Spotlight & Giveaway: Prison Break Hostage by Anna J Stewart

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Anna J Stewart to HJ!

Hi Anna and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Prison Break Hostage!

 
Hi there and hello, Harlequin Junkie readers!
 

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

After a prison bus crash, ER Doctor Ashley McTavish is taken hostage. Her only hope of survival is convicted murderer Sawyer “Lucky” Paxton, a man whose secrets could get both of them killed.

Is that 140 characters?
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Three hours and one minute. Dr. Ashley McTavish smothered a yawn and reached for the last of her stone-cold coffee. Just three hours and sixty seconds until she could sink into a nice hot bath and soak the last eight days out of her system. “Note to self.” She leaned forward to peer into the black night through her windshield. “No more volunteering to cover for people you barely know.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The idea for this book came to me in a flash during a road trip with new friends to a writers’ conference. Relegated to the back seat, I watched a prison bus drive past us and, my writer brain being what it is, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if that bus crashed. PRISON BREAK HOSTAGE was born.
• This is one of the few books I’ve written where the plot was there, in its entirety from the second I started writing. It almost wrote itself.
• Ashley McTavish popped up in the 4th Honor Bound book, GUARDING HIS MIDNIGHT WITNESS. She’s the sister of that book’s hero, Detective Jack McTavish.
• This is the first book in the series that brings most of the previous heroes to the forefront as they help lead the search for a missing Ashley. Normally I’m more focused on the heroines.
• Ashley might win the prize for my most sarcastic heroine to date. She makes my hero laugh–normally a good thing, but not in this case considering their situation through a good portion of the story.

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

For Lucky (aka Slade), the attraction is instant and it has to do entirely with her bravery and grit. Nothing is going to stand in the way of her doing what she believes is right; not even threats against her own life. She’s willing to risk her life to help save others–even if those others don’t necessarily deserve to be saved.

Ashley doesn’t have anything close to romance in mind at the beginning of this story: she’ just wants to save lives. But even after she realizes the danger she’s in, she senses something descent, something good in Lucky he’s trying really hard to hide. There’s something redeeming inside of him and she’s determined to draw it out and, if necessary, use it to her advantage to break free.
 

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

Intense. Powerful. Redemptive. Heartbreaking. Destined.
 

The First Kiss…

First kisses can be so complicated, LOL. Ashley and Lucky are no exception.

“I bet you don’t have a husband. You have something. A friend. Cousin. Brother?” He looked deep into her eyes. “Ah. Brother. Jack’s your brother.” That self-satisfied smirk on his face should have set off alarm bells, but she stayed right where she was, pressed against him, hands gripping his shoulders. Why was she so drawn to him? Why wasn’t she afraid of him? Why did being in his arms feel like the perfect place to be? “That means I can finally do this.”

She opened her mouth to protest but instead found his hot, demanding mouth on hers. Her mind emptied of every thought, every strategy she’d made, and refilled in an instant with him. The strength of him, the taut muscles beneath the T-shirt, the smooth way his arms cradled her.
Desire punched through reason. When he angled his head to the side, the pressure changed, tempted, as he dived in and took what she only now realized she wanted to give.

His tongue dueled with hers, teased her into surrender even as she clung to him, inhaling the scent of the night air along with the spicy scent of citrus and pine. The haze in her head threatened to take her over completely as his hold on her loosened. He lifted his mouth, not much. Not far. But enough for her to lower her chin and press her forehead against his chest.
“Definitely not married.” His hands slipped to her hips, his fingers resting lightly against her. She took a shaky breath, felt her heart hammering so hard she couldn’t hear the water any longer. “How about we try that again?”

She leaned back, lifted her eyes to his, and for an instant, regret swept over her before it passed. “Let’s say we do…” She reached both hands up, diving her fingers into the thickness of his hair as he bent to kiss her again. In one fast move, she held his head down and brought up her knee. She
miscalculated, hit him in the stomach before bringing her knee up again and connecting this time. His head snapped back and he landed hard on the ground. She stood there for a moment, her mind screaming at her to do the one thing she’d been waiting to do for hours.

She ran.

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

I love the breaks of humor throughout this book. It needed them; the ride is pretty intense from page one. But those bouts of laughter and comedy were really fun to write. This scene in particular, shortly after their kiss, when Lucky finds Ashley has climbed a tree to attempt to hide. I think it’s when Lucky’s true nature begins to reveal itself:

His foot crunched down on something odd. He stopped, crouched and brushed debris aside. A protein bar. He picked it up, shoved it in his back pocket and continued… Wait. He turned, looking closely at the trees and surrounding flora. No one had broken through here. Her trail ended. Just stopped cold.

Had she backtracked? Had she somehow circled around him and headed to the lake? He didn’t think so. She wasn’t that sneaky. Or that careful. A rustle of leaves had him looking up and, after blinking a few times, he could see her shadow stretched across a branch far above him. Relief mingled with irritation. What on earth was she thinking? He was about to call up to her, but he stopped himself. Climbing up after her was an option, one he didn’t particularly like. That left option number two.

Lucky dropped down and sat at the base of the tree, reached behind him for the protein bar and ripped open the package. It was a good time for a snack considering it was looking as if she was going to be keeping him on constant alert. Too bad the bar tasted like sawdust.

The branch creaked. Ashley didn’t strike him as outdoorsy. He’d lay good money down she hadn’t climbed a tree since she was a kid, if then. The odds she’d found a secure branch in the time she’d had, that she’d managed to situate herself in a way she could stay up there indefinitely, were about as good as his swimming across the Pacific.

“When you’re ready to come down, give me a heads-up, would you?” He didn’t have to shout. Not in the stillness of the night. “I’ve already got a headache from where you kneed me. I don’t particularly want to add to it.”

“Stupid protein bar,” she muttered.

He took another bite of the ridiculously named peanut butter bar.

“Are you going to shoot me down?” she whispered.

“I don’t have my gun.”

“Liar.”

Truer words were never spoken. “Don’t ever forget it.”

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

I think it’s actually the quieter moments that have a tremendous impact on showing who these two characters are. A conversation, especially a private one, where the two of them can let their guards down a bit, can be so powerful, both on the page an on screen. This one in particular is one of my favorites as it shows Lucky’s humanity and his talent of observation.

She dragged the blanket from the bed tighter around her shoulders, curled into the chair Lucky had claimed as his own earlier in the day.

When the door opened, she glanced over, secure in the knowledge it would be Lucky, but so tired of the way her heart leaped every time she turned around. He walked over, handed her a bottle of water. “Drink. You look pale.”

“Don’t tell me. You have night vision.” Recognizing the effects of dehydration, she did as he suggested.

“Stress kills,” he said as if she, as a doctor, didn’t know that.

“So does being locked up with a group of escaped convicts.” She closed her eyes, leaned her head back. “You haven’t slept at all since the bus crashed.”

“I don’t sleep. Much.” He walked over to the window. “What do you see out there?”

Freedom, she thought. Peace. Escape. “Fresh air.”

“Is that what’s causing your migraine?”

“How did you know I get migraines?”

“It’s in your eyes. My cousin used to get them. Change in the weather, stress, altitude, pollen. She could blink the wrong way and get one.” He motioned to the water bottle. “Dehydration.”

“Aside from sticking my nose in a face full of flowers, I’d say you hit three for four.”

“You should eat—”

“Stop telling me what I should do. I’m a doctor. I know what I should do.” She should take the medication she had in her bag, but the pills always knocked her for a loop and right now, she didn’t want to close her eyes for a second, let alone for hours.

Readers should read this book …

if they love a roller coaster ride of a book. This is probably the most action-packed book I’ve written, but along with the breathless moments comes the quieter, emotional ones. If readers want a hero and hero who belong together from the first page, this is the book from them. Fighting the good fight, fighting against the evil so many of us would love to be able to conquer, this is that kind of book. That’s the magic of romance, thought, right? Good always wins. And Ashley and Lucky definitely earn their happily ever after.

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

I’m currently writing my first mainstream romantic suspense novel which will release in November from Arc Manor. It’s tentatively titled EXPOSED and will be the first of five books dealing with Hollywood, secrets, murder, and a whole lot of romance. I call this my Women’s Murder Club meets L.A. Confidential.

Coming in May, I’ll be ending the Butterfly Harbor series with THE MAYOR’S BABY SURPRISE. This story is Gil Hamilton’s, the town’s mayor who has served as a villain in a lot of ways (a villain in Butterfly Harbor means he’s been a jerk, LOL).

And then in August, WYOMING PROMISE is the first book in a brand new Blackwell series and this time I get to start things off. The Blackwells are back–and they’re expanding into Wyoming, but there will be lots of familiar faces along the way.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card (1 winner)
3 winners: Digital copy of GUARDING HIS MIDNIGHT WITNESS

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: I love high octane adventure romances. Speed and Romancing the Stone are two of my all-time favorite movies. What are some of your favorite adventure reads or movies? Share in the comments–let’s fill up our TBR pile and our watch lists!

 
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Excerpt from Prison Break Hostage:

FBI Special Agent Slade Palmer, aka Lucky, froze as eighteen months of undercover work disappeared with the flash from the muzzle. All the lies, all the planning, all the endless days and nights he’d spent burrowing his way into Marko Valeri’s good graces had skidded off the road along with the bus. Now, thanks to the good doctor who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, the path before Slade twisted into a knot so intricate he couldn’t see a route out.

He would have to do some serious scrambling if he was going to make it up the next rung in the ladder of Valeri’s crime organization.

Dante Costas, Valeri’s right hand and enforcer, was dead. Clive, the best hacker in Cell Block A, was unconscious with a severe head injury. Javi, his own cellmate, had a broken arm, but was still mobile. Badger was relatively unscathed and as frenetic as ever. All wasn’t lost. Not yet, anyway. Not if Slade could wrangle it all back together and get Valeri to that meeting on the
Sacramento docks next week.

Valeri’s older brother Edik had taken exception to Marko’s conviction and imprisonment. Enough to draw the reclusive head of the family to the West Coast, where Slade would have his first—and possibly only—opportunity to shut down the criminal enterprise once and for all. More importantly, he’d finally have what he needed to find Georgiana, his missing cousin. If, and
that was a big if, he could unravel the mess currently around him.

Whatever happened next, it looked as if it would happen with additional Feds on their tail for murder and now kidnapping. Given his handler hadn’t responded to Slade’s most recent check-ins, he couldn’t be certain what was going on beyond the stone walls that had locked him away. He’d just have to do what he’d done all his life: push through and hope for the best.

He could feel the fear radiating off Dr. Ashley in waves. But she didn’t waver. She barely blinked. A steel spine. Admiration swept through him. Not that his admiration was going to keep her alive. And that had just become task number one. Enough people had already lost their lives thanks to Marko Valeri. Slade wasn’t going to let him add Dr. Ashley to the list.

Her voice was strong when she spoke. “You aren’t going to kill me.”

Slade inwardly cringed.

Valeri grinned. The blood he’d been spitting had dried, leaving tracks down his chin as if a vampire had been interrupted during a feeding. “No?”

“You won’t have to.” Slade moved, pushing Ashley behind him enough that should Valeri choose to shoot, he’d take Slade down, too. And that, Slade reminded himself, would not do Valeri any good. Valeri needed him.

He’d made certain of that. He’d had to in order to survive. “She’ll come with us.” Slade glanced over his shoulder and pinned Ashley with a look that he hoped she understood. “Won’t you, Doc?”

She glared at him, her bright blue eyes sparking in the dimly lit bus. Good.

Anger would keep her breathing.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Book Info:

She’s dedicated to helping others…

Now she’s the one in need of rescue.

As a witness to a prison bus crash, Dr. Ashley McTavish is only concerned with saving lives. But when she’s taken hostage, her own life is threatened. Ashley is undeniably attracted to her sole protector, a convict called Lucky. But when Lucky’s true identity as undercover agent Slade Palmer is revealed, he and Ashley must flee for their lives. Can they protect one another as feelings grow and danger looms?
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes sweet to sexy romances for Harlequin and ARC Manor’s Caezik Romance. Her sweet Heartwarming books include the Butterfly Harbor series as well as the ongoing Blackwell continuity series. She also writes the Honor Bound series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and contributes to the bestselling Coltons. A former Golden Heart, Daphne, and National Reader’s Choice finalist, Anna loves writing big community stories where family found is always the theme. Since her first published novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has released more than forty novels and novellas and hopes to branch out even more thanks to Caezik Romance. Anna lives in Northern California where (at the best times) she loves going to the movies, attending fan conventions, and heading to Disneyland, her favorite place on earth. When she’s not writing, she is usually binge-watching her newest TV addiction, re-watching her all-time favorite show, Supernatural, and wrangling two monstrous cats named Rosie and Sherlock.
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