When the odds are against them,
they fight for each other.

First loves torn apart…

With a Tuscan backdrop of romance and innocence, sixteen-year-olds Miles “Grinder” Stone and Pia Deltetto learn of love and loss. After a whirlwind romance, they return to their separate lives with a hope of reconnecting someday.

Broken and battered…

Severely wounded in battle, Grinder refuses Pia’s sympathy and pity. However, when he realizes the true danger Pia is in, Grinder will do anything to save the only woman he’s ever loved. With everything on the line, she’s forced to trust him with her estate, her life, and her heart. But has too much time passed to bring to shattered souls back together where they belong?

Miles and Pia met as teenagers and fell in love. That first meeting during a vacation cut short, but they wrote to each other. They almost totally miss each other after high school graduation but manage a day. Then they finally get together before Grinder is shipped out on a very dangerous mission.

This is a favorite scene.

Four hours later, I raced out of customs at the Florence airport and into Pia’s waiting arms. My heart raced as I touched her warm, opened her lips with my tongue, and the rest of the world went silent. There were no more birds singing, no sounds of the traffic that surrounded us. Even the wind stilled as I focused solely on the way her body shuddered as I brushed soft kisses from her mouth, down her neck, to the smattering of freckles on her bare shoulder.

“Tell me there’s somewhere we can be alone.”

“Sì,” she said, leading me outside to where a car sat waiting. “Do you want to know where we’re going?”

I shook my head. “I don’t care.”

When the driver opened the back door and we got in, I pulled her into my arms and devoured her mouth like a starving man. We spent the next hour with our lips fused together in one long kiss.

The driver pulled up to what looked like a resort. I got out and waited for Pia to put her hand in mine. I pulled her close and kissed her again. “I can’t get enough of you.”

“Come,” she said as I grabbed our bags from the driver and followed her down a walkway to a villa that looked like a miniature of the one at Valentini.

Once inside, she put her hands on the hem of my shirt; I grabbed the back and pulled it over my head.

“Santa Madre di Dio.” She rested her hand on my bare torso, leaned up, and kissed me.

“Pia,” I breathed. “If you want me to stop… tell me now.”

She wound her fingers in my hair and pulled me closer. My blood throbbed, and my heart beat frantically in my chest. All at once, I felt like we were melting into each other, our two bodies dissolving into one.

She reached up and slid her dress off her shoulders. It floated to the wood floor, landing in a heap at our feet and leaving her naked but for her pale pink knickers.

“Touch me,” she demanded, bringing my hand to her breast. I couldn’t resist a taste. My mouth covered her nipple, and we both groaned. Her skin tasted like the sweetest honey; I wanted to lick her everywhere.
Heather Slade. Grinded (Kindle Locations 660-676). The Invincibles Book Three.

This mission doesn’t end well for Grinder, and severely injured he pushes everyone away, including Pia.

Now Pia’s Vineyard is in trouble and the people who should be helping her are causing her more headaches than help. Paolo the once boyfriend offers some help in the form of her traveling with him to sell her wine.

It’s on that trip to London that she runs into Miles again. Their reunion is explosive and then Miles gets called away without being able to say goodbye.

So much happens in this book, there’s lots of suspense, plenty of intrigue and kindle melting heat as pieces to the puzzle come together.

I really can’t wait for the next book in this series!

5 Contented Purrs for Heather!

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Heather Slade

My books are filled with things that bring me joy: music, wine, skiing, families, artists, and cowboys. Not always in that order.

I’m an Amazon best-selling author, and a PAN member of Romance Writers of America. I speak, teach, blog, am an executive sommelier, and all-around entrepreneur.

I grew up an east coast girl, and then spent half my life on the west coast. Now my husband, our two boys, and I happily call Colorado home.