Today’s Book Hook is from my French & Indian War romance, Rogue’s Hostage, an Enemies to Lovers captive story.
Blurb:
She wants her freedom. Her captor wants her. Can love survive a deadly war?
His hostage…
In 1758 the Pennsylvania frontier is wild, primitive and dangerous, where safety often lies at the end of a gun. Mara Dupre’s life crumbles when a French and Indian war party attacks her cabin, kills her husband, and takes her captive. Marching through the wilderness strengthens her resolve to flee, but she doesn’t count on her captor teaching her the meaning of courage and the tempting call of desire.
Her destiny…
French lieutenant Jacques Corbeau’s desire for his captive threatens what little honor he has left. But when Mara desperately offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom, he finds the strength to refuse and reclaims his lost self-respect. As the shadows of his past catch up to him, Jacques realizes that Mara, despite the odds, is the one true key to reclaiming his soul and banishing his past misdeeds forever.
Today’s hook shows the lead up to their first kiss after Jacques laces Mara’s bodice because she injured her wrist the day before in a tussle over a knife.
Excerpt:
When he’d finished lacing her bodice, Corbeau took her chin in his strong brown hand and tipped her face up to meet his gaze. “Do not be too proud to ask for help when you need it.”
She glared up at him, her eyes narrowed with anger. “I don’t want you touching me. Not after yesterday.”
Gently he stroked her face. “I never meant to hurt you.”
She pulled away from him and held up her bandaged wrist. “What do you call this?”
A spark of anger flashed in his eyes. “I call it self-defense. Have you forgotten that you tried to kill me?”
“You forced me to do it,” she said defiantly. “You should have let me go.”
“Never. Not if I have to sleep with my back to a tree from now on.”
He advanced on her and she retreated, her alarm growing.
“Will you try to stab me in the back next time?”
“No,” she insisted, shaking her head wildly. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to be free.”
He stalked her until she was backed up against a tree with no room to maneuver. He moved closer, looming over her, heat emanating from his body. “I have no wish to hurt you either, madame,” he said in a husky voice.
“Then what do you want?” The moment the words were out, Mara wished she could snatch them back. She saw his intent in his eyes as his gaze focused on her lips.
She pushed against the hard muscles of his chest but to no avail. Easily he encircled her in his arms, one hand at her waist, the other tangling in the hair at her nape, pulling her head back. She couldn’t miss his musky smell as he pressed closer to her. Her knees were weakened by the quivering of her limbs, and she fisted her hands in the rough linen of his shirt.
“What do I want,” he whispered as he lowered his head, his breath hot against her face. “This. This is what I want.”
Rogue’s Hostage is now in Kindle Unlimited.
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Linda
Forbidden Kisses
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