Fire and Rain (Wildest Alaska, #1) is out in ebook and paperback. You can grab your copy for Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, or paperback. It's also available on Smashwords in all ebook formats.

I hope you enjoy the first story in this new contemporary adventure series. It's not romantic suspense. It's contemporary romance with a dash of suspense and lots of adventure. 

I visited Alaska for 10 days when my older son got married on an Alaskan cruise through the Inside Passage. I could have stayed forever. The bigger-than-life scenery, the fresh air, the cold. I really like the cold. It was breathtaking. 

The Coast Guard elements of the story were fascinating for me and completely new. Obviously, Colorado isn't on the coast, so I've never had contact with the Coast Guard. I didn't know that rescue swimmers were considered special operators or that AST A-school (where rescue swimmers train) has a higher drop-on-request rate than the Navy SEALs. 

Fire and Rain is my 37th work, my 35th novel, and I'm thrilled that it's out in the world today.

To celebrate the book's release, here's a brief excerpt...

Even as his lips brushed hers, Sean told himself he wasn’t going to kiss her. He wasn’t going to kiss her. He was not…

Ah, hell.

He gave in to the thrumming in his chest, slid his fingers into her hair, and claimed her mouth, tasting rum and sugar. She whimpered then gasped when their bodies met, and some part of Sean remembered that he was soaking wet. He was probably getting her wet, too, and making her cold. And still, he didn’t stop.

She slipped her arms behind his neck, melted against him, her breasts pressing against his ribcage, her body warm. Hunger he’d tried so hard to ignore hit his bloodstream, his cock going hard, straining against his fly. He traced the curve of her lower lip with his tongue, nipped it, sucked it into his mouth, wanting to devour her.

She sucked in a breath, shivered. “Sean.”

But he wasn’t finished. 

He angled her head, and claimed her mouth again, teasing her tongue with his, blood racing hot through his veins. She drew him closer, answered his teasing with strokes of her own, her fingers curling in the hair at his nape.

From somewhere nearby, came the sound of a garage door opening.

Shit.

If they were seen kissing…

He released her, stepped back, trembling from head to toe, whether from the chill or from desire, he couldn’t say. “I should go.”

“Don’t be silly.” She took his hand, her fingers threading easily with his. “Come in and dry off before you get hypothermia. We can talk.”

Sean should have said goodnight. He should have walked to his vehicle and driven back to the barracks, but he didn’t. Instead, he followed her inside, his mind reeling. 

But she was right. They needed to talk.

“I’ll put water on to boil for tea.” She smiled. “You know where the towels are. Just toss your wet stuff in the dryer.”

While she busied herself in the kitchen, he removed his boots and damp socks, then walked to the bathroom and undressed, wet down to his skin. He took a bath towel from the cupboard near the door and dried off. As he rubbed the towel over his hair, he caught his reflection in the mirror.

Do you know what you just did, buddy?

Hell, no. He’d gone off the edge of the map tonight. 

But damn.  

In his twenties, he’d dated lots of women, wasting far too many hours on dating apps. He’d had more than a few first kisses in his life. But nothing could compare to what he’d just experienced with Eden. Their kiss had lasted only a few minutes, but it had rocked his world.