Spotlight & Giveaway: Code Name: Disavowed by Sawyer Bennett

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sawyer Bennett to HJ!

Hi Sawyer and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Code Name: Disavowed!

 
Hi! *waves*
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Their engagement ended more than a decade ago, when she realized she couldn’t give him the things he wanted. Now they’re face-to-face for the first time since they broke it off, and they quickly realize that their old fire still burns bright. Code Name: Disavowed is a second chance romantic suspense standalone.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

For a spy, I’m not being very smart.
I’m certainly not clandestine.
Parking almost directly across the street from Ladd McDermott’s house is actually kind of obvious.
And so very stupid, especially since Ladd is a spy himself.
Well, only stupid if I don’t want him to see me, but I had come with the idea in mind that we’d have a face-to-face.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I learned while researching for this book that it is possible to rent bulletproof vehicles in some countries. Who knew??
• When I write books, I tend to include things that I’ve done or would like to do. In this case, it was food I’d like to eat one day. I got very hungry looking up the local cuisines!
• Whenever I write a series of interconnected standalones, I always like to add as many glimpses of previous couples as I can so readers get an idea of how they’re fairing after the HEA.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

This is a second chance romance, so the attraction began quite some time ago. But they first met when she rescued him following a mission gone wrong. He was attracted to both her beauty and her badassery.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

Intense. Steamy. Passionate. Eternal. Complicated.
 

The First Kiss…

Together for the first time in years, Ladd and Greer have a lot of baggage to unpack between the two of them. But the attraction between them still exists all this time later, and they have trouble ignoring it. Here is a small look at their second first kiss…

Before I can ask him to let me go, his mouth presses to mine.
Not in a lustful, passionate kiss but one that is whisper-soft and warm. One that doesn’t move deep but doesn’t draw away. A kiss that exists for several heartbeats and is so very quiet. Hesitant… a mere exchange of breath.
For a moment, I sense hesitation, and Ladd goes still. I don’t move a muscle because again, I don’t want to initiate anything. It’s not my right. My eyes are closed, listening for any indication of what he wants, and then he huffs a sound of frustration, as if making a decision that he doesn’t like but has no choice.
His mouth crushes into mine, one hand moving to the back of my head to hold me in place. I sigh into the unexpected depth of the kiss, rife with savagery built upon twelve years of anger and maybe some long-hidden desire.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

A group of men were sent to kill Greer following a mission, but her CIA training was too much for them. Here’s a peek at her kicking some serious ass:

From the darkness of the closet, I take careful aim at the intruders, and the minute their guns go silent, I squeeze off four rounds, two into each man.
They fall wordlessly to the floor, and I don’t need the light on to know I got each one close enough to the heart to kill them nearly instantly.
More shouts in Spanish are drowned out by the alarm, but in the quiet among the bursts, I hear footsteps receding… leaving the house. I’m assuming they understood what they just heard: a heavy barrage of bullets from their cohorts, followed by a short silence, then four shots squeezed off in two short bursts each. No more spraying bullets. Their compadres are dead, and if they come back here, they’re next.
I keep my gun trained on the door as I carefully make my way out of the closet and across the room. The alarm would have notified the police as well as the security company. Grabbing my phone, I flip it on and take a quick glance down to see a missed call from the security company. They’ll alert the police to that fact, and I imagine they’ll pick up the pace to get here.
With utter stillness, I listen hard for any sounds between alarm bursts until I’m satisfied no one’s coming down the hall. I’d prefer to close the door, but two bodies are in the way, so I quickly pull up the security app and disable the alarm with my thumb while holding the gun securely pointed at the doorway, all the while listening intently for evidence of more intruders.
When the alarm silences, the quiet is almost overwhelming. My nerves ratchet up, only to calm down when I hear police sirens. When the blue-flashing lights slip through my blinds and bounce off the walls, I feel confident in leaning over and flipping on my bedside light, my eyes going to the dead men on the floor.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

There is a scene where they’re at dinner, meeting a contact to get information on the man they are hoping to take down. This dinner is a reacquaintance of sorts–the first time they’ve really taken the opportunity to talk to one another about what they’ve been doing, how they’re feeling, etc. It’s really the first time it feels like they might be able to get on the same page and make something happen.

I don’t want to give too much away, but here’s a look at that dinner:

“I worked hard,” I say, a truthful answer to his question. “I worked a lot. Never took vacations except for mandated time off in between missions, visited my parents when I could, and that’s pretty much it.”
“Sounds lonely,” he surmises.
And yeah… that’s pity in his voice.
I swallow past the shame, because that loneliness was of my own making. “It was.”
Glancing down at the table, Ladd seems to be collecting his thoughts. I’m on edge, wondering where we go from here. We’re skirting around touchy subjects that are backfilled with bruised feelings and broken hearts.

Readers should read this book …

For an action packed second chance romance.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

As I wrap 2021, I’m looking forward to 2022 and all that it will bring! In January, a brand new hockey series, Pittsburgh Titans, will launch with the release of Baden on January 11. I am also looking forward to more Jameson Force Security and jumping back into Chronicles of the Stone Veil.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Signed paperback of Code Name: Disavowed.

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Excerpt from Code Name: Disavowed:

“This was published this morning in a San Salvador newspaper. An American was arrested and accused of being a spy.”
“Happens all the time,” Cage says dismissively. “Countries like that trying to stifle freedom of the press. They accuse reporters of being spies so they can basically hold them indefinitely.”
“Correct,” Anna says, and clicks the remote again. “Except… she’s actually a spy.”
My head swings to the SMART Board and on it is a dossier I recognize as CIA, the clandestine government branch I used to work for.
There’s a picture of a blond female that my eyes brush over briefly before going straight to the column on the right with the general information about her.
But something twists in my chest, and my eyes fly back to the photo. Her hair is the wrong color and much longer than when I last saw her, but I’ll never forget those eyes, the color of bourbon.
Son of a bitch… Greer Hathaway.
“… only realized what was going on when she missed her ex-fil this morning,” Anna continues.
“Ex-fil?” I ask, actually demand, harshly.
All heads turn my way, and Anna’s eyes widen at my tone. Her voice is measured when she says, “Yes. She’s CIA, and her mission was to gather intel on Hugo Mejia. Her last communication with her handler suggested she had an entire ledger of information that revealed buyers, suppliers, even some sleeper terrorist cells.”
Christ. Hugo Mejia is one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers, backed by the Vecindario 18, a heinously vicious gang in El Salvador that ironically originated in Los Angeles. I can almost guarantee that Greer wasn’t legitimately arrested, but cops on Mejia’s payroll probably nabbed her off the street and are holding her illegally. They’ll kill her if they’re able to recover the ledger, and if not, they’ll torture her until they get it.
“Why is the government asking us to help?” Jackson muses. “Doesn’t the CIA have special forces trained in rescue operations?”
“She’s been disavowed,” I say. It’s really a guess, but I bet it’s a damn good one. “The minute she was outed as a spy in the press—even a Salvadorian paper—the CIA will be forced to disavow her to protect her cover. She’s on her own.”
Anna nods. “Which is why the government is asking Jameson to go in and get her. They officially can’t.”
Conversation ensues around the table, the pros and cons of accepting such a mission. I immediately tune it out and focus on Greer’s picture. Her hair is naturally dark brown and her skin a very light bronze, the product of an Argentinian mother and an Irish American father. The blond suits her, but I don’t like it at all.
My eyes cut over to the information listed on the dossier about her. Name, aliases, educational background, and languages spoken. She’s fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Russian. Her security clearance is at the highest level, and it even lists identifiable markings. Scar to the temple—that was from a skydiving accident when she came down into a copse of pine trees from a bad wind blowing. A scar to her right thigh—stabbed in a knife fight in Yemen. A burn to the inside of her left leg from the hot pipe of a Harley-Davidson, and finally… an infinity symbol on the back of her shoulder, same as me.
How many times have I thought about having it removed, and yet I could never bring myself to do it?
Kynan’s voice cuts into my thoughts. “I think you all make great points, and at this time, I’m not inclined to take this case. Our resources are a bit stretched right now—”
“I’m going,” I cut in over him.
His eyes snap to me. “Come again.”
“I’m going,” I repeat, nodding at the screen. “No arguments about it.”
“You know her,” Kynan guesses.
I nod hesitantly, not really wanting to divulge but feeling I need to. “We were engaged. I haven’t seen her since we called things off at least ten years ago, but I’m not letting her get tortured and possibly killed.”
“I’ll go with him,” Jackson volunteers.
Cage and Malik echo the same.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Life works in mysterious ways. Jameson Force Security has just received notice of a disavowed CIA agent in need of rescue in Central America. My blood runs cold when I learn that agent is none other than Greer Hathaway—my former fiancée.

Having gone our separate ways more than a decade ago, I still have bitter feelings toward Greer and the demise of our relationship. Those feelings don’t change the fact that I loved her more than anything, so I’m on the next flight out to embark on a rescue mission. Besides, Greer once saved my life, so now it’s time to return the favor and put her firmly in my past.

Face-to-face for the first time since ending our engagement, Greer and I are left with not only anger, unanswered questions and regrets, but also the undeniable chemistry we apparently still have. Will the promise of a new future together be enough, or will the same obstacles tear us apart again?
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Meet the Author:

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.

If you’d like to receive a notification when Sawyer releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter (sawyerbennett.com/signup).
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