Journey's Edge - Dora Hiers

Welcome, Dora! Well, after a little confusion here folks, I realized that I never read Book One of this series, which I'll be sure to correct and get back to you on! But for now, let's celebrate Dora's new release of Journey's Edge. It's a wonderful story even though I didn't read the first one. Thanks for stopping by with it, Dora!

Blurb:

A Routine Audit? Hardly. Red flags—including some goon who's following her—raise McKinley Frasier's suspicions that numbers don't add up at the insurance firm. When someone tries to snatch McKinley's daughter from school, she turns to police officer and ex-fiance, Renner Crossman—the cop who walked out on her a month before their wedding. But Renner's not the same guy who broke her heart ten years ago. He calls himself a "new man." She trusts the new Renner with her daughter's safety...but what about her heart?

Excerpt:

McKinley stopped at the door to her room and inserted the card into the lock. The red light flashed.

A door closed farther down the hall. McKinley glanced over her shoulder. A man stepped from the stairwell into the hallway, his head turned in the opposite direction.
But she recognized the suit.
The same suit she had stared at all day. Malcolm Brugman, so-called insurance agent. Also know as thief, slime ball.
Her pulse raced, and a giant clump of fear lodged in her throat. How did he find her? What did he want? Whatever the reason, it couldn’t be good, and she wasn’t sticking around to find out.
She yanked the card out of the slot, inserted it again.
Still the red light. Come on. Come on.
With shaking fingers, she jerked the card out and tried again, pressing her body against the door. The door swung open. McKinley lunged into the room.
Her face plowed into an expansive, muscular chest. Strong hands grabbed McKinley’s upper arms. A vague, familiar smell permeated the man’s torso, a citrus and woodsy scent mingled with masculine deodorant. She heard the door close behind her and felt legs wimp out on her. Good thing this guy held her up or she would have sank straight to the floor like a pile of spaghetti. She angled a hand to eject chest hair from her tongue, trying not to make a face.
“Honey, if you’re looking for that kind of action, you’ve got the wrong room.”
“What?” McKinley gasped. She knew that voice, that rich timbre with just a hint of teasing. Always teasing, forever flirting.
Renner Crossman.
Oh, no! What kind of twisted sense of humor did James suffer from? She didn’t want to see Renner. She only wanted to know that he was in the hotel.
McKinley tilted her head back, inching her line of vision up to Renner’s face. Just to be sure. A lot could change after ten years. Look at her. She was a prime example.
She heard his deep intake of breath. Shock? Yeah, well, she could relate.
“Kinny?”
Ten years faded into yesterday. Those espresso-colored eyes still gleamed with mischief. Or was it something else? Maybe he hadn’t changed that much.
His hands tightened around her arms, pulling her against him. She closed her eyes and leaned into his chest.
Renner.
His heart thumped a tune with hers. His breath whispered against her hair. And the scent of his aftershave was like a dear friend. She sighed. What was it about him that latched on to her innermost dreams and desires and wouldn’t let go? His grin? His have-no-cares-in-the-world style against her organized, have-to-know-everything-beforehand outlook?
He looped his arms around her back and pressed his forehead to hers, just like he used to do. When he’d made her feel loved and cherished. Protected. Special.
A clamp tightened around her stomach, cut off air, and she almost tossed the cookies she’d scarfed down in place of dinner. Gag.
Special.
Yeah, right. More like used and abused. Thrown away with the trash.
She wasn’t safe in here, either. She braced her hands against his chest and jerked a step back, telling her brain to reject his familiar, comforting scent. She would take her chances in the hall.
He dug his hands into his jeans pockets. “It’s good to see you, Kinny. Thanks for coming.” His words carried only a hint of teasing, more the weight of sadness.
“I didn’t come here to see you.” Liar. Why didn’t you check into the Sheraton right down the street? She shook her head to mute that mocking inner voice.
“But…you’re here. I’m glad.”
“Yeah. So am I.” Oooh, what was she saying? She pressed fingertips against her forehead. “Not the glad part. The here part.”
One corner of his lips curved. She glanced away from him, away from the power he still apparently held over her, taking in the male clothes strewn over the back of the couch. Still a slob. But was he alone?
Her fingers tightened their grip on her shoes. “What are you doing in my hotel room?”
“I was here first, sweetheart.”

Buy link: http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/journey-s-edge

Review:

I absolutely  loved, loved, loved the early scene where McKinley literally falls into Renner's...chest. LOL What a great story this is. Heart pumping fear, and confused emotional tension saturate this story and keep the readers on the edge of their seat listening for footsteps in the hall, or headlights in the rear view mirror...or the citrusy woodsy scent of a man lingering in a room.

Ms. Hiers does a wonderful job of making you feel like you're right there in the story in the middle of the action. And then toss in a man who has a heart for kids and...well, he's every woman's hero. And Renner does make a FINE hero.

I love romantic suspense, and I especially love it when it's well written, and this one certainly is.

Great job!

About the author:

After a successful auditing career, Dora left the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom to her two sons. Eventually, needing something more to fill her days, she started writing heart-racing, God-gracing books that glorify her Creator. Dora belongs to the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Carolina Christian Writers.