Title: Redemption River, Men of Mercy (book 1)
Author Name: Lindsay Cross
Series Name (or Stand Alone): Men of Mercy book 1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 21st
Publisher (or Self): Cypress Bend Publishing
Word Count: approx. 74,000
Heat Level: Hot
Blurb:
Hunter James didnât want or need redemption.
Until one mission turns his world upside down.
He left Mercy to fight for his country and escape a broken heart. Years later, he is hard. Cold. A man without mercy. Part of an elite Task Force, he tracks a brutal terrorist to his home town. And runs into the woman who betrayed himâŠ
 Evangeline Videl was destroyed when Hunter left. Determined to move on, she finds another man, but discovers too late the monster hidden beneath his smooth smile. Struggling to find the conviction to live, Evie finds her life spinning out of control.
Then Hunter returnsâŠ
Forced to band together to find the terrorist before its too late, Hunter and Evie must learn to forgive or risk losing the promise of redemption and their livesâŠÂ
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Excerpt:
“Hey.” His Southern drawl put Matthew McConaughey to shame. Slow. Sexy. And familiar.
Her gaze traveled up the muscled torso to a pair of dark chocolate-brown eyes.
Holy crap.
“Hunter James.” His name breathed past her lips on a whisper.
For the second time that night her heart stuttered and her stomach clenched tight.
Hunter blocked her path, his towering six-foot-four frame packaged in a tight-fitting black T-shirt and jeans that showcased his muscles. His arms had to be twice the size they were the last time heâd been here. His gaze twice as intense. Her reaction twenty times that.
According to the town gossips, heâd been back in Mercy for a couple of weeks, but so far heâd avoided her. And sheâd prayed daily he would stay away. Every time he came home on leave, he seemed to make it a point to show up here. At her bar. With another woman on his arm. Making sure she saw heâd moved on. And each time her heart broke a little more.
“Need some help?” he asked.
Her brain took a full minute to kick into gear, then another minute to reconnect to her mouth. “What?”
“You look like you could use some help. Can I do anything?” His serious voice passed through lips that were way too tempting.
She couldn’t think. The man standing before her had gone AWOL with her heart over five years ago, like the tail end of a twister after a storm. Part of her had been happy he’d left. The other part had been devastated. Their love had been wild and crazy, but ultimately destructive.
She noticed the knotted wood cane leaning against the table beside him. “What’s with the cane?”
Hunter grinned and shifted his weight to the side. “What’s with the wet clothes?” He extinguished his cigarette and stepped away from the doorway leading to the upstairs apartment, his limp noticeable.
Evie crossed her arms over her chest, the action squeezing more beer out of her bra. Her lips pressed into a tight line and she forced herself to answer, “Wet T-shirt contest. It’s a new thing weâre trying.”
Evie straightened her arms, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides in time with the ticking in his jaw. A couple dayâs stubble graced the hard planes of his face, only a little shorter than the black hair buzzed close to his scalp. He looked as if heâd been chiseled from steel.
Hunter leaned in close and Evie’s stomach knotted. Lust built inside her, pushing against her dam of resistance. “I bet you won.”
He wasn’t staring at her chest, she had to give him that. No, his target appeared to be her mouth. His head lowered to hers and her mind went blank. If she had been thinking like a full-grown woman, she would have jerked back before his lips made contact. But tonight her brain had pointed and aimed but failed to fire.
Title: Resurrection River, Men of Mercy (book 2)
Author Name: Lindsay Cross
Series Name (or Stand Alone): Men of Mercy book 2
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 21st
Publisher (or Self): Cypress Bend Publishing
Word Count: approx. 85,000
Heat Level: HotÂ
Blurb:
Ranger James accepted his best friendâs death like a good soldier. With guilt. Regret. Vengeance. But a forbidden desire keeps pulling him from his missionâŠ
Desire for his best friendâs widow.
Killed in Action. Thatâs why Rachel Carterâs husband wasnât coming home.
A war widow, alone and broke, Rachel struggles to revive her familyâs crop dusting service to survive. Now she takes to the skies to find escape. Escape from the pain. From the guilt. From the earth-shattering desire for her husbandâs best friend.
Rachel and Ranger canât fight the attraction between them any longer. But one fateful night cleaves their new found love in two…
Can they find the will to fight for true love? Or will an evil so shocking destroy their lives for good?Â
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Excerpt:
Rachel spun around, the yellow airplane a perfect backdrop to her beautiful face. âWhat are you doing here?â
Ranger let his gaze travel from her scruffy boots, torn jeans and gloriously figure hugging tank, to the top of her dark red head. Her pink cheeks flushed.
âLike what you see?â
Ranger approached, her green gaze turned wary. Good. She should be worried. Sheâd doused him in chemicals. His skin still itched. He reached forward, plucked an oil stick from her ponytail and sent her hair spilling to her shoulders. He caught the brief scent of flowers and oil.
Rachel grabbed her hair, lips parted. Angry. Stubborn. Sexy.
He held up the stick right in front of her face. âOil stick.â
Rachel snatched it from his fingers and tossed it across the room. âI told you to stay away from me.â
Ranger shrugged, his brain still caught on the image of her jean-clad ass hanging out of that airplane. Forget Sports Illustrated. He had farm fucking fantastic right here.
“Don’t you think dropping that all-natural excuse for chemicals on me is a bit dramatic? If you want to get me naked all you had to do is ask.” Ranger gestured to himself, sweeping his hand from his head down to his torso, Rachel’s eyes followed.
That definitely wasn’t desperation or anger in her gaze.
The desire heâd been trying to hold in check for months reared up inside him.
“You think I want to see you naked?â Rachel snorted, lifted her chin. âBesides, I figured anything would be an improvement to your normal smell.â So much for her vulnerability.
The wind picked up, blew into the hangar. Ranger shifted, praying the wind wouldnât open the fly on his boxers, and almost covered himself. Almost. Until he remembered she was the reason for his stench. Instead, he stood tall. âYouâve never had a problem with the way I smelled before.â
âMy manners were just too good to say anything.â She strode past him, punishing him with the sexy sway of her hips.
Dammit, he was so hard up for her, even her walk had his mind blanking. He stood there, nearly naked, and drenched in herbicide, and she walked past him like a stranger on a sidewalk.
Running from him. Again
âRachel Ann.â He didnât yell, but she stopped mid-stride. Turned. Lips parted.
âYou did that on purpose,â Ranger said. Sheâd been hard headed even in high-school, when he tried to break up with her, explaining that he needed a little space to see if life in Mercy was what he really wanted. Jumping on the marriage and kids bandwagon at eighteen years old had scared the shit out of him. But heâd obliterated any chance for reconnecting with Rachel when sheâd seen him making out with Tonya at the football game senior year.
He hadnât thought that leaving her to sow the wild oats of his youth would be a self-fulfilling prophecy of regret. Or that his best friend would move in on Rachel so fast and fill the void that Ranger had left in her hear
âYou bet your ass I did.â
âWhat the hell for?â He couldnât get her smell, her taste, her touch out of his head. But sheâd dumped shit on him for the last time.
Her eyes narrowed and her lips flattened. âI warned you.â
Yeah, sheâd warned him to stay away from her. Heâd stayed with her for weeks, helping her after the funeral. Sheâd healed physically, but remained an emotional tomb.
âI promised Shane, if anything ever happened to him, Iâd look out for you.â He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss that angry expression right off her face. Heâd wanted her since high-school, but when sheâd married Shane, heâd vowed to put those feelings away. Forever. But the attraction hadnât disappeared. And he knew it never would. âI know the chemistry between us is weird. Scary. But dammit itâs real and itâs here and now. Youâre just flying through the clouds because you donât want to see whatâs on the ground right in front of you.â
If he hadnât been studying every minute expression on her face he would have missed the brief flash of vulnerability in her gaze. Then her anger slid back in place. âThe only thing I feel is annoyance. Are you so desperate that you have to chase after what you canât have? You dumped me first, remember?â
Him? Desperate? No. Heâd never had a problem getting women. Until Rachel
If he hadnât been so young and stupid he would have been the one sheâd married. Not Shane.
Now all he could think, all he could see, was the small sprinkle of freckles across her pert nose. He could be on a mission in a third world country or down the road. It didnât matter. She affected him.
He had an all-consuming need for his best friendâs wife. He hadnât counted on lust eating him alive.
But he had honor. He had loyalty. Ranger had vowed over Shaneâs grave to take care of Rachel.
Title: Reckless River, Men of Mercy (book 3)
Author Name: Lindsay Cross
Series Name (or Stand Alone): Men of Mercy book 3
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 21st
Publisher (or Self): Cypress Bend Publishing
Word Count: approx. 78,000
Heat Level: HotÂ
Blurb:
They say you canât go home again. Jared Crowe never wanted to.
Home meant facing memories of abuse and neglect. Of dark closets and evil nightmares. Of his own relatives intent on killing him. But now his brotherâs kidnapping forces him to face those demons. Only this time, Jared isnât a scared little boy. Heâs a full-grown Special Forces operative bent on revenge.
As a little girl, Sparrow Pickney risked her life to free two abused boys. As a grown woman Sparrow needs to earn a place in her adopted familyâs business or be forced into a life of degradation. The chance to prove her family loyalty comes when she catches Jared spying on the compound and captures him.
When Jared sees his captor, he realizes sheâs the girl of his dreams and vows to rescue her from a life of poverty. What Jared doesnât know is Sparrow may not be the savior he remembersâŠbut the one responsible for abducting and torturing his brother.
Jared is determined to find the truth. But that truth may be more than his heart can take.Â
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Excerpt:
It had been nearly twenty years since heâd seen her, but Jared could never forget those golden eyes. Eyes that had haunted his dreams ever since. Had she joined up with Kay? Or was she simply one of those poor souls struggling to survive?
The thought of Sparrow slowly starving filled him with a sense of guilt. He should have made her leave with them. Even though theyâd been children when sheâd freed them, Jared had been big enough to drag her out, whether sheâd wanted to go or not.
She leaned over him, reaching for his hands. Her floppy hat fell down, blinding her, and she ripped it off and tossed it across the room. Long caramel-colored hair, full of sun-kissed highlights, waterfalled down the sides of her face and tickled his nose. Her scent surrounded him now, flooding his senses. Honeysuckle and wildflowers. His cock swelled in an instant. Jared gnashed his teeth together, trying to quell his intense reaction to her nearness.
Sparrow leaned down further and her loose tank top gaped open, treating him to a glorious view of surprisingly plump breasts cupped in a plain sports bra. His gaze locked onto her beaded nipples through the cotton. Fuck he wanted to rip that bra down and reveal what was hidden beneath. The loose manly clothes she wore made her look stick thin, but womanly curves were concealed beneath them.
Sparrow sighed and sat up straight, leaving rope dangling uselessly on his wrists. Jared gripped the metal headboard with his hands, waiting for her next move. She stood there for a moment and studied him, trying to decide what to do. Well, he wasn’t going to help her out one little bit.
“Keep your hands right there, got it?” Her voice was stern.
“Yes ma’am.â He had no intention of acting up. Yet.
She placed a knee on the mattress, and in one swift movement straddled him, settling on his belly. Jared groaned and closed his eyes thankful she hadnât sat down lower on his body; otherwise, she would have gotten her own surprise. She leaned over him spreading her knees wider up his chest. His eyes popped open, unable to resist another view of her bare skin.
“You can stop with the theatrics right now, I know Iâm not big enough to crush you.”
If only that were his problem. Her shirt dipped down even more and he fixated on the pale mounds of her breasts straining against the material of her sports bra. It was a crime to lock those beauties up in serviceable cotton.
She should wear nothing but pure silk and lace, perfect for him to rip off her body.
Her hair curtained around him again, and her soft lips parted in concentration as she worked. He was aware of every inch of exposed skinâfrom the graceful hollow of her neck to her supple forearms peeking out from the rolled up sleeves of her checkered work shirt. Even more aware of the intense heat radiating from her core, pressed so intimately to his chest.
“There. All done.” She sat back, a satisfied smile on her lips.
Jared tugged on the rope. Heâd completely zoned out on anything other than her straddling him. It didn’t give an inchâthe knot sheâd tied was worthy of a professional. A small ounce of foreboding seeped into him. âWhere did you learn to tie knots?”
“Trapping. Working snares. Been doing it since I was a kid.” Her words were so matter-of-fact, he had no doubt she spoke the truth. Holy shit. He yanked on the ropes, but they didnât move.
âImpressive.â Jared wriggled his fingers and wrists, testing for any weakness. He found none.
âMight as well stop struggling. Nobodyâs ever been able to get out of one of my knots. And I used my new rope too, so it wouldnât snap easy.â She made a snapping motion with her fingers, the emphasis driving in just how stupid his plan had been. He should have used that easy opening sheâd given him with the gun.
His foreboding turned to real worry. He had to get out of here to rescue his brother. Hoytâs life depended on him. If he couldnât get free⊠âNice, now what?â
âNow you tell me who you are and why youâre here.â Sparrow sat back on her heels, the curve of her ass grazing the tip of his cock. He clenched his muscles, fighting to free himself from the pull of lust.
Remember, youâre the soldier trained in interrogation techniques. Now he just had to stop thinking with his dick for long enough to find out where Hoyt was being held. “My name is Jake.”
She tapped her chin, staring down at him. Once again he was enthralled by the intense color of her eyes. They were golden, almost like a catâs, with a darker brown ring around the edges. âJake. You don’t look like a Jake.”
He enjoyed hearing the name on her lips. Would enjoy hearing his real name even better. Her soft accent and long vowels stretched it out slow. Sensual. “And what do I look like?”
“I don’t know. Killer? Tiger?”
“That’s what people name their cats.â
“True. Why are you here?”
“Why did you take me hostage?” he countered.
âYou were spying on my family. Only our enemies do that.â She shifted, brushing against his tip again. Fuck he wanted to rip free of these bonds and throw her down beneath him. Where was his detached logic now? Something about her was making him lose control.
âI have no interest in you. I was looking for a family member who went missing, know anything about that?â He studied her reaction intently, watching for any flash of awareness, but she didnât give away anything.
âHavenât seen anybody new around here in a long time, and I would know. Sorry, but you plopped down on the wrong piece of land.â
âHe told me he was coming here.â Not really, but Jared knew without the slightest shred of doubt that Hoyt had been taken by the Crowes. Miss Kay wanted to finish what she had started all those years ago, even if Jared didnât know why. It was bad enough his parents had died when Jared was only nine, Hoyt six, but to have his aunt try to murder them….
Jared yanked on the bonds again, testing the bed frame. It screeched but held firm. Shit.
âWhat does he look like?â Every time Sparrow moved or shifted he felt her. Desire was holding him hostage as much as the damn ropes. Got to get free. Got to find Hoyt.
âWhat do I get if I tell you?â
âWhat do you get? You get to live.â Her brows shot down as if confused.
âYou wonât kill me.â
âTry me.â
âHow about we make a little tradeâyou give me something, I give you something.â
“Give? What do you want?” She laid her palms on her thighs, kneeling over his body, the position incredibly erotic.
Blushing aside, maybe she wasnât so innocent after all. He had a plan and she was part of it. He knew he could get more information out of Sparrow than her giant ass brother. And heâd find it a hell of a lot more enjoyable too. “Kiss me.”
She stopped moving all together and her eyes narrowed in on his mouth.
“Give me a kiss and I’ll sing like a bird.”
Author Bio
Lindsay Cross is the award-winning author of the Men of Mercy series. She is the fun loving mom of two beautiful daughters and one precocious Great Dane. Lindsay is happily married to the man of her dreams â a soldier and veteran. During one of her husbandâs deployments from home, writing became her escape and motivation.
An avid reader since childhood, reading and writing is in her blood. After years of reading, she discovered her true passion â writing. Her alpha military men are damaged, drop-dead gorgeous and determined to win the heart of the woman of their dreams.Â
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https://twitter.com/lindsaycross101
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