Blog Tour: HARD TO COME BY. Author Laura Kaye stops by + giveaway
Today, we have author Laura Kaye stopping by with a guest post! Wee! Laura's new book: HARD TO COME BY (A Hard Ink novel) is available now, and we'll make sure to give you all the info you need to get this baby in your hands - plus, stick around for an awesome giveaway!
I’m
super excited to I’m very excited to be here today to celebrate the release of
my new book, Hard to Come By! This
book is part of my super sexy and suspenseful Hard Ink series about the
surviving members of an Army Special Forces unit investigating the suspicious
circumstances that got them dishonorably discharged from the military. Hard to Come By is about amputee hero
and team techie Derek “Marz” DiMarzio, who finds himself falling for the sister
of one of their known enemies.
I
have something special to share with y’all today! Occasionally, I find that
I’ve written something in drafting a book that ultimately has to go. That
happened while I was writing Hard As You
Can, the second book in this series. There were a number of events that, in
my first thinking, seems to need to be told by Marz because neither Shane nor
Crystal/Sara could be in a particular place when I needed them to go. So Marz
initially had 7 scenes written from his point of view, all of which were
eventually cut. That was the right decision in the end, so Marz could reveal
all his goodness in his own book! *grins* But it means I have some deleted
scenes I can share, and what follows is one!
This
scene takes place in the bad guy gang’s strip club called Confessions, a short
while after the team managed to bug the club so they’d have some eyes and ears
on the inside. In the finished version of Hard
As You Can, this scene is recounted by Shane started near the end, when
Easy rescues Jenna from the over-eager men at the bar. Here are the moments
that led up to that, in Marz’s point of view:
“Life’s a party,
boys. Charlie Mike,” Marz said, lifting his beer and taking a long draw.
Beckett and Easy got the message—Charlie
Mike, Continue Mission—loud and clear and did the same. The three of them
looked like the most chill motherfuckers in the whole club, when in actuality
they were wound tight as tops thanks to Shane’s disappearing act a few minutes
before.
Marz
felt for the guy. He really did. No one had raised the subject of Shane
McCallan’s love life in general conversation, so Marz didn’t know what the rest
of the team had or hadn’t yet noticed. But to Marz it was, heh, crystal fucking clear that Shane was
into the waitress. Which was why the guy hadn’t appreciated the sight of some
big bruiser manhandling the hell out of her. Especially after what they’d heard
her say via the bugs in her apartment.
That
she didn’t have a choice but to work here. Kinda put an aggressive, controlling
boyfriend with a penchant for hitting into a whole new light.
With
a look that begged Marz to trust him, Shane had talked his way into a return
trip to the club’s private hallway. Who the hell knew what he might’ve said.
But Shane was notoriously smooth talking, quick witted, and observant, and had
some sort of sixth sense when it came to judging strangers—all of which made
him a crackerjack intelligence officer, not to mention soldier. And friend.
Given how the guy had saved his life in the middle of an epic shit storm, Marz
would never forget that.
But
now they had a bit of a problem in the form of a beautiful redhead. The one who
was working her way under Shane’s skin and quite possibly screwing with his
head. The one whose name was actually Sara Dean, age twenty-two, daughter of
Robert “Bobby” Dean, long-time member of the Church Gang who’d risen to the
rank of Apostle before being killed in prison. Three years ago, Dean had been
convicted on several counts of possession of controlled substances with intent
to distribute, conspiracy to defraud the United States, extortion, and various
and sundry more minor charges. It hadn’t taken Marz long at all to trace a
phone number to her current address, from there to find Crystal’s real name
and, with that, find her rather unhappy family tree.
What
remained to be determined was whether the father’s role in the gang or his
downfall was useful or important to their current investigation. The four of
them had discussed it on the ride to Confessions, but once again were left with
more questions than answers.
But
Bobby Dean was ancient history. And just then, Marz was far more concerned with
the present and the future. Namely, that they were going to have one. Which
would be best ensured by getting the hell out of there before anything happened
that might make the natives suspicious.
After all,
they’d done what they’d come to Confessions to do. Marz had planted several
highly sensitive bugs in the ductwork via his visit to the latrine in the first
party room, which with the right amount of remixing voodoo might give them ears
for distances up to five offices or rooms away. And, using a micro PC he’d
brought in the pocket of his cargo pants, Marz had hit the jackpot in
identifying the wireless frequency on which many of the security cameras ran.
Bless their arrogant and money-loving hearts, but it appeared the Churchmen had
chosen easy and convenient wireless installations in a number of locations over
the more costly but more secure hard-wired versions. Sitting on the john with
the index-card-sized machine on his lap, Marz could’ve kissed Jimmy Church
himself as, one by one, the camera feeds appeared on the tiny monitor. Now they
had eyes, too.
Which meant they
could blow this popsicle stand any old time. Except, here they were, cooling
their heels.
Damnit, McCallan.
Easy
tapped Marz’s arm and gestured with a nod.
Marz
followed his friend’s gaze to a red-haired cutie sidling up to the bar, the
death grip she had on her purse and the way she kept looking over her shoulder
broadcasting her clear discomfort for everyone to see.
“Excuse me,” she
said, waving her hand at the bartender, who had gotten a good bit busier while
they’d been taking the tour. The young woman’s black jeans, black Chucks, and
worn concert T-shirt gave her a college grunge meets girl next door vibe that
was hot, sexy, and way the hell out of place for Confessions. “Excuse me?”
“What
about her?” Marz asked. But a moment later, the girl answered the question
herself when she turned her face toward them. “Oh. Oh, shitballs.”
It
was like looking at a carbon copy of Crystal, or Sara, except shorter, curvier,
and darker red. Which almost certainly meant this lovely young lady was none
other than Jenna Dean.
From
everything Shane had said and they’d overheard during the women’s argument—not
to mention the fact that they were ninety-nine per cent sure Church was running
a trafficking operation targeting young women through this club, Jenna’s
presence here was ten shades of problematic. Jesus Christmas, why had she come
when her sister had been pretty emphatically clear that the place was off
limits? Could she really be intending
to confront Crystal’s boyfriend? Because the guy that’d had Crystal pinned up
against the wall in the back a few minutes before could eat this little thing
for breakfast. And be hungry for more.
Add
Jenna’s arrival to Shane’s disappearing act and the night had just officially
made a sharp left turn into a full-on gagglefuck.
Of
course, it took about two point five seconds before the first fine, upstanding
Y-chromosome patron decided to hone in on the obviously attractive and
apparently single woman hanging out at the bar in a strip club. Alone. If Shane
or Crystal saw even one of these jackholes
touch—
Easy
shoved up out of his chair and crossed to the bar.
“Never
a dull moment,” Beckett said under his breath as he watched Easy intervene.
So, what do you think? Do you enjoy
reading deleted scenes?
Thanks for reading!
Laura
Hard to Come By (Hard Ink #3)
Caught between desire and loyalty…
Derek DiMarzio would
do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his
body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor,
and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful
woman he found there.
When a sexy stranger
asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the
brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek’s
easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire
between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.
As the team’s
investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must
prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost.
Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…
And don’t miss the other Hard Ink
books, now available:
Praise
for Hard to Come By:
"Rough
sex and explosive fights power Kaye's third Hard Ink novel, a thrilling
adventure that feels more like an action movie with a romantic subplot than a
typical contemporary romance. New readers will head straight for Kaye's
backlist after powering through this installment." ~Publishers Weekly Starred
Review
"TOP PICK! If you're looking for danger, gritty action, and sizzling passion, then Kaye has just the book and the series for you." ~RT Book Reviews Magazine
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is
the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in
contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Growing up, Laura’s
large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving
angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination
with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and
cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
Enter to win a signed copy of HARD TO COME BY - open international!
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OMG!!! LOVE DELETED SCENES!!! MORE PLEASE!!
ReplyDeleteLove deleted scenes!
ReplyDelete