charity or volunteer organizations Stateside
that collect donations and send everything from candy to socks to deployed
service members.
Every once in a
while, one of us will get something odd, possibly shipped by mistake.
I’m convinced
this is the case, until I open the box.
For a moment, I
stare at the golden Ruptured Duck nestled in the black velvet interior.
There are only
two people in the world who know the significance of this little pin to me,
and one of them
is deceased.
It doesn’t seem
likely that Katya sent this, not after the exchange of letters we had weeks
ago. It seems
even less likely that a dead man sent it, though.
I pluck it out
of the box and study it. The one given to me ten years ago was beat up and
worn with a
colorful patina, an heirloom in every sense. This one is in mint condition,
polished to a
soft shine. I’m not a collector by any means, but I can assess that finding a
flawless, nearly
one hundred year old gold Ruptured Duck probably wasn’t cheap.
Its light weight
is familiar. I missed my good luck charm. My mentor gave it to me as a
reminder for me
to stay on the straight and narrow. I was not happy with myself for losing it.
I always
treasured it for what it symbolized – selfless, honorable, brave service. I
understand
the concepts
better now after losing men and having my own command for close to a year. I
think, somehow,
it means more to me now than it did before that night that changed my life
in so many ways.
There’s only one
person I know capable of the level of thoughtfulness it’d take to track
one of these
down and pay what I would consider to be a small fortune to buy it. Katya is
many things;
superficial will never be one. Even if I want to deny it’s her, I’ll always
know it
is.
Don’t let her get to you.
It’s too late.
My insides are already growing warm, the hot emotions I feel any time I
think of her
trickling into my thoughts. In a blink, she takes away the quietness in my
mind.
“Fuck, Katya.” I
can’t help saying the words aloud. The tiny gift stirs me in ways I don’t know
if I’ll ever be able to get over. It’s not only what I feel for her but the
newfound appreciation I have for those men like her brother, who didn’t even
flinch when he volunteered to sacrifice himself for others.
This pin
represents everything I’ve learned and gone through since that night.
Katya has a way
of provoking emotions when I want to be numb. I set the golden duck on
the desk.
There’s still
something there between us, something more than the emotions both of us
feel surrounding
Mikael’s death. I don’t know what it is or how deep it might run, but it’s not
going away.
Neither is it to the point where I can determine if and what either of us
actually
feels towards
one another. It’s like walking blind folded into enemy territory without
knowing how many
weapons are trained on me.
This can’t be healthy.
I have no
fucking idea what to do about it. Usually, staying away solves problems. It’s
not
working this
time. With no operations planned for the holidays, I’m not certain how I’ll be
able sit here
for two weeks and not think about her.
I lean forward,
elbows on my knees, and glare at the Ruptured Duck.
There’s no way
to know what Katya intended when she sent it, if she meant this as a something
more than friendship.
Shit, we aren’t
even friends. We aren’t anything that
I know of.
She knows what this means to me.
I close the box
and absently reach for the dog tags around my neck. I’ve got Mikael’s with me
still. I intended to give them to Riley or one of the others before they left.
I didn’t. I’m not sure why. It’s not like me to forget something that
important.
Katya should have them.
Lizzy
Ford is the author of over thirty books written for young adult and adult romance readers, to include the
internationally bestselling “Rhyn Trilogy,” “Witchling Series” and the “War of
Gods” series. Lizzy has focused on keeping her readers happy by producing
brilliant, gritty romances that remind people why true love is a trial worth
enduring. Lizzy’s books can be found on every major ereader library, to
include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords. She lives
in southern Arizona with her husband, three dogs and a cat.
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