WHOA! THAT GUY ON MY COVER IS H-H-HOT!

by Cindy McDonald

   The response to the cover of Into the Crossfire has been nothing less than entertaining. Every time I show the book to any woman I get the exact same reaction. First their eyes widen—sometimes I think I’m going to have to pick their eyeballs off the floor for them, then their jaw drops open, they suck in a little air—let it out slowly, and then they all say the same thing: “Oh my God! He is sooo hot!”

   Yep, and that’s when the questions start. “Who is he?”

   They are always amazed when I say that I know who he is and that I have talked with him through Facebook, and made arrangements for the photograph through the same social network. That’s right, I found Stuart Reardon on Facebook. I also found Stuart Tomlinson—who will be featured on the cover of the next First Force book, To the Breaking Pointe, on FB as well.

   See? Social networking can be more than who’s cheating on who!

   Mr. Reardon is a professional rugby player in the UK. Over the past several years he has taken on another career (quite successfully) as a model. He has been featured on many magazine covers. Sorry ladies he’s engaged.

  Anyway, Stuart is always posting his latest modeling photos on his FB page, and when this particular picture came through my feeds I immediately thought it would be perfect for the cover of Into the Crossfire. FB has many photographers who feature male models on their page and I’ve found that they are a great place to shop for original photos to purchase that can’t be replicated on another book cover. Most of the photographers are negotiable on their prices.

   So, is the story within the pages of Into the Crossfire as hot as the cover? I think so. My first book series, Unbridled, has suggestive scenes within its story-lines, but for the First Force Series I have tossed my inhibitions into the wind to write those bedroom scenes that I’ve longed to pen but was too shy while working with my first series. The Unbridled Series will continue to have suggestive material for those who prefer the love scenes to be a little less descriptive, but in the First Force Series I won’t be slamming the bedroom door in the reader’s face. That said the story-lines will carry all the suspense, twists, and turns that I love to write, and characters that you will miss after you’ve finished reading the book, and have you clamoring for the next books: To the Breaking Pointe and Into the Dark—coming very soon!

   For more information on Into the Crossfire, To the Breaking Pointe or Into the Dark/First Force Series and all of Cindy McDonald’s books please visit her website at: www.cindymcwriter.com Hey! Join her newsletter and get the first chapter of Into the Dark delivered directly to your inbox as a thank you!

It had been four years since ex-Navy SEAL, Jack Haliday, had an explosive run-in with a biker gang wounding their leader, Gunner. During those years Jack had acquired everything he ever wanted: a beautiful wife, an adorable daughter, and a lovely home in the suburbs—everything was as perfect as it could get, until Gunner returned to twist Jack’s world inside-out with a vengeance that he could never have prepared for. Critically injured, he found himself surrounded in the security of First Force International and in the care of their head medic, Dr. Rayne Lee, a beautiful and compassionate woman who knows firsthand the sharp slice of loss and grief.

Now Jack has a score to settle and he’s got some new friends to help him, but in the end, can Rayne help to ease his grief and encourage him to start a new life with team First Force? 

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Excerpt:

Closing her eyes, Rayne took in a braced breath. “My name is Rayne. And I know all about the nightmares where the ones that you love are murdered in front of your eyes and you are powerless to stop it.” Her voice fell away.

Jack’s head snapped toward her.

She busied herself cleaning up the implements that she had used to suture him while she spoke. “My husband and I were on a medical mission in Peru three years ago. The Peruvian government had taken down a guerrilla group known as the Glory Road near the Amazonian Valley. They had killed or arrested approximately one-hundred members of the group. Matt and I were part of a small medical unit that went in to care for the women that had been held as sex slaves. They were in terrible condition, dehydrated, starved, and beaten. Anyway, Matt, me, and my four-year-old daughter, Sierra, were housed in one of the tiny shacks in a camp. One night, the camp was attacked by the guerrillas they hadn’t captured. It was a slaughter.” Rayne’s voice hiccuped. She needed to catch her breath. She sank onto the edge of the bed.

Jack watched her intently while she fought to muster composure.

Finally, she continued, “They killed my husband and my daughter, but for some reason they spared me and several of the women who had been rescued. I wished that they hadn’t. I was their prisoner for seven horrible months. I prayed for death every night. Uncle Walt and his team rescued me. It’s been a long road back to becoming a functioning human being.” Hesitating, she wrung her hands together. She found the courage to look him in the eye. “So you see, Jack, I have a complete understanding of what you’re going through.”

  

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