Absolute Trust + Giveaway
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: ABSOLUTE TRUST
Author: Piper J. Drake
Series: True Heroes, #3
On Sale: December 20, 2016
Publisher: Forever
Mass Market: $6.99 USD
eBook: $5.99 USD
HYPERLINK Add to Goodreads
Hot military heroes, the women who love them, and the dogs
who always have their backs. ABSOLUTE TRUST is the third book in a
high-adrenaline romantic suspense series from Piper J. Drake.
LOVE IS THE GREATEST RISK OF ALL
After multiple tours of duty, Brandon Forte returns to his
hometown on a personal mission: to open a facility for military service dogs
like Haydn, a German shepherd who's seen his share of combat and loss. It also
brings him back to Sophie Kim, a beacon of light in his life . . . and the one
woman he can't have. But Forte's success means he's made enemies in high
places. Enemies who are now after Sophie . . .
When Forte enlisted and left without saying goodbye, Sophie
did her best to move on. But with her first love back in town, looking sexier
than ever, she's constantly reminded of what they could have had. Then after he
risks himself for her, Sophie realizes she'll have to put her life in the hands
of the man who broke her heart, knowing the danger—and the sparks between them—could
consume them both.
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Sophie Kim must’ve come directly from work because, under
her very sleek, black trench coat, she wore a matching pencil skirt. Three-inch
red heels popped in contrast to the severe black of the rest of her outfit.
Which did all sorts of things to him. Naughty things. The kind of things that
were so good that they were really bad. Especially when a woman was off limits.
“Hey! Is that the new guy?” Sophie slowed her approach,
keeping her gaze locked on Forte’s face.
She’d been around tiny dogs all her life, but she’d spent
enough time at Hope’s Crossing Kennels over the last couple of years to have
learned how to meet the much bigger dogs in Forte’s care. Training working dogs
was his thing. Or in Haydn’s case, retraining.
Always a work in progress.
Sophie had been here when Forte had come back from active
duty, too battle weary to continue deploying. She’d helped him with the
accounting when he’d established Hope’s Crossing Kennels and had generally
integrated herself into the private world he’d created for himself, Rojas, and
Cruz while they all rebuilt lives for themselves.
Sophie’s bright smile faded as she waited for him to answer.
She always sensed when he got too caught up inside his own head.
“Yeah.” Forte came to a halt and murmured the command for Haydn
to sit.
Instant obedience. Despite his injury, surgery, and current
need for recovery, the dog was as sharp as he’d been on active duty. The mind
was eager, ready to work. The body, not so much.
Sophie’s smile renewed, the brilliant expression stopping
his heart, the way it had every time he’d seen her since they’d first met way
back in high school. She came to a stop in front of them, barely within arm’s
reach. “He must be doing well if you’ve got him out here for some field work.”
While they spoke, Haydn watched them both. Then he sniffed
the back of Sophie’s hand, which she’d been holding conveniently within reach.
Usually, he preferred if a person asked to be introduced,
but this was Sophie. If she’d approached anyone else, she’d have requested
permission to say “Hi” to the dog. But between the two of them, everything was
an exception.
It showed how well she’d come to know the way he worked in
the last few years. He’d changed with every deployment. It happened. And she’d
adjusted and accepted those changes in him without a word when he came back.
She was the steadfast, forever friend.
He’d never told her why he’d left in the first place or why
he’d come back. She was so good at just accepting him that she might never
know. And he was a coward for not telling her.
“What’s your plan for him?” Sophie glanced down at the dog,
now that he’d sniffed her hand. “Haydn, right?”
“Yeah.” Forte cleared
his throat. “He’s got a couple of weeks of physical therapy first. Then we need
to coordinate with the Air Force on his adoption.”
“Ah.” Understanding in one syllable. She had the kind of caring
heart to fill in the gaps when something went unsaid. “His handler didn’t make
it.”
Part of why Sophie was one of the only people Forte felt
easy around was because she got it. Only needed to
explain once. And she listened the first time. Sometimes no explanation was
required at all.
“Where’s your car? We’ll
walk you.”
“Right across the street.” Sophie jerked her head in the
direction of the small parking lot.
They headed over, Sophie falling into step next to Forte.
She didn’t try to take his hand or tuck her own around his arm. They weren’t
like that. Besides, she knew he didn’t like to be all wound up with a person
when walking out in the open.
As they approached
her car, Sophie juggled her shopping bag to pull her keys out of her purse and
triggered the trunk.
“Need help?” Forte came up alongside the car, scanning the
area around the parking lot out of habit.
“No worries.” Sophie lifted the trunk door and carefully placed
her shopping bag inside the deep space, leaning in to move things around to
where she wanted. “I need to make sure this is arranged so stuff doesn’t shift.
It's delicate!”
He was not going to admit to anyone, ever, how much he was
willing to stretch his neck to catch sight of her backside while she was
leaning over.
Haydn sniffed the side of the car. The big dog was very
engaged, his relaxed attitude changing to a sharper set of movements. Forte
tore his attention from Sophie.
Haydn had detected something out of place. Something wrong.
Forte’s stomach tightened into a hard knot. Nothing wrong should be anywhere
near his Sophie. It didn’t matter that they were in a sleepy town on the edge
of a river in the middle of a peaceful country. It didn’t matter that there
shouldn’t be any real danger here.
Haydn deliberately sat and looked up at Forte. It was a
clear signal. One Haydn had been specifically trained to give as a military
explosives detection dog.
Shit.
“Sophie. Step away from your car.” He’d explain later. Be
afraid later. Rage. Worry.
Later.
She popped up from the trunk. “Huh?”
“Do it.”
They had to move now.
She complied, thank god. He gave Haydn a terse command,
circled around to grab Sophie and get more distance. He steered her across the
parking lot toward a big dumpster. It’d serve as good cover. Then he reached
for his smart phone.
They got a couple of yards away, and Sophie craned her neck
to look back at her car, even as she kept moving with him. She always did as he
asked immediately, but she had a brain, and she insisted on explanations after
she complied. “What—?”
Behind them, the trunk hatch came down with a solid thunk.
Forte let out a curse and grabbed her, pulling them down to
the ground and rolling for the cover of other cars as an explosion lifted the
entire driver’s side of her car.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Piper J. Drake (or "PJ") spent her childhood
pretending to study for the SATs by reading every interesting novel she could
find at the library. After being introduced to the wonderful world of romance
by her best friend, she dove into the genre.
PJ began her writing career as PJ Schnyder, writing sci-fi
& paranormal romance and steampunk, for which she won the FF&P PRISM
award as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award.
PJ's romantic suspense novels incorporate her interests in
mixed martial arts and the military. The True Heroes series is inspired by her
experience rescuing, owning and training a variety of retired working dogs,
including Kaiser, a former guard dog, and Mozart, who was trained to detect
explosives.
THE SERIES
EXTREME HONOR, #1
ULTIMATE COURAGE, #2
ABSOLUTE TRUST, #3
Series Page on
Goodreads
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