Danger and Love at Christmas #peanutbutterfudge #romanticsuspense #giveaway

In A Hero’s Heart, DEA agent Jarrett Brandt returns home after several years and runs into his one true love and former girlfriend Marissa. Though he never intended to start things up with her again, love and fate had other plans.

Romantic suspense is one of my favorite sub-genres to read and write. I love second chance stories about damaged heroes with self esteem issues, and Jarrett fits the bill. He fell into drugs and made a lot of mistakes as a teenager and young adult, but finally got his priorities straight and cleaned up. He’s a classic romance hero, in my opinion, because he’s learned from his past and now puts his life on the line to help others. He’s selfless, strong, understanding, and of course attractive, which makes him a swoonworthy book boyfriend. Besides, he drives a motorcycle. What could be hotter?

Most romantic suspense books I’ve read aren’t centered around major holidays, so that makes A Hero’s Heart different from what I conceive as the norm. Christmas-themed stories often bring to mind hot chocolate, sleigh rides, snowmen, and a jolly man in a red suit. Most of the time, those stories are sweet, heartfelt romances with little to no sex, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I love reading those stories! If I could chose, however, I prefer adrenaline-laced, action-filled romances that take the hero and heroine through the ringer, both in and out of the bedroom. Just because it’s Christmas, the time to be merry, doesn’t mean the bad guys have gone home to twiddle their thumbs and wait out the New Year. In this genre, danger is always lurking around every corner and it’s not something to be taken lightly, as Jarrett and Marissa eventually realize.

As with all romance books, no matter what happens during the course of the story, one important thing remains the same. The romance. The hero and heroine may achieve their happily ever after in different ways, but as long as the reader is smiling, then it’s a good book.

For the Holidays I always make this Peanut butter fudge. It’s a favorite at our house!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 (16 ounce) package brown sugar

½ cup milk

¾ cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3½ cups confectioners’ sugar

(Note: instead of vanilla, you could use almond extract for more of a nutty flavor)

Directions

Prep – 15 m

Cook – 5 m

Ready In – 1 h 20 m

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and let boil for two minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Stir in confectioners’ sugar. Beat batter until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8×8 inch dish. Chill overnight or until firm, and cut into squares.

Publisher: Books to Go Now

Release Date: November 3^rd, 2013

ASIN: B00GFCZI40

ISBN-10: 1493752219

Audio ASIN: B00PRB7GM2

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Length: 38k

Heat Rating: Spicy

Synopsis:

Ten years ago, Jarrett Brandt left home and abandoned everyone of importance. After a hard reality check, the irresponsible young man matured into a ballsy DEA agent with a kickass Harley Davidson and a million-dollar bounty on his head. Ordered by his superior officer to take refuge at a safe house just days before Christmas, he headed back home to Washington State, instead, to make peace with his deceased brother’s memory.

Marissa Reinn Brandt never expected to see Jarrett again. Best friends since childhood and lovers as teenagers, immaturity, over-demanding parents and illicit drugs ripped them apart. Now a successful chef at a posh restaurant, the young widow and her son offered Jarrett a place to stay for the holiday. Even though she expected nothing from her former lover—the twin brother of the man she married—fate intervened.

As Jarrett and Marissa rekindled the flames of love and lust that once bound them together, an enemy from his past and a trusted mentor from his present vied their time in the snowy dark and threatened to destroy everyone he held dear. He needed a Christmas miracle to save his family and the love of a good woman to heal his battered heart. Nothing, no one, would stand in the way of his second chance with Marissa. Come hell or high water, he would cherish her body and her heart for all time.

Excerpt:

Jarrett seethed. Ready to hit the highway on his Road King Classic and find a biker bar where he could bloody his knuckles, he turned and headed back toward the caretaker’s station. He reached the cracked sidewalk just as someone called out his name. His heart somersaulted as he flipped around. He’d know that voice anywhere. The woman who haunted his dreams skidded down the small hill in clunky shoes with damp auburn hair cascading around her shoulders. He expected her to stop a few feet from him just as his parents did but she jumped into his arms, instead, and knocked him back a few steps. She wrapped her arms around him. Her sweet scent filled his nostrils. He buried one hand in her curly hair and pressed her close to his chest with the other.

This one moment made the trip worth it.

“Marissa,” he breathed her name like a talisman. God, it felt so right to hold her again. She fit against him perfectly. Just a few inches under six feet, while he was a few inches over, their bodies meshed like a work of art. He should have married this woman, fathered children with her and lived his life to make her happy. Instead, he chose something just as intoxicating, just as beautiful to his ignorant mind, and abandoned her on the curb outside his family’s home. More than anything, he regretted that he’d left her behind.

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22461498-a-hero-s-heart

Buy Links:

Amazon – http://amzn.to/17jKW7f

Barnes and Noble –

iTunes – https://apple.co/2Izpr6M

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-hero-s-heart-6

Books2Read – https://books2read.com/u/mgLLjR

Foreign Language Buy Links:

iTunes – https://apple.co/2NJsDCn (Spanish)

Audio Buy Links:

Amazon – https://amzn.to/2y60T1S

iTunes – https://apple.co/2NvZmqP

Audible – https://adbl.co/2NxSGIO

Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas. Her books are published through The Wild Rose Press and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

Amber lives in North Carolina with her husband and four demanding cats. Feel free to visit her at http://www.amberdaultonauthor.blogspot.com.

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