Highlighting Romance… Today C.D. Hersh takes us on the road with a contemporary paranormal story
Many books require research, and The Mercenary and the Shifters was no exception. We had to research a bunch of things for this book, but our favorite was the Hebrides Islands in Scotland. It’s a lot of fun when your book requires you to visit other countries. In The Mercenary and the Shifters-Book Four of The Turning Stone Chronicles, our hero goes to the Hebrides in Scotland. We have never been to Scotland, but it’s somewhere Catherine has always wanted to go, so we set off to discover these remote islands with our hero, Mike Corritore, who lands in Benbecula airport in the Hebrides in the early dawn. From the airport we headed south for South Uist, crossing a causeway lined on both sides with white boulders. Back on land, the road periodically narrowed into a lane and a half, the bulged-out lanes barely big enough to hold a vehicle. Houses dotted the landscape, surrounded by fields of low, green grass. Squat, wire fences penned in white sheep, grazing contentedly. Along the edge of the road, bushes leaned into the pavement, the tips of the branches sporting white blossoms. En route for Loch Baghasdail, we crossed a second causeway. Just past the end of the causeway, a series of small, deep blue lakes dotted the countryside. As the road moved inland the landscaped changed. Fewer houses appeared along the roadside. Bleached, white boulders jutted from the ground like cemetery markers. The flat, slightly curvy road became straight, with low, rolling rises. Gray mountains, their tops ringed in matching gray haze, lay against the horizon on the left. The scenery was beautiful, bucolic, and stark at the same time.
Do you want to know the best part about this trip? It didn’t cost us a dime. We went via Google Maps to the Scottish countryside. Ain’t the internet wonderful? Maybe someday we’ll get to see the Hebrides in person. In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy our hero’s trip to Scotland, the exciting action-packed story, and the results from the fun research we did for this story.
About the Book
When mercenary soldier Michael Corritore answers a desperate call from an ex-military buddy, he finds himself in the middle of a double kidnapping, caught in an ancient war between two shape shifter factions, and ensnared between two female shape shifters after the same thing … him.
Shape shifter Fiona Kayler will do anything to keep the shipping company her father left her, including getting in bed with the enemy. But when she believes the man trying to steal her company is involved with kidnapping her nephew, she must choose between family, fortune, and love. The problem is … she wants all three.
~excerpt~
Mike’s presence in her bedroom as she gathered overnight items for the guesthouse comforted Fiona. It also set jitters off in her stomach. The man was hot and muscular and very alpha. He’d removed a sword and gun from his duffel bag and slung them, along with a bandolier of ammunition, over his shoulder after they’d been attacked. The sight of his weapons and his protective behavior did unfamiliar, disconcerting things to her.
“Does the guesthouse have a phone?” he asked over her shoulder.
Fiona jumped and slammed her palm to her chest. “Jeez, don’t sneak up on me. I didn’t hear you cross the room.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“After what happened tonight, it won’t take much to make me jump. And, no, it doesn’t. But I’ve got my cell.”
“I’ll need the number.”
“Ditto, on yours.”
“I think you need to take your gun. The one you pulled on me.”
“After tonight, I’ll sleep with that baby under my pillow.”
Mike studied her. “You’re certain you don’t have an idea who might want you dead? What about the group you’re dealing with? What was the name again?”
“OmniWorld? I think I’m more important to them alive, at the moment.”
A knowing smile flashed across Mike’s face, and she realized he’d tricked her into revealing the name of the cartel she’d withheld earlier.
“At the moment?”
She thought about the cargo Mr. Swindell’s associate had forced her to ship. Had he’d lied about the cigarettes? If he had, she needed backup. Hugh trusted Mike. She needed to do the same.
“I’m handling some freight for them. I don’t think they want to off me, at least until the deal’s finished.”
Mike swore under his breath. “What are you mixed up in, Fiona?” When she didn’t answer he continued, “If I’m going to help, you have to be completely honest with me.”
She cringed at the word completely. Honesty with anyone, at this point, could only be partial. How much could—should—she tell him?
Title – The Mercenary and the Shifters, The Turning Stone Chronicles, book four
Genre – Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Suspense Romance
Heat Level – Sensual
Release Date: July 27th, 2016
About the Authors
Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They’ve written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after.
Together they have co-authored a number of dramas, six which have been produced in Ohio, where they live. Their interactive Christmas production had five seasonal runs in their hometown and has been sold in Virginia, California, and Ohio. Their most recent collaborative writing efforts have been focused on romance. The first four books of their paranormal romance series entitled The Turning Stone Chronicles are available on Amazon. They also have a Christmas novella, Kissing Santa, in a Christmas anthology titled Sizzle in the Snow, with seven other authors.
Where you can find CD:
Website: http://cdhersh.wordpress.com/
Blog: http://cdhersh.wordpress.com/blog-2/
Soul Mate Publishing: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cdhershauthor
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/C.-D.-Hersh/e/B00DV5L7ZI
Caroline – we loved taking this trip. Thanks for sharing.