How an essentially tropical gal like me ends up
writing a novel set in Alaska is a story in itself. I hate the cold. I love the
beach. My definition of an adventure is going to the zoo.
How then did I muster
the mojo—not to mention the confidence—to get hooked on Alaska?
I blame my children for starting all of this. They
were the ones who insisted we travel to Alaska. They are the same pair who
dragged me out to raft the Colorado River and forced me to learn how to ski, an
inexplicably adventuresome duo, given that, my husband and I are rather sedate
travelers.
To be fair, I’d been to Alaska before. We’d been on
a comfortable, lovely cruise, where the park rangers announced the sights over
the ship’s loudspeaker, narrating the passage. “On the port side, you’ll see a
group of seals basking on the ice. On the starboard side, there’s a pod of
whales bubble-net feeding in the sound.” It was wonderful, posh and relaxing
and I my motto during that first cruise was see
Alaska from your bed.
Fast-forward a few years, and all of the sudden my
daughter was a park ranger herself and my son was volunteering at the Denali
Kennels, caring for dogs as big as horses and as powerful as motorcycles. He
lived in a nice, new tidy cabin with a dry sink. Hint. That means no running
water. You fill in the blanks.
By then, we had learned that Alaska had a lot to
offer. This tropical gal had acquired a few extra items of gear that made the
rigors of the weather bearable. The fall had become my favorite season in
Alaska, when the tourists are gone, the mosquitoes disappear, and Denali begins
to peek out of the clouds that envelop the mountain through most of the summer.
Most importantly, I’d been dazzled, surprised and seduced by the wildlife and
the vast landscape that challenged my eyes, opened my mind and dared my
imagination. Yeah. I was hooked.
Sure, I read, researched, googled and interviewed.
But the truth about Alaska is that the place cannot be properly understood
without the experience. It’s all about the feel. So off we went, to experience
the magic, the most important research of all.
Traveling in Alaska is an education in itself. The
main form of transportation away from the cities entails tiny single engine
planes, mechanical mavericks that land wherever, however.
For a woman who hates
flying, those little planes? Terror.
But I learned to appreciate a place where there are
no roads to your destination, no schedules but those you carve out of the
weather by relying on the skills of strangers. And then it hit. I was a writer.
I mean, really. How can a writer fall in love with Alaska and not write about
the affair?
From my personal, life-transforming travels through
Alaska, my latest romantic suspense, The
Stranger, was born. The
Stranger
is
the second book of my Wounded
Warrior Series, following on the heels of my Amazon
bestseller, The Asset.
The Stranger features Summer Silva
and Seth Erickson, fire and ice, a most unlikely pair. I like to say that fiery
Summer’s character benefited from all of my Alaskan misadventures—believe me,
there were plenty of those and they weren’t always pretty or dignified—while
icy Seth is Alaska in the flesh.
The story goes something like this: When her sister
runs away with a guy she met on the internet, Summer, a warmth-loving Miami
architect chases her reckless sibling to Alaska and finds her life in danger
from more than the elements. Only a stranger, Seth, a wounded warrior who is
also a powerful Alaskan tycoon with a quarreling family as complicated as Summer’s
and no time for a lady in distress can save her from disaster. Together, two
strangers from different worlds and opposite spectrums of the thermometer must
unravel the intrigues that threaten their lives to chase after a new dream, in
majestic Alaska.
As you can probably tell, I had a lot of fun
researching The Stranger. It all made
it into the story. So come along in the journey. I’m happy to share. You can
visit Alaska from the comfort of your reader and laugh, cry and feel along with
Summer and Seth as they fight their demons and turn their lust into forever
love. And if you fall in love with Alaska, well, believe me. I understand.
Here’s
a first review of The Stranger. And
it’s an awesome one!
A Wounded Warrior Novel
Book Two
Anna del Mar
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Contemporary romance, SEAL romance, Military Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Date of Publication: August 22, 2016
eISBN: 9781459294301
ASIN: B01EF3MHSU
Number of pages: 323 pages
Word Count: 110,000 words approx.
Cover Artist: Carina Press
Tagline:
Ex-military pilot Seth Erickson is fighting his own demons, but when he finds Summer Silva, a beautiful, warmth-loving, Miami woman stranded in the frozen wilderness, he’ll do everything in his power to keep her safe from murder, treason, and the ruthless Alaskan winter.
Book Description:
When a mysterious stranger is your only hope...
The scars of the past have left their mark, both physical and emotional, on former military pilot Seth Erickson. Off-grid in the far reaches of the bitter Alaskan wilderness, he wants only to be left alone with his ghosts. But he can’t ignore a woman in need—beautiful, stranded and nearly frozen with fear.
Summer Silva never imagined that the search for her missing sister would leave her abandoned on a wintry back road, barely escaping with her life from a cold-blooded killer for hire. Now, hiding out in the isolated cabin of the secretive wounded warrior who saved her, Summer knows she must do what she fears most. Putting her trust in a stranger is all she has left.
All defenses are down
After a fiery first night together, Seth and Summer are bound by a need as powerful as a Bering Sea superstorm—and vulnerable to enemies just as fierce. For Seth, reawakened by desire, there is no sacrifice too great, no memory too dark, to keep Summer safe. But murder and treason lurk everywhere and Summer may not survive Alaska’s ruthless winter.
Short
Excerpt/First Kiss:
“I think we’d be
better off accepting what’s happening here.”
“And that
is...?”
“That I want to
kiss you.” I hit the point of no return. “And that you want me to kiss you.”
Her voice was a
hoarse whisper. “It’s not true.”
“It’s true and
you know it.” I ran my thumb over the soft expanse of her cheek. “So I propose
that I kiss you now and get it out of the way. One kiss. Then we go to sleep
and I mean just that, sleep, together, on my bed.” I held my breath. “What do
you think? Is it too much to ask?”
She opened her
mouth and closed it. A storm brewed in her eyes. She wasn’t sure. I knew it was
a long shot, but I wasn’t one to hold back for fear of failure. Her nostrils
widened, taking in my scent as if sniffing for danger. The seconds ticked by,
minutes, hours, centuries. And then...surprise. She nodded ever so slightly.
I didn’t wait
for her to change her mind. I kissed her, a connection that my body celebrated
with fireworks. I put my arms around her waist and tasted her lips, her tongue,
her breath. Glory. My body resonated with the memories of our night together.
I kissed her, as
I’d wanted to do for two days, and the kiss confirmed that the connection that
tugged on my senses was real. I held her face between my hands and kissed her
some more until we were both out of breath and I hovered at the edge of no
return. I made a huge effort to climb out of a very steep drop before I screwed
everything up.
“Christ,” I
rasped when I finally managed to tear my lips from hers.
Her breath came
in short gasps, her eyes sparkled and her face flushed as if she had
overexerted herself.
“Hell, I could
kiss you all night.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before letting
go. “But this little taste of you is going to last me ’til morning.” Body
screaming in protest, I took a step back. “Now go in there, get in bed, and
don’t be scared. Okay? I’ll be along shortly.”
Her lips
wavered, then a new smile birthed in her eyes and spread to her face, a
mischievous grin that turned those luscious lips up at the corners and warned
of all kinds of trouble.
She leaned into
my space and, approaching me slowly, delivered her own kiss to my lips. The
kiss was like an arctic wallop, but scalding; like a blow to the senses, but
soft. Her tongue swiped a little taste of me. I gasped when she cut me off
without warning, leaving me reeling, rock hard and without a trace of oxygen
flowing to my lungs.
“Erickson?” she
said before she sauntered off. “I don’t think you understand.”
“Understand
what?”
She halted at
the threshold and looked over her shoulder. “I’m not scared of you anymore,”
she said. “I’m scared of me when I’m with you.”
About the Author:
Anna del Mar writes hot, smart romances that soothe the soul, challenge the mind, and satisfy the heart. Her stories focus on strong heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy, kickass, military heroes who defy the limits of their broken bodies to protect the women they love. Anna enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, and the sea. Writing is her addiction, her drug of choice, and what she wants to do all the time. The extraordinary men and women she met during her years as a Navy wife inspire the fabulous heroes and heroines at the center of her stories. When she stays put—which doesn’t happen very often—she lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and two very opinionated cats.
Website: http://www.annadelmar.com/pages/home.html
Blog: http://www.annadelmar.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnnadelMar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.delmar.376
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anna_del_mar
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/anna_del_mar
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