Spotlight & Giveaway: The SEAL’s Promise by Stella Holt

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Stella Holt to HJ!

Hi Stella and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The SEAL’s Promise!

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

If you enjoy small towns, the beach, southern charm, and a brood of brothers in your heartwarming romance books then The SEAL’s Promise will be like meeting up with friends.

Dr. Dalton Hart hasn’t been home in fifteen years, and for good reason, but when his grandmother said she didn’t have much time left he made an exception. Now he’s back in Sandy Point and he’s surprised to find how much has changed. He discovers his oldest brother isn’t talking to him, his grandmother is as spry as ever, and his highschool best friend married his enemy. But there’s something else new about Brooke Garcia, how had he never realized how alluring her curves were and how much he wanted to hold her?

Brooke is shocked to see Dalton back in town, and not at all happy about how he still makes her heart pound. She doesn’t believe he’ll stick around long and she has no intention of letting him know just how much he hurt her when he left without saying goodbye the first time. But some people are impossible to resist and if she’s not careful she’ll be begging him to stay this time.
 

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

“Divorced, did you think we would all be frozen in time for the last fifteen years?”

What inspired this book?

Growing up in a small southern beach town I think I’ll always crave the smell of the ocean, sand in my shoes, and long hot summer days when your popsicle melts before you can eat it all. The setting of this book in Sandy Point, Georgia, is very much an homage to my childhood.

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

I am a sucker for a swoony hero, who is at heart a good guy, just as much as I like a strong, smart heroine. Dalton made his first appearance in the Legacy of the Maguires series as a Navy SEAL and he had primary character energy from the start. Dalton is an alpha hero with a heart of gold, and he’s carrying a few heartaches that he can’t mend until he goes home to Sandy Point and gets really honest with himself and his family.
I knew Brooke was going to be a single-mom, she is the epitome of a strong woman and can’t afford to suffer fools. I always borrow bits and pieces of the women in my life for each of my leading ladies. I also named her after one of my very first voluntary readers as a thank you for the early support.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Some of my favorite scenes to write will giveaway too much, so I’ve decided to share this scene when Dalton finds Brooke stuck on the side of the road, with a flat tire, in a thunderstorm. She doesn’t want his help, but he isn’t taking no for an answer. (Cue the fireworks!)

Excerpt:
Just as she started to drift off to sleep, lights lit up the inside of her car and the purr of a strong engine vibrated to a stop behind her. In her side mirror she could see a large man in a raincoat with the hood pulled low exit the truck. When he showed up at her window, she rolled it down a few inches. It was still pouring rain, and drops ran off his jacket, but she could still easily see baby blue eyes and a handsome smile.
“Hey, Brooke, pop the trunk and I’ll change out the flat.” Dalton’s voice was unmistakable.
She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to be indebted to one more person, much less Dalton Hart. She was constantly feeling like she couldn’t take care of herself, and Dalton was the last person she wanted to need.
“Stop being stubborn. It’s a monsoon, and you can’t sleep in your car.”
“I don’t want your help,” she said honestly.
“Tough. Pop the trunk.” He walked to the back of her car where he insistently tapped her trunk for added effect.
The internal struggle was real but she knew he wouldn’t just go away, so she pulled the trunk latch and got out of the car to help.
“Go sit in my truck,” he ordered as he pulled up the flooring of her trunk to find her spare tire and the jack.
“You’re not in charge just because you know how to change a flat and won’t take no for an answer.”
“Yes I am, so go get in my truck because you know you can’t afford to get sick, and you won’t be any help with the lug nuts or the tire.”
“I’ll sit in my own car then,” she argued.
“It’ll make it harder to use the jack, so go sit in mine, please,” he said, grabbing the spare and the jack before closing her trunk.
“Fine,” she said, and realized her feet were already soaked. He was a SEAL, he wanted to be helpful, he didn’t have work tomorrow—let him handle it, she told herself. Stomping off to the passenger side of his truck, she nearly had to pull herself up to get in but was rewarded with the warmth of his dry, lush interior that smelled like him.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

The most difficult scene to write was an emotional scene between Dalton and his Oldest brother Wes, when he is finally ready to face the biggest heartache he’s been carrying around for fifteen years. It was the catalyst for his sudden departure from town the day after he graduated highschool.

Excerpt:
“So, what brings you here finally after months of being home?”
Dalton gritted his teeth and faced his big brother’s speculative eyes.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
“If you’re trying to figure out how to tell me nothing is wrong with Gran and you think she just made it all up to get you here, you’re too late.”
“Wait, what?”
“I stopped over at Gran’s earlier and overheard her telling her drinking buddies that her grand plan had worked. She thinks you’re home for good, so please don’t tell me you’re about to break her heart.”
“Well, I have been meaning to tell you that all those tests all proved only one thing,” Dalton said. “Gran is totally healthy for her age, and the doctors all say any little blips are natural aging at this point. But I can’t believe she would plot and lie to me.”
Wes laughed. “Oh, I can. You were never coming back, so she said she had no choice.”
“I don’t think I can even be mad at her,” Dalton said, running his hand through his hair. “But I need to tell you something else.”
“Is this going to be one of those conversations that go better with whisky?” Wes asked.
“Probably after you hear what I’m about to tell you.” Dalton spread his feet wide and crossed his arms over his chest, preparing to reveal his darkest secret to his brother.
“Alright, let’s have it,” Wes said.
Dalton rubbed his hands together and looked down at the floor for a heartbeat; it was now or never. He could admit what he’d done then leave town again, but he couldn’t stay another minute without getting this off his chest.
“The night Mom and Dad died, I was on the phone with Dad…

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

I would say this book is a perfect showcase of the emotional, romantic, second chance romances I love to write. With lovable, funny, intense, characters that I hope my readers will miss when they finish each book in the series.

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

I want my readers to feel like they’ve visited a small Southern, beach town and joined a warm, close-knit family of brothers. Like you’re visiting Sandy Point and watching as each brother searches for answers about where they belong, and sigh when they realize it was always home.

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

I’m working on the fourth book in this series and everyone will be in for a surprise, the best plot twist I’ve written, so far.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Winner will receive one ebook copy of THE SEAL’S PROMISE by Stella Holt plus one additional ebook of the winner’s choice from Tule Publishing.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you could spend a week by the beach or in the big city, which would you choose?

 
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Excerpt from The SEAL’s Promise:

CHAPTER ONE
Dalton

You Can Always Go Home

Dalton Hart’s boots crunched in the dusting of sand along the weathered wooden pier. Ten steps down, he stood in the broken shells washed up by the tide. Waves crashed about twenty feet away, and the beach was deserted. It was too rainy for an evening walk and the sun was already setting, but this was the first place he’d needed to stop.

The salty air was crisp and a fog hung over the ocean. Steep dunes that held up the precarious two-lane road ran along the coast casting shadows on the beach.

Fifteen years seemed too long and not long enough at the same time. He watched as the last bit of daylight sank into the ocean, turning the sky pitch dark, and climbed back up the dock to his rental car. It was going to be difficult to be back here in every way, but the SEAL team had taught him a lot about getting through hard situations. Hopefully that mental toughness wouldn’t fail him, because he was at war with himself just driving back to this town, where he’d already lost so much.

“Dalton James Hart, as I live and breathe, is that really you standing on my clean kitchen floor with sandy boots?” his grandmother asked, her stern voice dripping in a Southern twang.

Fighting a smile, he set down his bag and proceeded to untie his boots and walk them back out to the covered deck.

“If I find a spider in those tomorrow I’ll scream like a girl,” he said.

He leaned down to embrace his grandmother and lift her off her feet. All one hundred pounds of her.

“Oh, put me down, you brute. I’ll break a hip.”

He kissed her wrinkled cheek covered in powder and blush and smelled her signature floral scent, then set her back down.

“I’m sorry I’ve stayed away so long.”

His grandmother narrowed her eyes as her hands landed on her hips.

“I reckon you’ll be sorry, but you know what I always say.”

“Apologies are for mistakes and assholes?”

“That’s right. If you’d behaved, there wouldn’t be a need to apologize.”

He couldn’t help but laugh and feel an instant tug of both regret and happiness standing in his paternal grandmother’s kitchen, also his childhood home.

“Alright. Wash up, then have a seat for a real home-cooked meal—you don’t look like you’re being fed regularly.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dalton walked into the hall and looked around. The layout was the same, but the colors and furniture had changed. The large Georgia home had tall ceilings with crisscrossing wood beams and oversize light fixtures. It was a mix of mid-century, modern, and coastal. It was the house he’d grown up in and had run away from the same day he graduated high school.

After washing his hands in the hall bathroom, he stepped back into the kitchen to find one place setting. His grandmother brought several covered dishes out of the oven and set them on the table.

“You’re not eating with me?”

“I had a bite earlier and I can’t eat all this rich food anymore, but I made your favorites. Homemade greens, mac and cheese, and crab cakes.”

“You made all this for me?”

“Of course! You’re still my third favorite grandson, even if you did stay gone for over a decade.”

Her lips were pursed together, giving Dalton no doubt how she felt.

“Gran, we need to talk about it if I’m going to help you. On the phone you told me that you’re at the end of your life and that Levi has gone off the deep end. Then you said we needed an intervention before you die.”

“Oh, Dalton, are you sure I said all that? That doesn’t sound like something I’d say.”

“Yes, I’m sure, and when I said I had a career and home in Virginia, you said that if I didn’t come home now I’d regret it for the rest of my life and you’d never forgive me. That was right before you went radio silent and stopped taking my calls.”

“Well, I am seventy-one, you know, so I forget sometimes, but I do vaguely recall calling you one night after accidentally mixing my medicine with my margaritas.”

Dalton sighed. “Gran, you weren’t drunk when we spoke last, you were worried. So we need to talk about what’s going on,” he said with a calm tone. He was starting to suspect he’d fallen into a trap. “If you’re sick or dying I want to be here for you.”

“Technically we’re all dying, Dalton, I mean, who is to say this won’t be my last night on this earth?”

“Grandma Hart, what is going on?”

She stood and refolded the dish towel that was already neatly hanging from the side of her farm-style sink.

“First things first, you have to promise not to tell your brothers or anyone else.” She pointed a finger at him. “As my doctor you have to keep my medical information private.”

Dalton crossed his arms. “Technically I’m not your doctor, but I’ll agree to your terms for now.”

She leaned back against the old butcher-block counter.

“Last year I started to notice that I was forgetting things and having some trouble with my vision. But my doctor said that was normal in our later years, and my eye doctor gave me these darn reading glasses.” She patted the glasses hanging around her neck on a gold chain.

“But…”

“Well, I still don’t feel right. So, I was googling my symptoms and a few things popped up from dementia to heart disease, glaucoma, blood clots, you name it.”

“Gran, you can’t self-diagnose your health problems online. What do you mean, exactly, that you don’t feel right?”

About an hour later, Dalton still knew almost nothing about his grandmother’s health, but he was caught up on a decade’s worth of town gossip, and had polished off two helpings of home cooking. Although she liked to give off a cosmopolitan, posh grandmother vibe, she was as traditional as they came. There was even a homemade peach pie sitting atop the glass dessert stand in the center of the kitchen table next to a pitcher full of wildflowers.

“I can’t tell if you’re being dodgy about what’s really going on with you because you’re in denial and terrified, or if this was all some big ruse to get me to agree to come home,” he challenged her.

Brushing away a swoop of her flowy silver hair that stopped just above her shoulders, she feigned innocence.

“Dalton, I would never lie to you about something like this.”

“Oh no, but you would lie about other things?”

“Omission is not a lie, neither is avoidance.”

“Alright, we’re going to go see your doctor and get a full workup done this week.”

“I’ve already had a full workup, all of my blood tests done, and I’m up to date on all my medical appointments.”

“I want to review it all. Maybe we need to see a specialist.”

“The hospital is short-staffed, so we’ll need to head into Savannah if we’re looking for anything beyond my primary care doctor.”

“Then we’ll do just that. Now tell me what’s going on with Levi—he doesn’t really communicate much beyond texts. He had a great season last year.”

She let out a deep breath as if she was happy to change the subject.

“We’re going to need pie for this one.”

Before he could ask why, the screen door opened and the massive form of his oldest brother, Wes, appeared. His shoulders were so broad he needed to turn his body as he entered the large eat-in kitchen, which immediately seemed more cramped.

His brother’s light brown eyes fell on him as he removed his work belt. Both his gun and his sheriff’s badge gleamed.

“Did you save me any crab cakes?” Wes asked.

“Wesley, I think what you meant to say was hello to your brother before you start asking about dinner,” their gran said, one hand on her hip.

“Dalton, oh yah, that is you! I almost didn’t recognize you; it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. I’m shocked you actually remembered how to find this place anymore.”

Dalton stood up—he knew this was coming. He’d brought it on himself. It had been his fault he hadn’t seen his brothers in years. Their parents had died his senior year of high school and Dalton left just three months later. He hadn’t come back, hadn’t been around to help at all, and Wesley had been the one who’d stayed.

“Wes, it’s nice to see you. I’m sorry I stayed away so long, but I’m back now.” He held out his hand—as if a handshake was a proper peace offering—but he didn’t know what else to say or do.

Wes just looked him over and shook his head. “Let’s not be too hasty. I’m happy that you and Gran get to have a visit in person, but I’m not at all convinced you’ll stay very long.” Then his brother turned his back to him and began to wash his hands in the kitchen sink.

“Wes,” their grandmother admonished him.

“No, Gran, I deserve that and I’m up to the challenge. The truth is I quit my job and rented out my place so I don’t have anything to return to.”

Wesley nodded. “We’ll see.”

“How’s work? The town looks bigger,” Dalton said. Trying to move the conversation along was like walking through knee-high mud.

Wesley fixed his plate and carried it over to the table to set it down, pulled out his chair, sat, and fiddled with his fork. His eyes met Dalton’s, and for a moment Dalton thought he was going to lecture him, but then his big brother just smiled.

“The town has doubled in population since we were kids, but most of that is summer families. Your bestie from high school keeps building beach condos and posh subdivisions just outside the town limits.”

“The Banks brothers are the cause of all those colorful houses on Beach Drive?” Dalton asked, happy for a change of subject, but just barely.

“Oh, that’s mostly their father’s work; those boys don’t call the shots,” Gran said as she joined them at the table.

“Tyler Banks is just as greedy as his father and his plans go beyond ruining this town. They’ll change the entire look of the Georgia coastline once they’re done,” Wes said before taking a big bite.

Dalton ran his hand along the now-cleared tablecloth in front of him.

“So I guess that means you’re staying busy as deputy sheriff, and managing the Hart property?”

He didn’t miss Wes and Gran exchanging a look.

“Is that why you’re back, come to check on your inheritance?” Wes said.

“Wesley.”

“It’s fine, Gran, Wes has every right to think whatever he wants about me. But no, I’m only here to fix things. I don’t know how long that’s going to take but I’m here at least until it’s done.”

“Okay, you can start with the fence line along the beach and help oversee the sale of the Hart pier.”

“Sale? You’re selling the pier our great-grandfather built?”

“Unless you have a million bucks to fund the repairs and taxes, then yes, the pier is for sale.”

Dalton sighed. “And let me guess, the Banks family are the buyers.”

“So far they’re the only ones offering, and you can believe it’s a lowball.”

“Have you talked to Levi about it yet?”

“I was planning on talking to him before the playoffs, but he’s tough to pin down.”

“Okay, I guess we can all discuss our options then. I have some savings I could contribute. Maybe we could qualify for a loan?”

“We’ll talk about it with Levi,” Wes said, and took a big bite of his meal, essentially ending the conversation.

Clearly more had changed than he expected if his brother was considering selling off part of their family estate to the one family in town who had always been their rivals. Even their parents didn’t like each other when they were kids. The Harts and the Bankses had a bad history, and some things never changed. But he was back now, and he was going to have to face everything head on.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

He never expected to return to his hometown, but now he can’t leave her behind again.

Dr. Dalton Hart left his small Southern beach town fifteen years ago to become a Navy SEAL. Now he’s back, and Sandy Point is buzzing over his return. He thought he came home to help his family, but his oldest brother will barely speak to him and his childhood friend is trying to avoid him. Worse, if he wants to stay, he’ll have to face the secret that’s haunted him ever since he left.

Brooke Garcia can’t believe this ripped, blue-eyed SEAL is back in her life or that she’s stuck working with him. She’s no stranger to smooth-talking hometown heroes—she married one, and he broke her heart. Now a single mom, she doesn’t have time to indulge in walks down memory lane. Brooke never forgave Dalton for the way he left town without even saying good-bye, and she’s not interested in making amends.

But soul mates have a way of finding you…even when you’re not ready.

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Meet the Author:

Author of your next binge-worthy romance series, Stella has been plotting sexy, tear-jerker stories since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Born a Georgia peach, Stella loves all things country but calls the beach home even though she’s currently living outside D.C. with her family. Most days she can be found drinking too much coffee, collecting lipstick she forgets to wear, and baking.

Stella’s first series featuring first responders debuts in 2023. You can find her on Instagram @stellaholtbooks and www.stellaholt.com
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