Spotlight & Giveaway: Fierce Justice by Piper Drake

Posted February 27th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 34 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Piper Drake to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Piper and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Fierce Justice!

 

Please share your favorite scene from Fierce Justice:

Food, and how a cook prepares it, can tell you a lot about a person.

My heroine, Arin Siri, is an extremely capable woman. She’s a canine handler working as a private contract professional specializing in the kind of search and rescue you don’t see in the news. She’s a sniper. She’s built an impressive career, but I wanted to show a little of the not-so-organized or put together side of her. I wanted to give my hero, Jason, a chance to see her when she’s not so guarded and get a chance to know her when she’s confusing and fun and showing the soft underside of her hedgehog personality.
 
In my favorite scene, they’re both a bit tipsy, her more than him. She’s decided to make them a snack and this is actually one of my go-to tactics after I’ve had more than a bit to drink myself. I’m all about the late night ramen. As an added comfort aspect, the little octopi hot dog pieces are a thing my father used to do when he made ramen for me and my siblings decades ago. Once I learned to cook, I did it when I made ramen for my younger siblings. The extra effort when cooking a simple thing, to me, shows the heart of the cook, an extra bit of caring.
 
So there are layers in this scene. Arin is vulnerable and opening up, from her tipsy and disconnected actions to her sharing a favorite comfort food. Plus, this isn’t coming from food she learned to make as a single adult in Hawaii. It’s a comfort food she likely learned to make back in her younger days, possibly made for her younger sister—the heroine from Total Bravery—and is now sharing with Jason.
I hope you all get to know Arin and fall for her, maybe even as hard as Jason does.
 
Excerpt from Fierce Justice…

“There’s noodle bowls up in the cabinet in front of your face.” She sounded grumpy, but he was glad she was letting him contribute. He’d expected her to shove him out of the way if she wanted to get anything.
When he complied and set the bowls on the counter, she murmured a quiet thanks.
Another two minutes and she’d split cooked noodles evenly into each bowl and poured the steaming broth over top. Then she’d retrieved the hot dog pieces out of the pot. She must’ve done more knife work on the hot dogs then he’d realized because sections had curled up halfway along the lengths of each piece during cooking, so now they each had little hot dog octopi sitting on top of the noodles. She might’ve been tipsy when they’d gotten back to the apartment, but he was guessing she’d sobered up as she’d focused on cooking.
As she handed him chopsticks, he grinned at her.
She glared back. “What?”
“There are cephalopods on my noodles.”
She scowled. “So? Food can be fun.”
“You like to make food more than sustenance. Whether it’s rice balls or late night noodles or whatever. You make it look appealing or fun or both and right now you’ve made hot dogs look like fancy garnish and you don’t think you’re cute.” Jason lifted a hot dog octopus with his chopsticks and waved it at her. “You’re prickly on the outside and I surely respect your strategic and tactical skills on the job, but you are cute in a hundred little ways. Someone else might blink and miss it, but I enjoy it.”
Having said his piece, he popped the hot dog in his mouth before she could smack it off the end of his chopsticks. But she didn’t take a swipe at him; instead she took her bowl and chopsticks to the breakfast counter. She hopped up to sit on the surface with her feet dangling and picked up the bowl with both hands to sip her broth.
He kept his mouth shut and shook his head. She was damned cute, but he wasn’t going to push his luck and tell her again. They ate in companionable peace. Honestly, the ramen hit the spot and he hadn’t thought he could be hungry again after the huge buffet. But it’d been a solid three to four hours since they’d stopped eating, done the requisite socializing, said good-byes, and finally gotten through the car ride home. He placed his bowl in the sink and turned, holding out his hands for hers.
She tilted her head. “What?”
“You done?”
“Yes.” She drew the word out, still staring at him with suspicion.
He huffed. “You cooked. It’s only fair if I clean. Besides, you’re letting me crash here with you and I appreciate it.”
She handed over the bowl and remained seated on the counter, watching as he made short work of washing the dishes and the pot. When he finished, he faced her again.
There she was, sitting neat as you please with her shapely legs crossed at the ankles.
He wanted her in so many ways.
“You are cute.” The statement left his mouth before he’d had a chance to consider it and he realized restarting the line of conversation could darken her mood again. But he pressed on. “You’re beautiful. You’re amazing and I am incredibly attracted to you. I don’t think you hear that enough.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: Print copy of Fierce Justice (True Heroes #5) by Piper J. Drake

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is the comfort food you’d choose to share with a loved one?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Book Info:

Real heroes aren’t born, they’re made

K9 handler Arin Siri doesn’t like taking orders, and she works best when it’s just her and her dog King out in the field. But when she discovers a wounded soldier of fortune during a Search and Protect mission, she has no choice but to get him to safety. The last time she and the roguish, sexy Jason Landon tangled, they were on opposite sides of the conflict, but this time, he’s claiming to need her help.

When Jason wakes up in a hospital on Hawaii’s Big Island, he’s shocked to discover Arin guarding him. She’s the last person he expected to see, but she’s also the only person who can help him bring down a kidnapping ring. As they draw closer to danger-and to each other-they must race against the clock to discover who the kidnappers are working for, or risk becoming collateral damage themselves.

Book link: https://www.read-forever.com/titles/piper-j-drake/fierce-justice/9781538759585/
 
 

Meet the Author:

Piper J. Drake is a bestselling author of romantic suspense and edgy contemporary romance, a frequent flyer, and day job road warrior. She is often distracted by dogs, cupcakes, and random shenanigans. Find Piper around the internet for insight into her frequent travels and inspiration for her stories. Play Find the Piper around the Internet for insight into her frequent travels and inspirations for her stories. For more on Piper and her books, visit PiperJDrake.com.
Facebook.com/AuthorPiperJDrake/
Twitter @PiperJDrake
Instagram.com/PiperJDrake
YouTube.com/ PiperJDrake
 
 
 

«
»

34 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Fierce Justice by Piper Drake”

  6. Glenda M

    Mac & Cheese – homemade or boxed with lots of extra cheese and some toppings

  22. Patricia B.

    A comfort food meal would be a chuck pot roast. My husband loves ice cream, so if it is something sweet that would fit, that would be what we would share.

  29. Kay Garrett

    I would share homemade pizza. I make my own crust and make everything from shrimp pizza to hog heaven pizza along with everything in between. We love our pizza and changing it up according to our mood. Has to have plenty of gooey cheese on it too.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net