Spotlight & Giveaway: Until the End by Juno Rushdan

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Juno Rushdan to HJ!

Hi Juno and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Until the End!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

This is an opposites attract, boy needs girl to stop an imminent attack, girl needs boy to survive, romantic thriller. Readers of this series have been waiting for this book because we finally get to understand Castle Kinkade, a hardnosed operative who will do anything for national security—until he meets his greatest challenge, Kit Westcott. There’s also a twist at the end that you won’t see coming.
 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Castle’s blood pressure was so high he could hear the rush of it.
Kit was a liar. A habitual, no, pathological, no, no, compulsive liar! His gut churned with white-hot anger, but the sucker punch of betrayal was worse.
She was innocent of collusion with terrorists. That much he believed. But he could only buy stock in eighty percent of what came out of her mouth. And it wouldn’t be so bad if the remaining twenty percent wasn’t going to get them killed.
He sharpened his focus on the task at hand. They were going to get through this, alive, so he could strangle her later.
Castle held on to her waist as he guided her to swing one leg over the side, followed by the other. The breeze blew her dress up higher than appropriate and he caught an indecent glimpse of her ass. Sweeter than he’d imagined.
She stared up at him with those crazy-beautiful eyes, trying to suck him back in.
Damn it to hell, why did he enjoy touching her so much? Why had it taken every ounce of strength in him not to kiss her back earlier when she was shivering in his bed, pressed up against him, wearing nothing but his T-shirt?
Why did he still want to kiss her?
“Put your toes on the tiny lip,” he said, referring to the barely-there ledge, keeping his voice controlled, low.
“Tiny is an overstatement.” She struggled to get her footing stable, her thin-soled shoes slipping around with no treads, but he held onto her.
“I won’t let you fall, Kit.”
Her anxious gaze locked onto his and narrowed. “I know. You want the pleasure of killing me yourself.”
And why oh why did her sassy remarks not only torque him tighter and tighter but also turn him on brighter than a popped flare in the pitch-black night?
“You probably want to use your bare hands around my throat,” she said.
“So you’re a psychic liar. I was trying to pinpoint how to classify you, but I don’t think that one is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders.”
“Whatev—” She swallowed the rest of the word, controlling her tongue before she pushed him from peeved to righteously pissed.
About time she advanced to Go and collected a clue.
“Those shoes are a problem,” he said. She’d be better off barefoot out here. He took another look at the six-inch thick wall separating her bedroom balcony from the main one and sized up the length of her arm span.
Holding on to one balcony and reaching over to grasp the other might prove tricky for her. Doing it at night in those slippery shoes was suicide.
He gestured for her to come back and helped lift her over the rail.
“Climb on.” He knelt. “I’ll piggyback you over.”
For once, she simply did as he told her. No smart-ass remark, no protests. No questions. Maybe she did trust him, at least in this.
Standing upright, he adjusted her weight on his back, getting it balanced. “Hold on tight.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips and clamped her arms around his neck in a choke hold.
“Not that tight,” he hissed, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder at the door. The curtain was in place, giving them precious minutes—perhaps only seconds—that might mean the difference between success and death.
He swung his leg over the side and shimmied across the ledge.
The curtain rustled. Their time just ran out.
He stepped up the pace, reaching across the wall to the other side as the drapes were drawn. Castle stared at a man wearing glasses. His gaze was hard and pitiless. He matched Kit’s description of Bravo.
Castle wouldn’t be able to draw his weapon until they were on the other side and he had a free hand. “Kit, reach into my holster and grab my gun?”
“Wh-what? I’ll fall.”
“You won’t.”
“Oh God. I’m going to be sick. I can’t.”
“You can. Trust me. They’re coming. Do it!”
She fumbled inside his jacket, her body plastered to his, legs in a death grip around his waist, and drew his Maxim 9.
The safety was already off.
“Aim at the other balcony,” he said, “finger on the trigger, squeeze, and shoot at anything that moves.”
A swish echoed in the wind as the balcony door opened.
Kit screamed, ducking her head, cheek pressed against his neck, and started shooting, wild and erratic.
For fuck’s sake. Were her eyes even open?
Silencers on both sides softened the pop of the shots. Bits of stone from the concrete wall sprayed in the air. Bullets cracked by his head, too close for comfort.
Castle hooked his leg on the rail of the living room balcony and rolled over, nearly knocking against the steel staircase that went up to the roof. He tucked Kit beneath him, using his body as a shield. “Please tell me your eyes were open when you fired?”
“You said nothing about my eyes.”
Wasn’t it implicit in the bit about aiming?
He snatched the gun from her, hopped to his feet, and aimed for the master bedroom balcony—with his eyes open.
No sign of Bravo.
Ah, shit. “Change of plan.” Gripping her elbow, he hoisted her up. “They’re about to rush us, coming in through the living room doors. Can you swim?”
She gulped and looked over the balcony. “Oh, sweet Lord. You want us to jump?”
“Yes.”
“What if we miss the pool?”
“Push off from the railing when you jump. You won’t miss. Take off your shoes first so you don’t slip.”
“Stop making everything sound so flipping easy. There’s four hundred feet between us and going splat.” She shoved the flats in her bag.
“It’s more like forty feet.” He helped her stand up on the top of the balustrade. “Grip the handrail of the staircase.” He gestured to the metal bar right beside her. “Steady yourself.”
“If we don’t die, we’ll break bones.”
A distinct possibility. “Who’s the crybaby now? If we don’t jump, we don’t make it.”
Once she was in place with stable footing, Castle trained the gun on the French doors, ready to lay waste to anyone who dared set foot on the balcony.
“This plan sucks!”
“Did I neglect to mention I have a degree in sucky planning?”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Wow, besides readers being entertained, I want them to escape from home with this book. To have an exhilarating adventure where they’ll root for the hero and heroine until the end.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A paperback copy of Until the End by Juno Rushdan

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Both the hero and heroine struggle with their sense of purpose and feeling like they belong? What gives you a sense of purpose?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Book Info:

He’s strong. Fierce. Relentless. And he may be her only chance of surviving the night.

Gray Box operative Castle Kinkade always gets the job done, no matter how tough the assignment. But when he agrees to protect white-hat hacker Kit Westcott, Castle’s loyalty is tested like never before. Trapped in the closest of quarters, protective instincts flaring, he can feel the ice surrounding his heart melt…and he knows he’d do anything to keep Kit safe.

Even defy the rules that shaped his life.

Castle is the last person Kit should confide in, let alone be attracted to, but he’s the only ally she has left. Under threat of imminent attack—and a chilling conspiracy that hits too close to home—Castle and Kit are forced to put their hearts and lives on the line…and stop at nothing to face the greatest danger the world has ever known.

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

Meet the Author:

Juno Rushdan draws from real-life inspiration as a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer to craft sizzling romantic thrillers. Although she is a native New Yorker, wanderlust has taken her across the globe. She’s visited more than twenty different countries and has lived in England and Germany. When she’s not writing, Juno loves spending time with her family. She currently resides in Virginia.
Website |