(A Love and War)
Publication date: February 28th 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary,
A Love and War stand Alone
These DO NOT NEED to be read in any order
I crashed and opened my eyes . . . there you were, fierce and protective, and I knew . . . I just knew it was you all along.
Ex-Marine Trent Reed has been shot at, in a coma, and placed in war
zones, but when his best friend calls in a favor, he is faced with the
most dangerous situation yet—to be the best man. Trent’s turbulent past
with races other than his own taints his view on the interracial
marriage, and he’s none too happy to deal with the ill-tempered maid of
honor. To accept the position means understanding that his friend is
soon to be out of his life—for good.
Tough-girl Teal Lofton has struggled all of her adult life, from her
weight to the color of her skin holding her back in work and love. When
she agrees to be the maid of honor in her friend’s wedding, a hormonal
bride and a jerk of a best man who she is strangely, yet wildly,
attracted to, amplify those struggles.
As tensions and tempers rise, Trent disappears with the wedding rings
and Teal braves a snowstorm to bring them back, determined to fix yet
another problem. But a tragic accident brings together the unlikely
pair, forcing them to face the prejudices of their pasts. In doing so,
Trent and Teal embark on an inevitable course of self-discovery and
passion like they’ve never experienced before—until a secret from
Trent’s past threatens to destroy it all.
The
taste of metal filled Trent’s mouth, along with the sound of bees
swarming in his head. Confusion took over, before the muffled sounds
of a man speaking pulled Trent from his darkened haze. He forced
himself to crack open his eyes and a sharp pain shot through his
head.
Heavy
snow fell around him, yet not his face. Opening his eyes wider he
could see the blurred face of a man holding something over Trent’s
head. He realized the covering was meant to protect him from the
snow. Trent moved gingerly, but his arms felt weighted and his body
barely responded to his commands. The voice came again, a bit clearer
than before.
Trent
had momentarily forgotten where he was and what was going on. His
mind raced with visions of war and his body ached. He worried about
the effects of PTSD in situations like this. Luckily, he didn’t
have to think about that too long. Memory of what actually happened
popped into his consciousness and his eyes shot open with worry.
“There
you are.” An unfamiliar voice said calmly. Trent’s eyes took a
moment to focus. The face of his neighbor came into view. “Don’t
move just yet. You might have broken something.” The man looked him
over as if he could tell just by looking.
Trent
didn’t feel any pain, just confusion. “W—where’s the woman?”
Trent asked, ignoring the man’s futile attempts to get him to stay
down. He turned over and propped himself up on his bruised elbow.
Looking around, he searched for a flash of gold dress and dark skin.
His head ached and whatever wounds he’d sustained finally started
to make their presence known. He shook his head, but it cleared
nothing and only left him a bit dizzy.
The
man pointed over past the driveway. “Your woman is over there. My
wife and I didn’t want to move her. You were out for about five
minutes.” Trent listened as he struggled to stand. He glanced over,
only seeing a bright red blur in the darkness. “I still think you
should stay down until a rescue squad gets here.”
Trent
shook his head, meaning to tell the man no, but this time, he
effectively shook off some of the fog. He stood on unsteady feet and
glanced over to the only road leading to their cabins. “Look over
there.” He pointed. “How are they even going to get in here if
they make it here at all?” He stumbled over to the woman in a
bright red coat. As he got closer, he saw Teal on the ground covered
up, but still unconscious. The woman held a phone to her ear, but was
silent as if she were on hold.
As
each second passed, the fog in Trent’s head lessened and he was
more aware of how serious their situation was becoming the longer
Teal didn’t wake up. Thoughts swarmed his head, spurning him into
action. He needed to get her inside, but moving her would be tricky.
Behind
him, the man walked over and spoke to his wife. “What’d they
say?”
The
woman looked up with a sullen look on her face. “Roads are closed,
the snow is too heavy.” She looked worriedly at Trent as the harsh
cold wind whipped her hair into her face. “They can’t get anyone
out to us yet.”
Regardless,
Trent understood that in Teal’s situation, she couldn’t stay
lying in the snow. He turned to the man. “Help me get her inside
and on the bed. I’ll start a fire and warm her up.” He glanced
around, searching for something to move her with. His body shook and
sharp pains and aches assaulted him whenever he moved.
The
woman looked warily at Trent. “Are you sure we should move her?”
She glanced at her husband with a frown. Trent didn’t want to move
her and possibly cause more injury, but as it seemed, rescue was most
likely not coming anytime soon and Teal would freeze to death out
here. The thought made his chest ache. He’d served in the military
and there was no such thing as an ex-soldier. The things you learned
lasted a lifetime and he been in worse predicaments than this. There
was no way he’d let her die out here alone in the damned cold. The
man seemed to agree with Trent’s unspoken thoughts and moved to
Teal’s feet.
Still
she shook her head, undeterred. “Honey, I’m not sure about this.
I think moving her could mess with any possible injury. I mean, what
if she has a broken spine or something?” The woman glanced back
down at Teal and took her hand in hers.
Trent
understood her fear, as it was his as well. But he had a plan. “Sir,”
he called to the man.
“Lee.
Call me Lee.”
Trent
nodded. “I can move her, but I need a flat sturdy surface, like a
door or table, I only have one door in my cabin and I can’t remove
the entrance . . .”
“Lee,”
the woman called to her husband and threw keys to him. “Go to the
cabin and break down the bathroom door and bring it out.”
Trent
raised a brow at the force in her tone. Thankfully, Lee didn’t
think twice, and he took off in a mad dash toward the cabin. Trent
used this time to stagger inside his own cabin, grabbing all the
sheets off the bed and heading back to Teal. He placed them around
her as best he could.
Logan
was going to flat out kill Trent when this was over. He felt her
pulse and it beat strong in her chest. Her breathing was also steady,
and there were no head injuries other than the gash on her forehead.
It wouldn’t even need stitches. If they were lucky, she’d just
been knocked out and would wake up fine.
Inger
Iversen was born in 1982 to Anne and Kaii Iversen. She lives in
Virginia Beach with her overweight lap cat, Max and her tree
hugging boyfriend Joshua. She spends 90 percent of her time in Barnes
and Noble and the other ten pretending not to want to be in Barnes and
Noble.
- Kindle Fire HD 6
(this
giveaway is set and managed by author, not Xpresso Book Tours):
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