Spotlight & Giveaway: Mountain Rescue by Sandra Owens

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sandra Owens to HJ!

Hi Sandra and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Mountain Rescue!

 
Thank you! I’m thrilled to be here.
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

I sure can. Dallas is a Navy SEAL who was captured and tortured. Now free, all he wants is to hide from the world while he tries to get his head straight. Rachel is a woman on the run from a killer. Bella is a dog that never knew the kind touch of a human. When fate brings the three together, each has something the other two needs. Together, they can keep each other safe and maybe heal.
 

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

“You talked about me to another woman? What the hell, Dallas?” And who was Bella? The streak of jealousy just added to her anger. Rachel went inside, slamming the door behind her.
He followed her in. “Bella’s a dog.”

“You dream about me?”
“Since the night you tried to brain-bash me.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
“Yeah, not sure why you trying to kill me is such a turn-on.”

What inspired this book?

My inspiration list for MOUNTAIN RESCUE:

SEAL heroes
The women who tame them.
The dogs that help these heroes reconnect with life and their families.

It can be a difficult adjustment for our military heroes returning to civilian life, and I’ve seen a lot of true stories about how service dogs can help with that adjustment. I love creating stories for these special canines.
 

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

I’m a total panster… meaning I don’t plot out my books. I’ve tried, and it just doesn’t work for me. I get to know my characters as I write their stories. I often have in my head how I think a story is going to go, but then a character will say, “Nope, that doesn’t work for me. It happened this way.” So yes, they surprise me all the time.
 

What was your favorite scene to write?

Dallas has a thing about teasing Rachel with marriage proposals, and I loved working them into the story. Here’s a snippet of the first time he did it.

Oh, Rachel was pleased with herself all right, as well she should be. Dallas could see it in her eyes and the sly smile on her face. “Marry me.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

He was teasing her. Well, he was pretty sure he was. “I don’t know. When a man meets a beautiful woman as smart as him, he’d be a fool not to claim her.” He was kidding. Probably.

“As smart? How about smarter? And that’s something most men can’t handle.”

“I’m not most men.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Dallas’s nightmare and his memories of his time as a prisoner of war.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

It does showcase my writing style.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I want readers to fall in love with Dallas, Rachel, and Bella. What I really love to hear from my readers is that they laughed, cried, and sighed when reading my books. Happily ever afters are guaranteed.

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

A new series with Carina Press! Yay! The first book in the new series, IN HIS PROTECTION, will be out next August. The heroine is the sheriff, and the heroes are the police chief and his police dog, Fuzz.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One (1) Mass market paperback copy of MOUNTAIN RESCUE by Sandra Owens. (Open to US and Canada)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you woke up in the book you’re reading now, where would you be?

 
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Excerpt from Mountain Rescue:

Little did Rachel know if she’d tried to skip out on him, he would have been on her tail, something Dallas would have cursed himself nine ways to Sunday for. But he would have done it anyway. He knew what it was like to be afraid, and she was one scared wildcat in need of protection, in spite of the bravado she tried to wrap around herself.

Also, she made him feel alive. That was as enticing as sugar water to a hummingbird for a man who was dead inside. Would she tell him the truth today, or had she spent the night thinking up a bullshit story? He was looking forward to finding out.

He was on his second cup of coffee when his mystery woman walked out. She went straight to the railing without even a glance at him. “Morning.”

“Oh.” She faced him, leaning back on the railing. “You’re still here?”

“As you can see. Wasn’t sure you would be, though.”

She looked away, shielding her eyes, but not before he saw the fear in them.

“You don’t have any other place to go, do you?”

Determination was in those whiskey-colored eyes when her gaze returned to him. “I was here first. You find some other place to go.”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t tell Jack he has a squatter.”

“How do you know Jack?”

He chuckled. “You’re good at that, avoiding answering questions. Here’s the deal. I’ll answer a question for each one you do.” He set the rocking chair in motion, sipped the last of his coffee, and waited her out. Not like he didn’t have all the time in the world. Besides, she was keeping him entertained.

A full minute passed, then she sighed. “You’re right, I don’t have any other place to go. Not at the moment.”

It was a start, but there was a whole lot of additional intel he intended to get out of her. “Okay, my turn. Jack and I were on the same SEAL team.” Her eyes widened at that. Surprised you, huh, wildcat? “Who’s Robert? An abusive boyfriend you’re running from?”

“No. You could stay with Jack.”

“Hurts my feelings how hard you’re trying to get rid of me. Answer the rest of the question.”

“You said one for one. I answered the second one.”

“A technicality but go ahead. Ask me something else.” She was making him work for that intel he needed, and he liked that. She was no pushover, this one.

“Should I be afraid of you?”

Now, that was a question he wasn’t expecting. “No, ma’am. My mama would skin my hide if I ever hurt a woman. What’s the story on this abusive boyfriend of yours? Is he looking for you?”

“You’re devious. You keep asking two questions.”

He swallowed a smile. “My apology. Choose one.” The last thing he’d expected from this trip were all the smiles his mouth wanted to do around this woman.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A woman on the run. A wounded SEAL who wants to become invisible.

Two strangers, one mountain cabin.

The sole witness to a murder, stuntwoman Rachel Denning thought she’d found the perfect hideout in a remote cabin just outside Asheville, North Carolina. Until a strange man appears in her bedroom. After a few terrifying moments, she realizes it’s a mix-up—he’s not there to kill her—and Rachel finds herself with an unexpected protector in the form of a navy SEAL.

Dallas Manning is just trying to recover. After being rescued from the Taliban, he’s on extended leave. Finding his mountain retreat occupied by a gorgeous knife-wielding stranger isn’t part of his recovery plan, and neither is training dogs. But an old friend enlists him to help train service dogs for veterans, and Dallas recognizes himself in Bella, a dog rescued from a bad situation.

All Dallas wants is to be left alone so he can get his head straight, but Rachel stirs his protective instincts. Being trapped together makes it impossible to ignore their growing attraction, but neither of them can outrun their pasts. They’ll have to find a way forward together or risk losing it all.

“With realistic characters, witty banter, a well-written storyline, and a bit of action thrown in, Keeping Guard will draw readers in from the first page until the last.” —Harlequin Junkie

Operation K-9 Brothers

Book 1: Operation K-9 Brothers
Book 2: Keeping Guard
Book 3: Mountain Rescue

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

A best-selling, award winning author, Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her family and friends often question her sanity but have ceased being surprised by what she might get up to next. She’s jumped out of a plane, flown in an aerobatic plane while the pilot performed death-defying stunts, has flown Air Combat (two fighter planes dogfighting, pretending to shoot at each other with laser guns), and rode a Harley motorcycle for years. She regrets nothing.

A member of Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll, Sandra is a 2013 Golden Heart® Finalist for her contemporary romance, CRAZY FOR HER. In addition to her contemporary romantic suspense novels, she writes Regency stories.

Join Sandra’s Facebook Reader Group, Sandra’s Rowdies, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1827166257533001
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