✰✰RELEASE BLITZ✰✰ Book Title: Concealed (Dark Alliance, #2)
Book Title: Concealed (Dark Alliance, #2)
Author: Kate SeRine
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
@KateSeRine @bookenthupromo #Concealed #DarkAlliance #KateSeRine #RomanticSuspense #NewRelease
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2n451qJ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2niShyj
B&N: http://bit.ly/2nUXUpo
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2nAyrAW
iTunes: http://apple.co/2o4o3PL
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2nAqk7v
Enter here ➜ ➜ http://bit.ly/2oijMax
Add the book to Goodreads ➜ http://bit.ly/2niMF73
As the only female initiate of the elite undercover society, the Dark Alliance, former FBI agent Madeleine Blake has a lot to prove—especially to her former lover, Alliance operative Jack Grayson. Ever since joining Jack’s team, Maddie’s been keeping her distance, trying not to relive every moment they shared during their brief but passionate affair. Yet when a mission ends in tragedy, Maddie’s ready to walk away from the Alliance—and Jack—forever. That is, until Jack’s cover is blown, putting his life in danger and making it impossible for Maddie to deny her true feelings…
Before he met Maddie, Jack Grayson thought happiness was impossible for a man like him. After all, he has a price on his head that requires him to live in the shadows, concealed from everyone and everything he cares about. But now that they’re on the run for their lives and Jack has Maddie in his arms again, he realizes their love is the only thing in his life that’s real. And this time, there’s no way in hell he’s letting it slip away…
Kate SeRine (pronounced “serene”) is a hopeless romantic who firmly believes in true love that lasts forever. So it's no surprise that when she began writing her own stories, Kate vowed her characters would always have a happily ever after. She's the author of the award-winning TRANSPLANTED TALES series, the PROTECT AND SERVE series, and the DARK ALLIANCE series.
Kate is a member of Romance Writers of America and of Indiana RWA and has been a finalist in the Fire and Ice Contest (2010), the Finally a Bride Contest (2010), and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence (2013), and is the recipient of The Emily (2012) and the National Readers Choice Award (2012). She is represented by Nicole Resciniti with the Seymour Agency.
Kate lives in a smallish, quintessentially Midwestern town with her husband and two sons, who share her love of storytelling. She never tires of creating new worlds to share and is even now working on her next project--probably while consuming way too much coffee.
Website: http://www.kateserine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kateserine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateSeRine
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827810.Kate_SeRine
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/2oibW0t
Excerpt from Chapter 4 of Concealed (Dark Alliance #2)
“Maddie,” he whispered, his breath warm against her neck, bringing goose bumps to her skin. When she hesitated, he added, “Please look at me. I’m not the enemy.”
She swallowed hard, trying to control her breathing and not give away how having him standing so close affected her, how having his body crowding hers, his grasp on her hand loose as his thumb smoothed against her skin, made her head spin with deliciously decadent thoughts.
She turned to face him, immediately realizing that was a mistake when she averted her gaze only to find herself staring at his lips. “Jack, we just need to get through this mission. Then we’ll figure things out, some way to work together without . . .”
He lifted her chin with the edge of his hand, his attempt at his usual sexy, crooked grin now tinged with sorrow. “Without dredging up old memories? Not possible.”
“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?” she demanded, her frustration and confusion nosing toward max capacity. “We can’t ignore the past, but we have to move forward, Jack. Period.”
Jack nodded solemnly. “You’re right. I think we just need to get something out of the way.” Before she could ask what he meant, he took her face in his hands and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. She was so startled by the suddenness of it that every muscle in her body went stiff. Then the blissful warmth she’d always experienced with Jack flooded her veins, and she melted into him, her hands drifting up to rest against his chest, where she could feel his heart pounding in time with her own.
But the moment his lips softened and he sank into the kiss, he broke away, setting her at arm’s length. “There,” he said, his voice gruff. “Awkward moments of not talking about the colossally large elephant in the room are over. Now we can move on.”
She heard the doubt in his voice that was no doubt reflected in her weak, “Yep.”
He studied her for a moment longer, his brows coming together briefly in a troubled frown before he regained his composure and strolled toward the door of the bedroom, every step dignified and purposeful. The man commanded a room even when there wasn’t really an audience.
“You should read over the file on Claire Davenport,” he called over his shoulder, breaking into her thoughts. “Get a sense of this woman before we pay her a visit at her apartment this evening.”
She watched him go, then as soon as she heard the suite door close, sank down onto the edge of the bed, her head spinning.
What the hell just happened?
If Jack had meant his kiss to put their past behind them and allow them to move on, he’d miscalculated big-time. If anything, it was a reminder of how much she loved the taste of him, how just the sweep of his mouth over hers was enough to make her want to pull him down onto the bed and lose herself in the desire that had always simmered between them . . .
Excerpt from Chapter 9 of Concealed (Dark Alliance #2)
“You’re right. This is a bad idea.”
His brows came together. “Sorry?”
She opened her eyes at this and allowed her hands to smooth tenderly over his bare skin, over his shoulders, across his chest. “I want you, Jack,” she told him. “My God, I want you. But I don’t want to just fall back into bed with you. It’s far too easy to slide into our old pattern. It’s not fair to use you just to satisfy my libido.”
He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Really? That would be such a terrible thing?”
She shook her head. “No. It would be beautiful and thrilling and amazing—just like it was before. But, ultimately, heartbreaking. At least, that’s my fear. That seems to be our track record.”
“I can’t promise you that we’d live happily ever after, Maddie,” he admitted even as he realized that’s exactly what he wanted. He could easily picture them growing old together. And never once in his life had he thought of himself as a father, but when he looked at Maddie, he could imagine a future that included the kind of happiness he’d never dared to dream of. But that was his dream. He wasn’t sure if it was hers. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow himself to hope for anything beyond the moment.
As difficult as it was to leave the warmth of Maddie’s arms, Jack eased off of her and pulled on his shirt. He grabbed his laptop and turned back toward the bed to see Maddie still lying on her back, the heels of her palms pressed against her eyes. It pained him to leave her, but she clearly had reservations about going further, and he knew if he stayed, they’d be right back where they’d left off. And the thought of her regretting being with him was far more painful than the raging hard-on he was sporting.
He headed toward the bedroom door but paused. “I honestly don’t know what the future holds,” he told her. “But I know I will always want you, Maddie. Always.”
Excerpt from Chapter 9 of Concealed (Dark Alliance #2)
Maddie made her way into the rotunda of the hotel that had once served as the Charles Street Jail. The amber light cast too many shadows, making it hard to make out faces. But there was one face she couldn’t mistake. Jack stood at the bar, looking heart-stoppingly debonair in his black tuxedo. It took more than a little effort to drag her gaze away and focus on the others milling about the rotunda.
“Do you have eyes on any of our companions for the evening?” Jack asked as Maddie nodded in greeting as she passed by an actor she recognized but whose name she didn’t recall.
The actor didn’t hide the fact that he was looking her up and down, but when he started walking toward her as if to engage in conversation, Maddie turned on her stiletto heel and headed in the opposite direction.
“Negative,” she told him. “You?” When Jack didn’t immediately respond, her gaze drifted back toward the bar and locked with his from across the distance. “Jack, do you copy?”
#
Jack took another sip of his wine, trying to disguise the fact that the sight of Maddie had made him momentarily speechless. She was lovely beyond compare—her thick dark hair swept off her neck into an elegant arrangement, long curls having slipped out to rest against the delicate curve of her throat. The little black dress she wore accentuated the curves he’d often enjoyed tracing gently with his fingertips. His fingers tingled at the remembrance of the nights they’d shared together and of how close he’d come earlier in the day to being able to caress her in the way he so longed to.
And he nearly had. If he hadn’t questioned her certainty about where things were going that afternoon, there was no question how far things would’ve gone. But he was determined not to push her into “falling into bed” with him again, as she’d put it. They’d rushed toward satiating their yearning for one another far too quickly before, and Maddie had bolted. He wasn’t about to make that mistake again.
So why did he feel like he’d fucked up by bringing everything to a screeching halt just as they were revving up?
“I’m here, Mads,” Jack murmured, a familiar ache in the center of his chest.
Regret. Ah, yes, he knew it all too well . . .
Additional Information/Graphics for event
Giveaway Code:
<a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/eef4ee4b1486/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="eef4ee4b1486" data-theme="classic" data-template="54761f08ee20562638ce5c19" id="rcwidget_iip5zz1f">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
