She wasn’t just a childhood friend;
she was his reason for breathing.
Absolute Trust,
the third book in the romantic suspense series,
True Heroes, by Piper J Drake.
Piper Drake
LOVE IS THE GREATEST RISK OF ALL
After multiple tours of duty, Brandon Forte returns to his hometown on a personal mission: to open a facility for military service dogs like Haydn, a German shepherd who’s seen his share of combat and loss. It also brings him back to Sophie Kim, a beacon of light in his life . . . and the one woman he can’t have. But Forte’s success means he’s made enemies in high places. Enemies who are now after Sophie . . .
When Forte enlisted and left without saying goodbye, Sophie did her best to move on. But with her first love back in town, looking sexier than ever, she’s constantly reminded of what they could have had. Then after he risks himself for her, Sophie realizes she’ll have to put her life in the hands of the man who broke her heart, knowing the danger -and the sparks between them- could consume them both.
This one starts off with a bang, literally. As Brandon has Haydn (one of their new dogs) out to work with his new prosthetic, he runs into Sophie long time friend and accountant for Hopes Crossing. They walk her to her car and while she is putting her packages the trunk, Haydn gets Brandon’s attention. This gives him just enough time to get them to relative safety before the explosion. Haydn stays with Sophie while Brandon calls for help and secures the area. The question is who put a bomb on her car and why. This is the excerpt given for this Tour, but it’s one of my favorite scenes so I’m putting it here.
Between one moment and the next, he was right there next to her, kneeling so they were face to face. She let out the air in her lungs in a rush, not sure of what she wanted to do or what he was planning to do. She parted her lips but didn’t say anything, didn’t want to put another question out there for him to address before he answered the one she really wanted to know.
Because she was hoping he was here for her—not his childhood friend—but for the very adult version of her who’d been waiting for him all this time.
Faster than she could react, his lips caught hers. The contact rushed through her in a lightning shot of surprise. Years of bottled-up frustration bubbled up and she leaned into him with a soft gasp.
And then he pulled back and she was left trying to catch her breath.
Slowly, carefully, he slid his arms around her back and under her knees. He cradled her against his chest and tucked her head under his chin. Circled as she was in his embrace, he held her close. He pressed his lips against her hair.
“That was too close yesterday, Sophie.” His voice was low, gruff, and almost cracked with emotion. “The thought of losing you just about killed me.”
From this point it’s not only about them beginning a new relationship but also keeping Sophie safe. I loved the visit to the Cat Café and that Sophie adopts one of the cats. Haydn’s reaction to the little fluff of fur was interesting to observe. But Haydn’s role is for the most part helping keep Sophie out of harms way. Sophie’s name for the cat had me giggling as I tried to follow her logic for Tessaract. I absolutely love these animals and how they interact with Brandon and Sophie.
Now Sophie and Brandon is something else entirely. Slow and easy but not. Lots of conflicting emotions and other things that need to be resolved.
Fast paced with lots of action in and out of the bedroom. I really can’t wait for more of these books!
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Piper J. Drake (or “PJ”) spent her childhood pretending to study for the SATs by reading every interesting novel she could find at the library. After being introduced to the wonderful world of romance by her best friend, she dove into the genre.
PJ began her writing career as PJ Schnyder, writing sci-fi & paranormal romance and steampunk, for which she won the FF&P PRISM award as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award.
PJ’s romantic suspense novels incorporate her interests in mixed martial arts and the military. The True Heroes series is inspired by her experience rescuing, owning and training a variety of retired working dogs, including Kaiser, a former guard dog, and Mozart, who was trained to detect explosives.
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