Spotlight & Giveaway: Hunted Through Italy by Delaney Diamond

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Delaney Diamond to HJ!

Hi Delaney and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Hunted Through Italy!

 
Hello! It’s great to be here. Thank you for having me.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Hunted Through Italy is the first book in my Omega Team series. It’s about multilingual interpreter Zaire Nichols, who becomes an unwitting target after she overhears two men plotting a terrorist attack on a U.S. embassy. When she tries to report the information, she’s falsely accused of murder.
Atticus “Buck” Swanson is a member of the elite Omega Team—a group of CIA black ops agents recruited from the military’s special forces. He comes on the scene when he’s assigned to bring her safely back to the U.S., but that proves much more difficult than expected because they have assassins hot on their heels.
Buck is a stoic killing machine whose sole job is to protect Zaire, while Zaire is a nerdy polyglot who blurts out random facts when she’s nervous. They’re nothing alike, but as the couple races against the clock to stop the next attack, an intense attraction simmers between them. Eventually they give in to their chemistry and fall into each other’s arms.
It’s a thrilling adventure that takes you through the streets of Rome, the countryside of Italy, across the border to Austria, and back to the United States. By the end of the story, they’re both heroes who save a lot of lives—including their own.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

My favorite quote is actually a funny one, where you get to see Zaire’s nerdy personality and how it frustrates Buck. They’re having an argument, and she shares one of her random facts.

“You have a smart mouth,” Buck said.
“Thank you.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know. I said that to annoy you.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “You’re good at annoying people. Maybe that’s the real reason you don’t hang out with anyone. Because deep down you know you’re annoying as hell with all your random facts. Nobody wants to hear about the use of toilet paper in ancient Greece!”
“Toilet paper was not available in ancient Greece. The first documented use of toilet paper was in China, sixth century AD,” Zaire muttered.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said, jabbing a finger at her. “Useless information.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• FUN FACT 1: The CIA really does have a black ops division, which gave me the idea for this series. However, I completely made up the Omega Team.
• FUN FACT 2: I don’t listen to music when I write, so I don’t have a playlist, but one song helped to get me in the mood when I was writing the motorcycle chase scene: Trench by Fetish. When the beat drops at the 38 second mark, it was the perfect soundtrack for playing out the chase in my head.
• FUN FACT 3: I now know how to hotwire a car thanks to the research I did for this story LOL.

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

The hero and heroine are attracted to each other right away. When Buck gets the file in the U.S. and sees Zaire, she’s not wearing makeup and wears black-framed glasses. She’s not his type, but he feels ‘something,’ which is odd for him. Especially since he has sworn off women for a while.

Zaire first sees him when he enters the room in the U.S. embassy where she’s being held in Rome. At first she’s alarmed. He’s a big guy and dressed in black. Later, she notices how physically fit and good-looking he is.

Readers should read this book….

Readers should read this book if they enjoy fast-paced thrillers and opposites attract couples who don’t seem to have much in common but are absolutely perfect for each other. There’s also a little humor sprinkled in to break up the tense scenes.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on two projects. On Friday I’ll wrap up Texts in the City, a short story that I’ve been releasing on my blog, one chapter at a time.

I’m also working on Thiago, the next book in my Family Ties series. It’s a contemporary romance series about the intertwined lives of an affluent, blended Black and Hispanic family. Thiago has recently taken over the reins of his father’s company and is having a secret affair with the VP of marketing, so this is a workplace romance.

No opposites attract here. These two are headstrong and alpha. It’s been interesting writing their story, watching them butt heads while simultaneously falling in love.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Readers choice of ecopies of the first two books in my other romantic suspense series, The Cordoba Agency or the first two books in my Family Ties contemporary romance series.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Zaire speaks five languages, one of them being Italian, which is why she was stationed in Italy. Pretend you’re an interpreter. Which country would you want to be stationed in to work?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Hunted Through Italy:

In this scene, Buck and Zaire are hiding out in a CIA safe house, and Buck is going over the day’s events in his head.

There could have been someone else at the embassy who had leaked the information. They could have planted a tracker on Zaire’s phone so that when he and she left—
His thoughts screeched to a halt at the sound of running water. Zaire was in the shower.
Naked.
Soapsuds and water running down her body.
Buck shook his head and shoved to his feet. She was absolutely not his type and asked too many questions.
So why did his body temperature suddenly increase by fifty degrees? And why did he have an almost violent response to the attention she’d received from good ole Paul? He’d been ready to choke him out where he stood.
Buck blew out a puff of frustrated air.
His attraction to Zaire was a problem for two reasons. One, he’d sworn off women for the foreseeable future. They were a complication he didn’t need. Two, he never, ever got involved with women while on a mission. It created challenges that could affect decision-making—a major problem when making a split-second choice could mean the difference between life and death.
He opened the window wider and let in more of the night’s cool air. Music floated in from somewhere nearby. He heard laughter and the occasional clink of glasses as diners enjoyed late-night drinks at one of the trattorias, the enticing aroma of garlic and rosemary making his mouth water.
Was there any food in this place?
He checked the refrigerator and found an unopened bottle of red wine, moldy cheese and questionable-looking salami. The cabinets contained a couple bags of dried linguine and canned vegetables, including chickpeas and tomatoes. He checked the expiration dates. None of them had expired, so they were an option for a simple dinner. He placed the items on the counter.
The shower stopped.
He waited, tense, ears cocked for the sound of movement.
Moments later, the door opened, and the pounding of his heart beat as loud as a bass drum. He had to get rid of the inappropriate thoughts about Zaire. She was under his care.
He walked down the short, dim hall and was about to go through the open bathroom door when the bedroom door suddenly opened.
“Oh!” Zaire froze and her eyes widened with surprise.
Buck froze too. And he stared.
The pale yellow towel highlighted the richness of her dark brown skin, which carried a dewy sheen from her shower. His gaze drifted down the length of her body.
He didn’t need this. They were in the middle of a dangerous situation, and he was supposed to protect her.
“I found food in the cabinets,” he said, hardly recognizing the strangled sound of his voice.”
“That’s good.” Zaire cleared her throat before continuing. “I was feeling kind of hungry, especially after we passed a couple of restaurants where I could smell the food. This area is known for its restaurants. I never got the chance to visit before, but it was on my list of places to check out before I return to the States. Did you know there’s a non-Catholic cemetery in this neighborhood and English Romantic poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley are buried there?”
He almost laughed. “No, I—”
“Testaccio means Monte Testaccio or mount of shards. That’s because of the hill made of broken terra-cotta vessels used to transport olive oil. They estimate that there are millions of fragments that make up the mound, which is one hundred and fifteen feet tall.”
He stared at her. She stared at him. Now that they were in a safe location and didn’t have fear and worry to distract them, an odd energy had emerged between them.
Zaire bit the corner of her lip.
“Thank you for that information,” Buck said in a thick voice.
“I need to get my clothes from in there.” She pointed at the bathroom. Without waiting for him to respond, she ducked into the bathroom, came out seconds later and didn’t give him another look before she quickly shut the door to the bedroom.
As if she knew another kind of danger had entered her life.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

She knew no one could hurt her…
With him by her side.

After overhearing two men planning an embassy bombing, interpreter Zaire Nichols contacts the American authorities in Rome. And that’s how she ends up being accused of murder. CIA black ops agent Atticus “Buck” Swanson is her escort back to the United States. When well-trained assassins try to silence her forever, Zaire and Buck set off on a race across Italy, trying to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers. They have to survive if they’re going to prevent a deadly terrorist attack—and have a chance to explore the attraction they feel for each other…
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Delaney Diamond is the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than 60 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels, and dozens of romance short stories. When she’s not spinning tales of romantic fiction, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale. Enjoy free stories on her blog at https://delaneydiamond.com/category/romance-short-stories and https://delaneydiamond.com/category/serial-fiction.
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